The Widebody Wars —DC-10 vs L-1011 vs A300 (I)
Part I — McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed tried to split a market with bad results to both in the competition
When Boeing rolled out the 747 in 1968, the World assisted for the first time a widebody jumbo-jet being brought to reality — connecting more people to the World, also in a way faster than the older 707s (the Boeing 747 has a speed of 950km/h, although less faster than the Anglo-French SST Concorde, with a speed of 2,200 km/h), also possibilitating flights with a lot of luxury & glamour, typical of the 1st class on some companies’s 747s of the time.
However, this also brought a market, which competitors to the 747 started to emerge — Three of them came from a necessity from the airlines on a airplane smaller than the 747 — A market which will sell hundreds of airplanes, and one of them, emerged from a cooperation between four countries in Europe, which managed to outpace the offers from both McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed.
- The DC-10 and the L-1011: Different approaches, but with the same result: Failure to split a unsplittable market.
First, let’s start with the trijets: the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, two of the trijets which started with a RFP from American Airlines for a airplane smaller than the Boeing 747 in capacity, but with a similar range. Douglas (after 1968 known as McDonnell Douglas) had experience in civil aviation with the narrowbodies DC-8 and DC-9, both jet-powered and had made concepts for a full-double-decker widebody bigger than a 747, which were the first concepts for the DC-10, but the projects were shelved after American Airlines’s RFP. Lockheed, on the other side, hadn’t proceed with a civilian aircraft since the L-188 Electra, a turboprop-powered airliner in the 1950s, which technology was used successfully on the C-130 Hercules military airlifter, but had serious troubles with his vibration issues, which resulted on a number of plane crashes. Since then, the airlines have turned to jet-powered airliners, like the Boeing’s 707 & Douglas’s DC-8, while Lockheed have turned its focus into the military, with the C-141 and the C-5 Galaxy.
The first of the tri-jets to arrive to the market was the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, which was launched by American Airlines, with an order for 25 airplanes, in 1968. United Airlines ordered another 30, with 30 options. The McDonnell Douglas approach was to develop the DC-10 fast, on a very firm budget, even if the safety of the aircraft was compromised. The DC-10 had a capacity of 255 passengers in 3 class, 380 at maximum capacity.
The airplane originally had four versions: The original short-to-medium haul DC-10–10, with a range of 6,110 km (3,300 nautical miles), equipped with three General Electric CF6–6D engines with 40,000 lbf (177.9 kN) of thrust, which made its 1st flight on 29th August 1970 & it was delivered to American Airlines in 1972. The DC-10–15, a version for hot and high airports, with a range of exactly 7,000 km (3,780 nautical miles) and it was equipped with three General Electric CF6–50C2F (de-rated CF6–50C) with 46,500 lbf (206.8 kN) of thrust.
The two intercontinental versions, the DC-10–30 and the DC-10–40, are distinct from the Series 10 and Series 15, because the Series 30 and 40 had a centerline main gear. The DC-10 Series 40 was originally to be called Series 20. However, Northwest Orient asked for the renaming because of the improvements done to the design of the DC-10–20. The DC-10–30, which made its 1st flight in 1972 and entered service on the same year, had a range of 10,010 km (5,405 nautical miles) and was equipped with three General Electric CF6–50C with 51,000 lbf (226.9 kN). The DC-10–40, which was only purchased by JAL & Northwest Orient, had a range of 9,260 km (5000 nautical miles) and was equipped with three Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, with 53,000 lbf (235.8 kN) of thrust.
This approach of having various engines, and ironically the same used on the Boeing 747, gave airlines the possibility to have a fleet commonality in question of engines — Northwest & JAL were loyal to Pratt & Whitney and their engines, although United Airlines, another loyal Pratt airline, chose the DC-10-10 and 30, equipped with General Electric engines. This also reduced costs of development of the airplane, in comparison to the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, which had a sole source engine from Rolls-Royce (the RB211). Many airlines ended up purchasing the DC-10 due to the earlier availability of the same, and one in particular, Delta Air Lines, bought both the DC-10 and the L-1011 — The DC-10 being a stopgap while the L-1011 was delayed with development and production issues.
The DC-10 was known to be a reliable airplane until the airplane’s first problems started to show — A design flaw in the bulk cargo door locking system — where the door could appear closed, where in fact it was not closed, but rather forced, with components bent — was the culprit of two accidents:
The first was American Airlines flight 96 (in 1972), which the bulk cargo door blew out at take-off at the Detroit Wayne County International Airport. The resulting decompression of the airplane (which happened above Windsor, Canada) caused the floor to collapse and damage to the control systems, making the airplane difficult to handle. However, the pilots were able to land the airplane at Detroit, and no one was killed in this accident. The NTSB recommended to the FAA modifications to the cargo door of the airplane to prevent another accident from happening, and the FAA allowed for the modifications in a voluntary basis.
Then, in 3rd March 1974, the bulk cargo door issue caused another crash: Turkish Airlines Flight 981. The first minutes of the flight were routine, but when the airplane reached 13,000 feet, the cargo door blew out, causing a massive decompression which collapsed the floor (also because to the high passenger load). The decompression also detached some seats from the floor, severed the hydraulic and mechanical control systems, and made the airplane impossible to handle. The plane suddenly began to fall, ultimately crashing into a forest in Eremonville, France. 346 people were instantly killed, making it the deadliest aviation accident at the time. The cause of the Turkish Airlines 981 crash was identical to the American Airlines 96 accident: the cargo door was not properly locked.
As a result of the accident, FAA ordered the modifications to the cargo door to be done in a mandatory basis. The crash also resulted in the change of the pressurisation systems not just for the DC-10, but also for the Lockheed L-1011 and even for the Boeing 747. The older systems, suited for narrowbodies, couldn’t equalise the pressure in case of sudden decompression in a widebody airplane. The fix entailed installing additional vents on the floor of the cabin.
