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- Alabamamania
These passengers are polar workers - tough Siberian men. They are used to extreme situations and not used to complain about an "uncomfortable trip". These people can start an engine with their alcohol breath. Push a plane to start? Ha, piece of cake!
I read this a few minutes before my own flight had a delay because the first tug wouldn't start up. Fifteen minutes later, the second one was fired up and we were away. Ah, the joys of the regional airports...but we made it on time, so it's all good. It was the day before Thanksgiving, so I would have pushed it if need be!
Some airlines apparently don't look too kindly to a gentle thrust-reversing away from the gate, since it puts unnecessary wear on a multi-million dollar engine. I've only seen it once (an MD Super 80 series at tiny HTS Airport) and it does look pretty cool; kind of like how a race car bolts away from a 180 spin by momenting it back into line and zipping away.
Looking back, it seems like MD-11s had a really short life in the world of passenger jet usage? By comparison, trijet DC-10s and other DC-9 or Super 80/90 variants seemed to last decades longer; all made essentially by the same manufacturers. What was the deal? Just an inefficient design or were not enough produced (due to MD's acquisition by Boeing) to leave the same historical record?
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