JOHN McDONNELL’S BUMPY RIDE

I am 9 years old and attend fourth grade at Fern Avenue School in Torrance. My dad handed me your Dec. 1 issue and asked what I thought about a photograph that states, “workers at Douglas Aircraft’s Long Beach plant assemble C-17 cargo jet.” In fact, the aircraft is a DC-10. I have flown on them to see my grandparents in Maryland several times.

AARON STINDE

Torrance

Editor’s note: The aircraft in the photo, incorrectly identified as a C-17, is an MD-11 passenger plane. The DC-10 was the predecessor to the MD-11 and has been out of production for several years.