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The Wide-Body Wars (747 vs DC-10 vs L-1011 vs A300)


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#1
NicholaiGaul

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Not sure what you all think about the 1970s, but the 1970s in the airline industry just fascinates me, as there is a surge of new wide-body airliners to carry more passengers to rake in more money for the airline, along with a surge of new technology, such as the turbo-fan jet engines, fly-by-wire, and so on. But what matters the most for this forum is the big first four wide-body airliners, being the early 747 models, (747-100 & -200B,) the familiar DC-10, the whisperliner L-1011 Tristar, and the first wide-body twin-engine jet the Airbus A300 (A300B2 & A300B4.)

 

So, with it being 1969 in World R0, as well as the 1970s in a few other worlds currently in Airline Empires, I want to hear from the community on which first generation wide-body aircraft is your favorite and why? It doesn't need to be restricted to just picking one, and if you want to give your opinion on all four, then go on ahead!  :D

 

For me, I'm split down the middle between with the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar and the Airbus A300. Reason why I like the Tristar is not only it's a beautiful tri-jet, but is a really quiet plane (never seen one IRL,) and the air intake for the third engine in the tail is different, and a lot cleaner in how it works compared to the DC-10, where it's just a straight line through the bottom of the vertical stabilizer to the actual engine.

And then for the A300, it's not the first aircraft with fly-by-wire since Concorde has beaten to that, but it was also the first wide-body twin-engine jet, which you see those kinds of planes everywhere today, and is also what started the European manufacturer we all know and love today, Airbus.

 

Now, in terms of operating these two particular aircraft families on Airline Empires, I really do enjoy flying the Lockheed Tristars, as they tend to be more fuel efficient, and make a better profit for me. Then again, I could be wrong there since I never flew the DC-10 yet here on Airline Empires, but will in R0 when it becomes available for pre-orders. Either way, if the Tristar is ever available for purchase in any worlds that I'm in, you better believe I'm going to fly it! I'm just straight up hooked on flying that plane from how low the overall operating expenses are.  XD

With the A300, I see the A300 as the best choice for a high capacity domestic airliner for doing flights within the continent I have my airline based in. It's a great aircraft if you want to lower your slot and gate usage at airports, and like I said with the Tristar, I love how low the expenses and fuel burn is with the aircraft.

 

I have nothing against the classic 747s or the DC-10s, but I thought I would give them credit for how popular the two are. I do like the classic 747s, as there's nothing that can beat the iconic short hump that started it all. And for the DC-10s, I pretty much call them the "Golden Age" jet, since pretty much everyone use to fly them in real life. Same goes for the 747 as well.


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#2
Mutt

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I enjoy looking at airlines in the 80's (that deregulation... good/bad?), but I can definitely see the appeal to the 70s. As for me, hailing from the former Northwest home field, I have a soft spot for the DC-10 (It's also technically the only widebody I've flown on- ok, it was an MD-11, but my grandfather told me it was a DC-10 at the time). The DC-10 is also up there with the 747 with the most... colorful... history. It had a fair share of bad publicity (hell, even today naysayers call it the "Death Cruiser"), but it was a reliable passenger workhorse well into this century. 

 

In terms of AE, my realistic airlines are a little restricted... I believe if anything, the A300 will have to be for me (I'm a Cuban airline, so I have a general rule of no American airplanes, lol).



#3
gavonious.malaysia

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My absolute favorite 1970's widebody aircraft in AE is the DC-10-30. It has the best range of the original DC-10 family and a mid-sized capacity that allows me to use it on both my larger and smaller airlines (Lufthansa vs Icelandair) without any real compromise to frequency or gate usage. The only issue i have with it has to do with seating arrangements. I like to have my configurations at 2% F 12% C and 86% Y and have the economy class seating be a multiple of 7 to make adding flights to routes a lot cleaner to calculate. Because the max capacity is 399, I am 1 seat short of a perfect 315 Y set (7*45), whereas with the L-1011-250 (2nd favorite) has 400 max seating which allows me to have a perfect 7/42/315 arrangement.

