LVZXV From Gabon, joined Mar 2004, 2041 posts, RR: 44 Reply 1, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 7212 times:
Adrian:
Always a tough call for propeller aircraft, as you have Classic DC-3s and C-46s still flying tourists in places like Bolivia, as well as a handful of F27s past their sell-by-date in obscure parts of the world. However, the oldest jet aircraft carrying passengers (not freight, Heads of State or military personnel), is this Bolivian B727-100 belonging to LAB:
ACVitale From United States of America, joined Aug 2001, 921 posts, RR: 13 Reply 2, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 7164 times:
Chalks Ocean Airways Grumman Mallards Built 1939-1948.
They fly between FLL-PID FLL-NSB FLL-WKR FLL-MPB MPB-PID and MPB-NSB.
Tockeyhockey From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 932 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 7159 times:
i have no back up for this -- maybe someone can help, but when i was in the caribbean (st. kitts) a year ago, i swear i saw DC-3s unloading passengers.
MD80Nut From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 871 posts, RR: 10 Reply 4, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 7052 times:
LVZXV,
That LAB 727 looks real good, it's amazing to see it still carrying passengers. Does LAB have any plans to replace them? Forty years in service, now there's an airplane that's earned it's keep!
Afay1 From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 1293 posts, RR: 3 Reply 5, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 6978 times:
Someone already said that DC-3s fly passengers and they regularly show up in the pics database and at airshows, so why do people keep posting about it like they have discovered the cure for AIDS?
Eilennaei From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 6886 times:
I think the title should be revised as "...with a pressurised hull". Rebuilders like Bassler for instance state they can create officially zero-timed aircraft from almost any DC-3/C-47 airframe, it seems.
LVZXV From Gabon, joined Mar 2004, 2041 posts, RR: 44 Reply 10, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 6769 times:
Hr001:
And the LAB 727 was recieved new 40.1 years with the same operator!!!
Close, but CP-1223 actually joined LAB's fleet in 1975, at about the same time as their first batch of -200s. The one you were probably thinking of was its sister, CP-861, which has loyally served LAB and LAB only since 1969. Some of Vasp's 732s could boast similar "loyalty", but with them now gone, and plenty of other late '60s-build airframes being retired en-masse, CP-861 could well end up serving its initial customer longer than any other aircraft (once NW's DC-9s are all grounded...).
The good news is, according to this site's most reliable source from Bolivia, both CP-861 and CP-1223 have been repainted in LAB's new colours, and there are no immediate plans to replace them as of yet. This, plus the fact that LAB is in the process of receiving about another 5 727-200s could possibly be the happiest twist in the story of the venerable Boeing 727 as it enters the autumn of its long and distinguished life.
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