Eastern Airlines marketed the 727 as the “whisper jet” because the CABIN noise level was lower than other types especially in the forward cabin due to the rear mounted engines.
My favorite 727 story was flying Chicago to DC on United back in 1975. My dad was a retired UAL DC-8 pilot and we were of course flying non-revenue so when one passenger showed up at the last minute of our sold out flight the 4 of us (dad, mom, me and my brother) were originally going to need to get off. My dad then disappeared for a few minutes and then came back to let us know he was going to ride in the cockpit jump seat! I’m sure that’s nothing that you could get away with today but dad had a great time flying up front one last time!
@@alexmelia8873 The difference is that dad was retired and no longer a United employee, I doubt today anyone that’s not an active employee of an airline would be allowed up front.
The early 727 accidents were caused by pilots totally not used to the flight characteristics of the plane because it was just so different from other jet airliners of the day. But what really killed the 727 was the rise of the CFM56-powered 737 Classic models in the early 1980's, which offered the shorter runway benefits of the 727 but was much quieter and more economical on fuel.
Don’t forget the A320. Unlike the Boeing replacement for the 727-the 757.. which was much larger and heavier-the A320 took square aim at the most popular airliner at the time: the 727-200. This meant an aircraft far more capable of directly replacing the 727 without coming up against growth limits (the 737) or having to much growth built in (the 757).
1986 MAH-MAN with Dan Air Impressive aircraft and I can remember it well! But at 2:00 you talk of the APU but focus on the No.2 engine. If I remember, the APU was situated in the belly and the exhaust port was at the trailing edge of the starboard wing 🤔
As a middle class, suburban kid of the 80s, flying on 727s was pretty common for me, and I absolutely loved it! Chicago Midway was the best airport for the 727 to strut its stuff thanks to the short runways and nearby buildings. I recall several takeoffs in which the pilot set the brakes, revved the engines to max, then released the brakes, plastering all the passengers into their seats like no other airliner could achieve. The plane would hurtle down the runway, snap its nose into the air, and shoot off into the sky like a rocket. MDW takeoffs aboard a 727 were the closest a commercial passenger could get to flying in a fighter jet. The engines of course, were not quiet. I get why Boeing claimed otherwise. For those of us too young to remember first generation 707s and DC-8s with their pure jet engines and organ pipe exhausts, it's easy to mock the marketing; however, the 727 with its low bypass turbofan engines was remarkably quieter than its predecessor. I loved going to the lavatory in the rear because I had to walk past the outboard engines, and the rumbling whine they made at cruising speed sounded like an angry elephant from within the cabin. My last 727 flight was in 1997, when I flew aboard a TWA 727 round trip between ORD and MCI to visit my brother at university. On the return flight, the APU had failed, and so the flight crew had to use ground power to start the engines, and the tug couldn't push back against the thrust of those three mighty engines. So, the pilots just threw on the thrust reversers and revved up the engines for a couple of seconds for the only powerback I have ever experienced. Once the 737 Classic with its high bypass CFM56 engines and the even higher performance 757 took to the skies and ETOPS cleared the way for twinjets to go where they couldn't go before, the 727's career was over. Although taking off in a 757 is equally fast, it has never evoked the excitement that the 727 did because it was quieter and smoother. The 727 felt like a Shelby Cobra...raw, overpowered, unrefined, and unsafe in inexperienced hands. In comparison, the 757 is like an Acura NSX: ridiculously powerful, yes, but smooth, clean, quiet, and civilized. Plus, the pilots have a much more spacious flight deck. :)
compared to Boeing's other planes, the 727 is certainly an unusual plane featuring three engines all mounted at the rear but for the time it was built, it worked out well
Ya commercial airliners coming out nowadays have wing mounted engines. Only business jets have rear mounted engines. I guess its a better overall payoff, especially with those big bypass engines.
Flew the B727 the 1st time with my dad on a business trip in 1970. AA B727 JFK-->PVD; returned later in the day NA B727 PVD-->JFK. I was 7 years old, remembered the smell of fresh coffee brewing during boarding, and smell of jet kerosene. I was felt like the king of Queens! I flew on them well into the 2000’s. My most memorable B727 flight was in August 1978, SQ (my first time flying this carrier) between BKK-->SIN which at that time was the Paya Lebar Airport. Always special!
My favorite 727 story(s) was jumping from one at the World FreeFall Convention in 1992, 93, 94, and 95. This was one of the specialty jumpships they brought in for one day. I wore a suit and tie like DB Cooper. We exited from the rear, the airstairs were removed. Aircraft levels off above Quincy, IL airport at 13K, airspeed about 155 mph. This was a cargo type, no seats but seat belts on floor for all 200 skydivers, I forgot the company on first year (I have a video on that). Amerijet flew the other years.
I got married at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, CA last October. They have the forward section of an ex FedEx 727 called Brittney. My favorite wedding photos are of me and my husband sitting in the cockpit, smiling at each other at the end of the night. I was born 14 years after the last 727 was delivered and missed its heyday by quite the margin, but I’ve always been captivated by the engineering that went into that beast and the countless iconic photos from the era it flew in.
Flew many times on Eastern, Delta, American, United and Northwest 727s. My first flight was June 1985 Kansas City to Washington National on Eastern and my last was August 1999 Salt Lake City to Minneapolis on Northwest. Loved that plane. The takeoff thrust pushed you back in your seat.
I regard the B727 as the most beautiful aeroplane ever designed and built. As a teenager, I saw the 727 more like a rocket ship than an aeroplane. I was only able to fly on one twice - on Ansett-ANA's VH-RME from Mt Isa to Brisbane and from Brisbane to Sydney. It was under the command of veteran pilot Captain Arthur Lovell in 1968. A very memorable occasion that I will never forget.
