FSX-SE Boeing 727 Collection (I) - Baby Freighters

[P_7878 6,550]

[I un-installed my CS 727 (-100/-100F/-200/-200F) and installed all of them fresh (with the usual pre-conditions). Unfortunately, this did not fix my anomalous Flaps Indicator Gauges - if you wish, you may refer to my earlier post on B727 Test Flight. I find no other flaps (related) issues, with this SIM, such as for (Flaps annunciation, external Flaps movement, or pedestal Flaps lever). The plane also flies fine from take-off to touch-down, so, this is rather strange! I may open a Service Ticket, later, but, my tasks of opening a Ticket and waiting eagerly for response are not very critical these days...as long as I'm not (totally) blocked from using the SIM. So, I move on, from here, for now...this SIM is still a load of fun...!]

In any case, today, I went on a bit of spree with livery hunting (in CS website and the Libraries) for my CS 727, for all the four variants, I've stated above. That exercise is always fun, to pick and choose repaints...from numerous available (always grateful to the repainters!)...while examining the respective color-patterns and thinking a bit about the Airlines they stand (or stood!) for...So, here, you go, eleven B727-100F/200F Freighters, for your viewing. BTW, you may recognize the Chicago Airport (KORD) in a few of the backgrounds, thanks to (Sim Market) Drzewiecki Design's Freeware Gift from a week or two ago. I am (quite) familiar with this Airport from the past, so, it's a special pleasure to see it in our virtual world, in such details...! The iconic HILTON, you see in one shot, I'd the pleasure of spending a couple of nights in...many moons ago...when, I recall, all I had to do was roll my carry-on, from the arrival gate, all the way, to the Hotel Lobby (without ever having to go outside the airport building, into the bitter (Chicago) cold, it was a few days before Christmas!) - along the (endless, but enjoyable) hallway passages and moving walkways. I also, vividly, recall, the busy airport scenes bustling with activity, as visible from the upper-floor window, (good memories!)...I'm wondering, now, what it all might be today, but surely, not the same...!!

Hope you enjoy these images, below. I'll post my favorite set, later, from the (CS) Pax 727 Collection. Thanks for your interest!

[CS(727 -100F/-200F), Drzewiecki (KORD), REX]

Miscellaneous notes, on the images below, (including a mystery for your weekend - you never know what the internet, these days, will scoop up for you)!

1. First five pictures are for -200F and the next six are for -100F.
2. TNT, an international courier delivery service company, headquartered in Netherlands, is now a subsidiary of FedEx. The merger with FedEx occurred, just a few years ago, in May 2016.
3. Cougar operated passenger and cargo service, out of its home-base, London-Stansted. It operated several B727s. BTW, what an impressive color-scheme and the call-sign "Speedcat" to boot?
4. Air Gemini, also known as Air Gemini Cargo, was an airline based in Luanda, Angola (Founded 1999 and Ceased 2010) - not to be confused with (also defunct) Gemini Air Cargo, which was an American cargo airline headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, USA. Here is the mystery part: "In 2003, a 727 (in excellent and "beautiful" condition) that once flew for American Airlines disappeared from Angola. A certified flight engineer, aircraft mechanic, and private pilot, and who worked with "Air Gemini", disappeared while working in the Angolan capital, Luanda. On May 25, 2003, shortly before sunset, he had boarded the company’s Boeing 727-223, tail number N844AA. With him was a helper he had recently hired. The two had been working with Angolan mechanics to return the 727 to flight-ready status, but neither could fly it. The latter was not a pilot, and the former had only a private pilot’s license. A 727 ordinarily requires three trained aircrew. According to press reports, the aircraft began taxiing with no communication between the crew and the tower; maneuvering erratically, it entered a runway without clearance. With its lights off and its transponder not transmitting, 844AA took off to the southwest, and headed out over the Atlantic Ocean. The 727 and the two men have not been seen since. The plane and and the two men remain unaccounted for, and the circumstances around their disappearance have left many unanswered questions...." (This story seems even more mysterious than D. B. Cooper's disappearance, and, coincidentally, in both cases, B727s were involved...!!)
5. Notice the (partially visible) UPS Cargo planes in the backdrop of the "Oil Spill Response" livery.
6. Purolator is a Canadian courier service provider. It was acquired by the US manufacturer of oil and air filters Purolator. In 1987, the company returned to Canadian ownership, but, it retained the Purolator name. Purolator has since partnered with UPS for deliveries outside of Canada.
7. HeavyLift Cargo is an Australian cargo airline headquartered now in Los Angeles, U.S. (a bit puzzling). This is because, HeavyLift transferred its business to the United States once the Australian Government banned B727/737 stage III aircraft (that would answer the puzzle, I believe).
8. For DHL, there are 2 liveries, shown, below: the old (dark-red) DHL logo before its purchase by Deutsche Post AG (in 2002), and the new (more familiar) Red-and-Yellow scheme. DHL stands for the combined initials of the surnames of the 3 founders: Dalsey, Hillblom, and Lynn. In the 1960s, while a law student, in Berkeley, Hillblom had accepted a job as a courier running duty calls between Oakland International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, picking up packages for the last flight of the day, and returning on the first flight the next morning, up to five times a week! With his two partners, they, later, shared a Plymouth Duster that they drove around San Francisco to pick up the documents in suitcases, then rushed to the airport to book flights...so the story goes...
9. For FedEx, both -200F (at the gate) and -100F (on the runway) - variants are shown. 727-200 is 20 feet longer than the −100. A 10-ft fuselage section was added in front of the wings and another 10-ft fuselage section was added behind them. The wing span and height remained the same on both the −100 and −200. They seem rather hard to tell apart, at least, to my (untrained) eyes!

