08/29/2026
On August 29, 1970, an aviation icon took to the skies for the very first time! ✈️💨
Flying out of Long Beach, California, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 officially made its maiden flight. Designed as a wide-body trijet to bridge the gap between narrow-body airliners and massive jets like the Boeing 747, the DC-10 became an instantly recognizable silhouette in commercial aviation history.
With its iconic third engine mounted right in the base of the tail fin, it paved the way for transcontinental wide-body travel and served airlines across the globe for decades.