Cargo Hold

What looks like a long tunnel, is actually the main cargo deck of a Douglas DC-8-71F freighter jet, that belongs to Murray Air (of Willow Run, MI). The cargo hold is about 140 feet long, and can even fit a few cars in it. A friend and I had gone over to take a look at this classic airliner, as it was parked near the hangar where he works. While he talked shop with the Murray Air crew, I walked around this classic bird snapping as many shots as I could. The guys from Murray Air even let me go inside, so I got this shot, and a shot of the flight deck.

The exterior shot, and history of this airliner can be found my HNLRareBirds blog. This the link to the photo of N872SJ.

In the early 80's, I had a chance to ride on a couple of DC-8-60 flights when Pacific East Air was in business. In the height of airline dergulation and expansion, Pacific East was formed to provide cheap ($99 one way) airfares between HNL and LAX and SFO, and they lasted only a few years. I remember the cabin being quite spacious, considering the seats were configured for maximum tourist seating (250+ seats ... no 1st Class). One feature of the DC-8, was the large windows. The highlight of the trip returning to HNL from LAX ... was winning the contest to guess the time to the midway point of the flight ... a bottle of champagne and a round-trip (for one) to the neighbor island of my choice. I guess my physics classes paid off after all.