UNCOMMON
MD11
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
The Freighter
“Three engines, mostly carrying boxes now.”
McDonnell Douglas · cargo
Length
200 ft 10 in
Wingspan
169 ft 6 in
Max speed
475 kts
Range
7,130 nmi
Ceiling
43,000 ft
Engines
3x CF6-80C2 or PW4460
Crew
2
Max passengers
410
Typical config
293 (2-class)
Built
200
The MD-11 had a rough start as a passenger jet — it was hard to land and burned more fuel than promised. But as a freighter? It found its calling. FedEx and UPS love it.
Fun fact
The MD-11 is notoriously tricky to land — it has a tendency to 'float' in ground effect. Several hard landings made the news.
How to spot one
Three engines: two under wings, one in tail. Smaller winglets. Almost extinct in passenger service — FedEx runs the last fleet.
Crews call it
The Mad Dog
Sounds like
Three engines — two under wing plus one in the tail — create a unique asymmetric sound profile
Related
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Freighter from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey