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!
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.
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.