In addition to the real-time seat maps on airline websites, there are other services out there such as SeatGuru and SeatExpert that provide detailed seat maps. These can be invaluable for selecting the best seats on the plane, and I have to admit I just like browsing through the different aircraft layouts by airline.

From time to time, I will post a vintage airline seat map for the people out there like myself who find these interesting, and add a little commentary.

First up is my favorite airplane from the recent past. The DC-10. I’m still working on my FlightMemory, but I can safely say I’ve ridden on 50-100 DC-10s in my life. Here is United’s version of the dash-10 series with 28 first class and 259 coach seats. I always wondered why they assigned the smoking section to forward part of coach vs. the rear on this airplane. Anyone know why? My favorite seat on this bird, though, was the jumpseat. When I worked in Flight Dispatch (EXODD), I had unlimited jumpseat passes, and this seat was directly behind the captain with the huge window next to it. In coach I would sit forward of the wing, even though it was smoking, to get a good view out the window and I loved the sound of those powerful engines. This is, of course, before Economy Plus! When I pick a seat, it can vary by flight duration, cabin configuration, proximity to the galley, cabin, etc. Sometimes I’m an aisle guy, sometimes I’m a window guy. It just depends. I have great memories flying around the country on that bird.

Where would you sit?