I flew the 727 many, many times, mostly with American Airlines. I loved it. It felt like a rocket ship, the way it rotated at a steeper angle before the rear wheels lost ground contact. Sitting in First Class really enhanced that feeling. I never liked the 737-100s and 737-200s. To me, they were just aluminum people tubes. The 727 flight experience was superior. But the additional costs of having a third engine and a third officer on the flight deck provided an incentive to airlines to replace them with 737s. So it goes.
Flew on them with DanAir back in 1986 from MAN to Malaga and back. I thought they were quite quiet as a passenger with the engines being in the tail. Boarded via the rear stairs both times.
1968 was my trip on a South African airways 727 domestic flight from Johannesburg to Durban for the Christmas holiday. Disembarking from the rear exit ramp was a memorable experience.
Flew my first three flights ever on 727’s…1978 to Orlando on National Airlines, 1979 to Cancun on Pan-Am, and 1982 to Miami on Eastern…LOVED the plane! Very comfortable
don't mean to nit pick, but boeing wasnt looking into a 3 engined jet airliner until it had walked around DeHavilland and saw a prototype Trident (later Hawker Sidderly Trident).
I used to enjoy flying on the 727, usually on Iberia flights between London and Spain in the 80s. It felt quite roomy and I don't remember it's being noisy inside the cabin, except of course at the rear.
My first ride in a 727 was a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco in 1987. As I recall, the cabin interior was quiet (probably because I was in the forward part of the plane), and my seat was comfortable. But what really impressed me was how fast the plane took to the sky.
The 727 revolutionized domestic air travel in Australia in the 1960s when I was a teenager. Or it felt like it did. (The DC9 wasn't far behind). I can remember clearly as a teenager in the mid '60s, living near Adelaide Airport in South Australia, watching every Ansett Airlines Boeing 727 that we could graciously land at the end of its snappy 50 minute journey from Melbourne (which, until then, was a 9-hour car journey or 12 hour overnight train journey away). Such a beautiful and solid-looking plane. Called the "whisper jet", it was so noisy that our school-teachers simply stopped trying to speak for the 30 seconds it took to descend overhead, 6 times a day, morning and late afternoon ... Now, Adelaide businessmen could go to the big-smoke Melbourne in the morning, do whateva, and be back home in time in Adelaide for evening meal with their families. I thought at 14 years age that it was a miracle. But now, 60 years later, I'm an old hand. 🥱. I've been lucky enough to fly in the whole range of commercial aircraft, for work or vacations. I even flew in the old DC9 again in Asia last year (the 727's main competitor). My first "international" experience was the ear destroying, screaming-loud, pencil-thin 4-engine 707, that was a killer but better than swimming. I flew in the Queen of the Skies 747 with SIA within a year of their release in 1972, the fabulous 787 'Dreamliner' often, and I love the Airbus 380 because I can afford Business Class in my old age. I even ONCE flew BOAC Concorde LON-NYC, in 1978, not because I'm rich but because at that time you could enter a lottery (raffle? 😅) at the last minute to standby for any no-shows or unsold seats, and buy a £50 ticket for the supersonic trans-Atlantic crossing! The flying experience of a lifetime! But still, but still .....now, 60 years later, if I could relive any one of all those flying experiences (and many more) then I wouldn't hesitate to choose one last flight on the Boeing 727. 🙏🏻 Please. Preferably at the back of the plane via the stairs going up its arse, to get the full "retro" effect of the tri-jet. HaHa 😂. That's what Grand-pa here thinks! 🧐 You knew and you could "feel" that you were on a safe & solid flying machine. 🤣👍🏻
I recall flying on the B727 with Air Canada in the 1980's between Ottawa and Edmonton, it was one of the last aircraft I flew where the flight deck accommodated three active staff rather than two.
Back in the 80s and 90s, I had many flights on both of these tri jets. Both of them were always comfortable and reliable transportation. A marketing game of Continental Airlines was their Pub Sevice. On some of their DC 10s they replaced the business class section with a coach Pub.Tuesdaysand Thursdays from EWR to LAX is wasa pleasant way to cross the country holdup 8n the Pub for the trip. I've ridden on both on TWA, AA, Delta, NWA and KLM. We always arrived safely. Mark O'Connell
Beautiful airplane for it's time. I had the pleasure of working with Jack Steiner's son John at Boeing. Heard many fine stories about the struggle it was to launch the 727 and get Boeing's board of directors approval. Jack has been called the Father of the 727. Whenever flying the 727 into smaller airports, it was nice to exit using the rear stairs...on the tarmac. Same rear stairs that DB Cooper used to parachute out of.
I lived in Alaska for thirty years and flew Alaska Airlines 727 as a passenger for many years to many different destinations. Great memories. Great plane.
I had flown on many piston engined and turboprops before the B727 came into service. Also on the first five widebodies B747, DC-10; L-1011, A300 and A310, plus the DC-8, DC-9, and B737 BEFORE i ever had the opportunity to fly on the Boeing B727. My first ever of several roundtrips on the same route, was with First Air (''The Airline of the North'') from Ottawa Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 (C-YOW)) to Iqaluit Nunavut (C-YFB) during April of 2004. It was quite a novelty for me to board from the tarmac at Ottawa via the rear airstairs and deplane at Iqaluit at a chilly -20 C! The Indigenous owned (First Nations in Canada) First Air flew both passengerand 'combi' B727s until about 2008 as I recall, as well as a large fleet of 'gravel kitted' B737-200s. I took also off and landed on ice, snow and gravel runways in Arctic Canada many times in ATR-42s and DHC-8s flown by First Air and by Canadian North Airlines. Those two airlnes serving Arctic Canada merged about four years ago. Many of the communities served by Canadian North Airlines today are located far above the Arctic Circle. 🔵 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🧊 🍨 ❄️ 🧊 ❄️ 🏔 🌨 ☃️ 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦
Having been involved with the 727 at Eastern Airlines. I was a great reliable workhorse. The initial problem with the crashes was to rapid of a decent ans slow spool up time for the JT8D's. It was rectified buy keeping the plane in a higher drag configuration and no power to flight idle approaches. Great airplane
The 727 was a favorite of mine. Inside it was relatively quiet towards the front of the cabin. Especially compared to the 720B and Electra that came before it. I flew in them with PSA and United from the 1960s until shortly before United stopped flying them.
