Originally Posted by
Airbubba
There were some 727 combis made. Reuve Aleutian and Air Mike (Continental Micronesia) operated them I think.
And didn't Eastern and Braniff operate 727 QC's with interiors that could carry seats or pallets?
UPS operated five 727-100s with Rolls engines that had swappable cargo and pax interiors. The interiors were supposed to be usable on any of the five aircraft but, well, the holes didn't exactly line up.
UAL had either 20 or 25 of the 727-100QC (
Quick
Change) model. Pax seats on pallets or air freight tied down to pallets. The pallets with the passenger seats were stored in a big van like mobile unit.
PSU units folded up when cargo configured. Empty weight was somewhat higher than the standard -100s resulting in a slightly increased burn rate, but fuel was pretty cheap back in the lates 60's and early 70's. When you walked into the cabin you KNEW it was a QC as they were kind of beat-up. Standard freight cargo door on port side.
I remember one particular QC had to be significantly crossed trimmed to fly straight.
One of them crashed on takeoff from KORD (1968?) and was demolished. The 3 pilot crew was injured but all survived. Inadvertent selection of 2deg flaps vice 5deg for takeoff.
Eastern had 727QCs, but I'm not certain about Braniff.