The McDonnell Douglas MD-11, one of the last commercial aviation trimotors, completed this last Friday (10/01) thirty years of its first flight.
The development of the MD-11 began as a need for McDonnell Douglas to adjust its product to the competition, such as the Boeing 747-400. The beginning of the project was in 1986, and the manufacturer chose to update the DC-10, starting with the -30 version, the largest available.
Despite being a "reheated" product, the MD-11 was a great chance for McDonnell to overcome its financial problems, since in the forecast the company should sell at least 300 aircraft.
The MD-11 received some significant upgrades when compared to a DC-10. To a greater load, mainly due to the larger size, the main landing gear was triple, with a central one.
Technologically, the cockpit of the DC-10, for three crew , was replaced by a cockpit in the style of the Boeing 767, already launched, with electronic screens, and a functioning that dispensed with the flight engineer, maintaining the requirement of having only two pilots, improving product attractiveness for airlines.
Another innovation was the double winglet, which promised to reduce fuel consumption by up to 5% compared to the DC-10.
Difficulty in orders
The MD-11 looked promising, but McDonnell Douglas could have innovated more, and because of that it suffered from enormous competition from a smaller aircraft, such as the Boeing 767, at a time when the aviation market did not have so much scale, and the most popular planes had no more than 4000 orders.
Because of this, companies showed much less interest in the MD-11, and at launch the aircraft managed only 52 firm orders.
The MD-11 situation with orders dragged on for several years, and worsened after the first delivery of the aircraft, when companies began to cancel their orders, claiming that the aircraft had a performance envelope different from the one presented at the time of orders. .
By then the MD-11 had more than 300 orders.
Companies like American Airlines, which had 50 orders for the MD-11, requested the cancellation of their orders after receiving the first plane, due to the different performance of the aircraft, which consumed more fuel than expected, and had a shorter flight range. .
MD's situation only got worse after Boeing launched the economical twin-engine 777 in 1990, and all the companies were delighted by Boeing's new plane, made from an entirely new design, with more economical engines and ETOPS capability.
A good part of the airlines chose the 777 to replace their DC-10 planes, and abandoned the choice of the MD-11. Years before, Airbus launched the twin-engine A330 and the A340, which had the same technology concept as the A320.
MD-11 after first delivery
The MD-11 was certified in 1990 by the FAA, and after 200 safety issues were resolved, Europe accepted the plane's certification in 1991.
Even after the first delivery to Finnair in 1990, the MD-11 still had several points that needed to be resolved.
The MD-11 has had problems with its flight control systems that have resulted in several accidents and incidents since the aircraft's introduction, further diminishing the aircraft's attractiveness.
In four years of development (1986 to 1990) McDonnell Douglas was unable to minimize the problems of its upgrade, and in four years of development Boeing managed to make the brand new 777 available to airlines.
With only 200 orders at the end, production only lasted from 1990 to 2001, when McDonnell Douglas was already in Boeing's hands.
operation and retirement
In Brazil, the MD-11 was operated by Varig, Vasp and TAM, the latter through a contract with Boeing, where the MD-11 would remain in the company's fleet while its new 777-300ER were being produced.
Over the years, the MD-11 went from being a enger aircraft to transporting cargo, and in the last two decades it has stood out in this last point.
Companies such as Fed Ex and Lufthansa Cargo operated with the MD-11, but several are replacing the triengines with the freighter version of the Boeing 777.
The 777F has a 15% lower operating cost compared to the MD-11, plus it can haul approximately 100 tonnes, while the MD-11 can haul 80 tonnes.
Last November, Lufthansa Cargo removed from its fleet the last MD-11F that left the McDonnell Douglas assembly line, registration D-ALCN and construction number 48806.
The aircraft was removed from the assembly line, to start pre-delivery test flights, on February 22, 2001, already as a freighter, since the last MD-11 for engers was manufactured in 1998.
Probably a good part of the MD-11 will be retired in this decade, with few active units remaining after 2025.
