Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 6376 times:
Well week 1 as an FO on the 727 is over for me. I absolutely love flying the airplane and took a couple pictures of my adventures to share. Routing for the last week was YIP-LRD-MGM-FNT-YIP-LRD-MMGL-LRD-ILG-YIP-LRD-LIT-FNT-YIP-RDU-LRD-MMIO-LRD-GRR-YIP. It took these with my iPhone so they aren't super good, but hey, it's rare!
The flight deck
Stairway to heaven
Out the cargo door waiting on freight
Our freight, cylinder heads
Offloading in FNT
Loading up in MMGL
24,000 pounds of Blackberry Storm 2's!
We can go fast!
22 Diesel Semi truck engines
Flaps 25 and spoilers up
Out pretty much the only window in the back
Like I said, I love this airplane. I've been wanting to fly the 727 since I was 5 and never thought I would when they started disappearing from the skies but here I am! The takeoffs are a little different and I was surprised how well I could land it but it's not that easy to grease them on. Once it is in the air it is a dream to fly with great handling characteristics. Hope you enjoyed a quick look inside the freight dogging world! OOTSK
Dantegb From United States of America, joined Apr 2009, 39 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 6360 times:
Hello tb727,
This was a very interesting TR. I was quite intrigued by the 727 since i have never been on one or seen one!!
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 5424 posts, RR: 81 Reply 4, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 5945 times:
Very interesting report, quite unusual to find anything about cargo carriers here. I also like the 727, too bad there aren't many options left to fly on the type as a passenger.
Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 5729 times:
Quoting Mbe0002 (Reply 5): How come that they still train and hire pilots for that type, aren't there enough "old" ones?
Someone has to take over the reigns, those old guys get pretty tired on those long days! lol
Burj From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 760 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 5327 times:
Oh WOW...thanks for sharing... So does it have a bathroom on there for the pilots to use? I heard about one cargo airline that expected pilots to use pouches so they could remove the bathrooms to save weight...
Eddy From Germany, joined Nov 2009, 7 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 5252 times:
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences on the 727 here. It was a real pleasure to read your report and see that there are places where 727 still go strong.
HOOB747 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 420 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 4939 times:
Yes! What a great TR! Thanks of the interior shots of that beautiful plane. And every time I think of a 727, the name D.B. Cooper springs to mind!
HermansCVR580 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 414 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 4883 times:
Great TR!!! Hope to see more adventures of you and the 727.
Cheers
The right decision at the wrong time, is still a wrong decision. "Hal Carr"
Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 13, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 4767 times:
Quoting HOOB747 (Reply 11): And every time I think of a 727, the name D.B. Cooper springs to mind!
lol yeah, I always look up at the D.B. Cooper latch too! This one actually didn't have one on there which I think is the first time I have seen that.
Mtaabq From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 81 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 4634 times:
Oh, Lord. That takes me back over 30 years to my very first commercial flight, a CO 727 ABQ-ORD pre-deregulation. I have to agree with a previous poster that it's nice to see TR reports -- any TR reports -- for the 727 as their ranks are dwindling. Thanks for posting and thanks for the memories.
Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 15, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 4630 times:
Quoting Mtaabq (Reply 14): Thanks for posting and thanks for the memories.
No problem! Walking back and taking the pic out the window was a very familiar view from my childhood flying non-rev on NW all the time on them. I always loved sitting over or right behind the wing to watch the incredible flaps on this airplane. We are limited to Flaps 25/28 landings so you don't get the full effect, but it is still super cool. The cool thing about it is that we just bought another 727 so our fleet has grown to 5 Someday they will be gone but I am glad I got my chance to fly a piece of history.
HermansCVR580 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 414 posts, RR: 1 Reply 16, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4561 times:
Would you know who any of the previous operators were of your 727's? I thought that one of the Kalitta birds was Eastern and another was Northwest?
Glad to see Kalitta II is doing alright. Are you guys still flying the DC-9 also?
Cheers
The right decision at the wrong time, is still a wrong decision. "Hal Carr"
Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 17, posted (2 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4540 times:
Quoting HermansCVR580 (Reply 16): Would you know who any of the previous operators were of your 727's? I thought that one of the Kalitta birds was Eastern and another was Northwest?
No NW birds but one is an old Eastern plane. The new one was Astar/DHL and formerly of Continental. The other ones are Royal Air Maroc and Tunis Air. As you probably know, the DC-9 used to have Herman painted on the tail and yes, we still have it and it's actually out flying right now! It's been nice and busy lately.
Aleksandar From Serbia, joined Jul 2000, 3173 posts, RR: 38 Reply 18, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 3794 times:
Wooow, this is a TR I thought I never see again Fantastic plane, always had wonderful flights on it and to behonest, I envy you. Will you give me a free ride if I visit the US?
HermansCVR580 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 414 posts, RR: 1 Reply 20, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 3650 times:
Quoting Tb727 (Reply 17): the DC-9 used to have Herman painted on the tail
Thats is excellent!!!! If you would like I got paint and a paintbrush I can put Herman back on the tail for you guys
The color scheme that you guys have kinda reminds me of the Repbulic "Mary Tyle Moore" scheme.
The right decision at the wrong time, is still a wrong decision. "Hal Carr"
Lrdc9 From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 606 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 3467 times:
It's so fantastic to not only read about the 727 but also to see something on freight. Worth Reading, and thx for posting!
BZNPilot From Belgium, joined Feb 2006, 237 posts, RR: 1 Reply 22, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 2 days ago) and read 3373 times:
Wow, a real pleasure to see a 727 report; also nice to see a cargo report, which is not something that comes along very often on this forum. PLEASE post more of your 727 trips in the future, I know your efforts will be appreciated by many on Airliners.net!
Tb727 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 23, posted (2 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 3221 times:
Quoting BZNPilot (Reply 22): PLEASE post more of your 727 trips in the future, I know your efforts will be appreciated by many on Airliners.net!
Sure, I'll see what I can do! I don't start my line for a couple more days but I will get a TR when something cool pops up. I wish I would have done more in the past when I was flying part 135.
Quoting HermansCVR580 (Reply 20): Thats is excellent!!!! If you would like I got paint and a paintbrush I can put Herman back on the tail for you guys Smile
The color scheme that you guys have kinda reminds me of the Repbulic "Mary Tyle Moore" scheme.
Yeah, now that you mention that, it does look like that! Our tails are a little blah, a Herman would look nice! lol