First commercial airliner I flew was an Eastern Airlines 727 from New York to West Palm Beach Florida as I recall. She was a beauty then and is a beauty now - put new engines on that airframe design and bring it back!
Towards the end. Cargo and commercial aviation aren’t separate things. All commercial aviation is not just airlines. Cargo is commercial aviation. It’s any use of aircraft for hire or remuneration. 7:19
My very first plane trip was on a 727 from Boston to Bangor, ME in 1967. It took all of 30 minutes. We spent almost as much time taxiing at Logan as we did in the air.
First flight on a jet airliner in June of 1965 Eastern B727-100 Whisper jet JFK to St. Pete Clearwater PIE .. December of 1980 I became a Second Officer on a 727-200 (4 years) and then a First Officer (2 years) .. never checked out as Captain as the airline was phasing out the trijet in favor of the 737 and MD80 series. At the peak the fleet was over 100 of 727-200's. GREAT Airplane .. but a little tough to land well consistently .. no frills .. basic and ready to go anywhere anytime. Dual VOR/DME and ADF (and a paper chart) got you to where you were trying to go .. did get CAT II later in it's career. Surprisingly the straight 200 could not make it nonstop westbound from the East coast to the West coast .. the "A" models with an AUX fuel tank were required ... and cruise altitudes were always in the high 20's and maybe 310 if you were very light .. but it would do .84 Mach all day long .. with a total Fuel Flow of 9,000# PH (1350 GPH). Stiff crosswinds on takeoff might get you a compressor stall on the No. 2 due to the long draw down the S duct to the engine .. so you would advance 1 and 3 until you got some forward velocity .. then brought them all up to take off EPR. RIP my friend.
I recall flying on the 727 several times during the 1970's and on occasion exiting the aircraft from the stairs in the rear. It was narrow bodied and a little tight, however I've always felt it was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built.
I first flew on a 727 in 1965 from IAD to STL on American. I’ve flown on 727-100 and -200 on American, Eastern, Delta, Northeast, Northwest, TWA, Continental, Western, Alaska, United, Hughes Airwest, Lufthansa, and Cayman Airways. My shortest flight was SJC to OAK (which was on the SLC-SJC-OAK-SLC route) and the longest was MCO to SLC. Marvelous aircraft.
I flew many times with Iberia's shuttle between Barcelona and Madrid. Iberia keep those planes many years and were replaced by 757 which was a more comfortable airplane. I remember once flying from Madrid to Barcelona (quite late) being the fastest journey, the captain almost avoided the final approach, in 35-40 min I was there.
I was surprised to find out JAT, flag carrier for Communist Yugoslavia, used Western aircraft. But the country wasn’t part of the Warsaw Pact. East Germany’s Interflug bought a few Airbus A310s in the late eighties, but neither the country nor the airline would be around much longer.
My first flight was on an Eastern Airlines 727 Whisper Jet. The flight was from Ft Lauderdale to Pittsburgh. That was in January of 1966. It's length of service and numbers sold show it was a great air craft.
Yes, the 727 was a fantastic and reliable aircraft. I flew on it many times with various airlines: PAN AM, Lufthansa, IBERIA, TAP (Portugal), Air France, Royal Air Maroc, American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Air Canada, ACES (Colombia), Ladeco (Ecuador), AVENSA (Venezuela), VARIG (Brazil), VASP (Brazil), Mexicana (Mexico), Lloyd Aero Boliviano (Bolivia), Lacsa (Costa Rica) - as you can see, I flew on the 727 with many many different airlines, I actually don't remember them all ....
I flew to Aruba and back in 1999 in a UPS 727 cargo plane with a passenger conversion kit installed. They used these temporary kits in their cargo planes for a short time and operated a passenger service as UPS Airlines.
A 727 was the first type of plane I ever flew on, an Eastern Airlines flight from Miami to Tampa. Also, flew several times on Eastern L-1011s, the longest of those trips was from Seattle to Atlanta Those were the best, in my opinion. Huge, comfortable and smooth.
My first ever commercial flight was on a TN 727-276, CNS to BNE, in 1981. I connected to the then brand-new TN A300 onward to MEL; I did the same in reverse three weeks later. I remember around 1990 being on a vantage point at CNS airport, and seeing an AN 727-277 take off, followed by the then-new QF 747-438. The 747 was almost silent in comparison to the absolutely deadening roar of the AN 727-277.
Since it's Throwback Thursday I did board once a Boeing 727 aircraft from San Andres Island bound for Cali, Colombia which was operated by Aero Republica which was sold to Copa Airlines Colombia and now rebranded as a low coat carrier Wingo.
I never flew on a 727 but in the early 90s I worked at Baltimore's airport (BWI) and saw 727 aircraft from all major carriers including TWA , Eastern,Us Air and Pan Am even Air Jamaica had a 727 not to mention United, American and Delta it seemed that all the airlines had 727 service and yes they were LOUD
I loved flying in the 727. Back then at some of the less sophisticated airports the rear boarding ladder was a smart way to disembark. The tail section shelter you from the sun and the rain.
It was designed to serve much less well equipped secondary airports. Back then such airports in the United States were extremely basic. Hence the built in air stairs pretty much was required.
The Boeing 727 was and still is the most beautiful commercial airliner ever made. A work of art and a workhorse, few competitors could match her many capabilities to serve under developed airports with shorter runways. Her iconic design represents the pinnacle of American postwar engineering prowess.
And Eastern was about the only way to fly the technical marvel Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. For awhile, they used the TriStar between between Atlanta and Florida.
I flew the 727 with Singapore airlines; Dan Air and Northwest Airlines. I also flew on the British airways Trident, both very fine aircraft especially the Trident with its autoland capabilities.
