Airliners-India.com Flickr Group & Facebook    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  I go to Amerikaa on the McDonnell Douglas MD-83          Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:34 pm    Post subject: I go to Amerikaa on the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Pictures can be found on my blog Link Also along with this you may like to visit another post on my blog - my experiences in Mexico The Mexican Wave --------------------------------------------- As my destination in Mexico, shifted from Mexico City to Monterrey, the travel plan had to be rearranged. The AeroMexico ride from Mexico City to Dallas, my next destination in this trip had to be modified. Options were explored and there were some great options on United via Houston on ERJ which meant another Embraer and a new type, but repeat for airport and airline. Besides this would not be a direct flight and depending on the rush for immigration, connection time will have to be managed. A quick search resulted in few direct flights on this sector, being operated by American Airlines with MD83. Voila! A new airline and a new type – yet again! Flight confirmation was quick - AA1272 operated by MD-83 non-stop from Monterrey(MTY) to Dallas Forth Worth(DFW). Aviation is an addiction, one is never satisfied. I did a search again, to check if I can land at Dallas Love Field, since my Lufthansa flight back would be from DFW, so I would touch DFW in any case, but there weren't viable options. A weekend before this flight, I decided to know more about the MD-83. Last year, I was close to their plant in California, but never got an opportunity to visit it. It was also the first time I had seen the MD-80 series because of its next to NIL presence in ASEAN. It indeed is an interesting aircraft with great history. I never imagined it would seat so many to be honest, but I am not a fan of 2-3 seating. This would also be my first flight on such a seating. I had only seen this in the SSJ at Aero India in 2011. This would also be an experience of the P&W JT-8D powerplants after such a long time, the last I remember was in 2006 between Hyderabad and Mumbai on the rickety Alliance Air B737-200. Code: MD-83 B737-800 A320 Seating Capacity 172 189 180 Length 45.01M 39.5M 37.57M Wingspan 32.82M 35.7M 34.1M Fuselage Width 3.35M 3.76M 3.95M MTOW 72600KG 79010KG 78000KG Wow, the MD-83 is longer than the B738. Interesting ride this one will be. No flight of mine is complete without tracking rotations and in case of American Airlines; it is the most difficult job to do so. None the less I tried observing the pattern and this time around guessed it right! American Airlines did not allow seat blocking till web-check in opened and I later realized it did not allow that even after web-check in opened! Limited seats were available till then and all at a cost. I logged in 24 hours before the flight and it had auto assigned seats to my colleague & me, 11E/F – sadly on the right which was a set of three seats but in premium economy. I wanted to be seated in the rear to get a closer view of the engines. All the American Airlines MD80 series aircraft are a legacy of TWA and so was my aircraft an ex-TWA bird. Glad to have made it on this flight and aircraft, which are being slowly phased out and replaced with more efficient aircraft in similar seating configuration. Monterrey airport is located about 35kms away from the city and has three terminals, named A,B and C. With A being used by all airlines except AeroMexico which uses B and VivaAerobus which uses C. The two busiest routes as listed on the web are to Mexico City (from where I came) on the domestic leg and Dallas (where I am headed) on the international segment. The airport has two runways with the longer being 9843Feet (Runway 11/29). Monterrey stay took us to a lot of places to eat – including Curry Sultan which is the only Indian place in the entire Northern part of Mexico. The locals with whom we went liked it and compared the gravy of Butter Chicken to Mole (pronounced MOLEY) which is a delicacy in Mexico. The way the Butter Chicken was made, I agreed that it was closer to Mole. The place was only 70% authentic. Other places included some Italian food chains and Chilis & Apple bees. A visit to a French café – Le Marche was a total flop, since their entire menu has only Mexican Dishes. Knowing that taxi’s and I don’t get along well, we had requested the hotel for a taxi at 0515 hours, which came late and amidst heavy rains we made our way to the airport. There was a long queue at American Airlines counter and the check-in machine suggested that we need assistance to check-in, which was promptly available. This was to check our visa and confirm. Baggage was drop was quick, after we made it to the counter and we proceeded for security. There is no dedicated immigration while departing from Mexico, the counterfoil given at the time of entering the country is attached with the boarding pass and kept by the airline. The passport is not stamped, similar to that in USA. terminal is small and with not much of a view. Our aircraft had already landed the night before and parked at Gate 7, from where we would do a zone wise boarding. I noticed that there was a flight boarding to Chihuahua and wondered if the dogs are named after this place and yes it indeed was the case! Boarding was announced 45 mins before departure time and before that - announcements were done for some Senguptas and Iyers – I wondered how many Indians are suddenly visible around as we head to the USA. My colleague remarked if zone wise boarding has shifted to Name wise boarding. We were in Zone 3 and part of last call. The aircraft looked small, but I was expecting this. The yellow lighting was also on the expected lines but travelling in a vintage like MD-83 would mean ignoring all such things and seeing and experiencing most of the aircraft in this short ride. I was overwhelmed with emotions as I entered the aircraft, only to be interrupted by my colleague who quipped that the aircraft looks pretty much like the State Transport bus which has 2 by 3 seating. Doors were closed at 0838 in what looked like an On Time Departure. This was followed by a lot of noise, and every time a cool air blast for few seconds. The safety demo followed. The Pilot came on PA at 0851 to announce a delay since APU is not starting and they are waiting for the ground unit to come and start. It was getting stuffy inside the plane. Around 0910 the APU started and was followed by a push back at 0917, engine start and taxi to runway 29 from where we made a memorable takeoff. The climb rate and angle was much more than any previous experience and I will remember it for a lifetime. I would compare that to the MD-11F I have seen so many times at Bengaluru, taking off like a rocket with over 30 degrees climb angle. Soon we stabilized at FL330, as announced by the captain and the quick drink run started. I