Edited May 16, 2020 by P_7878

[PhotoReal Earth 93]

The TNT and Cougar paintings are very pretty 🙂

Much more I love the old paintings with a lot of bare metal.
These old liveries are one of two points which make this plane so very much interesting in my opinion.

The other one is: she's a typical Boeing (look at her face!) but she is so very different to all other members of this family (look at her engines!).
 

I love the airliners with 3 or 4 engines, the twinburners are so "normal".
And as the quadburners are quite similar to twinburners (the Queen of the sky is a class of her own) the trijets are my absolute favorites.
This unique combination of elegance and power . . .
Can't stop raving 

[HighBypass 2,339]

I was fortunate enough to see one of the two Oil Spill Response 727s doing a flyby with an aerobatic team at Farnborough in 2018. Hopefully the mods will allow this additional photo  as well as it being OK with you P_7878?

[P_7878 6,550]

Torsten: Thank you for the comments and thoughts, and I (wholly) concur with your sentiments, here,....🙂...!

Mark:

[NP for me...the more the merrier, as long as, I think, we respect "20"...! And, for a change, I have < 20, here...]

Wonderful picture of the event,...the contrails of the planes in the flyby, against the (overhanging) dark clouds, add to the total effect...! Hope you'd your ear-plugs handy...!!

BTW, Mark, I saved the kicker, for you, last....if you saw the Oil Spill Response 727 at 2018 Farnborough, then, you...most likely...saw the very same one imaged above...Reg. G-OSRA....!!

"[17 July 2018] Appearing again at this year’s show is a Boeing 727-200 operated by Oil Spill Response, an industry collective aimed at responding to major oil spills. The aircraft, registration G-OSRA, is equipped with internal tanks, pumps and a spray boom to deliver dispersant liquid....]

[NWATech 95]

Great stubby pics! UPS used the -100. Got a nice upgrade package and then retired.

We need a new 727 or CS update this model.

Great pic Mark too!

[HighBypass 2,339]

Thanks. A kicker back at you P_7878 is that G_OSRA was spraying water om that fly-by as it was a scorching summer weekend, I was worried about my Dad due to the excess heat, and he was worried about me lol! The grass was brown and tinder dry. However, the fireworks display which the aerobatic team had to accentuate their flying display still set the grass on fire - the airport fire crews had a spot of real life training!

[P_7878 6,550]

2 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Thanks. A kicker back at you P_7878 is that G_OSRA was spraying water om that fly-by as it was a scorching summer weekend, I was worried about my Dad due to the excess heat, and he was worried about me lol! The grass was brown and tinder dry. However, the fireworks display which the aerobatic team had to accentuate their flying display still set the grass on fire - the airport fire crews had a spot of real life training!

Mark:

Great to have been part of that show, overall, and especially with this 727 Sprayer....!

Rest of us have to be content with YouTube Videos....🙂...not the same effect, I guess....

Just in case anyone wishes to see this thing: Please search for "farnborough 2018 727 sprayer video"...There are 3 coming up for 2016/2018/2017. The middle one, for 2018, (1min 43sec), is the one we're talking of here, and it was, indeed, a "Hot Weather" day...in UK...

Mark: The 727, with its sprayers going strong, comes down, at the start, almost, as if, it's going to land on that Rwy....but, then, climbs back up for more action....sure, it needs some good piloting skills...quite amazing...!!