Boeing 727 Cockpit

The Boeing 727 was a narrow body airline aircraft that was developed and built by Boeing aircraft in Renton, Washington. Seeing a need for an aircraft that would be efficient for short trips to both small & large airports, Boeing introduced the 727 in early 1964, with Eastern Airlines being the first to company to take delivery of the type. In total, from 1962-1984, Boeing produced a total of 1,832 of these aircraft in a variety of configurations. Carrying up to 155 passengers, the 727 was unusual for Boeing in that it was a three-engine aircraft. A workhorse for the company, the 727 operated with a number of airlines over the years including with United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Northwest Airlines. Operating for the airlines for well over 50 years, the last Boeing 727 was retired (by the airlines) in January 2019.

The Museum’s Boeing 727 was delivered to Delta Airlines on November 5,1973. The airplane would fly for the airline for well over a decade before being sold and delivered to People Express Airlines on April 30, 1984. When People Express subsequently merged into Continental Airlines in 1987, the airplane was repainted and operated under the banner for Continental Airlines until being sold to Orca Bay Aviation (now defunct) that operated out of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). The 727 was then used as a charter for both the Vancouver Canucks professional hockey team, and the Vancouver Grizzlies NBA team, before being sold again and delivered to Clay Lacy Aviation on January 3, 2002. The Boeing 727 continued to operate with the company for a number of years, before being retired and scrapped in late 2005 at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. Fortunately, the cockpit of the airplane was kept and moved to the Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center where it was featured as an exhibit piece for a number of years before being “retired” by the aviation center and sent to Columbia Pacific Aviation Group in Moses Lake, Washington before being donated by then owner Bob Bogash to the Tillamook Air Museum in early 2023.