DDD3: Boeing 727 - Part 2: Sea Skimming in a 75-Tonne Jet
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- Опубликовано: 3 мар 2024
- We take a close look at (and go flying on!!) G-OSRA. This Boeing 727-200F, originally bought by FedEx in 1984, now operated by 2Excel Aviation on behalf of Oil Spill Response Ltd., is the last one ever built and it is still going strong! Join us on board as her crew practice low level flight operations above the North Sea!
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Great to see the 727 in action again! My first assignment at the Airlines 727/F.O./MIA...end of an era...
Subscribed!
Thank you, welcome on board!
Good morning Juan, nice to see you here on this channel also! The content is excellent indeed. I retired from AA almost 3 years ago, but I flew the 727 in ORD, BOS, RDU and MIA. A total of 14 years. Great time to be a young captain in the Caribbean and Central America. Keep the excellent content coming as well. Fly safe, Capt Geof Slagle
I was in functional test on the 727 back in 1968 in Renton, just when the 200 was coming out, avionics, nice plane easy to work on
Loved standing at point if rotation by the runway while they were taking off over the lake, 5000 ft runway. First flight they would do a high speed taxi run to the end of the field turn around and take off, The 707 was read at that end so no high speed taxi run for them, just take off first flight over the lake , no chace o abort. Never had an accident from that field , first flight
You got the best show on RUclips.
I'm 56 yrs old.. I flew on all the first generation Jets. 727-100 and 200, 737-100, DC-8, DC10, 747, 707, Caravelle, Convair 990, and a few more. My father worked for the airlines and we got to fly quite a bit. It was an awesome time!! Thanks for this wonderful video.
Thank you for the kind words! And quite the list there - hard/impossible to match nowadays, especially the last two!
Flew on all those types except 990 flew on many 880s close enough I guess.
My dad used to say the "727 is stronger than 10 acres of garlic!"
Imagine being in a boat and seeing this beauty go by at 150 feet ❣️
Just what I was thinking as we were flying those low passes! The closest I got was when they did a demo pass at RIAT.
@@asobester You are so lucky to have such an opportunity! Such a great video; really illustrates why three people are required to fly this plane. It may not be efficient, but to me this airplane is what really flying is all about:)
I turned wrenches on this old bird when it was new. Still a gorgeous airplane, and I'm glad to see it employed in a noble cause. Thanks for the video, it brings back fond memories!
Love love love the 727
Such a great aircraft. Engineered back when Boeing put quality and safety over everything else and CAD was nonexistent.
Isn’t it just hard to believe nowadays that this was possible without CAD!
@@asobester it amazes me. I've been working on a 727 avionics system recently and it leaves me in awe that they could design, certify, and document this aircraft so well with very limited computerized tools. For example the wiring diagram manuals are fantastic and include some very useful details no longer commonly included by manufacturers.
@@wgmskiing That is awesome! I am a Electrical engineering student, with a huge interest in old aircraft, especially vintage avionics. I collect what I can buy for cheap online and make detailed teardown videos to showcase the insanely complex and well-engineered nature of the equipment. Working on such systems must be fascinating!
Lovely! I'm just old enough to remember being a passenger on B707 and 720 aircraft, before the B727 entered passenger service, and being a 727 passenger well into the '90s. Anything that keeps these unique and truly nice aircraft in service and up to date is fine by me!
Just after watching this video, I went to my 1975 photo collection to find N8849E landing in Providence Rhode Island USA.
Ahhh, the good ol steam gauges and all the hand and finger buttons, knobs, wheels and levers with all their associated sounds!
My All Time Favorite Aircraft To Fly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved Her !!!! The Matriarch Of The Fleet !!!!
this video should have 100 million views
I consider myself very lucky because I had the opportunity to fly the B727 for ten years.
Still in my dream.
I am so jealous, and also so delighted that you were able to go up and film this and share with us - if you're able to upload more of the footage I'd love to see it. heck in the old days you'd be able to put it on a DVD and sell it!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Miss these old birds. Last one I saw flying was an Amerijet 722Adv in St Lucia taking off from the smaller Castries airport. A buddy of mine also flew the freighter and said they were great performers.
I worked these 727s at FedEx in EWR as an aircraft mechanic for FedEx. N217FE with the JT8D-217s.
