Two years ago, CLT Chief Infrastructure Officer Jack Christine was presented with an ask that he doesn’t receive every day. “We want to put a tail of an MD-80 in the terminal,” requested CLT’s senior architect Dennis Iskra.
“I was a little taken back by it, but excited at the same time,” Christine said. “I am an aviation person at heart, for me, my response was if we can figure out how to do it, I’m game.”
Four months later a trip to an aviation boneyard in the Mojave Desert sparked inspiration and a plan to make it a reality.
Today, a MD-82 tail is the centerpiece of Concourse A Expansion Phase II. It’s one of four experiential experiences that is unique to CLT’s latest terminal addition.
MD-82 Tail
The MD-82 tail, located near Gate A31, weighs roughly 5,000 pounds, stands 14 feet high and over 40 feet wide. The aircraft it originated from first flew on Jan. 11, 1988, and retired on Dec. 20, 2017.
The tail was salvaged from a boneyard in Roswell, N.M., fabricated outside Los Angeles and assembled inside Concourse A’s expansion.
The outline of the aircraft’s body is visible in the terrazzo flooring, allowing passengers to get a sense of the aircraft’s full scale.
Fun facts about the MD-82s - they were known as a reliable aircraft for short and medium-haul flights. The aircraft could seat 143 passengers and was nicknamed “Mad Dog” due to its noisy takeoffs.
This is not the first time CLT has salvaged plane parts. An engine from a 777 aircraft was transformed into the Airport Info Desk on Ticketing. By the end of the year, CLT plans to install two desks created from a Boeing 747 in Baggage Claim.
“We tried our very best not to just drop something in, but to give it a sense of purpose, an opportunity for education and enlightenment,” Christine said.
Wright Brothers - First in Flight Journey
Passengers can follow the length of the Wright Brothers’ first four powered flights along the walkway from Concourse A Expansion Phase I to Phase II. Four plaques and markings embedded in the terrazzo floor signify the distance of the first flight - 120 feet, second flight - 175 feet, third flight - 200 feet and fourth flight - 852 feet.
Sight and sound accompany the Wright’s journey along the way. “When you're walking, sensors will pick up where you are in the light wall which is made-up of these dots of lights that will follow you as you walk along,” Iskra said. “The busier the walkway gets, the more dynamic and active the lights are. But it's not super bright or super disco technique. It's really meant to be a very soft, subtle interaction.”
Accompanying the light wall is an audio component that replicates the sound of the Wright brothers’ airplane flying overhead.
Signage along the walkway details the Wright brothers’ historic flights, fun facts about the MD-82 airplane, CLT’s sustainability initiatives for the Phase II expansion and a brief summary about how a pilot steers an airplane.
“Our goal is to incorporate experiences like this throughout the terminal,” Iskra said. “They'll never be the same, so no matter where you are in our journey there's always something of interest that will inform and entertain passengers around the idea of the philosophy of aviation.”
