United Douglas DC-8 Promo Film

United Douglas DC-8 Promo Film - 1959

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Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture

10 жыл бұрын

Re-upped with better colour. Same uniform Mom wore...CHECK. "United" titles on the port wing...CHECK. Early "Black Button" nose...CHECK. P&W JT3C-6 turbojets...CHECK. White horisontal stabs...CHECK. Sorry, the end of the film is missing. Many thanks to Rick Prelinger at the Internet Archive. Be sure to check my channel for the best in VINTAGE & RARE airliner videos!
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Пікірлер: 138

@EricLehner 5 жыл бұрын

It fascinates me how this era was characterized by “pride of purpose”. Accomplishment was respected, even in simple things.

@mcdonnell220 5 жыл бұрын

Yup. :-)

@jangunnarolsen5946 8 жыл бұрын

Folks! Those were the days. Started myself 2years after this Promo film from 1959 in SAS ( Scandinavien Airlines System), nowadays called Scandinavian. In 1973-76 I was a Station manager and responsible for our DC8-62 operation in Monrovia, Liberia West Africa. At that time we operated from Copenhagen via Zürich and Monrovia to South America( read Rio De Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Santiago De Chile) and back. In my opinion the DC8 was one of the best, if not the best, commercial jet aircrat ever!

@mcdonnell220 8 жыл бұрын

+Jan Gunnar Olsen Jan, do you recall the two CV-990s SAS had? Any memories there? Our family used to fly to Copenhagen during the '60s on SAS DC-8s, the best of times for me.

@Vektorer 7 жыл бұрын

The credits didn't say, but that was Les Tremayne doing the narration. He had a classic set of pipes!

@DaPlatinumJedi 5 жыл бұрын

UA803 flight number is still in use today. The routing is Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Narita International Airport (NRT). Equipment currently in use is B772.

@colincofield3747 7 жыл бұрын

42 years ago flying was "A new hotel on wings". Nowadays, it's a "Capsule hotel with wings".

@TXnine7nine 7 жыл бұрын

While I'll agree that it's not nearly as luxurious anymore, the price has also gone down so that more people can fly. May not seem that way but in comparison, but back then only the extremely wealthy or those getting it paid for through their jobs could afford to fly. Very much an exclusive experience back then.

@mark5862 6 жыл бұрын

TXnine7nine this film disagrees, truth is probably somewhere in the middle. One thing is for sure, air travel is only about getting from point a to b now.

@lesbrown9338 5 жыл бұрын

Notice how nice people looked and acted. Gawd, I miss those days.

@Pithecanthropus2483 6 жыл бұрын

I always preferred the look of the DC-8 over its competitor the B-707. i think it was those larger windows that seem to be a little more square and thereby recall the look of the earlier DC piston driven models. And when flying in a DC-8 those large windows made for a more pleasant passenger experience. Thanks for sharing!

@cherifbar 6 жыл бұрын

The golden age of aviation! Thanks for this video.

@thearmchairaviator3136 5 жыл бұрын

That cutaway model is magnificent. I would love to have that at home. Great film of a classic aircraft.

@dansmusic4579 5 жыл бұрын

That sounds like real fun! I sure wish I could have flown the DC-8 in airline service with United Airlines. Oh... wait... I did! In fact, I flew as a pilot on the DC-8 with United until the day they parked the last one in the 'boneyard' or sold them (mostly to UPS). We had the latest version, the stretch fuselage with the big CFM engines. Great flying, just like in this video, based in SFO, I flew it to airports from Boston to Honolulu. My favorites were (of course), Maui, Kona, and Honolulu. We never flew the DC-8 international. It took real skill (and lots of landings) to get the DC-8 to land smoothly. But I must admit, I got pretty good at it. Sadly, the service on board was no longer like you see in this film, the 'red carpet room' and 'coach lounge' gave way to 'pack in more seats!' Six across in coach and 4 across in first class. The Hawaii flight had our Flight Attendants (please don't call them 'stewardess' anymore!) dressed in beautiful Hawaiian 'mu-mu' dresses. And they served cheese cake cut before your eyes, and terrific steak and chicken and fish meals -- you had a choice!. But the treatment of passengers by the airline, check in, boarding, seating comfort in coach, in 19871990 was no longer as you see in this film Passengers no longer showed up in nice suits and neckties and ladies no longer wore dresses and hats. Those days were long gone. Flip flops, shorts, tank tops, (Hawaii flights) or just jeans, sweatshirts, hoodies and parkas (Newark, Boston, JFK destinations) became the clothes of the day. Oh how I wish it was like this film, all over again. Captain Dan

@HC-cb4yp 5 жыл бұрын

They broke the sound barrier from 5:50 to 6:38.