Wow! Just goes to show how many lives these long-serving airframes touch, sometimes on several continents... What were they like to work on (compared to other similar aircraft)?
I remember fondly being flown in 727-200 of Hapag-Lloyd to Tenerife in the 80s. It is still one of the most beautiful airliners ever build and it had an airstair! It was great to enter the plane through it on an windy and rainy dark march morning in Hamburg. Still miss it!
After 70 years still the best
As a 63 year-old non-pilot (but Dad was an Air Force navigator and really into planes) I just LOVED my first cross-USA flight in a 727 back about 1970. One segment involved flying around thin towering cumulonimbus with what felt like nice bank angles. Young me was hooked. Still raise my eyebrows when I see one of these old birds on the ground at podunk airports, and remember the feeling.
Also, Andras, thank you so much for your calm, detailed and frankly lovely descriptions of systems, procedures, and lingering views of the hardware. So rare in these frenetic RUclips days.
Thank you so much for the kind comments, Walt. I do indeed tend to try and do the opposite of frenetic and I’m pleased that you have noticed. Oh, and thank you for serendipitously teaching me some US English there - I have had to look up ‘podunk’ ;)
You are so right I noticed his calm and measured delivery and immediately relaxed and thought at how different this is from the norm these days. This should be the norm.
You know it's not the usual revenue flight when the crew is wearing an inflatable life jacket! 😂
Brings back good memories, having flown the legendary B727 in all three positions. Great airplane with excellent redundancy.
Magnificent documentation and explanation. I highly vote for more :-)
Many thanks!
Wow!
Great work, and, having flown on 72/73/*74*/76/77 from Boeing, great to see these birds doing valuable work, decades on!
Worked B727s for Airlift International in Japan while in the US Air Force and Eastern QC B727s while working for Flying Tigers later. Loved the airplane.
Andras, thank you for sharing this experience. N136FE was the 727 FedEx donated to my aircraft mechanic school, and I have marveled at the type ever since I started its No 1 engine. I greatly appreciate the insights you have offered into its engineering.
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you found it interesting!
It is wonderful to see a 72 still in action. The 72 was my favorite plane to work on at United Airlines.
Another great video Andras! I felt more comfortable in the '27 seat than any other airliner. Loved the sound of that trim wheel spinning, handle banging away. For two years I flew it just up the road from you, out of Heathrow (did not know it at the time, but I lived just a mile from the site of the BEA crash in Staines). Your enthusiasm for the machine is so evident. I had a new hire, ex-military, in the right seat once, and was gushing about how beautiful it was, he said "just a tube with wings". I guess you and I share that it is a lot more to us. It was my life's dream to fly it and be a Capt on it. (At the same time I was also a project pilot in the Vickers Vimy replica, so from one end of the spectrum to the other. My Ual buddy flew it across the pond). Thanks for the memories, Andras.
It certainly is so much more than just a tube with wings - the closer you look (and, as a pilot, you obviously had to look *very* closely!), the more you realise how much subtle thought had gone into every feature... Thank you for the kind words and I’m delighted it brought back good memories.
As a young ATC in training (1971) I vividly remember doing a red-eye flight MEL-PER-MEL via G-94 route across Australia with Captain “Nobby” Buckley, an ex WW2 pilot who described to me that the B727 was the sports car of jet airliners, as we descended into MEL indicating 340kts all the way in which caught out the approach controller resulting in a rapid change of runway with us still indicating 250kts at 2000ft as we overflew the airport in downwind for RWY 27. The roll onto final was a perfect intercept of the ILS whereupon he handed the aircraft to the FO, turned to me with a big grin and said “see what I mean about being a sports car?”
The above was on the 727-200 and my last flight on that Boeing variant was in June 2006 DXB-KBL using Ariana Airlines of Afghanistan. They flew for a few more years with that airline before being retired.
We had to despatch them quite late out of PER when the Jetstream was on rhythm. Wonderful ladies...
I love and miss the 727. This two part series was wonderful. Your commentary is outstanding.
Thank you so much for the kind words!
At some point in the 90's someone in our airline did a calculation snd came to the conclusion that brake servicing was less expensive than the engine wear from reverse thrust, and 727 crews were instructed to use brakes only when possible.
