Boeing 727

what is it?

The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body trijet that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quadjet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airports. On December 5, 1960, the 727 was launched with 40 orders each from United Airlines and Eastern Air Lines.

🔎How to recognise it: 3 jet engines · retractable tricycle gear · 32.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,017 km/htop speed
• range 4,167 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 106passengers
• size 76.7 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,832made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 63 years ago, in 1963.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 32.9 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 4,167 km: 23× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1963-02-09

introduced

1964

retired

2019

status

retired

number built

1,832

role

narrow-body jet airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Boeing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

engines

3× Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7

crew

3

passengers

106

length

40.6 m

wingspan

32.9 m

height

10.4 m

max take-off weight

76.7 t

top speed

1,017 km/h

cruise speed

960 km/h

range

4,167 km

ceiling

12,192 m

wings

monoplane

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

ICAO code

B721, B722

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.