The Boeing Story: Part II

After the Boeing Company's success with America's first jetliner, the 707, airlines looked for a plane that could deliver better performance for smaller markets, allowing them to serve more places across the world. Boeing developed an airliner to meet these demands, which turned out better than could have initially been imagined. This is the story of the Boeing 727.

Three of America's airlines, United, American and Eastern, wanted a new plane, for the smaller American markets, most of which contained smaller airfields, thus requiring a higher performance aircraft. The three airlines all envisioned a different plane, but a rear-mounted, three-engined aircraft was agreed upon, and thus the 727 was born. While having a different configuration than its predecessor, the 707, the 727 retained the same fuselage identity, allowing for the signature Boeing 6 abreast seating. This allowed for some reduction in production costs, by eliminating some of the basic design work that would have been needed otherwise.

First flown in 1963, the 727 brought many new technologies to the commercial airliner table, including retractable air stairs, located in the front door way, as well as the rear tail cone, for very small airports with no gate or portable stairs. Also new on the 727 was the Auxiliary Power Unit, which permitted the aircraft to be cooled or heated while on the ground with out running the main engines or ground power.

Today, the 727 is one of the loudest commercial aircraft still flying, requiring it to be fitted with kits that reduce noise emissions, by lengthening the engine. These engine, however, did give it the power and range needed for transcontinental flights, as well as some of the shorter international flights. However, today few 727 remain in the role as they were built, as passenger airliners, but many are used as cargo aircraft, most notably for Federal Express. The final new 727 was delivered from Boeing in 1984, after 24 years of deliveries.

Two different versions of the 727 were made by Boeing, the 727-100 and 727-200. The principal difference in the two is length, with a difference of 20 feet. The 727-100 is 133 feet long, whereas the 727-200 is 153 feet long. This stretch allows for 40 more passengers to be accommodated on the 727-200, with a total of 189, compared to the 149 of the 727-100. The maximum range of the 727 is approximately 2700 nautical miles, at at speed of 460 knots. A total of 1,831 Boeing 727's were produced, and its estimated that 600 727's fly yet today. At one point, the 727 held the record for best selling airliner in history, a record that has been since been broken by other Boeing products.

The legacy of the 727 lives on today, flying through the sky, delivering people and packages to points across the world on a daily basis. So next time you look up, it just might be a 727 flying over your house.