Boeing 707

uncle mac, e-mail, 10.03.2011 21:32 Pan Am class of Oct 66 Navigator /engineer /and finally pilot.See the world before it destroyes itself. Did. Flew the 07 /720 /07B Advanced. Off to the 747 reply

Mick Skinner, e-mail, 08.03.2011 09:16 The first Boeing A /C on my maint engineers licence on -436 and -336 models in the early 70's A fantastic airplane that paid for my first house. I was supervising the first U /C trunnion change done by an airline in house, 28 days worked by 3 teams 24 /7. BA also spliced on 17 feet of wing on one after an engine compressor failed on ground test, that A /C after many more years service ended up in the Smithsonion with no mention of the repair. I went on to manage B757 and Concorde maintenance, Manage the engineer training department and then the sale of B737's after many years of great service. Boeing airplanes are the Ford of the sky they do what it says on the box and with regular maintenance will last forever. reply

D, 24.02.2011 19:46 I flew the B707-100 and -300 at a base near Wash DC. We had 3 B models (-100) and 4 C models (-300). The mission of our squadron (AFII) was to provide our nation's leaders safe, comfortable, and reliable transportation. The aircraft were maintained very well and flew quite nicely. The B model (sportscar) had a smaller wingspan and was much more nimble and faster than the C model that sported both low and high speed ailerons like the current B767 wing. Two of the -707s that I flew were prior Presidential aircraft. The aircraft parked at KBFI in the Boeing Museum of Flight I personally flew there on its last flight from Boeing Wichita. I've also flown many times the 707 that is now parked in the Reagan Library. Great aircraft - all civilian Boeing types have built upon the initial -707 technology and improved and refined where necessary. Interesting fact: the -707s had 3 "turbocompressors" on engines 2,3, and 4, and although the FE and ATP written have questions about the TC and EPR settings for T /O, how many pilots really know what the TC was and its purpose? TCs didn't last long - look it up and learn more about aircraft design. Enjoy and Fly Safe!! reply

Larry Morrow, e-mail, 24.01.2011 21:44 I first flew the Boeing 707-300 in Jan.1989 on a transition from the left seat of a C-130 and I was pleasantly surprised to fine that it flew easier than the Herc did. The transition turned out to be rather easy. It was my first experience with a sweep /wing design and once I got used to that,it felt like my favorite pair of gloves. I flew the 707 both domestically and internationally for five years and I logged over 3,000 hours in it and I consider it one of the finest aircraft of the 150 different I have flown. I flew it for nine months during the Desert Storm build up. I have flown it in all kinds of weather both empty and at gross weight and it never once caused me a problems. I felt more at home after flying it for a month than any aircraft I have ever flown. After that first month I could consistently make good landings and even some that you couldn't even tell when you were on the ground. It is a fine aircraft and my hat goes off to the Boeing designers and engineers. reply

Leroy McVay, e-mail, 12.01.2011 06:15 I was on ground crew for first flight of 707 - 0001, a.k.a PanAm One. Also worked on first aircraft for 720, 707 -300 (Inter Contental, long range) and 727. reply

Russ Adams, e-mail, 13.12.2010 16:51 As a mechanic for AA I did alot of work on that 707-123 and 323 in JFK and Tulsa. The Pratt & Whitney engines were a pain to work on though and we had a saying... "You can see everything with a flashlight and a mirror!". I can still hear our now deceased day shift foreman Bob Breeze yelling out "close it up" towards the end of the shift at JFK. Sometimes during taxiing to the terminal or hangar the tower would ask to expidite as incoming traffic was getting close. Occasionally a hot-shot mech would accelerate enough and yank the nose off the ground. reply

nicknjax, e-mail, 21.10.2010 04:41 I left the navy in 63 and went to work for TWA. We used to do a total overhaul on 707,s in 1 week. Most military rework facilities take 6 months to do the same overhaul. I worked on Connies, 707's 88o's and 727's. Went back into navy in 65. Overhaul to boring. reply

James Klee, e-mail, 15.10.2010 06:45 My Dad flew the 707 for Braniff Airways. They flew an interchange to Vietnam w / PAA. He loved the inertial guidance system that PAA had on thier 707's that he got to fly overseas. reply

Robert Brown, CMSgt, USAF (Ret, e-mail, 19.09.2010 01:18 In the early 1950s while assigned to SAC Hqs (DM) there was much talk about the coming of "jet" age for the bomber force. There was a major need for a tanker that could refuel the jets. There was none on the drawing board that we knew about. In July 1963 I was part of a eam sent to Boeing, Seattle, for the KC-97G provisioning conferance, While there one of our officers heard about some top secret project Boeing was working on. He managed to get the OK for the two of us to visit this secret plane. At this time Boeing was footing the whole bill for it's developement. No Government funds involved, one of the reasons we were put through a briefing that what we saw could not be released until Boeing released it. When we entered the hanger with this "top secret" aircraft I was shocked. I had only seen the B36 and XC-99 that were larger. Boeing explained they hoped the plane could be (1)cargo, (2) passenger. (3) tanker aircraft. We looked at each other. This is just the answer to what we were working on at SAC, a tanker for jet aircraft. As we were led to the cockpit the office took the pilot' seat and begin to check out all the buttons and gages. I got tired of standing and took a seat in the co-pilot' seat. The Boeing guide turned to me and said "Congratulation Sergeant. You are the first military to set in the co-pilot' seat. Everyone wants to get the feel from the pilot' seat". So we kept our mouth shut for a few months about what we had seen at Boeing. A few months later, I think it was Boeing test pilot rolled her out for a demostration to some high brass. He did a barrel roll over Seattle, causing a few heart attacks. No one had ever seen such a massive plane doing that. The news was out and I could now say I had been in the co-pilot' seat long before it ever got into the air. In time it was called the 707, C-135, KC-135. It was, and still is, a beautiful plane. reply

John Hancocks, e-mail, 14.05.2010 08:56 Introduced to this aircraft in 1962 as a passenger from Monrovia to Heathrow...I distinctly recall the pilot's announcement over the Western Sahara that we were flying at 42,000 feet and looking out and downward onto a lunar landscape covered in haze - probably a sandstorm, a corona had formed. Probably the reason for that altitude. Last trip was Heathrow /Sydney via Tehran and Bangkok in 21 hours - 1973. No airbus then thank God. reply

Barry, 26.06.2009 14:04 It is curious to note that today's Boeing 737-800 high density medium range airliner carries the same amount of passengers almost as far as this redoubtable "intercontinental big jet". reply

Barry, 26.06.2009 14:04 It is curious to note that today's Boeing 737-800 high density medium range airliner carries the same amount of passengers almost as far as this redoubtable "intercontinental big jet". reply

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