The McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 is gradually being withdrawn from service, marking an end to the era of triple-engined planes
I have a lot of aircraft models, and one of my favorites is that of a lufthansa cargo MD-11. This three-engined aircraft with the third engine placed in the tail is a development of the Douglas DC-10, which in the 1970’s and 1980’s was a mainstay of the commercial aviation industry. In fact, three engines was the way to go. There was the lockheed l-1011 Tristar and of course, the Boeing 727, all of which popularised air travel. There were several others as well, there was the British Trident and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-154. In fact, I have a love die-cast model of the Tupolev as well, an aircraft which connected the vast reaches of the Soviet Union.
But given how limited Indian aviation was in those days few of those aircraft made their way to India, and as aircraft and particularly aircraft engines became more efficient, the three-holers began to die out. While there are a few Boeing 727’s still in service as private jets and cargo aircraft, of the more than 1800 built, fewer than 100 are still in flying condition. Their older generation engines were too noisy and inefficient to compete with the likes of the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, at latter of which as it stretched seated more people than a 727 eventually. Soon after the tragic incidents of September, 2001, most airlines in the United States withdrew 727’s from service as limited demand coupled with high oil prices doomed them. The British Trident, which served in the 1980’s had been replaced by its main operator British Airways by Boeing aircraft and then Airbus A320 family planes.
But the bigger planes was where the lockheed Tristar and DC-10 fought it out, as air travel soared in the 1960’s and 1970’s airlines needed a plane smaller than the 400-seat plus Boeing 747 but bigger than the likes of the Boeing 707 and DC-8, which fit just 160-180 people, and one that could carry people over the Atlantic Ocean. This was made possible by a whole new generation of aircraft engines, but it was the development of one engine that doomed the Tristar. The lockheed Tristar was to use the Rolls-Royce (the aircraft engine company, not the car company) RB.211 engine, which was to use a revolutionary new design that made it more efficient and quieter than existing engines. But problems and issues in developing the engine led to bankruptcy of the British company and it was saved by a government bailout. This meant that the competing DC-10 which used less complicated engines from Pratt&Whitney and General Electric as well as simpler engineering solutions, it mounted the tail engine as a pipe under the tail instead of a ‘S-Duct’ as in the Tristar and Boeing 727. This allowed the DC-10 to enter service earlier and become very popular with US airlines. Some of the engineering solutions however did have a highly negative impact going forward for the DC-10. That said, these aircraft played a major role in the development of air travel in that period.
But the development costs and delays that plagued the Tristar despite the success the aircraft enjoyed becoming extremely popular for airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Delta ensured that lockheed exited the civilian aircraft game. Douglas, which by then had merged with McDonnell to become McDonnell-Douglas also realised that the DC-10 needed to be modernised to be able to compete with the upcoming Airbus A340 and Boeing 777 in the long-range market. As it is, the DC-10 was gradually losing popularity in the high-density and high-frequency markets to aircraft like the Boeing 767 and the Airbus A300. And the MD-11 was developed.
This is when the advancements that Rolls-Royce had achieved with the RB.211 changed the game, and previous regulations that prevented twin-engined aircraft from making extended trips over water far from diversion airports were gradually changing. Aircraft engines were not just becoming more efficient and quieter, they were also becoming more reliable. Engine failures on commercial aircraft was becoming so rare that the concept of having a spare engine on a plane ‘just in case’ was being removed. Engines were also becoming massively powerful thanks to development of massive titanium fan-blades and when two engines can do the job of three, both capital costs and operational costs come down for airlines. The RB.211 developed into Rolls-Royce’s massively successful Trent series of engines that power Airbus’ A330, A340 and A350 aircraft and Boeing’s 777 and 787 planes.
However, the Tristar because of its very limited production of just 250 planes and little modernisation over the years quickly faded from sight. Towards the end, many Tristars were operated by Delta Airlines in the US, which bough several planes from across the world. But the Tristar just could not compete, and other than the British Royal Air Force that operated a few old British Airways planes as modified airborne refullers and transport aircraft, they faded away. Even the RAF retired the Tristar in 2014 replacing it with a A330, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Trent engines.
The MD-11 did not manage to meet some performance benchmarks, and was quickly withdrawn from service by some airlines. Singapore Airlines quickly replaced the MD-11 with the A340 and just asv quickly replaced those with the Boeing 777, the clear winner of the long-range wars of the 1990’s and 2000’s. American Airlines withdrew the MD-11 in favour of the Boeing 777 but still kept operating the DC-10 oddly enough. Other than a few airlines such as KlM and Finnair, the MD-11 was gradually withdrawn from passenger service and today no passenger versions survive.
For many years, KlM, Royal Dutch Airlines flew the only passenger MD-11 into Delhi, in fact the Amsterdam-Delhi sector was one of the last sectors to get the MD-11. I was fortunate enough to make a couple of return trips on this sector in 2009. The MD-11 was a large and comfortable plane and I distinctly recall the large windows on the plane, and while I sat at the back of the aircraft, it did not feel particularly more noisy than the Boeing 777 or Airbus A340’s that were replacing them in droves. However, even KlM changed over to more efficient planes and retired their last passenger MD-11 in 2014. The failure of the MD-11 meant that McDonnell-Douglas, the company that built the famous DC-3 and the F-4 Phantom II was bought by Boeing which quickly withdrew the MD-11 from production.
But the MD-11 had a second life as a cargo plane, the long front section of the plane could easily fit a big cargo door and because the planes were depreciated and had a relatively long-range the MD-11, many express cargo and air freight operators such as FedEx, UPS and lufthansa Cargo, all three of whom still make occasional MD-11 flights into Delhi, even though the Boeing 777 Freighter is gradually replacing even the MD-11.
So if you see a MD-11 anywhere in the world, give it a quick salute!
(The writer is Managing Editor, The Pioneer)
(Courtesy: The DIAlogue, Delhi Airport Magazine)