Thanksgiving (long) weekend is a good time for a bit of extra Simming fun and adventure, for some of us, around this part of the world,...especially under these travel restricted times...BTW, I caught (news) pictures of my old Airport, O'Hare, quite crowded with (long) lines of waiting travelers...(bit of an un-nerving sight in terms of social-distancing). Anyway, I was set on purchasing the DC Designs Concorde, from Just Flight, but, there, accidentally, I ran into the Sky Simulations DC9, though, neither A/C on any kind of Black Friday SALE. In our SIM world, DC9 happens to be a permanent classic of an unforgettable plane, (personally, I vaguely recall, I'd (last) flown either the F1/CoolSky DC-9 or the SkySim DC-9 (completely different products, btw), years ago, but, somehow, lost it, during my years of break from SIM). In RW operations, DC9s are long gone from commercial air-travel. Back in 1965, 55 years ago, Delta Airlines was the first to introduce the DC9-10 into service, and, just (5-6) years ago, in January, 2014, Delta Air Lines was also the last to retire the DC-9, the oldest passenger plane in the fleet of any major U.S. airline.

I recall, just before Christmas of 2013, I'd travelled on a Delta DC9, so, I was probably on-board one of those (last) DC9s, on their last legs. And, the age of the plane had showed...Nonetheless, since the earliest time of my aviation interest, the (T-Tail) DC9 has always appealed to my senses (and probably to many of us simmers, as well), due to its nostalgic nature...a plane, that served with worldwide operators, for half-a-century, and, even today, continues to operate in limited service.

I'm flying here the middle variant (DC-9-30) of the DC-9 pack (-10 to -50), in the Freighter version. SkySim has simulated all five main variants plus (-10F/-30F). They have provided two cockpit color options of "blue" - more correctly "turquoise" - (reminds me of Russian cockpits...🙂...) or the "grey" cockpit interiors. I've chosen, here, (first time, for myself), to fly, the "grey" virtual-cockpit DC-9, in the somewhat less-known livery of Airborne Express. Airborne Express had a curious origin, founded as the Airborne Flower Traffic Association of California, in 1946, to fly flowers from Hawaii to the US Mainland. This Cargo airline would be, later, re-branded/renamed as ABX Air, in 2003, as the result of a spin-off from the merger of Airborne and DHL. The sample flight, of this post, spans the short distance between Munich (EDDM) and Cologne Bonn (EDDK). Bonn, I've selected, because this Airport is DHL Express's global headquarters, as part of its (parent) Deutsche Post. And, as stated above, there being a connection between Airborne Express and DHL, I've illustrated, here, a sample of screenshots of the Airborne Express, lifting off from Munich, and, for contrast, the DHL (also a DC-9-30F variant) landing, in dusk-light, at Bonn - symbolic of the fact that Airborne had lost its original identity by dissolution via its acquisition by DHL. So, below, please do note the change of livery midway through the shots, and thereafter.

DC-9 had no FMC nor any other advanced avionics features (see pedestal shots and pop-up for the (basic) Sperry SP-50A Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS)). The (Autopilot) NAV Mode selector Knob, as simulated, here, when set to [VORLOC] or [LS], admirably, provided perfect (and steady) Localizer and Glideslope guidance for landing etc...(see screenshots). It was, all, surely, bit of an off-beat experience, but was good fun, flying the DC9, again, here, after so many years...And, I hope you enjoy these, below, pictures, of this classic Douglas aircraft, that would eventually lead to the highly successful MD-80/MD-90 series, and even later to the B717.

Happy flying with whatever you are flying this week/weekend. It looks like folks are re-discovering North America, all over again,...🙂...And, Happy Thanksgiving to the folks in U.S....!!

[SkySim(DC-9-30F), Orbx(Germany-South), REX]

Great set of screenies for Sky Sim's stable mate to their MD-11  I like how they've used old school switches on the ground assistance pop-up as opposed to buttons on the MD-11 version.

***Brilliant*** I remember that livery,Love that Old School "Steam Gauge" Cockpit also,

18 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Great set of screenies for Sky Sim's stable mate to their MD-11  I like how they've used old school switches on the ground assistance pop-up as opposed to buttons on the MD-11 version.

Mark:

Appreciated the comments. Look what you did to me...🙂...first you sent me to buy the Concorde, then tempted and sidetracked me with the DC9...🙂,...more seriously, but for the (ever-present) "Sky Simulations" Tag in your posts, I would have bypassed this DC9. It's clearly legacy and does not have the visual polish of the latest SIMs, but, was quite a good source of fun, and did well for me, since, It has been probably a decade when I last flew the CoolSky/SkySim DC9. BTW, Mark, I did look at the CoolSky DC9 too, on the F1 Website, prior to this purchase, but, that DC9 seems bundled with their MD-80, as I noticed...

And, yes, the collective switches popup, I've shown, is an easy interface, usable, while in the external view...

 

3 hours ago, Phantom88 said:

***Brilliant*** I remember that livery,Love that Old School "Steam Gauge" Cockpit also,

Patrick:

Thanks...!! Agree, can't go wrong with old-school appeal of steam-gauges...🙂...!

You tipped me to look around, a bit, on-line, and, first of all, I spotted several pictures of Airborne Express DC9 at e.g. O'Hare...

But, more interestingly, if you wish, please search "jetphotos aviation photos" and type the registration "N935AX", the ID, I've shown for my livery...here...you'll see a lovely image of the same (RW) plane, caught at "John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (CYHM)" Canada, in July 2004.

On 11/27/2020 at 5:51 PM, P_7878 said:

Look what you did to me...🙂...first you sent me to buy the Concorde, then tempted and sidetracked me with the DC9.

Glad I could help!