Interesting! Were your 727s equipped with nose gear brakes?
@@asobester to be honest that's something I don't recall... We had a mix of types, from various sources, so it's possible that some did....
What an awesome set of videos! Love the detail, meticulously layered in without sounding too distracting. Really enjoyed these 727 videos!
Glad you enjoyed them 😎
I remember in 1998 travelling to Adelaide in South Australia. It was a 40deg+ C day in January and I was sitting in a back garden of a house near the airport. I heard this crackling sound and immediately thought that's got to be a 727. Sure enough it was, trailing black smoke too. Perhaps it had working water injection - it was certainly hot enough to warrant it. I distinctly remember thinking, enjoy this because it's probably the last time you'll ever see this again. I was of course correct.
Wow. So nice. Best cockpit 727 view Ive seen
I worked for Gables Engineering from 1966 until 1993, and assembled and wired some of the cockpit controls for the 727. I used to take my kids to Miami International Airport to watch and hear the thunder of 727's taking off. Before security increased we would park on the perimeter at takeoff/landing point. The tires of the planes landing were only about 25 feet above our heads, amazing !!....Al Scott
That is awesome! I am an Electrical engineering student, with a huge interest in old aircraft, especially vintage avionics. I collect what I can buy for cheap online and make detailed teardown videos to showcase the insanely complex and well-engineered nature of the equipment. I have some vintage gables control boxes, and they are very nicely constructed.
What a joy to have stumbled on this flight. Thank you. I was typed rated on the 727 in 1976 at Continental Airlines, LAX, and last ferryed a freshly repainted -224 LAX to PHNL just after my 46th birthday for service with Air Mic, and that before I took an emotional early retirement as my airline flying and world were overtaken by the corruption of deregulation and my prescience at the disaster to that lovely little company that lay a few years ahead. By the way, I waited a few days to make that ferry fit, as the distance was a considerable distance, 2222 nautical miles, between landed places with only water between, and that was merely to top of it. Best to you, and thanks again.
Thank you for sharing your recollections, sir.
A super video! I might add we had the privilege of meeting this fine crew in both the UK and USA(Florida) We flew a slightly older (1983) version up until 2023 in 66 seat conversion. Sad to see them go! Makes even the 75/76 seem boring! Outstanding!
Thank you! 66 seats sounds rather plush!
Flying the 727 is one of my life’s dream…
Thank you for this Andras, great work you did here 👍🏼
Thank you, glad you liked it!
Possibly two of the best videos I've seen on a classic. We used to fly on them as teens and in our twenties. Eastern used to call them Whisperjets and they were anything but. The 727s are brilliant pieces of engineering from an older era never equaled. I hope a few of them are being restored and collected. The younger generation needs to see the design intricacies that went into it. Thanks, I learned a lot!
Glad you found it interesting! And yes, ‘whisperjet’ always seemed odd to me too 😁
@@asobester Corporate marketing knows no shame :)
I flew for Eastern Airlines as an F/A based in SJU & MIA 1976 to 1989 and I do have many fond memories of the 727-200 the 100 QC , Thanks Andras for the great video.
My Father flew this bird for about 30 years, at TWA, and then at Fedex. I know for sure he flew these beautiful birds that are still serving faithfully. What an airplane!
You make it sound so dull........... the 727 was an incredible and tough aeroplane, I'm not a pilot, just a loadmaster, but the guys I worked with knew what it could do,, what a machine,, !!
I took it as a measure of reverence for the aircraft and her storied history.
@@jppatches4880 We were over Bagram one day, about 6000 AGL, an A10 with problems inbound,, ATC said if we think we can make it OK,, VSI was level...and we got down before the A10(which landed OK) 727-200f great strong aircraft..
Thank for improving the audio! It's much easier for me to understand your words now. Really appreciated and excellent video series!
Thanks, good to hear that!
