DC-9-30 into DC-9-20

[B777LR]

Hey everyone!

About to do a that elusive carrierborne DC-9 we have all laughed at at some point in our lives. Im converting the Airfix DC-9-30 into the -20 hotrod.

How much do i have to shrink it fore and aft of the wings? I have found that it needs to become 3,159 cm shorter (in 1/144).

[jcf]

DC-9 Airport Planning document from Boeing; DC-9 Document MDC J2904 (Revision F, June 1984):
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/airports/dc9.htm

Aircraft Description section:
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/airports/acaps/dc9sec2.pdf

Based on the dimensioned drawings, the center-to-center distance between the nose and main landing gear went from 13.32 m to 16.22 m,
a change of 2.9 m forward of the wing. As the total stretch was 4.54 m, this gives an aft stretch of 1.64 m.

Jon

[PR19_Kit]

Don't forget the -20 used the same wings as the -30 so you don't have to shorten them as you would if it was a -10, the fuselage being the same length as the -10. The -20 was a special order version originally built just for SAS, although the few -20s built spread themselves around a bit later on.

I once had the pleasure of flying out of Trondheim in an SAS -20 with about 30 pax on board. The take-off was ELECTRIFYING! I bet the RNoAF F-104s on the Mil. ramp there would have had a hard job trying to keep up......

[Later] That reminds me, save the bits of fuselage you cut out as you can use them to make a -50, or a -40, another SAS special....

[B777LR]

Yes, i will definetly do the -50 as well and i will try to add winglets or new engines (CFM-56 or V2500, depending on what i go for on my A319)

[Jennings]

I've drawn the entire DC-9 family in detail based on Douglas original source documents (structural repair manuals).  Based on the station diagrams, the difference between a -20 and a -30 (in 1/144 scale) is 10.0 mm aft of the wing and 19.75 mm fwd of the wing.  It's not a case of "x" number of windows, as the frame spacing is different on the two types.  You need to fill in all the windows (which are too big on the Airfix kit anyway) and use decals.  The SAS Viking Ship scheme decal I did last year for Lima November has correct decal windows for them.

J