@markdraper3469 6 жыл бұрын

So much to relate to...My Dad & his Dad worked at Douglas back in the day. Paper tapes like @ 4:00 were still used for training sims when I was in the USAF. I even had the Polaroid @ 8:44 in my collection. Remember, at that time, anyone old enough to drive had lived during the war and some Depression era kids weren't yet 30. On the ground, there were still some places with party lines and soap operas on RADIO were just about gone. Films like this helped sell not just an "improved" present but different future. We just didn't know how different.

@jeffr32467 5 жыл бұрын

A coach lounge...I cannot imagine such a thing.

@bws468 6 жыл бұрын

Definitely a different era. Back then, only the well heeled could afford to fly, and they dressed the part. Deregulation changed that. When the masses could fly regularly, they didn't see it as a special event, so they didn't feel the need to dress up.

@markdraper3469 6 жыл бұрын

It's a symbiotic relationship. If you provide cattle class, the cattle will come.

@johnmiller9024 5 жыл бұрын

Juan Trippe abd Boeing changed that with the 747

@SpazticColin 9 жыл бұрын

Loved the big windows on those DC-8s.

@mark5862 6 жыл бұрын

SpazticColin MD88s have big windows too, and an isle 1.5 times wider than A321. I flew Delta and it's amazing how much nicer the old Douglas is to fly in. Unfortunately they are being retired now.

@SamuraiSwimmer 6 жыл бұрын

No airliner today, even the 787 , has windows like those.

@jangunnarolsen5946 8 жыл бұрын

Yes I do recall the CV-990 (Coronado). They were actually leased from Swissair (SAS didn''t own them). In the late 60's we had for a short time a route operating from Oslo via Copenhagen to Zürich and back.

@templerman1 5 жыл бұрын

The seats had those iconic lights built into them and made reading a lot easier. I think we flew one time on a UNITED DC-8 with my Mother and Father to LA, and due to a problem had to put us up in a nice hotel across from the airport, shuttling us over there in one of those large electric carts. It was a good aircraft, but then again I never met any aircraft I didn't like.

@hswm1909 7 жыл бұрын

Wow. I want one of those flight simulators. The camera and the miniature scale is just so much cooler than a computer screen!

@bws468 6 жыл бұрын

On another note, as an aviation buff, I really enjoy watching these films. I've posted a few of them on my Facebook page. Keep up the good work!

@mcdonnell220 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Benson!

@Justmynewaccount 7 жыл бұрын

19:40 Compare it to today... and weep.

@KB4QAA 6 жыл бұрын

I loved flying on DC-8's. Kick in the pants acceleration on takeoff, quiet and fast. Great plane.

@mcdonnell220 10 жыл бұрын

Re-upped with some better color; got rid of the browns and purples, whites are whiter, and the blues are less green. The change should take place a few hours after this post.

@mistertentpole 9 жыл бұрын

It looks beautiful. Thank you for the extra care.

@mcdonnell220 9 жыл бұрын

You bet. :-)

@dkroen17 5 жыл бұрын

Love these old videos. Thanks for showing them.

@dewiz9596 6 жыл бұрын

Wow, look at the smoke out of those engines on takeoff!

@DavidLemmo 5 жыл бұрын

Jet Engines back then were not very efficient at burning fuel, not like today's High Bypass Turbofans, which burn increasingly leaner per pound of thrust to save fuel. Of course, today's jets of comperable size can safely fly and land with just one engine, which can put out at least four times the thrust as one first generation jet engine.

@navynuc1 8 жыл бұрын

great picture of a long distant era of travel.

@troposhere747 10 жыл бұрын

OUTSTANDING work! I really enjoy the upgrade in quality and the single link for the whole film archive. Thanks for sharing this history with us.

