I've learned that rarely exists in the hotel save for the rare ones that have their own restaurants. About the only redeeming quality of one of the old NK hotels in IAH was you got the restaurant breakfast for free and it was pretty damn good.
Having flown all 3 airplanes, I can 100% vouch for your Toyota Camry comparison.
Guilty as charged.I do get that aspect for you guys. I'm just saying your dreams make you nerds
There is definitely some of that out there, although i'd say it's mostly on the 777. I flew the 747 and it's a footnote to my career. The MD11 is something different....
I wear the nerd badge with honor!I do get that aspect for you guys. I'm just saying your dreams make you nerds
MD-11 by far was a my all time favorite to fly. Glad I got to retire on it. It was just enough of a challenge to maintain my interest and not allow myself to get sloppy. A true old school Cadillac of the skies once you mastered its flying idiosyncrasy’s. Waaay ahead of it’s time with regards to the automation and system controllers. Loved that jet!
I heard at TK ANC DC10 will be in the next vacancy
In general, just about everything!
Two engine ILS’s were identical to 3 engine ILS’s. The jet would autoland on two engines. Losing a second engine was a different monster and I won’t get into that. I still have night sweats over those sim scenarios.
That’s an awesome write up! Thanks!In general, just about everything!
Flying domestically the weights were such (MTOW was in the 630K range but typically flew it around 450-480K domestic weights) that it was a woefully overpowered tank of an airplane. The automatic system controllers took care of most non-normals which freed you up to concentrate on flying as priority #1. Many times you’d just grab the QRH after everything settles down and verify what was already done automatically.
Flying wise..it had very heavy control feel (ala..DC-8 type heaviness), especially roll….not so much on pitch but much more than the other fleet types. Anyone who flew Metroliners would understand what I mean. Hated it at first after 25 yrs of flying finger tip aircraft like the Boeings and Airbus but actually preferred it while hand flying IFR as it was a more stable feel.
Flying the Bus I was lucky to get .78-79 and routinely cruised in the low to mid 30’s unless you were super light. I remember climbing to FL410 in the Maddog-lemon and it was still climbing at 2000+ fpm while doing .85 and I kept having to override the autothrottles while pulling the power back to keep from exceeding redline near .86. I remember quietly smiling to myself and thinking “Wow” this ain’t the Bus.
It was a super quiet aircraft up front for the pilots. We routinely flew without headsets above FL180 while doing Mach .85 and having normal volume conversations. The quietness was actually very eerie to me at first because the Boeing (especially the freighter versions) and Bus were extremely loud with wind, packs and system noises. You don’t realize how fatiguing that can be. One other thing….gear extension on the MD produced “ZERO” noise,vibration or noticeable pitch change. My first OE flight I called “gear down”, my OE instructor lowered the gear handle and I didn’t feel the normal loud Airbus “THUNK” or feel any vibration or pitch change. After what seemed like an eternity I started seeing green gear lights one by one illuminate. I literally thought we were having gear problems but my OE instructor’s demeanor didn’t change while waiting so I figured we weren’t about to die. It took me a solid year of flying it regularly before my heart didn’t skip a beat everytime I put the gear handle down while waiting for those green lights. Anyone who has flown the Boeings or especially the Airbus knows there is no doubt the gear is coming up or down. Everything about the A300 was slow and loud…hated that.
The automation (NAV/Profile) was super smooth and very accurate and the uploading of routes, weight/balance and V-speeds was much nicer than previous FMC fleets I was on. The autopilot was extremely smooth with pitch and roll. So much so (since we flew boxes and didn’t care) we would many times override the LVL change because it was designed to not upset high dollar paying passengers or spill their drinks and took forever to make pitch changes. The MD wired the ILS like a pit bull hanging on the last bone and autolandings were eye wateringly smooth while actually being on centerline. The Bus…meh! 30’ either side of centerline was acceptable and not always pretty with a “that’s good enough” attitude from the autopilot.
V1 cuts were a piece of cake. Autopilot on at 400ft and sit back and watch it follow the engine out profile with rudder assist (parallel rudder). Special engine out procedure were in the FMC database and the jet would follow them…accurately. System controllers configured the Hyd’s, Fuel management and Bleed configs automatically while you sipped your coffee on the engine out…you know, while you contemplated deep Captain thoughts.
