McDonnell Douglas DC-10/-10(F)

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 / MD-10-10 (F) and DC-10-30 / MD-10-30 (F) are all variants of the classic DC-10 trijet. Primarily used as a cargo freighter in it's later years, this plane was once a prominent passenger airliner. It's three engine design bridged the gap between the larger Boeing 747 and smaller wide-body airplanes of the time like the Boeing 767. The decline and demise of the DC-10 as a passenger airliner was as most airplanes, due to the introduction of larger, more fuel efficient, twin-engine, wide-body aircraft like the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 777 that could do the same job but at less cost. The 'DC' stands for Douglas Corporation, the original designer and producer of the airplane. The MD refers to the fact that the airplane has been updated to have a glass cockpit just like it's cousin, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. The 'F' denotes that the airplane is a cargo aircraft or freighter.