McDonnell-Douglas MD-11
| MD-11 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| KLM MD-11 departing Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in 2011. | |
| Role | Wide-body jet airliner |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer |
McDonnell Douglas Boeing Commercial Airplanes |
| First flight | January 10, 1990 |
| Introduction | December 1990 with Finnair |
| Status | In service as cargo aircraft |
| Primary users |
FedEx Express UPS Airlines Lufthansa Cargo Western Global Airlines |
| Produced | 1988–2000 |
| Number built | 200 |
| Developed from | McDonnell Douglas DC-10 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cutaway | |
 McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cutaway from Flightglobal.com
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The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American three-engine medium- to long-range wide-body jet airliner, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and, later, by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Based on the DC-10, it features a stretched fuselage, increased wingspan with winglets, refined airfoils on the wing and smaller tailplane, new engines and increased use of composite materials. Two of its engines are mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. It also features a glass cockpit that decreases the flight deck crew from the three required on the DC-10 to two by eliminating the need for a flight engineer.
Although the MD-11 program was launched in 1986, McDonnell Douglas started to search for a DC-10 derivative as early as 1976. Two versions were considered then, a DC-10-10 with a fuselage stretch of 40 feet (12 m) and a DC-10-30 stretched by 30 feet (9.1 m). That later version would have been capable of transporting up to 340 passengers in a multi-class configuration, or 277 passengers and their luggage over 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km). At the same time, the manufacturer was seeking to reduce wing and engine drag on the trijet. Another version of the aircraft was also envisaged, the "DC-10 global", aimed to counter the risks of loss of orders for the DC-10-30 that the Boeing 747SP and its range were creating. The DC-10 global would have incorporated more fuel tanks.
While continuing their research for a new aircraft, McDonnell Douglas designated the program DC-10 Super 60, previously known for a short time as DC-10 Super 50. The Super 60 was to be an intercontinental aircraft incorporating many aerodynamic improvements in the wings, and a fuselage lengthened by 26 feet 8 inches (8.13 m) to allow for up to 350 passengers to be seated in a mixed-class layout, compared to 275 in the same configuration of the DC-10.
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