First test flight on Boeing 727.
Great video:
The 727 was the workhorse of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even into the 90s.
The ultimate 'people carrier'.
I flew them for a few years.
What I liked:
The rear 'airstairs'.
You didn't need the roll up stairs.
(We didn't always have jetways.)
The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).
You were self sufficient for on ground A/C, electrical power, and starting engines.
A small on-board auxiliary jet engine provided that.
You weren't dependent on a plug-in ground power cart.
It could drop like a rock.
When you needed to.
When you popped the wing spoilers you were going DOWN!
Fast.
Sometimes that really came in handy.
It could stop on a dime and give you a nickel change.
See the video.
Full reverse thrust and max wheel brakes.
1800 feet?
Whoa.
What I didn't like:
Landing that sucker.
It was squirrely.
Never seemed to land the same way twice.
Every landing was a new adventure.
The models I flew had 'auto-spoilers'.
When the wheels sensed rotation (on touchdown) the wing spoilers automatically deployed.
It was almost impossible to 'grease one on', because the autospoilers killed your lift as soon as the wheels touched.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Several years ago I was deadheading from JFK to CDG (Paris) in first class.
My seat-mate turned out to be a Boeing engineer.
Here's his story:
When Lockheed decided on the final plans for the L-1011 'Tri-Star', they decided not to reinvent the wheel. They went to Boeing and bought (for a pretty high price) their engineering drawings, airflow studies, etc. (I'm not an engineer) for the 727. The 'S' duct on the 1011 is basically a larger, somewhat modified version of the one on the 727.
About the same time Douglas was planning the DC-10.
The original plane was to be a wide body with just two engines.
However, they wanted to be competitive in the international market, and, at the time, the minimum requirement for extended over water flight (Atlantic and Pacific oceans) was 3 engines.
This was before ETOPS.
(Sorry, civilians.)
So the DC-10 would be a tri-motor too.
But they did it on the cheap.
Didn't want to buy existing 727 engineering info, and didn't want to spend the money to do their own studies.
So they basically just said "Eff it, stick the other engine up on the tail."
And that's what they did.
I always thought the DC-10 was a cobbled together POS, and many guys who flew it agree.
Some don't.
In any event, it wasn't around long.
Killed a few folks, too.
It also seemed really docile in a full stall. Amazing.
I've seen this aircraft being gradually restored at Paine Field and one day it will be flown again. Boeing actually delivered the prototype which is a little unusual from what I've heard. Here it is:
My favorite, all-time commercial aircraft was another tri-motor.
The Lockheed L-1011.
That's where you started back then.
It was a big change after 7 years as 'Captain' in a single seat fighter.
Until I quit flying in 1999, my crews always had a flight engineer.
I thought they were invaluable and depended on them.
Far from "adding confusion during a crisis" F/Es were a great help in emergency situations.
Among other things, the F/E could handle comm radios with ATC and company when pilot and co-pilot were dealing with flying the airplane during hairy stuff like engine fires and failures.
Yes, the extra set of eyes (and skills) was good to have.
I know that automated systems have replaced the F/E almost universally now.
But that doesn't put another set of eyes, ideas, expertise, and brains on the flight deck.
It's all a numbers and 'bottom line' game now.
Passenger safety and comfort used to be the number one concern.
Now it's a distant third, after more profit and less expense.
Believe me, if airlines could sell the concept of single engine, single pilot airliners, they would.
In fact, the progress we've made in remote controlled drones scares the hell out of me.
How long before your next flight has NO pilot?
Frank Lorenzo had all but done a signed deal with management to take over TWA. That would have been the end of us, then and there.
From wiki:
"Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo[1][2] (born May 19, 1940) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is most famous for his leadership of Texas International Airlines and its successor holding company Texas Air Corporation between 1972 and 1990, through which he formed or acquired a number of major U.S. airlines including Continental Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, New York Air and Peoplexpress Airlines.
As an airline manager, he gained a reputation of union busting, stemming from his leadership during the 1983 bankruptcy of Continental Airlines that enabled the company to void its union contracts, and during the strike and bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines that eventually led to its permanent shutdown in 1991.[3] Lorenzo’s history is contentious, both “despised by unions and admired by airline strategists."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lorenzo
The pilots' union, figuring ANYTHING would be better than Lorenzo, actually made the pitch to Icahn. While slowly bleeding it dry, he at least kept TWA operating as its own entity for a few more (precious) years.