opted for Water & Orange Juice. All those who complain about Air India Flight Attendants and other airlines in Indian skies, need to definitely be on such American flights, where things were being dumped on to you and next row was serviced. The FA also did not allow people to use the loo since it was a short flight. However, I did manage to make a quick dash to the aisle and walk till the back of the plane to see the 4th emergency exit from the tail, the loo, engines and the galley along with the 4 seats between the galley and the toilets. Since the flight was absolutely full, there was no way to go near the windows and click pictures of the engine. Descent started at 1010 and we landed at 1034 on runway 36L, one of the 7 runways at Dallas – head quarter and hub for American Airlines. DFW is largest airport in terms of area, behind Denver, in USA; third busiest airport in world by movements and ninth busiest in terms of Traffic. It has direct connections to 205 places! The hub and connections were evident since the FA announced a long list of connections and gates for passengers who are onboard. Immigration was relatively quicker with no forms now and baggage was already rolling on the belt when I reached. Customs was fast too. Dallas has limited public transport and in this case where we are not going for car rental, it’s going to be a challenge. Aircraft Details American Airlines MD-83 Registration: N978TW / MSN: 53628 Delivered to TWA in Oct’99.Switched to AA in 2001. Currently in old AA livery Seating Configuration: 16J, 124Y All of which was full in this flight STD/ATD: 0845/0917 STA/ATA: 1035/1036 On-Time: 3/5 Website &Check-in: 2/5 Check-in & airport experience: 4/5 Aircraft Cleanliness: 4/5 In-flight experience: 3/5 Food: N/A Alighting & Arrival experience: 4/5 [/code][url][/url] _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:40 pm    Post subject: Sir, this reply is in two sections, one for each part of your report. The Mexican Wave - My experiences in Mexico I guess I am one of the few lucky ones to have had a preview to some of this, especially the scary security situation in Monterrey, which I had hoped Mrs. Joshi would not read, at least while you were there. Thank you for a characteristically well-written piece, complete with a great introduction, which included the part about the pun on the `Mexican wave'. Thanks for a very interesting perspective on Monterrey, the people, the ways and habits, and ...of course, the food. Tortillas: I remember my shock and surprise at seeing one in a joint in Ames, Iowa as a young boy, in the late 1970s: that was before the Mex food became popular across the US. Trust you to notice oddities in spellings, and words! Thanks for a perspective on an exotic place which is not really a conventional destination! And yes, the last picture is a real beauty! I go to Amerikaa on the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Great perspective on the planning, and a nice comparison of the MD-83 with two of its `competitors'. As usual, your descriptions had me glued to the screen. I also recounted the gchat discussion we had on the tail-engined planes, and their high angle of attack. Great pictures Sir, and thanks for a sneak preview of the MadDog sign picture. And yes, another report from you that makes compulsive reading! Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 7:16 am    Post subject: Thanks Sir – for the kind words about Monterrey report and the MD-83 The last picture is clicked while taking a walk in hotel premises, after few days of rain, the only source of entertainment – Swimming pool was in such a bad shape that the best way to kill time was to take long walk on hotel premises. I discussed the High AoA of MD-83 with a few people, including Shukla jee, and the agreement indeed is that it is because of tail mounted engines. This as well as multiple other take offs I saw at DFW, the MD-83 takes off much later than others and then zooms up at high AoA _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top jbalonso777 Member Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 1501 Location: Never, never land Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:17 pm    Post subject: Great TR sir! Again, the usual Ameya sir style of pictures and details! Looking forward to the return flights, on the LH birds! Regards Jish _________________ http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777 Back to top Nimish Member Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 9757 Location: Bangalore, India Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:26 pm    Post subject: Good to read both reports. The Mexico thing had me quite amazed that a country so close to the US has such lack of basic security for citizens. _________________ We miss you Nalini! Back to top ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:34 pm    Post subject: Nimish wrote: Good to read both reports. The Mexico thing had me quite amazed that a country so close to the US has such lack of basic security for citizens. Yes! All because of gangs trying to get drugs across to US _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top sri_bom Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:13 pm    Post subject: Thank you for posting a great trip report and I had the same rocket like take off experince when I flew the MD80 also know as super 80 when I was on a business trip to US. I could not help laughing regarding your friends comment: "I was overwhelmed with emotions as I entered the aircraft, only to be interrupted by my colleague who quipped that the aircraft looks pretty much like the State Transport bus which has 2 by 3 seating" Sri_Bom Back to top ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:15 pm    Post subject: sri_bom wrote: Thank you for posting a great trip report and I had the same rocket like take off experince when I flew the MD80 also know as super 80 when I was on a business trip to US. I could not help laughing regarding your friends comment: "I was overwhelmed with emotions as I entered the aircraft, only to be interrupted by my colleague who quipped that the aircraft looks pretty much like the State Transport bus which has 2 by 3 seating" Sri_Bom Thanks for the kind words ! Retrospectively its worth laughing.. not when you step inside MD-83 ! _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports All times are GMT + 5.5 Hours Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum New Members----------------Sign-up Guidelines Airliners-India----------------Civil AviationNon AviationTrip ReportsMilitary Aviation & SpaceInternationalAviation Polls & PreferenceTech/OpsAviation PhotographyEditorial/Analysis/ArticlesAviation HobbyAviation LawAviation Questions & CareersSite Related Flickr Group----------------Photo of the Month My Message Board----------------Pin Up  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. 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