Last 727 flght for AAE

[AN Flyer]

ANF was not the nicest of the 'LR' fleet, it always needed about 3 degrees of right rudder trim for some reason.

By George - Thank you!! In all my years I had never heard that story about ANF :-) Amazing some of the things you learn years down the track. I can still remember standing on the tarmac at the MJB Ansett 727 farewell hangar party in 1997 in front of ANA and ANB having just done their last staff "farewell flights" around Melbourne. ANE and ANF were already painted out, ready for ferry to the U.S for freighter conversion and "hush kits", along with the last (non-LR) RMN, which was engineless!

Sure nice to know all these birds got a life extension after their Ansett careers, and somewhat ironic that they outlasted Ansett itself.

[WellingtonFF]

It brings back memories for me also as SLF. I am also old enough to have flown DC3s, (in the days of Mickey Mouse Airlines around the outback of WA) Viscounts, Electras and so on, but I used to love flying the 727, particularly on the MEL - PER leg which I used to do a lot. In the 70s I remember that it used to be a regular occurrence for the refuelers to strike at Perth airport just before school holidays, and it was always touch and go whether to take the train back home or not. I seem to remember that TAA worked out a system whereby they filled up the 727 in MEL, flew to PER, and then went back to Melbourne via Meekatharra, where they refueled again before flying back home. I remember sitting on the tarmac at Meekatharra just prior to one Xmas, with the temperature in the forties, the plane being refuelled, the back ramp down and the front door open with the hot wind blowing through the plane and the hosties desperately trying to keep up with the beer.

I have always thought the 727 had a lot of character. I even saw one through Wellington about six months ago.

I admit to having been a lurker on this site for some time, but as SLF for many years and fascinated by flying and the technology behind it, I think PPRuNe is a marvelous insight in the aviation industry. I hope the professionals can tolerate the serious amateurs amongst us from time to time.