MD-10, MD-11, and DC-10...........

[brent p h]

I'm confused. What's the difference between the three? I do plane spotting here at DFW and I always see a MD-10 at Fed-Ex. I looks like a short version of a DC-10.

[Seggy]

From my limited knowledge...

the DC-10 has straight up steam gages, a cockpit crew of three, captain, first officer, and flight engineer.

the MD-10 is the DC-10 airframe but with a two cockpit crew, and updated flight instrumentation. The same instrumentation that you have in the MD-11

The MD-11 is a completely different airframe.

I am sure more info will come from our FEDEX experts on here.

[Monty]

Originally Posted by Seggy

From my limited knowledge...

the DC-10 has straight up steam gages, a cockpit crew of three, captain, first officer, and flight engineer.

the MD-10 is the DC-10 airframe but with a two cockpit crew, and updated flight instrumentation. The same instrumentation that you have in the MD-11

The MD-11 is a completely different airframe.

I am sure more info will come from our FEDEX experts on here.

That's basically it right there. The MD-10 is just a DC-10 airframe retrofitted with MD-11 avionics. It eliminates the need for a flight engineer, and creates a common type rating allowing the same crews to fly both airframes.