BP-ARCO used 727's for Alaska North Slope oil field crew change flights in the 80's up until the early to mid-2000's. The big advantage of the 727s over the 737s that replaced them was the certification for use on gravel air-strips with no modification. I was told it cost about $1M each to retrofit the 737s with gravel guards to be certified for that service. Loved those 727's!
I flew on an Alaska Airlines 727, called a Golden Nugget Jet, which featured Golden Samovar Service. The stewardess rolled an enormous samovar down the aisle and asked if you'd like some tea.
I few on Royal Airlines 727 once on a round trip from Toronto to Barbados. It was cool boarding the plane via the rear stairs on the tail of the plane.
Between 1973 and 1988 I flew several times on the 727 with American, Braniff, Continental and United. I was 10 the first time in 1973. The thing I liked about it was they were fairly quiet with the the engines in the tail and they were also quite comfortable bit some of that, I think, was the seats were bigger back then and the configuration also had good leg room as well.
Bahamasair had two 727-200 series in the late 1980s. They were eventually phased out in my country in favor of the 737 and the Dash 8-200. I flew on a 727-200 with my dad in the late 1990s with a loaner aircraft working for Bahamasair. It was a rugged and solid built aircraft.
A little known fact is that the initial design of the 737 was just a shortened version of the 727 with no center engine. It made it all the way to "artist renderings" and table top models The "official reason" for putting the engines under the wing that there were some slight aerodynamism advantages but the CW is that the "real reason" was that somebody at the BOD level looked at it and concluded that it looked too much like the DC-9 which is what it was being made to compete with. The irony is that had they stuck with it then in the 80's when it was NG'd it they could have easily bolted "stoick'OEM CFM-56's on and had no need to go for that flat bottomed shark mouth version in order to fit under that very low wing and those even larger MAX engines would have also fir back there just fine which means no need to go to that re-designed inherently unstable wing and also no need for MCAS in order to solve that "problem"
flew many times in and out of Melbourne Florida via Eastern. I was told many of the Eastern pilots were ex navy. At Melbourne it seemed they like to practice "carrier" takeoffs. They rev it up until the brakes were barely holding and woosh off you'd go. and climb like a demon. And of course, fuel wasn't highly monitored like later years. Bigger airports they behaved more normally (probably more supervision at larger airports)
the last 727 off the line was S/N 22938 727-2S2, for FedEx and now fly's the oil response, got many hrs on the other last 2 72`s/n 22936 & 22937 both were fed-ex purpose built freighters with the Boeing cargo door.
The Boeing 727 was the first airplane I ever flew on way back in 1971. Eastern Airlines from New Haven, CT to West Palm Beach FL. What a wonderful aircraft quick quiet ( for its passengers at least) and far smoother in flight than the DC9. I miss that old noisy, smokey tri jet still Mark O'Connell.
First time I took a flight in my life was at the age of 12 and it was in an American Trans Air B727. Route was SJU (San Juan,Puerto Rico) to MCO(Orlando,Florida). It was a good flight overall. Just some light turbulence due to bad weather.
I'm curious why large airliners don't have the engines on the tail like this any more. It would make sense, given the size of modern turbofans, to put them on the back rather than try to fit them under the wing.
Calling 727 wisperjet is like calling a very close cannon blast totally silent.
Compared to the 707, it was more quiet. 😊
@@TheMaartianProbably because it has only three engines...
@@MarceloTrindade1 Exactly. Marketing at its best. True as a referential. False as an absolute. 😀
Eastern Airlines marketed the 727 as the “whisper jet” because the CABIN noise level was lower than other types especially in the forward cabin due to the rear mounted engines.
Pretty quiet onboard, that was the impression I had after my two trips on them.
2:04 Intensely focusing view on the tail engine while talking about the innovative APU, which is in the main wheel bay.....🤣
Fire that editor
My favorite 727 story was flying Chicago to DC on United back in 1975. My dad was a retired UAL DC-8 pilot and we were of course flying non-revenue so when one passenger showed up at the last minute of our sold out flight the 4 of us (dad, mom, me and my brother) were originally going to need to get off. My dad then disappeared for a few minutes and then came back to let us know he was going to ride in the cockpit jump seat! I’m sure that’s nothing that you could get away with today but dad had a great time flying up front one last time!
We still do that today. I ride the jumpseat to/from work daily
@@alexmelia8873 The difference is that dad was retired and no longer a United employee, I doubt today anyone that’s not an active employee of an airline would be allowed up front.
The B727 are beautiful, no matter what you say!
757 is sexier.
The early 727 accidents were caused by pilots totally not used to the flight characteristics of the plane because it was just so different from other jet airliners of the day. But what really killed the 727 was the rise of the CFM56-powered 737 Classic models in the early 1980's, which offered the shorter runway benefits of the 727 but was much quieter and more economical on fuel.
Don’t forget the A320.
Unlike the Boeing replacement for the 727-the 757.. which was much larger and heavier-the A320 took square aim at the most popular airliner at the time: the 727-200.
This meant an aircraft far more capable of directly replacing the 727 without coming up against growth limits (the 737) or having to much growth built in (the 757).
1986 MAH-MAN with Dan Air
Impressive aircraft and I can remember it well!
But at 2:00 you talk of the APU but focus on the No.2 engine. If I remember, the APU was situated in the belly and the exhaust port was at the trailing edge of the starboard wing 🤔
you'd be correct! i remember having to remove and reinstall one as part of an assignment early this month.
As a middle class, suburban kid of the 80s, flying on 727s was pretty common for me, and I absolutely loved it! Chicago Midway was the best airport for the 727 to strut its stuff thanks to the short runways and nearby buildings. I recall several takeoffs in which the pilot set the brakes, revved the engines to max, then released the brakes, plastering all the passengers into their seats like no other airliner could achieve. The plane would hurtle down the runway, snap its nose into the air, and shoot off into the sky like a rocket. MDW takeoffs aboard a 727 were the closest a commercial passenger could get to flying in a fighter jet.