The FAA called it the 'Cooper Vane'.
Air pressure caused by forward movement rotated the steel bolt to disable the stairs in flight.
The original 4-motor prop version was too slow for jet fighters.
We'd have to drop flaps and gear to get slow enough, but that cut down on our maneuverability quite a bit.
Then the 97 was modified with the addition of 2 J-47 jet engines.
The first time I checked in with the pilot of the new mod I said "Looks like you got some new hardware hanging on your wings."
He replied "Come on in Bama One, we got 4 turnin' and two burnin'."
The KC-135 was a big improvement.
*Disclaimer/caveat: I was never in combat. Never had anyone shooting at me.
But having said that...
In my day (1960s) air-to-air refueling was one of the most dangerous things you could do in an airplane.
More likely to get you killed than anything else I've ever done.
I recently learned that we were guinea pigs in aerial refueling.
Back in 1964, I accepted it as part of the normal mission expected of us.
Thought they'd been doing it for years.
A few months ago I found out that our ANG squadron was possibly the first guard unit to do this.
The flight lead who briefed me for my first refueling mission had only done it twice before.
The briefing went something like this:
"Watch your airspeed and closure rate. You don;t want to overrun the tanker.
(This was on the slow KC-97.)
The boomer (refueling boom operator) can fly the boom to a degree. But you have to plug into the boom with enough forward force to make contact and lock into the boom so you can get fuel.
As you take on fuel and get heavier, you will PROBABLY have to start to bleed down some flaps so you can avoid a stall.
(Let me see...right hand on the stick, left hand on the throttle, and the OTHER hand on the flap handle? 
)
DO NOT get a kink in the refueling hose. If you do it may start to windmill and rip off your refueling probe.
(The RF-84/F I was flying had a 6 foot refueling probe on the left wing root. When closing up on the tanker you had to keep one eye on the tanker and the other eye on the refueling boom and the other eye ? on the probe. )
OK, let's launch."
Hoo Boy.
We hit our KC-97 tanker at 10,000' over Chattanooga. I think it was the TN ANG.
I was number 3 in a 4 ship formation.
I watched i and 2 hook up and get gas.
Then it was my turn.
My adrenalin level was off scale and my sphincter was biting washers out of the seat cushion.
I eased in behind the tanker and made my first try at the basket.
I hit it, but not with enough force to lock into it.
I backed off and made another pass with a 'l-i-t-t-l-e' more closure rate and BAM! LOCKED ON!
WOOHOO!
As I took on fuel and got heavier, my angle of attack began to increase.
I was approaching stall speed for the extra weight.
In a seriously split second I took my hand off the throttle long enough to put flaps at 5 degrees.
Whew.
A few minutes later I went to 10 degrees.
I was constantly jockeying the throttle to maintain position and forward pressure to avoid a disconnect.
Finally I had my fuel load and backed off on the throttle for the disconnect.
I WAS SO GODDAM PROUD!
I have no idea how many times I did this, but my proudest aviation claim is that I ALWAYS hooked up.
A lot of guys can't say that.
During subsequent refuelings I gained knowledge and expertise.
I didn't dread them anymore.
Piece of cake.
But still, after I was an 'old hand' at it, night refuelings in thunderstorms were the WORST.
Oh yeah...the flight lead who briefed me on my first refueling flight?
Who warned me about getting a kink in the hose and windmilling?
I was up with him a couple of years later.
And he got a kink in the hose.
And the hose windmilled.
And it ripped off his refueling probe.
I always wondered where that hunk of metal came down.
He lost all the fuel in his left wing, but made it back to base.
And this l-o-n-g reply is probably more than you ever wanted to know about aerial refueling.
The whole thread rocks, really...
You're very kind.
I'll try and keep it understandable for the 'civilians'.
It was a four-ship formation in finger-tip configuration.
....1
..2...3
..........4
Lead is '1', '2' flies his left wing, I'm '3' on lead's right wing, and '4' is on my right wing.
