A few weeks ago I had the chance to fly for the very first time an iconic aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on the San Francisco-Amsterdam Schiphol route.

First, and, very likely last time for me, as well, because there are just four of them operating commercially and the only airline that operates them, the Dutch flag carrier KLM, plans to withdraw them by the end of 2014.

The MD-11, a more modern derivative of the DC-10 (that has also recently withdrawn from commercial service by the last airline operating it, Biman of Bangladesh) his easily recognizable because of its 3-engine configuration, that gave it a very characteristic shape.