Best thing about it! It just plain looked f@cking cool! I got more positive comments from folks while flying it than in my entire career prior. I never walked off the jet without looking back at the tail engine area and just thought “wow…what a cool looking beast of an airplane”. Nothing else out there looks like the MD-11 and it has aged well in a sea of different sized twin engine jets. Never paid much attention to the Bus while walking off. I thought the B757 looked sleek and sexy but never thought the B767 was cool looking. BTW…always liked the looks of the B727-200 lawn dart too as I spent time on it as a FE and FO.
Anyway…sorry for rambling on. Probably more than you wanted. Just warm memories of the Maddog.
Could not have said it better myself.In general, just about everything!
Flying domestically the weights were such (MTOW was in the 630K range but typically flew it around 450-480K domestic weights) that it was a woefully overpowered tank of an airplane. The automatic system controllers took care of most non-normals which freed you up to concentrate on flying as priority #1. Many times you’d just grab the QRH after everything settles down and verify what was already done automatically.
Flying wise..it had very heavy control feel (ala..DC-8 type heaviness), especially roll….not so much on pitch but much more than the other fleet types. Anyone who flew Metroliners would understand what I mean. Hated it at first after 25 yrs of flying finger tip aircraft like the Boeings and Airbus but actually preferred it while hand flying IFR as it was a more stable feel.
Flying the Bus I was lucky to get .78-79 and routinely cruised in the low to mid 30’s unless you were super light. I remember climbing to FL410 in the Maddog-lemon and it was still climbing at 2000+ fpm while doing .85 and I kept having to override the autothrottles while pulling the power back to keep from exceeding redline near .86. I remember quietly smiling to myself and thinking “Wow” this ain’t the Bus.
It was a super quiet aircraft up front for the pilots. We routinely flew without headsets above FL180 while doing Mach .85 and having normal volume conversations. The quietness was actually very eerie to me at first because the Boeing (especially the freighter versions) and Bus were extremely loud with wind, packs and system noises. You don’t realize how fatiguing that can be. One other thing….gear extension on the MD produced “ZERO” noise,vibration or noticeable pitch change. My first OE flight I called “gear down”, my OE instructor lowered the gear handle and I didn’t feel the normal loud Airbus “THUNK” or feel any vibration or pitch change. After what seemed like an eternity I started seeing green gear lights one by one illuminate. I literally thought we were having gear problems but my OE instructor’s demeanor didn’t change while waiting so I figured we weren’t about to die. It took me a solid year of flying it regularly before my heart didn’t skip a beat everytime I put the gear handle down while waiting for those green lights. Anyone who has flown the Boeings or especially the Airbus knows there is no doubt the gear is coming up or down. Everything about the A300 was slow and loud…hated that.
The automation (NAV/Profile) was super smooth and very accurate and the uploading of routes, weight/balance and V-speeds was much nicer than previous FMC fleets I was on. The autopilot was extremely smooth with pitch and roll. So much so (since we flew boxes and didn’t care) we would many times override the LVL change because it was designed to not upset high dollar paying passengers or spill their drinks and took forever to make pitch changes. The MD wired the ILS like a pit bull hanging on the last bone and autolandings were eye wateringly smooth while actually being on centerline. The Bus…meh! 30’ either side of centerline was acceptable and not always pretty with a “that’s good enough” attitude from the autopilot.
V1 cuts were a piece of cake. Autopilot on at 400ft and sit back and watch it follow the engine out profile with rudder assist (parallel rudder). Special engine out procedure were in the FMC database and the jet would follow them…accurately. System controllers configured the Hyd’s, Fuel management and Bleed configs automatically while you sipped your coffee on the engine out…you know, while you contemplated deep Captain thoughts.
Best thing about it! It just plain looked f@cking cool! I got more positive comments from folks while flying it than in my entire career prior. I never walked off the jet without looking back at the tail engine area and just thought “wow…what a cool looking beast of an airplane”. Nothing else out there looks like the MD-11 and it has aged well in a sea of different sized twin engine jets. Never paid much attention to the Bus while walking off. I thought the B757 looked sleek and sexy but never thought the B767 was cool looking. BTW…always liked the looks of the B727-200 lawn dart too as I spent time on it as a FE and FO.
Anyway…sorry for rambling on. Probably more than you wanted. Just warm memories of the Maddog.
In n out in CA is a whole level up. Took the kids there when we did our SFO trip last month.