The engines of course, were not quiet. I get why Boeing claimed otherwise. For those of us too young to remember first generation 707s and DC-8s with their pure jet engines and organ pipe exhausts, it's easy to mock the marketing; however, the 727 with its low bypass turbofan engines was remarkably quieter than its predecessor. I loved going to the lavatory in the rear because I had to walk past the outboard engines, and the rumbling whine they made at cruising speed sounded like an angry elephant from within the cabin.
My last 727 flight was in 1997, when I flew aboard a TWA 727 round trip between ORD and MCI to visit my brother at university. On the return flight, the APU had failed, and so the flight crew had to use ground power to start the engines, and the tug couldn't push back against the thrust of those three mighty engines. So, the pilots just threw on the thrust reversers and revved up the engines for a couple of seconds for the only powerback I have ever experienced.
Once the 737 Classic with its high bypass CFM56 engines and the even higher performance 757 took to the skies and ETOPS cleared the way for twinjets to go where they couldn't go before, the 727's career was over. Although taking off in a 757 is equally fast, it has never evoked the excitement that the 727 did because it was quieter and smoother. The 727 felt like a Shelby Cobra...raw, overpowered, unrefined, and unsafe in inexperienced hands. In comparison, the 757 is like an Acura NSX: ridiculously powerful, yes, but smooth, clean, quiet, and civilized. Plus, the pilots have a much more spacious flight deck. :)
compared to Boeing's other planes, the 727 is certainly an unusual plane featuring three engines all mounted at the rear but for the time it was built, it worked out well
Ya commercial airliners coming out nowadays have wing mounted engines. Only business jets have rear mounted engines. I guess its a better overall payoff, especially with those big bypass engines.
I remember flying on them when I was younger. My favorite part was boarding and unboarding using the “DB Cooper” air stairs! 😁
I flew on the 727 with United and Northwest Airlines. It's a beautiful plane and was comfortable from what I remember.
Very noisy up front though.
The 727 was a glorious flying machine!
I flew the 727 with DELTA back in 1976. Enjoyed the flight.
As a young child I remember going up the tail stairway on a PSA 727 (I looked for the smile under the nose and remember how fun I got to see it).
Yep... Me too... Flew from Burbank to Oakland in the summer time to visit grandparents during school break... 1969-70. I was 8-9 yrs old then....
Flew the B727 the 1st time with my dad on a business trip in 1970. AA B727 JFK-->PVD; returned later in the day NA B727 PVD-->JFK. I was 7 years old, remembered the smell of fresh coffee brewing during boarding, and smell of jet kerosene. I was felt like the king of Queens! I flew on them well into the 2000’s. My most memorable B727 flight was in August 1978, SQ (my first time flying this carrier) between BKK-->SIN which at that time was the Paya Lebar Airport. Always special!
I always remember that mix of kerosene qnd coffee too! I miss those days.
My favorite 727 story(s) was jumping from one at the World FreeFall Convention in 1992, 93, 94, and 95. This was one of the specialty jumpships they brought in for one day. I wore a suit and tie like DB Cooper. We exited from the rear, the airstairs were removed. Aircraft levels off above Quincy, IL airport at 13K, airspeed about 155 mph. This was a cargo type, no seats but seat belts on floor for all 200 skydivers, I forgot the company on first year (I have a video on that). Amerijet flew the other years.
I got married at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, CA last October. They have the forward section of an ex FedEx 727 called Brittney. My favorite wedding photos are of me and my husband sitting in the cockpit, smiling at each other at the end of the night. I was born 14 years after the last 727 was delivered and missed its heyday by quite the margin, but I’ve always been captivated by the engineering that went into that beast and the countless iconic photos from the era it flew in.
727 WHEN YOU SEE IT 🔥🔥🗣🗣
Flew many times on Eastern, Delta, American, United and Northwest 727s. My first flight was June 1985 Kansas City to Washington National on Eastern and my last was August 1999 Salt Lake City to Minneapolis on Northwest. Loved that plane. The takeoff thrust pushed you back in your seat.
Finally I’ve been waiting for a 727 long haul video
Have flown on 727's with Eastern, Delta, Northwest, American and TWA....all in the 60's, 70's and 80's.....great aircraft !!!!!!
I regard the B727 as the most beautiful aeroplane ever designed and built. As a teenager, I saw the 727 more like a rocket ship than an aeroplane. I was only able to fly on one twice - on Ansett-ANA's VH-RME from Mt Isa to Brisbane and from Brisbane to Sydney. It was under the command of veteran pilot Captain Arthur Lovell in 1968. A very memorable occasion that I will never forget.
I flew the 727 for 14 years. Engineer, first officer and captain. Great aircraft!
One of the prettiest planes ever built is and was the 727s 💙💙💙💙💙💙
I flew in a 727 from Miami to San Juan in 1986, and with Delta I flew on several 727s between 2000-2001. Great experience with all of them!
I flew the 727 many, many times, mostly with American Airlines. I loved it. It felt like a rocket ship, the way it rotated at a steeper angle before the rear wheels lost ground contact. Sitting in First Class really enhanced that feeling. I never liked the 737-100s and 737-200s. To me, they were just aluminum people tubes. The 727 flight experience was superior. But the additional costs of having a third engine and a third officer on the flight deck provided an incentive to airlines to replace them with 737s. So it goes.
Flew on them with DanAir back in 1986 from MAN to Malaga and back. I thought they were quite quiet as a passenger with the engines being in the tail. Boarded via the rear stairs both times.
Less than two minutes in, and there it is, an Aerosucre 727. Not disappointed at all 😆
A man of culture
For some reason this was my favorite jet liner of my youth. I forget the airline I flew but I remember taking one to Wisconsin.
