My father was on the design team for the original DC-8 in Long Beach, CA back in the 50's. I remember the great excitement of watching that first plane take-off on May 30, 1958. It was loud, fast, and absolutely beautiful in its graceful ascent. Whatever bad publicity there may have been about costs and about competition with the Boeing 707 didn't matter one bit that day! We were so proud of our dad, and were so thrilled to be a part of such a special event, that we didn't have any room in our hearts for a single negative thought. The time and consideration Douglas put into the DC-8 made it all worthwhile. The long hours, the pursuit of perfection, the pressure to get it done were all a part of history in the making. The DC-8 will always have a special place in annals of aviation history.

--Elizabeth

Incredible timing! My father was a flight technician in Long Beach, CA. He loved his job, building DC 8's . He worked a lot of "swing shifts" and mom would drive us all from Fullerton to have dinner with dad in the parking lot.

I remember going out to desert locations, while dad made test flights and goofing around with other members of the crew. Most of all, I remember the wonderful 8 x 10 Black and Whites that dad put on the walls in our garage of the entire crew in front of their DC 8's as they finished another proud construction. Dad's real sick now and those days meant a lot to him.

He is Jack Trail and I am Garry Trail

--Prunepicker