55209 : Northwest DC10-40

On October 29, 1968, Northwest Airlines contracted to buy 14 DC-10s and optioned 14 more. The DC-10 selected by Northwest was a long-range, intercontinental model.

The first DC-10-40 entered Northwest service on 13 December 1972 with a flight from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Tampa in Florida. In June 1972, Northwest exercised an option on eight aircraft, thus increasing its order to 22 aircraft.

The DC-10s that Northwest acquired were the long-range, intercontinental model, initially designated the series 20. These differed from the series 10 in that it was equipped with more powerful Pratt & Whitney JT9D-15 turbofans that generate 45,500lb thrust each. The -20 also had additional fuel tanks in the centre fuselage section, and a 3 ft wingtip addition to enhance the wing aspect ratio optimised for long range operations. At Northwest's insistence, the designation was subsequently changed to -40. The only other -40 customer is Japan Airlines, who opted for the higher thrust JT9D-59A engines by Patt & Whitney.

Northwest has been a satisfied DC-10 customer. In addition to the 21 DC-10-40s that they took delivery new since 1973 from Mc Donnell Douglas, they subsequently source the market for additional DC-10s to augment their fleet. Their subsequent acquisitions included eight -30s form Swissair and three -30s from Thai International, swelling their DC-10 fleet to 41 aircraft. We've chosen to replicate one of their original -40s (N141US), which carries the KLM logo to epitomize the close relationship these two carriers have enjoyed for over a decade. Notice this special version comes with Metal Magic in chrome-plated.