The American Airlines flight 191 crash in 1979 at Chicago (which killed 275 people) forced the airplane to be grounded for some time, thus impacting the public reputation of the airplane even more. The accident was ultimately blamed on American Airlines’s maintenance practices (they used a forklift to replace the engines), but the damage to the public reputation was already done.
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was a different airplane in its approach to the conception, in relation to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10: While the DC-10 tried to be the first to arrive to the market at a lower cost, sacrificing even the safety, the L-1011 TriStar pretended to be the most technologically advanced airplane for the generation, even knowing that will bring higher costs. For that purpose, the airplane was designed also with the passenger in mind, bringing a relatively wider cabin, in comparison to the DC-10, thanks to thinner sidewalls (tapered frames). For adding strength to the fuselage, the L-1011 uses titanium tear-straps, although their purpose was to prevent cracks to propagating through the frame.
The airplane originally had four versions: The L-1011–1 (officially certified by FAA as L-1011–385–1) was the first version of this airplane. It was destinated for being used in short-to-medium-haul, as a backup of the Boeing 747. This variant was the initial base for the remaining variants of the L-1011. This type had the Rolls-Royce RB211–22 engine, the first version of the engine for the L-1011. The type was purchased by Air Canada, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Eastern Air Lines, and other operators which operated transcontinental flights requiring a widebody airplane. Other considerable operators were TWA and Delta Air Lines, which also ordered the type. The first airplane was delivered to Eastern Air Lines in 5th April 1972. Pacific Southwest Airlines ordered their L-1011s with a unique lower deck lounge, making one of the fewest widebodies having lower airstairs.
Another two versions are the L-1011–100 and the L-1011–200 (officially certified by FAA as L-1011–385–1–15), although much different in performance, they are similar to original L-1011–1.
The L-1011–100 had a centre fuel tank, which gave a higher fuel range by 1500 km (930 statute miles) and a higher gross weight while retaining the L-1011–1’s Rolls-Royce RB211–22 engine. Launch orders for the type were placed by Saudia and Cathay Pacific for two airplanes each in May 1974. Deliveries began in June 1975. This specific variant was also purchased by airlines with longer-range routes (BEA, which in 1974 became British Airways, TWA and Air Canada). This version would be increasingly improved, transforming it into the L-1011–200.
The L-1011–200, although much similar to the L-1011–100, it had more powerful Rolls-Royce RB211–524 engines to improve its performance in hot and high airports. Gulf Air used the airplane to replace their older Vickers VC10 airplanes. It had the same MTOW of the L-1011–100 (211,000 kg, 466,000 lbs) and the same fuel capacity of 100,000 litres (26,400 US gallons) as the L-1011–100. A improvement, called the L-1011–250 (also valid for the late L-1011–1 and L-1011–100), which brought many improvements from the L-1011–500 such as more powerful variants of the RB211–524B4I engine and lenghtened wing, and with that, various increases in fuel capacity and payload. A sizeable customer of the L-1011–200 was Saudi Arabian Airlines, which operated the type until 1998.
The last L-1011 variant to enter in production was the L-1011–500. The L-1011–500 (officially certified by FAA as L-1011–385–3) was a longer range variant which made its maiden flight in 1978 and first delivery to British Airways in May 1979.
It had as a major differences a fuselage shortened by 4.3 metres (14 feet) to a overall length of 50.04 metres (164 ft 2 in) and a increased wingspan to 50.09 metres (164 ft 4 in), increased MTOW of 225,000 kg (496,000 lbs) which is increased to 229,000 kg (504,000 lbs) in a later certification. Standard fuel capability is of 120,000 litres (31,600 US gallons) giving the TriStar 500 a range of 9600 km (5,200 nautical miles). The flying surfaces are also a innovation, beyond the wingtip extension, bringing also a modifying wing-to-body fairing, a fillet below the central intake and the ACS, or active control system. It had also more powerful Rolls-Royce RB211–524B4I engines, which also offered fuel efficiency.
The -500 variant was popular among airlines with international operations (such as Delta, which also formed a large portion of the airline fleet), but its late introduction made it losing market share to the DC-10–30.
Both airplanes were considered failures because at the time the demand for airplanes like the DC-10 or the L-1011 was limited, and because they competed in a market which was impossible to sustain two airplanes of the same kind.
And the demand for it will become even more limited when Airbus became known in the world with the A300 twinjet in 1974 and Boeing initiated plans for a 767 twinjet in 1978, which rendered the trijets of McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed inefficient for short and medium-haul flights. McDonnell Douglas only was able to sell 446 airplanes (386 DC-10s and 60 KC-10 Extenders). That number was a somewhat better score than Lockheed’s L-1011 TriStar, which only sold 250 airplanes - Lockheed needed to sell 500 to break even. The poor sales performance was mostly because of the delays caused by the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce, due to the high development costs of the RB211 engine. That ended up delaying the introduction of the airplane. The lack of acceptance of the L-1011 ultimately caused Lockheed to withdraw from the civilian aircraft business in 1983.
McDonnell Douglas was also weakened by the poor commercial performance of the DC-10, which production officially ended in 1989, and only was able to produce a derivative of the airplane, the MD-11, which also failed to compete with both the Boeing’s 777 and Airbus’s A330/A340 airplanes. With that, McDonnell Douglas also ceased the production of civilian aircraft and merged with Boeing in 1997.
That’s what I’ve to say in this First part of the “The Widebody Wars — DC-10 vs L-1011 vs A300” — Please follow me on Twitter (@TheO530CarrisPT is my handle) to not lose the next part, entitled: “Part II — How a European cooperation made a airplane able to impress the World”.
