Boeing 727 thread (inspired from the Airbus thread)

Is that a QF? I didn’t know UPS sold any of those to another operator.

I am not familiar with that term (QF). I wasnt directly involved in flight operations. I was in management and I know in the early days they would tell us of profit from hush kits and later when the last 727 was being retired.
 
Which had nothing to do with the airframe nor the design.
Actually, if MD had included a system to prevent retraction of the (hydraulically-operated) outer slats upon loss of hydraulic pressure, there’s a good chance American 191 wouldn’t have rolled over and crashed.

As this WP article from ‘79 explains, both the 747 and L1011 had systems to prevent full uncommanded slat retraction.

 
What’s wrong with it?
That is a photo shopped livery. SAA did not have that logo when they flew the 727.

This was SAAs 727 livery.
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Actually, if MD had included a system to prevent retraction of the (hydraulically-operated) outer slats upon loss of hydraulic pressure, there’s a good chance American 191 wouldn’t have rolled over and crashed.

As this WP article from ‘79 explains, both the 747 and L1011 had systems to prevent full uncommanded slat retraction.

Or if Forklift Joe’s team hadn’t have changed an engine using a method expressly unacceptable to Douglas.
 
I am not familiar with that term (QF). I wasnt directly involved in flight operations. I was in management and I know in the early days they would tell us of profit from hush kits and later when the last 727 was being retired.
It was a very expensive program by UPS to re-engine some 727s with Rolls-Royce Tay engines in order to comply with noise regulations. The center inlet was the giveaway on these aircraft. UPS used to fly them into MKE and were parked next to one of our hangars. QF = Quiet Freighter.

One really weird use was when UPS started using them in passenger service for a brief period.
 
Or if Forklift Joe’s team hadn’t have changed an engine using a method expressly unacceptable to Douglas.
DC10 and MD11 suck. I didn't like then when I first looked at them when they first appeared at the airport . they gave me a bad feeling and still do.
 
It was a very expensive program by UPS to re-engine some 727s with Rolls-Royce Tay engines in order to comply with noise regulations. The center inlet was the giveaway on these aircraft. UPS used to fly them into MKE and were parked next to one of our hangars. QF = Quiet Freighter.

One really weird use was when UPS started using them in passenger service for a brief period.
I am not sure as I wasnt in flight ops. We sold hush kits not sure if it serves the same function. If it did I dont think we would purchase from our competitor
 
The B727 was one of those "built like a tank" machines. They were old school but fun to work on. They had the old JT8D-15 engines that sounded like a fighter jet when they took off. I loved to watch them rotate on a wet runway as the #2 engine shot up a rooster tail. Toward the end of their life cycle we had to install hush kits on all of the planes because they were so loud that they were banned in most major cities. Here's a pic of a hush kitted -15 where you can notice the large extension on the exhaust duct.

The Cooper vane was added after the famous DB cooper escape in which the air stairs were opened in flight. The vane was a simple yet effective means to essentially block the door with a wedge so it couldn't be opened at high speed.View attachment 85763
Laughs in Douglas DC-8/DC-9.
 
I remember a retired Eastern Airlines pilot friend of mine telling me how well built the 727's were compared to the DC-9's and the MD-80. I recall watching the take offs at the airport back in the good old days (80's). The 727's needed the whole runway to take off compared to the newer, more powerful 757's of that time which could take off using half the runway. Somebody once told me the thrust from one engine on a 757 was greater than all three combined from a 727.
Your friend was wrong. DC-9 is WAY more robust than the 727. Douglas never had a convertible model (737).
 
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Thanks, please do!! I know when they were retired many were donated to various schools. That could possibly be one of them. Here is a line from the below attached article.

Since 2000, FedEx has donated 78 of its Boeing 727 aircraft to aviation schools, municipal and airport fire departments, colleges and museums for training and education.

Funny I was finally on the right side of the plane to take a picture of the old FedEx 727 and it wasn't in the spot it's been parked in for the past few years. I'll look to see if they moved it.
 
Awesome write up.

What would happen if 2 of the 3 engines failed, would it lose altitude incredibly fast?

Is any airline still flying 727's?
The 727-200 is able to climb on 1 engine as long as the gear is up. That is what I was taught is 727 DX and FE school. I would not like to test it.
I have been involved in aviation for 40 years 25 as a corporate jet office pilot, the 727 is by far my favorite airliner and only second to the Cessna Citation X. The X is a hangar queen but when it flys it is fun.
 
If only the pylon attachments weren’t cracked through the inappropriate use of a forklift to hoist the engine. In direct opposition to what Douglas had recommended.
Been to Hawaii Several times in them and I would rather be in a 747 . The 747 has a feel better to me.
 
The trade school in MEM where I went to get my A&P certificate had a 1966 Boeing 727-100 that was donated by FDX.

It was cool getting to start the engines.

My then-1-year-old nephew came to visit one day. He didn’t much appreciate being placed into the intake of the Pratt & Whitney JT8-D.
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These things were absolute work horses. I can remember in the early 80s we would pack these things full of cargo, and The next day I would see the same plane again. The engines were obnoxiously loud, but in the age when they were built that’s what the engines were.
 
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