It seems the achilles heel of the Trident was the underpowered engines coupled with the smaller capacity vis a vis the 727. Was there any thought to slapping on some JT8D's ? I seem to remember that Douglas tried to co-sell the Caravelle, before they built the DC-9 and it had the Pratts. While completely understandable that DH would chose a RR engine, was any consideration given to different engines? The auto-pilot sounds great, I fly a 727-100 and it has the original auto-pilot in it, its more work to watch the auto-pilot, making sure it doesn't screw up, than if I hand fly it myself!!!