Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) McDonnell Douglas MD-81
N924PS (c/n 48034)
At the end of 1980 PSA
ordered 16 MD-81s and a like number of the more powerful MD-82s.
The MD-82 was ostensibly a
"hot and high" version of the -81, having the 20,000 lb. s.t. JT8D-217
turbofans in place of the
JT8D-209s (rated at 18,500 lb) of the the original. Both employed
a 14 ft
3 in fuselage stretch and
could accomodate up to 172 pax. I again had to turn to
Frank C. Duarte
for a shot of a typical
sample. (I was living in Malysia in the early 1980s).
Anyway, the above air-
craft was actually the
first of its breed to be delivered to PSA (in November of 1980) and is
seen
landing at San Diego in Jan of
1983. It carried the name "Smile of Burbank" whilst with
PSA. It
unfortunately had the smile
wiped off its face when it became N800US with US Air in 1988.