Originally Posted by
midnight cruiser
What was it about the 727 which made it so hard to land consistently? - I once got whiplash from a landing while I was snoozing on the jumpseat - really painful - I thought I had awoken to the end of the world!
But sorry TriStar - it's got nothing on the 72's looks - I think it's the rakish lines and clean wing. Loved the 'nicotine' orange aura of the cockpit too.
With all 3 engines in the tail the main gear were located further back from the center of lift than most aircraft. If you did not fly a nice smooth flare through the round out and tried to salvage the touchdown by pulling back harder on the yoke you simply drove the main gear into the runway. Best to catch it with power not elevator.
The aircraft was a fantastic hand flying platform. Very stable with excellent control balance. We rarely ever shot a coupled approach since it was such a joy to hand fly.