PC/WI: Douglas gets A320/767/777 type aircraft in service post 1980.

WILDGEESE

Gone Fishin'
As it says on the tin.

With a post 1980 pod get Douglas (McD) to get a twin engine A320 style aircraft plus a twin engine 767 & 777 aircraft in service post 1980 instead of the MD-11 & 80 series.

All aircraft must take a minimum of a 3rd of that aircraft classes market.

Regards filers.
 
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Why would they make an A320 style aircraft? DC-9 derivatives are perfectly capable with the right upgrades and marketing. A twin is a bigger issue, but I suspect the question is where are development funds going to come from? I'm seeing this as the MD-11 in name and time-frame but sized closer to a DC-10. Engines and wing should be suitable, reworking CG and tail I'm honestly not sure of how amenable the platform would be to it; definitely possible, but I'm thinking it's going to be a lot more expensive than OTL's aircraft. Ideal would, imo, be an MD that has the money to do both, the twin and tri, with two lengths in each, essentially developing an airbus (no caps, the European big short range concept) a long range twin, OTL's MD-11 and OTL's MD-12 trijet further stretch of the 11. That said, the issue boils down in my head to a version of MD that wants to do that is unlikely to have the funds, while one that DOES have the funds is liable to build the twin and the MD-12 A380 like double decker, which looks good but seems likely to sink the company with high costs, slow development and low sales... Definitely interesting what could happen though if you've got a 777 sized trijet a few years early, a true 747 replacement (passenger market anyway) with three engines in the wings and MD actively fighting early ETOPS certifications for Boeing. That said, I guess the Boeing merger is liable to be more equal if the MD-12 is flying around as an almost replacement for the 747, and there is a lot more incentive to keep the DC-10 derived stuff around with a big twin the trijet being more 777 equivalent... At the same time, this family kicking around makes me wonder if the 777 will actually be launched rather than a "safer" path with the 747 stretches and a heavier emphasis on an earlier 767-400.

So, short version? Give MD a bunch of capital and get it in their heads that a twin jet is at least as important as OTL's MD-11. Longer is that even that might not be enough, but it should at least get a more viable product, and make the whole environment far more complicated.

PS: I was trying to recall what else Boeing might have done in that timeline and remembered the 7J7... I wonder how thing go for a Boeing that pushes the 757 more heavily, possibly even launching the 100 with smaller engines (shrinks are never great economically, but a short body 757 with CFM56s doesn't sound terrible, shades of the A318 or no) and mostly replaces the 737 with the unducted fan instead of launching OTL's 777.
 
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SsgtC

Banned
Have them make some better design decisions with their narrowbody lineup. Particularly, don't make the MD-95 an orphan aircraft. Yes, it was designed as a derivative of the DC-9/MD-80 family. But it had a flight deck nearly identical to the MD-11. Meaning airlines needed two separate pilot pools, one for the MD-95, one for all other MD-80/90 variants.

They also don't need a long range twin. Not yet. Have them do a better job designing the MD-11 so that it actually meets it's range and fuel burn targets. That would have given them a lot of new orders and kept a bunch of orders from being cancelled. Plus, have them offer an earlier conversion program to bring the DC-10 cockpit to MD-10 standard, this allowing airlines to operate both types with a single pilot pool. This buys them time to stabilize themselves.

Once they're stable, they can begin to reexamine the market and will probably reach the same decision Boeing did: long range, fuel efficient twin jet. Probably a slightly less capable 787 equivalent designed a few years earlier. Think metal fuselage with carbon wing.

Then around early to mid 2000s, they probably introduce a new single aisle aircraft. My guess, it would probably look something like the C-series, just with bigger models. They likely focus on the 145-200 seat count range with the bigger models having the range to fly from the East coast to Europe and California to Hawaii.
 
I just noticed while looking up the 7J7 that there was a seriously considered UDF upgrade program for DC-9s and MD-80s alongside the MD-91x and 94x which I kind of forgot about in their own right. If this gets launched on schedule in the early 90s this seems like it has some real potential, airline interest up front or no airline interest in upgrading the early DC-9s to something that outperforms an A320 rather dramatically would be a pretty big deal.

Basically take SsgtC above scenario and add higher oil prices in the late 80s and early 90s. This lets you fund the MD-11 with the excuse that UDF conversions get the interest they never did OTL and the Mad Dog becomes a hot seller again. I do have my doubts about them deciding to go the 777 route as much as history bears this out... All there interest seems to have been a big double decker and I really don't knwo what's going to change that focus about this scenario. In fact I suspect more likely is that we get the large MD-12, Boeing launches the NLA in the face of the competition and Airbus runs off with the Twin market, developing a 777/A350 like aircraft instead of the A380 and A346 and A345. In terms of butterflies, I do wonder whether we could end up seeing some kind of joint MD/Boeing program happening with the NLA and MD-12 turning out so similar... OTL did have a good deal of talk of MD spinning the commercial division out from military to attract foreign investment, I almost wonder if we might see some kind of more complex Boeing/MD merger that looks more like Boeing taking MDs military stuff and MD commercial merging into a purely civil consortium.
 
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