I got to spend two years in the right seat. My very first jet and one of my favorites. A joy to fly with great control response and harmony. Flying departures and arrivals was a bit more work than with today's planes due to the numerous flap settings and speeds. And the old Auto Pilot was just junk so most guys hand flew the jet at most times except cruise. On arrivals the power settings were quite low (to hold IAS 250 or lower) and the cockpit was wonderfully quiet. A far cry from the din the flat glass windows produced at .84-.88M cruise settings. I love that they left the steam gauges in when updating the avionics. That ADI is the size of a lunch plate. Many thanks for adding all the technical details, especially the discussion about single-engine work. You quickly learned how to properly manage your energy state in the 727 as it did not have today's huge fans pushing you around nor an FMS to babysit you during descent. Fascinating video, with great attention to detail and explanations. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words! I did not get to experience the noise at high Mach cruise, but it’s interesting that you mentioned it - you’re not the first pilot to do so, it must have been significant!
I first flew on a 707 when I was too you to remember I was well, 13 months old to NY. But I remember very well my transatlantic flights when we flew back to Europe when I was 4, 5, 10, 12, 19, and then many interprovincial flights in Canada. It turned me into an airplane geek.
I remember very well the older planes, we landed in Iceland, that was not fun, I was 5, and the plane kept going back into the hangar. My Mother is a nervous flyer, as evidenced by her nails digging into my arm HA! I flew the old Constellations, 707's, lots of 727's and 737's between countries in Europe in the'70's. In Canada there were many DC-9's, then on to the 747's to Madrid, and then another 727 to Tenerife.
My favorite of all of them though was the 757, that thing blew my mind...the power!!!
Last one was a 767, till a boring Dash 8 to New Brunswick. I miss the older planes.
Your video is COOL!!! You say 60 years old, is the Boeing 727, and I'm age: 61, and to boot, I'm The New Year's Baby of 1963!!!
Thank you, Kelly!
Absolutely amazing video! Loved it! Thank you for making it!
Glad you enjoyed it! 😎
Great video. Thank you for the video uploader.. ❤
Glad you enjoyed it! 😎
I'm in my early 50s; I've only flown on a 727 once. I am fortunate to have done so.
Nice docu. Thanks!
Great video, so far, I find your style and delivery easy on the ears and brain, with loads of interesting information, historical and current!
And, I see Juan Brown is also "aboard"!
Glad to hear it :) Thank you.
Good morning Andras. I enjoyed “flying “along with you and the crew. I noticed a couple of interesting things while watching. First ,this aircraft has automatic ground spoilers, a nice upgrade. Second was that the engineer operates the reverse thrust levers upon touchdown, which was not our procedure at AA. Very professional and precise flying was a pleasure to watch. I was fortunate enough to fly the 727 for 14 years in all three crew positions. Cheers!
Thank you so much, Geof, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I wonder if the auto ground spoilers were an option on the -200 only? In any case, from what I understand, when available, they come up (when armed) at >4.5in compression on the left main strut for as long as the wheel speed is above 60 knots, or on reverser deployment (even when not armed).
@@asobester our - 200s did not have the automatic ground spoilers. But this updated system appears to use the same type of logic 757and 767 use.
The Mighty 727! The first Passenger Jet I ever flew on & had the privilige of being at the controls of (I was 10, I wasn't in control) I did get to Turn & Bank though. My first flight experience was in a Glider, I was 7 back then (Yes I was allowed to have the controls after take off) Different times. How the world has changed. I'm not even 50 yet.
WOW Too cool!
The conversion to replace with pod engines is called the VALSAN conversion. The owner of the conversion company's daughter's names were Val... and San...
The plan was to convert all 15 of the -2S2F FedEx airplanes, but the company only completed 11 before going bankrupt.
I did not know about the origin of the name! As I understand it, Rohr/Goodrich ended up with the Super 27 design rights after Valsan’s demise? Do you know if they converted any airframes?
Wonderful presentation and production here! My once hometown airline was Pacific Southwest Airlines, HQ in San Diego, CA|USA (KSAN). They did wonders with the B727 on their high frequency short segment route system. The B727 is no doubt one of the very best airliners ever made, in both design and market $uccess. Thank you again for this YT channel, which I have gladly subscribed to.
Thank you for the kind words!
Nothing instills more fear in a passenger than the word Boeing
You probably don't know much about aircraft then ;)
Cheers Capt. Ian, happy to see some 'More Orbit's' well handled. Enjoy the Rednose.
Nice jet! I've been a skydiver for 23 years and I've jumped out of the 727 4 times from 14k. It has a tail door.