@dog-in7fh 6 жыл бұрын

economy class seats look like the size of seats in first class today. :( it used to be so nice

@user-do5zk6jh1k 5 жыл бұрын

It used to be so expensive.

@dceballos067 6 жыл бұрын

Unbelievable that today's cell phones, like the Samsung Galaxy, has more computing power than those huge computers at 03:39, back in 1959.

@lanerailvideo5928 6 жыл бұрын

I got to fly on one of these once in the early 80's. We hit piece of disturb air at around 10,000 feet that about dropped the flight attendant to her knees as we on approach to Reno on a flight from Seattle.

@manhoot 8 жыл бұрын

Very quaint indeed. Notice the level of class and breeding among the passengers. Nary a flip flop or cargo shorts in sight. And how about all that swell grub? Was air travel really like this once.

@dryan8377 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Just like a greyhound bus. :^)

@billchapel5248 6 жыл бұрын

Last time I flew was in the early 70s, I bet it was a sight better than now.

@GOPGOP-bk2yy 6 жыл бұрын

Yes it was. Flight attendants were required to be nurses too. I remember flying as a child in the 60s & having to dress up etc.

@robertwyman 6 жыл бұрын

It helped that flying was extremely expensive in 1959. Of course, people dressed nicely in city busses in 199

@hankaustin7091 6 жыл бұрын

yes manhoot, it was certainly was like this, for YEARS, until the mid-70s.. then it all came to a screeching halt when dirty filthy passengers started to fly because the costs were coming down for airline travel enough for filth to afford it, if they saved up long enough.. dammit

@ShakespeareCafe 8 жыл бұрын

Written by Walter Wise, who also wrote "Look to Lockheed for Leadership," another great aviation documentary

@meropealcyone 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it was a golden age...in some ways. But don't forget that flights cost a lot more than they do now, took a lot longer, and you got to share the cigarette smoke from the guy behind you for the entire trip.

@hswm1909 7 жыл бұрын

I agree on all your points except for the "flights took longer" part. When the jet aircraft were introduced, they had about the same cruise speeds as we have today. What we have today, that they didn't have, was airport congestion. A flight usually takes longer now because of the huge amount of traffic which causes delays.

@ImNotADeeJay 6 жыл бұрын

Mid century jetliners where actally faster than current ones

@58HUSTLER 5 жыл бұрын

But look at those coach seats, far superior to what exists today, in comfort and leg room. I understand it's because so many people are flying these days, but still with all the modern technology you'd think they could build modern planes with adequate leg room without having to increase costs that much.

@CoolAce1 8 жыл бұрын

Best documentary I've seen on aviation.

@Martmns 6 жыл бұрын

Nowadays, airlines treat their passengers like cattle.

@DavidLemmo 5 жыл бұрын

@Micah Lall-Trail Adjusted for inflation, a first class ticket back then costs the same as today.

@markfosseth8047 6 жыл бұрын

Are we now 60 years ahead or back compared to this video ???

@barracuda7018 9 жыл бұрын

A version of DC-8 could fly nonstop from CAPE TOWN to LONDON.. Neither 707 nor VC-10 could do that ...

@guillermogutierrez710 5 жыл бұрын

How comes that nowadays the cargo is loaded by hand, instead of having a mechanism like the one in DC-8, with compartments?

@passengersplace 8 жыл бұрын

Where were films like this shown in the day? It seems to be geared towards customers, but I don't think they'd make a 24 minute commercial break to show it.

@TXnine7nine 7 жыл бұрын

News reals were a common thing back then. Also they were sometimes shown on TV as a program in and of itself. Also a tool to show to bring in potential investors since most of that stuff was done in person back then.

@tombickers 4 жыл бұрын

lmao...a LOUNGE! On a narrow-body! How the times have changed.

@epeters952 6 жыл бұрын

A window into a better world.

@googaagoogaa12345678 8 жыл бұрын

great interesting video oh if only the food and service were still as great

@robertgary3561 7 жыл бұрын

Matthew Neathery but few could afford to fly then. I prefer today because I can afford a ticket.

