Federal Express (FedEx) Boeing 727
The Boeing 727, the second most successful airliner to date (eclipsed only by the Boeing 737 series), came about as a result of a compromise between United, American, and Eastern Airlines on a fuel-efficient aircraft able to operate from smaller, higher airports and on short-range overwater routes.
The three airlines settled on a three-engined design, with two engines mounted in the rear and the third in the tail itself. This freed up the entire wing for lift-enhancement flaps and slats, giving the 727 an extremely efficient wing design for short-field landing; since it retained the basic fuselage design of the 707, it could still carry a fairly large number of passengers into airports previously only able to take smaller aircraft and consequently smaller amounts of passengers. For operations from comparatively primitive airports, internal rear-mounted airstairs were added, as well as an APU. Pilots liked the 727's handling characteristics, though it took some time to get used to its relatively high landing speed and sink rate.
The 727-100 was instantly popular, but Boeing soon introduced the lengthened 727-200, which proved to be the baseline aircraft. Eventually 1831 were produced; about a third of that number continue in service today, mostly as cargo variants. 727s began to be withdrawn from service due to the costs of maintaining them, the noise of the aircraft, and the presence of a flight engineer, whose services can be duplicated by computers in the 21st Century. Nine are on public display.
This is one of the nine--N246FE, one of the last Federal Express 727s to be retired. It was originally built as VH-RMP for Ansett in 1980, and flew with that airline until 1988, when it was converted to a freighter and sold to Federal Express. FedEx would fly it until 2009, when the airline began retiring its 727s. It was donated to the Mid-America Museum of Aviation and Transportation at Sioux City; the museum plans to turn it into a theater while still preserving most of the aircraft.
Unfortunately, when I visited the Mid-America Museum in July 2020, it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and so I was unable to do more than take a few pictures through the fence of N246FE and the museum's EA-6A (the rudder of which can be seen to the left). Hopefully next time I head off to Chicago, I can stop by and see the entire museum.
Not far beyond to the museum to the right is Sioux City's most well known--and tragic--association with aviation: the crash site of United Airlines Flight 232. As someone who distinctly remembers that crash in July 1989, it was the other reason why I visited Sioux City Gateway Airport. The museum is built very close to the initial impact of Flight 232. It was an eerie feeling, to stand near those Iowa cornfields, and know what happened there...
Federal Express (FedEx) Boeing 727
The Boeing 727, the second most successful airliner to date (eclipsed only by the Boeing 737 series), came about as a result of a compromise between United, American, and Eastern Airlines on a fuel-efficient aircraft able to operate from smaller, higher airports and on short-range overwater routes.
The three airlines settled on a three-engined design, with two engines mounted in the rear and the third in the tail itself. This freed up the entire wing for lift-enhancement flaps and slats, giving the 727 an extremely efficient wing design for short-field landing; since it retained the basic fuselage design of the 707, it could still carry a fairly large number of passengers into airports previously only able to take smaller aircraft and consequently smaller amounts of passengers. For operations from comparatively primitive airports, internal rear-mounted airstairs were added, as well as an APU. Pilots liked the 727's handling characteristics, though it took some time to get used to its relatively high landing speed and sink rate.
The 727-100 was instantly popular, but Boeing soon introduced the lengthened 727-200, which proved to be the baseline aircraft. Eventually 1831 were produced; about a third of that number continue in service today, mostly as cargo variants. 727s began to be withdrawn from service due to the costs of maintaining them, the noise of the aircraft, and the presence of a flight engineer, whose services can be duplicated by computers in the 21st Century. Nine are on public display.
This is one of the nine--N246FE, one of the last Federal Express 727s to be retired. It was originally built as VH-RMP for Ansett in 1980, and flew with that airline until 1988, when it was converted to a freighter and sold to Federal Express. FedEx would fly it until 2009, when the airline began retiring its 727s. It was donated to the Mid-America Museum of Aviation and Transportation at Sioux City; the museum plans to turn it into a theater while still preserving most of the aircraft.
Unfortunately, when I visited the Mid-America Museum in July 2020, it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and so I was unable to do more than take a few pictures through the fence of N246FE and the museum's EA-6A (the rudder of which can be seen to the left). Hopefully next time I head off to Chicago, I can stop by and see the entire museum.
Not far beyond to the museum to the right is Sioux City's most well known--and tragic--association with aviation: the crash site of United Airlines Flight 232. As someone who distinctly remembers that crash in July 1989, it was the other reason why I visited Sioux City Gateway Airport. The museum is built very close to the initial impact of Flight 232. It was an eerie feeling, to stand near those Iowa cornfields, and know what happened there...