It's D.B. Cooper!
@@tumslucks9781 hahahaha did you know that after DB Cooper the tail Door was no longer used?
@@briangilley5093they still used it for loading didn’t they just not able to be opened in flight
@@Endidixknsej I'm not sure I'd were talking about the same jet
@@Endidixknsej oh I get what your saying, it was taken off and never used again. You won't find a rear door on any jet.
That VLog was great! I remember all my adventures onboard the B727 series well.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. Love the attention to detail. Amazing! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
What a wonderful video, András! This brought back memories and I’m thrilled you had the opportunity to jumpseat on such a unique machine! Thank you so much!
Thank you for the kind words!
Amazing!!!
Thank you :)
One of my favorite planes to fly in X-Plane is the 727-200 Advanced. I use the CIVA INS instead of the FMS. Very hands on to fly since it was made for 3 and I’m the only one flying on my PC flight Simulator. Also the 727 didn’t have Auto throttle which keeps you quite busy.
150FT how good, I flew the P-8a here and lowest we were restricted to was 200FT over water which feels epic in a 45 degree bank turn!
I bet! May I ask what flap setting you flew the 200ft passes at?
@asobester we wouldn't deploy flap unless we needed to I.e drop a store.
So normally up bug + 5 !
8:25 - Boeing made the last 747-300 in 1990! Also still flown recently.
Just found your channel. I really enjoy your content and production style. Great work! I am happy to be a new subscriber.
Thank you, welcome aboard!
Für mich ist die Boeing 727 das schönste Flugzeug der Welt. Die Silhouette dieses Flugzeuges hat Jet Charakter und das begeistert mich. Bin gerne Passagier in diesem Flugzeug
gewesen. Boeing sollte die erfolgreich 777 ebenfalls nach diesem Prinzip umbauen. Und das ginge ganz einfach: Flügel um ein Rumpfsegment nach hinten verlegen und das T-Leitwerk
der Galaxy verwenden. Das anbringen der Triebwerke am Rumpf kann nicht problematisch sein. Die Reichweite wird sich um 800km verlängern. Warum das so ist habe ich schon
x mal auf RUclips beschrieben.
Another great vid and must have been an awesome ride along!
Gee, surprised to see the flight engineer reaching between the two pilots at critical flight stages.
Thanks. Yes, definitely a lifetime top three moment as far as aviation experiences go! And yes, unusual to see an additional pair of hands in there today, isn’t it; all very carefully choreographed though.
From what I was told a 727 is quite the hot rod of airliners, very fast but not very economical or quiet. I rode on many and thought that as long as you were towards the front of the plane they were very quiet and comfortable
Wish they would move back to Teesside (EGNV). Love the 727-200, not quite as much as the Super VC10 or Concorde but definitely third on my list.
thanks
It would be interesting to have you do a similar video with "Tanker 10" DC10 fire bombers. Watching them do a drop on my house during a wild fire at less than a wingspan of altitude in hill country was amazing.
That would definitely be great fun to do!
It would be cool if X-Plane flight Simulator had this mission plane as we already have a really nice 727-100, 200 Adv. & Freight versions by FlyJSim.
I always knew the B727 was a incredible plan with a huge service record, but I never knew that it was this redundant. Look at the MAX program today they went 180 on their own felosophy
Wonderful documentary. I clearly remember sitting in the jump seat of an Ansett 727 decades ago just after I got my commercial pilot licence and I asked the crew if I could ride with them. Loved watching them hand fly it down to landing. A classmate of mine eventually made it to captain of one of these and he used to call it "the b___h with PMT" because he said you could fly the exact same smooth approach and, one day she will reward you with a 'greaser', and the next day she would just slam into the deck!
I assume this particular 727 didn't have the 'DB Cooper switch' as the rear air stair is probably removed due to the spray nozzle placement? 😅
Thank you for the kind words, Devan. And, indeed, no Cooper vane :)
It likely never had one, if it was built as cargo for FX.
Used to see them regularly at Doncaster.. I asked if I could get up close but they wouldn't let me :( .. Unfortunately, Doncaster has since closed down and I havn't seen them since.. Only place closest to me where I think they still go to is Teesside.
