[...🙂...OK, I mean, I finally couldn't resist flying one of my most, if not the most, favorite (classic) airliners...in MSFS. So, when I caught sight today of a "new" (5* rated) livery pack of 707 repaints in the Marketplace (with that easy-to-spot yellow-tag), my mind went back (for the 10th time) ...to the base (707) a/c, which has been somewhat maligned due to some imperfections in its current version, especially in the avionics suite. Therefore, if you wish to wait for an (hopefully) updated version of this a/c, you might do so, since our (new) SIM would be incomplete without this classic quad-jet. On this first experimental flight, I did however make it work well enough for my purpose, such as being able to (1) Control heading and vertical speed (2) Hold altitude (3) And most significantly enable G/S settings on the (Pedestal) Autopilot panel Mode Selector, to make the plane follow the (ILS) G/S and LOC signals, faithfully to the threshold of Rwy 34R of Salt Lake City Airport (KSLC). BTW, this airport/approach, I found to be a challenge, with (low-lying) mountains all around in the final (ages ago, I'd been just once to KSLC, but I was not in command responsible for landing that jetliner...🙂...) ...]

Many airliners in the gloried history of jet aviation, came close to fame, but 707 is that (trend-setter) airliner said to be the one that singlehandedly "...changed how we fly...especially long-haul...", and is also generally credited with "...ushering in the Jet Age...". If you consider the venerable A300 as the one that put Airbus on the world map, it's the legendary B707 that put Boeing on the world map. 707 was the very "first" jetliner developed by Boeing, but by no means the first (commercial) jetliner of the world. Personally, being a non-professional aviator...🙂..., this is the one, among all the classics, that has always fascinated me most, within the bounds of our virtual aviation. During the early years of my involvement in this pastime, Captain Sim was the (indisputable) known name for lovers of the Boeing Classic Jets (707, 727, 737), and then 757/767 etc. I had actively participated in the phased approach release (and development) of many of these a/c with CS... good times indeed for classic jet lovers...and nothing since has changed my fascination for these a/c...

CS used to call these a/c their "Legendary" series, a well-chosen epithet. During those few years, I would regularly spend more time in the CS Forum, than what I spend here today in the Avsim...🙂...I'd acquired every conceivable (pax/freighter/combi) variants of those aircraft for myself, that CS had produced (a thorough coverage indeed including iconic ones such as the earliest variants, 727-100 and 737-100 etc..). Unfortunately, CS did not (could not) yet bring the joy of flying these iconic a/c to us in the new SIM. So, we (patiently) wait for someone else to pick up the tab, which would happen gradually and eventually in due course. 

Sometimes, for some of us (yours truly included), what we have on-hand will have to do. This is same as the freeware a/c contributions of our past SIMs, that, though imperfect, had contributed so tremendously to our learning and enjoyment of aviation especially when no (premier) developer would take on those a/c due to many contributing factors including financial. Oh well...there is now a 707 to fly in MSFS, so, I flew a complete flight today featuring an airline that I know well from my earliest times in this hobby (this is the livery in the new Repaint Pack, that immediately caught my attention today). 

Wester Airlines is truly one of the historic airlines of U.S. If I were to ask which major airline of U.S. was the first to start operating services, you might say, "Is it Delta...is it UA...is it AA...🙂...?". Actually, it was the Western Airlines of the west coast. On the record, Delta is the oldest airline in U.S., and it will be 100 next year in 1925. However, Western, a one-time major airline, though founded just 3 months after Delta, commenced operations years before the others, and remained continuously operating for 60+ years until, ironically, it merged with "Delta" only. In the past, I've posted here about Western and its a/c. I also recall now, when I'd once visited the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, there used to be several vintage Western Airlines exhibits. Western had introduced B707 on the KLAX-KSFO Route in the 1960s, and then acquired the (shorter) domestic version of the 707, the 720, to go on flying 30 examples of the 720.

The very first airmail service route of Western was between KLAX and KSLC, flown by a Douglas M-2 biplane. That's the flight I have recreated for this post, flown with a 707-300...🙂...with a late afternoon departure and a late evening arrival. The route scenery I witnessed en-route was dramatic, even from my virtual perspective, across the desolate high deserts to the mountains of Utah... (see images) ...

In spite of my lack of familiarity with this AH version of 707 (been rather familiar with the CS 707, helped me here somewhat), I made it down all in piece...a/c and myself...🙂...into Salt Lake City airport (indeed a challenging airport to land, to say the least, even without the burden of this (unwieldy) 707 SIM, and with darkness falling around me...). I managed the landing reasonably well (see images), but it could have been better...Oh well...I will surely love to practice more...despite the shortcomings and limitations of this SIM a/c. But it was a genuinely fun flight, so, no regrets at all with this acquisition. After all it's a 707 and any imperfections in its current SIM version, is no fault of this classic a/c which itself matters to me most...🙂...surely hope to see it improve to CS standards or higher, but this here did it for me today...

Hope you enjoy this collection of my images, of this classic quad-jet, in this classic livery, as much as I enjoyed flying it for the first time in MSFS...nostalgically harking back to my earliest days in the SIM...decades ago...as time passes by us...🙂...

Thanks for viewing...!

Nice shots. Happy to see that 707 in our sim world.

Nice shots, fun read. I rode an AAL 707-300 from Travis Air Force Base to Vietnam in 1972. Probably about 18 hours with two refueling stops. Long take off rolls loaded with fuel and troops.

Fine set of shots, i realy love the 707 but i will wait for a better one that fitts more my opinion.. 

cheers 😉

Great shots! 😉 

Lovely stuff! I bought this and am ok (ish) with it. Not bothered about any flying characteristics, as you might imagine, so it behaves fine for me, but I haven't used it much due to the poor textures/externals. I'll check out that livery pack you mention, but all the liveries I've gotten so far are way too clean and bland. I assume that's down to the actual model itself.

But as you say/imply - gotta have one of these in the hangar!

John, Vic, pmplayer, Will, and Andy et al.:

Many thanks for the nice comments, memories, and feeling of and about this plane ....🙂...

Glad you liked the pictures of it...

Cheers...!

Very nice set P_7878, didn't see a 707 in msfs before.

Thanks, Andreas...!

It will have to do for now...in MSFS...but I hope they improve it further...and not leave it the way it is, at least avionics wise, that would not be fair to this iconic quad-jet ...

Cheers...!