The Boeing 727 is an American mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine jet airliner. It first flew (727-100) in February 1963, entering service in February 1964 with Eastern Air Lines. The 727-100 and stretched 727-200 were the main variants; an improved model, the 727-200 Advanced, introduced in 1970, had more powerful engines, increased fuel capacity and MTOW. It was designated as the C-22 by the USAF.
They were designed to service smaller airports unsuitable for the Boeing 707, Boeing’s first jetliner with all powered flight controls, triple-slotted flaps and auxiliary power unit (APU). With 1,832 airframes built before production ended in 1984, it was the first commercial aeroplane to break the 1,000-sales mark.
Airframe construction is mainly of aluminium alloy. The fuselage is a semi-monocoque structure with an airstair built into the rear underbelly and APU, making the 727 self-sufficient. Wings are low mounted cantilevered with sweep back and dihedral. The “T” tail is also a cantilever and swept-back structure. The retractable undercarriage is a tricycle type with the primary units mounted in the wing, retracting inwards into the fuselage, nose wheel retracts forward into the fuselage. The flight crew of three consists of two pilots, a flight engineer and the passenger cabin seats up to 125 passengers, six abreast in the -100 and 134 in the -200.
It uses three Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan engines mounted at the rear of the fuselage, one externally on each side and a third internally, fed via a dorsal air-intake through an “S-duct”. The B727 -200 has a cruise speed of 865–953 km/h (537-570 mph), a maximum speed of 961km/h (597mph), a service ceiling of 13,000 m (42,000 ft) and a maximum range of 3500 km (2,175 mi).