Each plane is stacked slightly below and slightly aft of the one he's flying on.
This is kinda tricky, but we're divided into two 'elements'.
'1' and '2' are the first element, and '3'(me) and '4' are the second element.
'2' and '3' should stick with/'fly on' '1', and '4' should consider me as his lead and stick with me, regardless of what lead does.
If I should leave the formation for any reason, '4' is expected to stay with me.
Clear?
OK.
My friend Jack is flying lead. He's one of the best pilots in the squadron. Flew P-47s and P-51s in WWII. An Ace. Really good 'stick' and I trust him implicitly.
When you're flying in tight formation in other than the lead position, the ONLY thing you have your eyes glued on is lead. And you do whatever is necessary to stay with him. You have no time to look anywhere but at his aircraft. If your lead flies into a mountain side, you'll hit a nano-second after he does. That's just how it is.
Several years ago lead in a four-ship USAF Thunderbirds team flew into a mountain during a practice flight. So did 2, 3, and 4.
The guys in the '2' and '4' position are new to our guard squadron. Not newbies just out of pilot training, but they had just joined our unit. Although they'd both done air refueling when in the active duty Air Force, it was their first refueling mission with us.
We did formation take-offs in elements of two, and joined up in our four-ship as indicated above and sailed off for our designated tanker track. No problem.
Jack found the tanker and we began to close.
Enroute we were cruising at 350 knots, but when you get within a few miles of the tanker you need to slow down to his speed of about 250 knots. All four of us, in formation, first have to fly in formation with the tanker. Once we're established there, we can slide in behind the trailing boom, one at a time, and start taking on fuel.
Note: ANYTIME lead makes a change in aircraft configuration (like putting down flaps, or popping speed brakes), he ALWAYS gives the rest of the flight notice so they can stay with him. On the radio he'll say something like "Bama Flight...speed brakes...NOW!
And everyone deploys speed brakes at the same time and are able to stay in formation.
That's the way it's supposed to work.
For some reason, Jack forgot.
For some reason we came SCREAMING in on the tanker.
WAY faster than they were.
Remember, I'm not looking ahead, or at the tanker, or anywhere but at Jack.
My eyes are RIVETED on him.
And I see his speed brakes (or 'boards') come out.
(These are panels on either side of the aft fuselage about 2' X2' that deploy about 80 degrees out from the fuselage and slow the aircraft down DRAMATICALLY.)
Jack gave no preliminary warning, but AS his boards were coming out I heard a rapid "speedbrakesNOW!"
Back then I was good enough that I could have stayed on Jack's wing no matter what he did.
I ain't braggin', but I was pretty damn good at close formation.
As soon as I saw his boards start to deploy I could have popped mine and stayed with him.
The switch was right there under my left thumb on the throttle.
In the nano-second that followed my decision process was as follows:
"Whatthefuck? Goddamit Jack! I could stay with you but what about the guy on MY wing?
I don't know how good he is. Could he stay with me if I stayed with Jack? I dunno. I'm leaving the formation."
I didn't pop my boards, and I didn't overrun Jack, I just began a slow pull up, slightly to the right and away from Jack while I called on the radio "3 is leaving formation." I expected '4' to stay with me, as he should have.
Well, he didn't.
I have no idea what exactly happened next, didn't see it.
But '2' and '4' somehow wound up canopy to canopy.
Busted both canopies and then the 'Mayday-Mayday-Mayday' * calls started.
Needless to say, we aborted the refueling mission.
I eventually found my wingman and established radio contact with him.
Sort of. The noise without a canopy is daunting.
We were near McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville and I alerted them to the emergency and flew his wing to get him on the ground there.
We sent our T-Bird 2-seater trainer up there to fetch him home that afternoon.
I returned to my base at Birmingham.
'2' somehow made in back to Birmingham alone, sans canopy.
Jack evidently never saw his wingman again and also returned to Birmingham.
After I'd parked and shut down, I saw Jack in the parachute shack where we kept our flight gear.
"Man?...What the fuck?"
He just shook his head.
"I dunno, I just don't know."
* Mayday is the international radio call for an inflight emergency. From the French M'aidez: 'help me'.
I know you're a real aviation buff.