1968 was my trip on a South African airways 727 domestic flight from Johannesburg to Durban for the Christmas holiday. Disembarking from the rear exit ramp was a memorable experience.
Flew my first three flights ever on 727’s…1978 to Orlando on National Airlines, 1979 to Cancun on Pan-Am, and 1982 to Miami on Eastern…LOVED the plane! Very comfortable
don't mean to nit pick, but boeing wasnt looking into a 3 engined jet airliner until it had walked around DeHavilland and saw a prototype Trident (later Hawker Sidderly Trident).
And the Trident had auto landing for poor visibility that the 727 struggled with 😊
Flew from MEX to Cancun, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, Zacatecas and Oaxaca in those amazing 727-200 from Mexicana all my childhood. A very special aircraft.
I used to enjoy flying on the 727, usually on Iberia flights between London and Spain in the 80s.
It felt quite roomy and I don't remember it's being noisy inside the cabin, except of course at the rear.
My first ride in a 727 was a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco in 1987. As I recall, the cabin interior was quiet (probably because I was in the forward part of the plane), and my seat was comfortable. But what really impressed me was how fast the plane took to the sky.
The 727 revolutionized domestic air travel in Australia in the 1960s when I was a teenager. Or it felt like it did. (The DC9 wasn't far behind).
I can remember clearly as a teenager in the mid '60s, living near Adelaide Airport in South Australia, watching every Ansett Airlines Boeing 727 that we could graciously land at the end of its snappy 50 minute journey from Melbourne (which, until then, was a 9-hour car journey or 12 hour overnight train journey away). Such a beautiful and solid-looking plane. Called the "whisper jet", it was so noisy that our school-teachers simply stopped trying to speak for the 30 seconds it took to descend overhead, 6 times a day, morning and late afternoon ... Now, Adelaide businessmen could go to the big-smoke Melbourne in the morning, do whateva, and be back home in time in Adelaide for evening meal with their families. I thought at 14 years age that it was a miracle.
But now, 60 years later, I'm an old hand. 🥱. I've been lucky enough to fly in the whole range of commercial aircraft, for work or vacations. I even flew in the old DC9 again in Asia last year (the 727's main competitor).
My first "international" experience was the ear destroying, screaming-loud, pencil-thin 4-engine 707, that was a killer but better than swimming.
I flew in the Queen of the Skies 747 with SIA within a year of their release in 1972, the fabulous 787 'Dreamliner' often, and I love the Airbus 380 because I can afford Business Class in my old age.
I even ONCE flew BOAC Concorde LON-NYC, in 1978, not because I'm rich but because at that time you could enter a lottery (raffle? 😅) at the last minute to standby for any no-shows or unsold seats, and buy a £50 ticket for the supersonic trans-Atlantic crossing! The flying experience of a lifetime!
But still, but still .....now, 60 years later, if I could relive any one of all those flying experiences (and many more) then I wouldn't hesitate to choose one last flight on the Boeing 727. 🙏🏻 Please. Preferably at the back of the plane via the stairs going up its arse, to get the full "retro" effect of the tri-jet. HaHa 😂.
That's what Grand-pa here thinks! 🧐
You knew and you could "feel" that you were on a safe & solid flying machine. 🤣👍🏻
I recall flying on the B727 with Air Canada in the 1980's between Ottawa and Edmonton, it was one of the last aircraft I flew where the flight deck accommodated three active staff rather than two.
Back in the 80s and 90s, I had many flights on both of these tri jets. Both of them were always comfortable and reliable transportation. A marketing game of Continental Airlines was their Pub Sevice. On some of their DC 10s they replaced the business class section with a coach Pub.Tuesdaysand Thursdays from EWR to LAX is wasa pleasant way to cross the country holdup 8n the Pub for the trip. I've ridden on both on TWA, AA, Delta, NWA and KLM. We always arrived safely.
Mark O'Connell
Beautiful airplane for it's time. I had the pleasure of working with Jack Steiner's son John at Boeing. Heard many fine stories about the struggle it was to launch the 727 and get Boeing's board of directors approval. Jack has been called the Father of the 727. Whenever flying the 727 into smaller airports, it was nice to exit using the rear stairs...on the tarmac. Same rear stairs that DB Cooper used to parachute out of.
I lived in Alaska for thirty years and flew Alaska Airlines 727 as a passenger for many years to many different destinations. Great memories. Great plane.
I had flown on many piston engined and turboprops before the B727 came into service. Also on the first five widebodies B747, DC-10; L-1011, A300 and A310, plus the DC-8, DC-9, and B737 BEFORE i ever had the opportunity to fly on the Boeing B727.
My first ever of several roundtrips on the same route, was with First Air (''The Airline of the North'') from Ottawa Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 (C-YOW)) to Iqaluit Nunavut (C-YFB) during April of 2004.
It was quite a novelty for me to board from the tarmac at Ottawa via the rear airstairs and deplane at Iqaluit at a chilly -20 C!
The Indigenous owned (First Nations in Canada) First Air flew both passengerand 'combi' B727s until about 2008 as I recall, as well as a large fleet of 'gravel kitted' B737-200s.
I took also off and landed on ice, snow and gravel runways in Arctic Canada many times in ATR-42s and DHC-8s flown by First Air and by Canadian North Airlines.
Those two airlnes serving Arctic Canada merged about four years ago. Many of the communities served by Canadian North Airlines today are located far above the Arctic Circle. 🔵
🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦 🧊 🍨 ❄️ 🧊 ❄️ 🏔 🌨 ☃️ 🇨🇦 🍁 🇨🇦
At 6:30 that FedEx plane is landing on a 4000’ in Alaska
Having been involved with the 727 at Eastern Airlines. I was a great reliable workhorse. The initial problem with the crashes was to rapid of a decent ans slow spool up time for the JT8D's. It was rectified buy keeping the plane in a higher drag configuration and no power to flight idle approaches. Great airplane
Flew on the 727 with both Pan Am and TWA during my childhood in the 1980s. Comfortable, fun planes to fly on.
