last 727 Pax Flight

[Airbubba]

Here's a 1983 UPI archive article on the end of 727 production:

Final production of Boeing 727

July 26, 1983By MARTIN HEERWALD

SEATTLE -- The jetliner that has been decorated by a king, survived a Mach 1 dive and been a best-seller in commercial aviation since the early jet era is quitting while it's ahead.

The Boeing 727 will be taken out of production in August of next year, company officials have announced. They said the three-engine, medium-range plane has been the success story of the airways, far exceeding its early promise.

Back in 1960, the Boeing Co. was keeping its fingers crossed that it would be able to place as many as 400 of the 727s in commercial airline fleets. They weren't even close.

When the last of the 727s comes off the line in August, 1984, it will be the No. 1,832. It will go to Federal Express, Boeing's newest commercial airplane customer.

Total 727 sales amount to more than $20 billion, and it's estimated 727s of all kinds have carried more than 2.2 billion passengers.

The 727 was first put into commercial service by United and Eastern Airlines in early 1964. In nearly 20 years of service under the flags of scores of carriers, the 727 has proven to be tough and durable.

Boeing spokesman Tom Cole said the popular trijet will be the first of Boeing's family of jetliners to go out of production. Military versions of the 707, the company's first jet transport, are still being produced.

Cole said the 727, the right plane at the right time for so many airlines around the world, must give way to newer, more fuel-efficient models.

Boeing hopes that when it comes time for airlines to replace their 727s over the next couple of decades, the successor will be the new 757. The twin-engine 757 already has proved it can carry 185 passengers at substantially less cost than the 727 can transport 145 customers.

But the 727 will be flying short-to-medium routes well into the 1990s.

Cole said nothing compares to the amazing sales success of the 727, which brought the jet age to many smaller airports around the world.

'It is far and away the most sold commercial airplane of any kind that has ever been built, and that includes all propeller airplanes,' he said.

'A lot of people think more DC-3s were produced than any other airplane, but there were only several hundred commercial models of the DC-3. The others were produced as military planes in World War II.'

Cole said the 727's closest rival in planes sold is the DC-9. McDonnell Douglas has taken orders for nearly 1,200 of the two-engine transport.

The 727 still is one of the quietest and most flexible transports, the Boeing spokesman said.

'We're sad to see it go, but we're not crying,' Cole said, 'because we're also glad to see progress toward a more efficient airplane.'

And there are episodes of glory to remember.

No one knows better the kind of punishment the trijet can take than King Hassan II of Morocco, who had good reason to 'pin' a medal on his 727 -- giving it the Head of the Order of the Throne, the kingdom's most cherished award.

The king was returning over the Mediterranean from France in 1972 when his escort of three Moroccan jet fighters suddenly turned enemy in a coup attempt and poured machine gun and cannon fire into the transport. One of the jets rammed the tail of the 727.

The pilot of the plane got on the radio and convinced the attackers they should quit firing because they had already killed the king. But that was a ruse. The badly damaged 727 managed to land at Rabat and King Hassan emerged without injury.

Boeing repaired the plane and restored it to service.

Trans World Airlines also can attest to the toughness of the 727.

In April 1979, a TWA 727 suddenly plunged from 39,000 feet to 5,000 feet in a tight, spiraling dive and was near the speed of sound when the pilot managed to pull out and level off.

TWA engineers spent more than a half-million dollars examining the aircraft, virtually taking it apart and putting it back together. They found 'absolutely no' structural damage. The dive was blamed on a freak performance of a wing slat.

The 727 was put back into service the same year, first as a training plane and later on regular commercial flights.

Originally Posted by fantom

No, just had a look at the excellent data from Bafanguy and it shows the three we gave to Syria 9K AFB/C/D as -17Rs. ...

Years ago I believe you or somebody else here mentioned sheep being ritually bled to death in celebration of the planes' arrival in Damascus. The celebrants then put bloody handprints on the side of the aircraft.