I sat in the jump=seat several times 😀
Hi! Just a slight correction. At 11:42 as you mention the bugged speed. There are two white bugs before the orange IAS-bug. First is at about 118 knots and the second at about 128-129 knots. At 12:02 you said "the white bug at 80 knots", but between the start of the scale (60 knots) and the first bug, there is no bug set at 80 knots. I would therefore assume, as this is a Class A jet being operated under EASA-NCC CS25 (I will assume), the V-speeds bug settings are common throughout for Class A CS25-equipment, meaning that the first white bug is V1 (in this case about 118 knots) and the second one is Vr (at about 129 knots).
I don't fly the 727, but with about 1700 meter TODA and 74ish metric tonnes TOM, a V1 at 118 knots, flaps 20 and engine power at (probably) TOGA-setting sounds reasonable, as compared to 737-performance data.
Super fun to watch and thanks for creating this content!
Sincerely EASA commercial pilot.
Oh, I know!! I always do a rewatch of the video a day or so after I uploaded it to make sure that YT had parsed my closed captions file correctly and that was when I spotted that I was talking nonsense about the 80 knot bug. Too late… Anyway, well spotted and thank you for the additional insight!
This is a wonderful video, well done for Part 2!
13:38 wasn't expecting to see a Qantas B767 and a Dan Air B727 in Cairns in this video, what was the Dan Air B727 doing in Cairns? was that during the 89-90' pilots dispute?
A question about the role of Flight Engineers back in the old days, what would happen if the F/E became incapacitated? would either Captain or First Officer know how to manage the systems in the event of a F/E incapacitation?
Thank you! And great question. Perhaps ex-727 pilots/FEs can jump in and answer; I can only speculate that pilots generally have enough knowledge of the panel to prepare things for landing...?
Part 3 with Aerosucre?
I cannot find the original FE tail # for this jet. If it happens to be 217FE, it would be the last 727 ever built.
That one is quite possibly the last 727 built
ive seen this in action at my local airport
nice!! but why not autopilot on keeping the 150 feet altitude? not precise enough? or ap switch jumping out? thx :P
I think it’s to do with engine out contingencies. Turning off the A/P after an engine failure or it disconnecting, plus the momentary uncertainty whether it’s on or not etc might waste some seconds, of which there aren’t too many available when the water is 150ft away. At least that is how I remember it, there may be other reasons for flying it manually.
That's why i keep X-plane 11 on my computer: FJS 727 !
How would the pilot recover from a stall
At 150 feet over the sea without ditching into it ???
Andras, the last certified 727 simulator that I'm aware of is located in Sanford Florida. Do these crews have their own simulator in the UK?
That is my understanding too (the Florida one being the last remaining certified sim in the world).
@@asobester just went through in January. Global One does a great job.
I wonder what the rationale was for converting 727s to this role? I’d have thought that the C-130 would have been a good choice? Maybe props would affect the dispersant pattern?
You’re spot on with that suggestion, as OSRL have used the C-130 as well.
18:29 as if he’s running skydeamon
What is the touchscreen on the overhead... Acars?
It’s an MCDU - not sure what it is used for.
I would wear a helmet.
When you need to land on a dirt strip pick up some paratroops, make a drop then scoot before the Migs show up.
Why would anyone do a 'deep dive' on an obsolete airframe.
Is this plane now a days also used for geo-engineering?
designed in the 50s.
So basically the same job as a firebomber.
In a way. But here the objective (and thus the design of the system) is different: the fluid must be laid down very uniformly and precisely, at a *very* specific density. On the other hand, the flow rate is much lower - this wouldn’t put out much of a fire.
@@asobester Thanks for the explanation. Its funny everyone seems to be on a 727 kick here lately. Ron Rodgers had a video talking about his time flying them at United. Its where I first heard about the triple fowlers
Pointy end of the aircraft. lol.
The Dan Air Captain was a strike breaker during the Pilots dispute in 1989…….basically a scab……Should have kept out of the country and not assisted in breaking a union. 😡
I see. Not just spraying chemicals up high, spraying chemicals in the oceans too.
The video very clearly explains that the ocean chemicals disperse oil droplets to the mitigate ecological impact of oil spills. In addition, no one is spraying anything up high. I think you're getting aircraft condensation trails confused with an ill-informed conspiracy theory.