ABS Partnership is expecting imminent US Federal Aviation Administration certification for its McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 Stage 3 hushkit.
The US-based company has already developed a Stage 3 kit for every other variant of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-powered DC-9, and has been working on a solution for the larger JT8D-17-powered -50 for several years.
The aim was to use a new 18-lobe exhaust mixer, being developed by P&W, in place of the existing 12-lobe item, but work on that mixer has been put on hold. ABS Partnership says that it has instead managed to achieve Stage 3-compliance with the high-gross-weight (HGW) 12-lobe mixer kit for the DC-9-30/40.
The company says that it expects to be compliant at a take-off weight of 54,000kg with the HGW kit. Some 95 DC-9-50s remain in service, and ABS says that it has interest from key operators such as Northwest Airlines, Trans World Airlines and Meridiana.
Source: Flight International
