Boeing 727's always seemed in my eyes to need more of Luton's runway to get airborne. In fact it was a Dan-Air 727 that took out some of Luton's approach lights and ILS. I seem to remember when reading the accident report that the aircraft then dropped into the valley before climbing away to head for Gatwick for a emergency landing.
Didnt a DHL flight have the same issue, if I remember correctly they loaded the containers in the wrong order making the aircraft nose heavy and the only reason it got airborne was because it dropped into the valley.