As for 747's I have to say that I don't use them unless I have 400+ daily pax on LR routes for the -100/200B and 500+ for -300/400. I am using a ton of them in S3-A right now only because of their capacity and range, otherwise I would prefer to use the DC-10 and L-1011.

I use the A300 for intra-continental routes in whatever given continent I'm on.

In S3-A I have a long line of orders for the DC-10-30, L-1011-250, A300B4, and B742B.



#4
Mutt

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As for 747's I have to say that I don't use them unless I have 400+ daily pax on LR routes for the -100/200B and 500+ for -300/400. 

 

Oh definitely, my sandbox airline had two 747-400Ds just to milk the 1200 daily pax route I stumbled across  :D



#5
bAnderson

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  1. DC-10
  2. 747
  3. L1011 (EDIT: Great when used correctly, but hard to use correctly)
  4. A300 (Piece of crap, used it a few times but is nothing compared to the 767-300)

In the transition from 707/DC-8s to the original wide-bodies, the DC-10 seems like a good choice for first due to a less sizable capacity compared to a 747. Obviously it is still larger than the 707/DC-8, but the three engines makes it a profitable step. The early 747s were great aircraft for routes with any sort of range, although I like the DC-10 for that as well. The L1011 is a weird concept to me, a wide body domestic aircraft. With early 737s and DC-9s, I don't really find a need for the Tristars. My theory has always been Quantity is Quality, so the more daily flights I have, the better, even if it's not with larger aircraft. The A300? Besides tail fins flying off, I just dislike the plane. Why fly an A300 when a DC-10 is readily available? That's my opinion.


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#6
DeltaA350

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1. 747

More passengers=More Profit

2. L1011

3.DC10

4.A300

Looks like s***



#7
Jarkii

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I use all of them, for different circumstances:

 

A300B4 - medium hall, low-medium demand

A300-600/ER same as A300B4, but longer range  (RECOMMENDED)

 

747-100 medium-long hall, short runways

747-200B/C medium-long haul, high demand

747SP Ultra Long hall, any demand (RECOMMEND)

 

DC-10-10 Medium haul, medium-high demand

DC-10-30 Medium-long haul, medium-high demand (RECOMMENDED)

DC-10-40 same as DC-10-30

DC-10-15 Short-medium haul, short runways

 

L-1011-1 Medium hall, medium demand

L-1011-200 Medium-long haul, medium demand (RECOMMENDED)

L-1011-250 same as L-1011

L-1011-500 Long haul, low-medium demand 



#8
Red Air Group

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Comparing A300 with 747-100 is just like comparing A330 with 747-400... Different purposes.



#9
LJ Aviation

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I use A300-600/767-200/767-300 for short/medium-haul high-demand routes, 747SPs on longhaul and thin routes, because I don't operate routes with too much competition on longhauls, and I like 747SP because they require less runway, and smaller than normal 747s. I use 757 for trans-atlantic flights with less demand ex: (Nashville-Gatwick, Providence to Heathrow) I don't like DC-10s because they are just legit ugly


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#10
LJ Aviation

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I use all of them, for different circumstances:

 

A300B4 - medium hall, low-medium demand

A300-600/ER same as A300B4, but longer range  (RECOMMENDED)

 

747-100 medium-long hall, short runways

747-200B/C medium-long haul, high demand

747SP Ultra Long hall, any demand (RECOMMEND)

 

DC-10-10 Medium haul, medium-high demand

DC-10-30 Medium-long haul, medium-high demand (RECOMMENDED)

DC-10-40 same as DC-10-30

DC-10-15 Short-medium haul, short runways

 

L-1011-1 Medium hall, medium demand

L-1011-200 Medium-long haul, medium demand (RECOMMENDED)

L-1011-250 same as L-1011

L-1011-500 Long haul, low-medium demand 

747SP is SO BAD

The fuel flow is so high

NEVER FLY THEM

Unless you really want to open ULH routes


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