Boeing 727: Encyclopedia - Boeing 727

Boeing 727

The Boeing 727 is a large commercial jet airliner carrying as many as 189 passengers. It first took to the skies in 1963 and was, for a very long time, the most popular jet-liner in the world.

Boeing 727 - History

The 727 design arose as a compromise between United Airlines, American Airlines, and Eastern Airlines over the configuration of the successor to the Boeing 707. United Airlines wanted a four-engined aircraft for its flights to high-altitude airports, especially its hub at Stapleton International Airport. American wanted a twin-engined aircraft for efficiency reasons. Eastern wanted a third engine for its overwater flights to the Caribbean. Eventually, the three airlines agreed on a trijet, and thus the 727 was born. *[1]

Since the 727 proved to be a reliable and versatile plane that came to form the core of many start-up airlines' fleets, it is sometimes described as the "DC-3 of the Jet Age." Even as the larger 747s came about in 1970, international airlines still needed the 727. Many of the airlines were from medium to large sized countries and needed to transport their passengers to the larger communities where they would catch the bigger airliners for their international flights.

At the turn of the 21st century, the 727 was still a vital part of some major American airline fleets. But the 727 had a reputation for high noise and most airlines were already switching to twinjets, airplanes with only two engines. Twinjets tend to be much more efficient and quieter than planes with three (like the 727) or four jets. Also, the 727 was one of the last airliners in service to have a three-person crew, including a flight engineer, a crewmember whose job is performed by computerized systems on newer planes.

Faced with higher fuel costs, lower sales due to the post-9/11 economic climate, and the extra expense of maintaining older planes, most major airlines began phasing 727s out of their fleet. Delta Air Lines, the last major U.S. carrier to do so, retired its last 727 in 2003. However, the 727 is still flying for smaller start-up airlines, cargo airlines, and charter airlines, and it is also becoming increasingly popular as a private means of transportation.

Boeing 727 - Design

The 727 proved very successful with airlines worldwide partly because of its capability to take off and land on smaller runways while still flying medium range routes. This effectively allowed airlines to attract passengers from cities with large populations but smaller airports to worldwide tourist destinations. One of the features that gave the 727 its ability to land on shorter runways was its unique wing design. Through flap extension and leading edge slat deployment, the 727 could almost double its wing surface area, allowing it to fly with great stability at very slow speeds.

The 727 was designed to be used at smaller, regional airports, so independence from ground facilities was an important requirement. This gave rise one of the 727's most distinctive features: the built-in airstair that drops from the rear underbelly of the fuselage. Another innovation was the inclusion of an APU (auxiliary power unit), which allowed electrical and air-conditioning systems to run independent of a ground-based power supply.

However, the 727 is also one of the loudest commercial jetliners, so most models in the United States must be fitted with hush kits to reduce engine noise. The 727's JT8D jet engines use older low-bypass turbofan technology while more modern airlines utilize the more efficient and less noisy high-bypass turbofan design instead.

Boeing 727 - Uses

In addition to domestic flights of medium range, the 727 proved extremely popular with international passenger airlines. The range of flights it could cover (and the additional safety built in with its third engine) meant that the 727 would prove efficient for short to medium range international flights in areas around the world.

The 727 also has proved popular with cargo airlines and charter airlines. Federal Express began the cargo airline revolution in 1975 utilizing 727s. Many cargo airlines worldwide now employ the 727 as a work horse. The USPS uses the type to fly mail from city to city every day. Charter airlines Sun Country, Champion Air, and Ryan International Airlines all were started with 727 aircraft.

Other companies use the 727 as a way to transport passengers to their resorts or cruise ships. Such was the example of Carnival Cruise Lines, which used both the 727 and 737 to fly both regular flights and flights to transport their passengers to cities that harbored their ships. Carnival used the jets on their airline division, Carnival Airlines.

Major airlines that have flown the jet include AeroSur, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Canada, Air France, ANA, Alitalia, American, Australian Airlines, Avianca, China Airlines, Copa, Delta Air Lines, Dominicana, Eastern Airlines, Federal Express, Iberia, Japan Airlines, JAT, Korean Air, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Northwest Airlines, Olympic Airways, Pan Am, Singapore Airlines, US Airways, Viasa and, among charter airlines, Carnival Airlines and Hapag-Lloyd.

In addition, the 727 has seen sporadic government use, having flown for the Belgian, Yugoslavian and New Zealand air forces, among the small group of government agencies that have used it. The 727 that carried New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger was known as Spud One.

Boeing 727 - Trivia

• The 727's sales record for the most jets bought in history was broken in the early 1990s by its sister, the Boeing 737.