The 727 was a favorite of mine. Inside it was relatively quiet towards the front of the cabin. Especially compared to the 720B and Electra that came before it. I flew in them with PSA and United from the 1960s until shortly before United stopped flying them.
I was on 727 Northwest from LAX to St Paul and 727 TWA from Norfolk to STL. Quiet smooth ride even sitting in the back.
First commercial airliner I flew was an Eastern Airlines 727 from New York to West Palm Beach Florida as I recall. She was a beauty then and is a beauty now - put new engines on that airframe design and bring it back!
Towards the end. Cargo and commercial aviation aren’t separate things. All commercial aviation is not just airlines. Cargo is commercial aviation. It’s any use of aircraft for hire or remuneration. 7:19
My very first plane trip was on a 727 from Boston to Bangor, ME in 1967. It took all of 30 minutes. We spent almost as much time taxiing at Logan as we did in the air.
First flight on a jet airliner in June of 1965 Eastern B727-100 Whisper jet JFK to St. Pete Clearwater PIE .. December of 1980 I became a Second Officer on a 727-200 (4 years) and then a First Officer (2 years) .. never checked out as Captain as the airline was phasing out the trijet in favor of the 737 and MD80 series. At the peak the fleet was over 100 of 727-200's. GREAT Airplane .. but a little tough to land well consistently .. no frills .. basic and ready to go anywhere anytime. Dual VOR/DME and ADF (and a paper chart) got you to where you were trying to go .. did get CAT II later in it's career. Surprisingly the straight 200 could not make it nonstop westbound from the East coast to the West coast .. the "A" models with an AUX fuel tank were required ... and cruise altitudes were always in the high 20's and maybe 310 if you were very light .. but it would do .84 Mach all day long .. with a total Fuel Flow of 9,000# PH (1350 GPH). Stiff crosswinds on takeoff might get you a compressor stall on the No. 2 due to the long draw down the S duct to the engine .. so you would advance 1 and 3 until you got some forward velocity .. then brought them all up to take off EPR. RIP my friend.
I worked on these as an avionics mechanic at United. I actually worked on the UAL aircraft (N7001U) while in SFO. One of my favorite airplanes.
The most beautiful aeroplane ever. I flew on an Aerocontinente B727-100 in 1999, between Lima and Cuzco, in Peru.
Blue zenith
As someone who spent a few years working the flight line, the 727 was one of my favorite planes to work around.
I recall flying on the 727 several times during the 1970's and on occasion exiting the aircraft from the stairs in the rear. It was narrow bodied and a little tight, however I've always felt it was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built.
I first flew on a 727 in 1965 from IAD to STL on American. I’ve flown on 727-100 and -200 on American, Eastern, Delta, Northeast, Northwest, TWA, Continental, Western, Alaska, United, Hughes Airwest, Lufthansa, and Cayman Airways. My shortest flight was SJC to OAK (which was on the SLC-SJC-OAK-SLC route) and the longest was MCO to SLC. Marvelous aircraft.
I flew many times with Iberia's shuttle between Barcelona and Madrid. Iberia keep those planes many years and were replaced by 757 which was a more comfortable airplane. I remember once flying from Madrid to Barcelona (quite late) being the fastest journey, the captain almost avoided the final approach, in 35-40 min I was there.
I flew on one as a kid from Ljubljana to Dubrovnik with JAT in 1989.
I was surprised to find out JAT, flag carrier for Communist Yugoslavia, used Western aircraft. But the country wasn’t part of the Warsaw Pact.
East Germany’s Interflug bought a few Airbus A310s in the late eighties, but neither the country nor the airline would be around much longer.
My first flight was on an Eastern Airlines 727 Whisper Jet. The flight was from Ft Lauderdale to Pittsburgh. That was in January of 1966. It's length of service and numbers sold show it was a great air craft.
Yes, the 727 was a fantastic and reliable aircraft. I flew on it many times with various airlines: PAN AM, Lufthansa, IBERIA, TAP (Portugal), Air France, Royal Air Maroc, American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Air Canada, ACES (Colombia), Ladeco (Ecuador), AVENSA (Venezuela), VARIG (Brazil), VASP (Brazil), Mexicana (Mexico), Lloyd Aero Boliviano (Bolivia), Lacsa (Costa Rica) - as you can see, I flew on the 727 with many many different airlines, I actually don't remember them all ....
Interesting vid. Ty SF 👍
I flew to Aruba and back in 1999 in a UPS 727 cargo plane with a passenger conversion kit installed. They used these temporary kits in their cargo planes for a short time and operated a passenger service as UPS Airlines.
Aged about 12/13 flying on an SAA 727 from Joburg to Durban, beautiful a/c.
A 727 was the first type of plane I ever flew on, an Eastern Airlines flight from Miami to Tampa. Also, flew several times on Eastern L-1011s, the longest of those trips was from Seattle to Atlanta Those were the best, in my opinion. Huge, comfortable and smooth.
My first ever commercial flight was on a TN 727-276, CNS to BNE, in 1981. I connected to the then brand-new TN A300 onward to MEL; I did the same in reverse three weeks later.
I remember around 1990 being on a vantage point at CNS airport, and seeing an AN 727-277 take off, followed by the then-new QF 747-438. The 747 was almost silent in comparison to the absolutely deadening roar of the AN 727-277.
Since it's Throwback Thursday I did board once a Boeing 727 aircraft from San Andres Island bound for Cali, Colombia which was operated by Aero Republica which was sold to Copa Airlines Colombia and now rebranded as a low coat carrier Wingo.
We had them in Australia too. Our 2 major airlines in the 1960s Trans Australia Airlines, TAA and Ansett Airlines. They both also flew the DC9.
Never got to fly on the 727 but, I grew up around them. Beautiful aircraft.
