While the CX L1011s seemed to be quieter and more sophisticated aircraft in the cabin, the DC-10 always struck me as a much bigger, more rugged, military-style plane.

In airports where you would walk out to the aircraft and board via steps, the DC-10 always looked HUGE with that giant tailplane, rear engine and vertical stabilizer.

Of course, I recall once walking out onto the tarmac to board a DC-10 or MD-11 in South America (Bogota? Quito? Lima? I forget where, exactly) and an American woman, upon seeing the aircraft, started saying, "No, no, no, I won't ride in a DC-10, they didn't tell me it would be one of those, why are they still flying those?" So the stigma never seemed to leave them.

As a passenger in the cabin, DC-10/MD-11 landing in my memory were quite jarring. Lots of bouncing and shaking from the overhead bins and a definite kick in the pants upon set-down. On the positive side, though, they also in my memory took off much faster and generally more excitingly than the L1011.