• On May 25, 2003, a 727 formerly used by American Airlines was reported stolen from Luanda's international airport in Angola. Most intelligence agents believe the missing plane to be in the hands of terrorists or drug dealers. The mechanic who was on the plane, Ben Charles Padilla, has never been heard from again.

• The Boeing 727, according to Airliner World magazine, was the first jet able to land at La Paz, Bolivia's international airport. That airport's height — 13,000 feet above sea level — made it impossible for earlier jetliners to land there.

• "D. B. Cooper", the airplane hijacker, parachuted from the back of a 727 as it was flying over the Pacific Northwest. He chose the 727 specifically because the staircase in its tail facilitated his jump. Jumping from a side door would likely have been fatal. Boeing subsequently modified the design so that the stairs couldn't be lowered in flight.

• Zero Gravity Corporation, private company, uses a retrofitted Boeing 727 to give paying customers brief weightlessness, similar to NASA's Vomit Comet and Russia's Il-76K, used to train Astronauts and Cosmonauts, respectively.

• In the early 1960s, Eastern Airlines and other airlines began calling their 727s "Whisperjets", allegedly because a passenger seated forward in First Class, in theory, could only hear the rear-mounted turbofan jet engines as a whisper in the background. This feature also permitted passengers to whisper to each other. (See Eastern Airlines 727 History)

• Every few years, 727 cargo planes accidentally tip back and wind up sitting on their tails because the planes are unloaded improperly. All three turbofan jet engines are all mounted at the tail of the plane making the aircraft rear end heavy. Consequently, workers must unload the plane from the rear to the front. Unloading from the front to the rear causes the plane to tip back. This point of trivia is disputed.

• Similar planes: The Russian Tupolev Tu-154 is a similar looking jet airliner often confused with the 727. It can be told apart by its different shaped nose section, large wing sweep, large drag reduction devices on the wings, and a pointy section on the vertical stabiliser which houses a radar antenna. The British Hawker-Siddeley Trident was also similar, being a tri-jet, T-tail design, and was in fact developed before the 727, in the late 1950s. The Trident is no longer in service although the Tu-154 still operates.

Boeing 727 - Specifications

• First flight: 1963
• Production total: 1,832 built
• Production ended: 1984
• Series: -100, -200, -200ADV

Boeing 727 - General characteristics 727-200

• Wingspan : 108 ft (32.91 m)
• Length : 153 ft 2 in (46.69 m)
• Tail height : 34 ft (10.36 m)
• Powerplant : 3 × Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofans,
  • -15 rated at 15,500 lbf (69 kN) thrust
  • -17 rated at 16,000 lbf (71 kN) thrust
  • -17R rated at 17,400 lbf (77 kN) thrust
• Max. number of passengers : 189

Boeing 727 - Performance

• Cruising speed : 570 to 605 mph (890 to 965 km/h)
• Cruising altitude : 30,000 to 40,000 feet (9,100 to 12,200 m)
• Range : 2,500 - 3,300nm

Boeing 727 - Variants

• 727-214 : Pacific Southwest Airlines
• 727-232 Advanced: Delta Air Lines
• 727-247: Western Air Lines

Boeing 727 - Accident summary

• Hull-loss Accidents: 85 - with a total of 3698 fatalities.
• Other occurrences: 15 - with a total of 256 fatalities.
• Hijackings: 180 - with a total of 90 fatalities.
• In 1985, an Iberia Boeing 727 crashed after getting entangled with a television antenna while landing in Bilbao, killing 148 people.
• In 1983, an Iberia Boeing 727 collided with a Douglas DC-9 of Aviaco as the two airliners taxied down the runway at Barajas International Airport, Madrid, causing the deaths of most passengers on both airliners.
• In 1978, a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 crashed after colliding with a Cessna 172 aircraft in San Diego, killing 144 people.
• In 1980, a Dan-Air Boeing 727-64 crashed in Tenerife. All on board were killed when the aircraft hit terrain while circling.

Boeing 727 - Related content

Designation sequence:

• 707 - 717 - 720 - 727 - 733 - 737 - 747 - 757 - 767 - 777 - 787

Similar aircraft:

• Hawker-Siddeley Trident
• Tupolev Tu-154
• Yakovlev Yak-42

Related lists:

• List of airliners

External links:

• 727 Prototype
• 727 Datacenter
• Boeing-727.com
• Aircraft-Info.net - Boeing 727-100
• Aircraft-Info.net - Boeing 727-200
• Boeing.com 727 Family
• Airsafe.com Fatal Boeing 727 Events
• Download Boeing 727 for Flight Simulator

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Category: U.S. airliners 1960-1969

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Boeing 727", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki