Checking in for a very special flight – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter

This is the final part of a three-part series documenting the DC-1o’s final passenger flights.  Click here for Part 1 (flying from Dhaka to Kuwait City) or click here for Part 2 (flying from Kuwait to Birmingham).

I felt lucky, but also as if I had spent the better part of the last few days being beaten by 2x4s.  I was able to fly on the last schedule passenger flight for the DC-10, the creator of my dismay (that much time with air that dry had some long-lasting affect). If that wasn’t enough I was going to fly on the very last, and I mean the absolute final DC-10-30 passenger flight . My flight wouldn’t be long, but it would be adventurous. I had already put in quite a bit of time with this DC-10 and was ready for another level of AvGeek adventure.

Check in was brisk. I was actually in the terminal a little early anyway to meet my friends and try to sort out a ticketing matter with Delta (it didn’t work; I had to wake up early the next day to fix it) so I thought after one failure, I may as well go for a win.

My boarding pass was issued promptly, seat 33A. There were no bags to check, obviously – I was just going up to Scotland, than back down to BHX.

I made my way up to the makeshift Biman store to purchase some safety cards. Whilst there, it became clear that this last flight was going out with quite a fanfare.

S2-ACR in the darkness of Birmingham after arriving late from Kuwait City – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter

This is the second part of a three-part series documenting the DC-1o’s final passenger flights.  Click here for Part 1 (flying from Dhaka to Kuwait City).

Flying on the first leg to Kuwait on our way to Birmingham on the last DC-10 passengers flight was surreal, yet exciting. Landing in Kuwait seemed like a good almost-final stop for the DC-10, since I love old airliners landing in interesting places.

I have to say that ground handling in Kuwait was less than ideal. First, we had to hold on a taxiway just to the south of the main terminal for approximately twenty minutes. Then, we had to taxi to a hardstand adjacent some private jets. Kuwait Airport is the first I’ve have seen that actually offers fixed sunshades to keep your VIP aircraft from melting under the relentless Arabian Gulf sun.

An example of the executive jet verandas at Kuwait International Airport – Photo: Bernie Leighton |AirlineReporter

Finally, the engines were shut down and a ground services truck appeared. Since the flight was double-catered out of Bangladesh, it was merely the aircraft groomers.

These were groomers who had no idea how many lavs there were on a DC-10-30, or where the galleys all were. It was at this time I also learned that, while there was no in-seat power, there were a couple of power points located around the aircraft. I almost tripped over someone’s battery charger in the number four lav!