@grl4108 10 жыл бұрын

Great video; a real treat. Too bad our Canadian/US societies are spiritual CRAP today compared to those days. The video really brings this home. Thanks for sharing.

@mistertentpole 9 жыл бұрын

I want to enjoy my cigarette after a lovely lobster dinner in the lounge on United Flight 803. Where do I sign up? Oh yea. I can't. Gotta take off my shoes.

@luchatrokaalvaradoguajardo5185 9 жыл бұрын

el dc-8 una larga y fructifera carrera en´´ aeronaves de mexico´´ 60s a 80s cumpliendo fielmente con sus rutas de vuelo-¡ en servicio internacional-¡

@priestpilot 5 жыл бұрын

A full meal on a long haul flight makes sense. I felt the flight time was long from Toronto to San Francisco and back where the only meals were $9 cold wraps.

@SiriusXAim 8 жыл бұрын

8:35 Sneak Polaroid Ad

@FSFguy 5 жыл бұрын

Cool promo, where would this kind of promo have been shown when it was produced?

@mcdonnell220 5 жыл бұрын

They were shown in movie theatres along with other shorts before the main feature, and they were shown on TV as well. They were also shown in schools sometimes.

@StellarBlue1 10 жыл бұрын

In those days, EVERYONE was treated like they were in first class. First Class, was a place where one was treated like Royalty. The food on the carriers in those days was a delight. And why not, the food was prepared by kitchens dedicated to high quality food while flying First Class, baby. Unless you are a millionaire now, the majority of you wont know what being treated special really felt like.

@WAL_DC-6B 9 жыл бұрын

I worked, for a short while, for American Airlines' subsidiary, Sky Chefs as a pot and pan cleaner (pre Teflon days...now that was physically tough work cleaning a pan used to cook something like scrambled eggs!) back in the early 1970's. One of the perks of working there was being able to eat all the "First Class" food at the employees' lunch room that for some reason or another didn't make a flight (usually excess). It was difficult NOT over eating each day there!

@StellarBlue1 9 жыл бұрын

Dan Uscian Wow, I used to see all the Sky Chefs trucks parked by the airplanes, loading them up with your yummy food. I admit it: I LOVED airline food back in the 1950's, 60's and 70's! I bet pot roast was your worst enemy, lol!

@JMMT7022801 9 жыл бұрын

***** I flew TWA a couple times back in the eighties. What do you know? We got actual meals on the plane.

@StellarBlue1 9 жыл бұрын

JMMT7022801 Obviously, you are a churl or a mucker. Otherwise, you could not possibly believe the service on the airline carriers in the eighties onward was in any way comparable to the fifties or sixties. Unless you were there and experienced it personally, I wont even try to convince you. It is simply a reality that you are not fully capable to process or realize in any cogent way.

@JMMT7022801 9 жыл бұрын

***** I wasn't born then, you stupid dumbfuck. What's your point?

@mrFalconlem 10 жыл бұрын

All for a reasonable 800.00 dollars USD in 1959... lol

@TheItsmegp46 9 жыл бұрын

Adjust for inflation, $800 is $6,500 in 2014. Airlines may seem like cattle cars today, but I'll keep that chunk of change in my own pocket.

@staceyhayes2586 5 жыл бұрын

I was born in the wrong time!!!

@Sorax777 6 жыл бұрын

Many people say: "Service was excellent back then", and They're right. But don't forget: Ticket prices were ridiculous expensive. How much? Try to flight First Class today at full price.

@stratus262j2 9 жыл бұрын

The Boeing 707 was an aerial tanker / refueler - the KC-135 - modified as a passenger jet. The DC-8 was built from the ground up as a passenger jet and was the better plane. The 30 degree wing sweep made for a smoother ride than the 707's 35 degree sweep. A DC-8 was once flown faster than sound, a feat never accomplished by the 707.

@JeffGR4 8 жыл бұрын

That's interesting. I didn't realize the 30° swept wing allowed for a smoother ride versus the 35° sweep.

@johneddy908 8 жыл бұрын

Another advantage of the 30° wing sweep of the DC-8, the fuselage could be stretched, resulting in the later "Super 60" and "Super 70." The latter was powered by CFM56 turbofans which replaced the Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3 engines that powered the former. United was the launch customer for the -61.