I never flew on a 727 but in the early 90s I worked at Baltimore's airport (BWI) and saw 727 aircraft from all major carriers including TWA , Eastern,Us Air and Pan Am even Air Jamaica had a 727 not to mention United, American and Delta it seemed that all the airlines had 727 service
and yes they were LOUD
That plane was an awesome hot rod up here in Alaska in the 70's.
Wonderful aircraft and the first plane I ever flew on.
I used to fly sometimes on Eastern 727s in and out of Atlanta back in the 70's and early 80's.
I loved flying in the 727. Back then at some of the less sophisticated airports the rear boarding ladder was a smart way to disembark. The tail section shelter you from the sun and the rain.
The mechanics of the flap system is really impressive! There are videos on YT that demonstrate its extension 😮
Great job 👍 explains much more to me and everyone else
I flew on a Delta 727 from W. Palm Beach, FL to LaGuardia in NYC, in 1981. It was a very enjoyable flight.
It was designed to serve much less well equipped secondary airports. Back then such airports in the United States were extremely basic. Hence the built in air stairs pretty much was required.
The Boeing 727 was and still is the most beautiful commercial airliner ever made. A work of art and a workhorse, few competitors could match her many capabilities to serve under developed airports with shorter runways. Her iconic design represents the pinnacle of American postwar engineering prowess.
My favorite plane. Flew on them mostly with Eastern and Delta, but also once or twice with Piedmont/USAir and Pan Am.
As a controller working LGA in the 70s, the three holer as we called it was one of the best performing aircraft we controlled
Used Eastern to Florida. often.
And Eastern was about the only way to fly the technical marvel Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. For awhile, they used the TriStar between between Atlanta and Florida.
I was a pilot at Continental and flew 727 for many years. I like the airplane. The short ones were more peppy than the 200s.
I'm showing my age a little bit here, but I flew on a 727-200 with TWA and Northwest Airlines. Now that was a long time ago
I flew the 727 with Singapore airlines; Dan Air and Northwest Airlines. I also flew on the British airways Trident, both very fine aircraft especially the Trident with its autoland capabilities.
BP-ARCO used 727's for Alaska North Slope oil field crew change flights in the 80's up until the early to mid-2000's. The big advantage of the 727s over the 737s that replaced them was the certification for use on gravel air-strips with no modification. I was told it cost about $1M each to retrofit the 737s with gravel guards to be certified for that service. Loved those 727's!
Loved flying on Eastern 727 from Toronto via Philly or Pittsburgh to Fort Lauderdale back in the 80's.
First time I ever flew, as a teenager in 1997, was on a United 727. I was enthralled by the takeoff and the view through the window.
I remember flying on one as a little kid in the 60s. At smaller airports without jet bridges you could board the 727 via the tail stairs
I flew on an Alaska Airlines 727, called a Golden Nugget Jet, which featured Golden Samovar Service. The stewardess rolled an enormous samovar down the aisle and asked if you'd like some tea.
First jet I flew on in 1968 - South African Airways. Loved it!
I few on Royal Airlines 727 once on a round trip from Toronto to Barbados. It was cool boarding the plane via the rear stairs on the tail of the plane.
Between 1973 and 1988 I flew several times on the 727 with American, Braniff, Continental and United. I was 10 the first time in 1973.
The thing I liked about it was they were fairly quiet with the the engines in the tail and they were also quite comfortable bit some of that, I think, was the seats were bigger back then and the configuration also had good leg room as well.
Bahamasair had two 727-200 series in the late 1980s. They were eventually phased out in my country in favor of the 737 and the Dash 8-200. I flew on a 727-200 with my dad in the late 1990s with a loaner aircraft working for Bahamasair. It was a rugged and solid built aircraft.
The 727 is the most beautiful bird from those people
A little known fact is that the initial design of the 737 was just a shortened version of the 727 with no center engine.
It made it all the way to "artist renderings" and table top models
The "official reason" for putting the engines under the wing that there were some slight aerodynamism advantages but the CW is that the "real reason" was that somebody at the BOD level looked at it and concluded that it looked too much like the DC-9 which is what it was being made to compete with.
The irony is that had they stuck with it then in the 80's when it was NG'd it they could have easily bolted "stoick'OEM CFM-56's on and had no need to go for that flat bottomed shark mouth version in order to fit under that very low wing and those even larger MAX engines would have also fir back there just fine which means no need to go to that re-designed inherently unstable wing and also no need for MCAS in order to solve that "problem"
Often flew Delta 727s between MSO and SLC airports. A fine plane all in all.
flew many times in and out of Melbourne Florida via Eastern. I was told many of the Eastern pilots were ex navy. At Melbourne it seemed they like to practice "carrier" takeoffs. They rev it up until the brakes were barely holding and woosh off you'd go. and climb like a demon. And of course, fuel wasn't highly monitored like later years. Bigger airports they behaved more normally (probably more supervision at larger airports)
Oh that was 1965 to 1969
My uncle was a mechanic for LAB, Bolivian air Loyd...
the last 727 off the line was S/N 22938 727-2S2, for FedEx and now fly's the oil response, got many hrs on the other last 2 72`s/n 22936 & 22937 both were fed-ex purpose built freighters with the Boeing cargo door.
I had my first flight ever in this plane back in the early 90's. Avianca used to have a bunch of these, together with MD-82 (or 83)
The Boeing 727 was the first airplane I ever flew on way back in 1971. Eastern Airlines from New Haven, CT to West Palm Beach FL. What a wonderful aircraft quick quiet ( for its passengers at least) and far smoother in flight than the DC9. I miss that old noisy, smokey tri jet still
Mark O'Connell.
First time I took a flight in my life was at the age of 12 and it was in an American Trans Air B727. Route was SJU (San Juan,Puerto Rico) to MCO(Orlando,Florida). It was a good flight overall. Just some light turbulence due to bad weather.
I'm curious why large airliners don't have the engines on the tail like this any more. It would make sense, given the size of modern turbofans, to put them on the back rather than try to fit them under the wing.