@davido1953 6 жыл бұрын

The 707 was purpose built as a passenger jet. It was not an aerial tanker modified to fly passengers. You are incorrect.

@mark5862 6 жыл бұрын

Stratus 262J But the 707 won in sales and is often credited with ushering in the jet age. Must be reasons for it.

@johneddy908 6 жыл бұрын

+davido1953, I agree.

@TheMaxx111 8 жыл бұрын

4:47 Are those speakers built into the seats?

@jiantorres2772 8 жыл бұрын

those are reading lights

@toastecmo 5 жыл бұрын

"No skimping on roominess" bahahahahahaha

@4jup4ter4 7 жыл бұрын

Those tray seats though?? What the crap happened to the U.S airline industry. Today you move the tray table you get beat up, or if the PAX in front of you moves his/her seat back so he/she can rest, they are threatened with a ass whooping as well.

@DavidLemmo 5 жыл бұрын

Bigger jets led to lower fares, and more demand, so airlines learned to pack economy fare passengers in

@jakobfeitzinger9587 7 жыл бұрын

What happened to United Airlines?!

@ImNotADeeJay 6 жыл бұрын

Flying today is a way worse experience than back in the day, but keep in mind that today I can fly from Madrid to Dublin for 70 bucks round trip. 1950s same trip would cost 1000$ or more.

@renroxhrd 6 жыл бұрын

Why was flying so much better back then? What Happened!?

@58HUSTLER 5 жыл бұрын

Because back then you probably had one person who wanted to fly (who could afford it) to 20 people today. It'd be impossible to provide the level of comfort you see here in today's climate with the hoards of passengers. Yet, I do think planes today could be built to make it more comfortable for those in in coach. And please, don't anyone reply with a snooty "if you don't like it fly first class" garbage either. It isn't realistic. Most planes only have a around 16 - 20 first class seats available.

@gherardogirardi3614 8 жыл бұрын

Good smoking flight, i like smoke but...

@MerleOberon 9 жыл бұрын

Why didn't the Red Carpet Room have a red carpet????

@johannesbols57 6 жыл бұрын

The Golden Age of Aviation was statistically deadlier than the present. And all that lovely second hand smoke. As recently as February 1996 I flew British Airways London to Seattle in steerage. The rearmost section of the 747 was blue with smoke!

@DavidLemmo 5 жыл бұрын

I didn't realize Smoking was still allowed on aircraft as late as the mid 90s. Of course, I was still quite young at that point.

@americangooeyduck5743 5 жыл бұрын

I had no idea they had flight simulators that complex back in 1959 could you imagine the cost I would say in today’s dollars does not scratch the surface for the most top-of-the-line that we have now when you think about computer power etc. got a remember at this point man has not been out in space yet let alone the moon show anybody that bad mouth capitalism And thinks government is the solution here you go I guarantee you this was probably originally not a government idea I’m a flight geek and I’m getting addicted to these just seen the technology and how things work and how much things have changed but at the same time things like that were somewhat modern started and was somewhat at its infancy clear back then and I’m not talking about propulsion I’m talking about navigation

@pec104 6 жыл бұрын

"Progressive dinner party". Wow back when that word didn't have evil connotations. But unfortunately round about the time the Frankfurt School were just starting to spread that poison.

@kimabrams2570 5 жыл бұрын

What’s with pilot steering like he’s a drunk driving a car?! Jesus, everyone aft is either in the aisles or in each other’s laps!

@mcdonnell220 5 жыл бұрын

Nothing is "With it"; it stands completely alone.

@dewiz9596 6 жыл бұрын

Just as long as it isn’t flight 1203. . . :)

@Hot80s 6 жыл бұрын

N800 "for you" in 2018 its gtfi & gtfo

@dewiz9596 6 жыл бұрын

Air traffic control doesn’t talk that way.. . at least not in my experience

@knobcreekstreet 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah but I can fly non stop from Canada to Arizona for $123.00. It's fast, convenient, inexpensive and with the huge technological advances since the 1980's you are safer on an aircraft than not.

@mark5862 6 жыл бұрын

Marilyn Bryant $500 is a lot more realistic.