TWA B 727 LANDING AT STL, COCKPIT VIEW 

Great video! I was hired by Delta in '88. I spent 1.5 years on the panel of the 72 and then 5 years in the right seat before moving on to the 76/75. Fantastic airplane. Thin swept wing with remarkable high lift technology for slow speeds. A bit underpowered by modern standards but it was fast once it got up a head of steam. One of the best to fly in a gusty crosswind.

The best eras of aviation,1960s to 1990s. Now we have quiet and boring airplanes. My first plane ride was on a McDonnell Douglas MD80. I remember taxing and seeing DC10’s, Boeing 727s, Tristar L1011s, DC8, Boeing 737-200, DC9 etc while looking out the window. How times have changed.

Unbeleivable footage!!! *****

The video was made in July, 1999. Reducing the power too soon on landing would generally result in a very firm arrival. Some people explain this by saying the engine thrust at landing attitude does have some vertical component. The ideal touchdown occurs at the same instant that power is fully reduced. The 727 does not glide power off in the flare unless the speed is excessive.

The Hangar 12 crew was great. I remember a huge snow storm that shut down everything. The guys went out to Southern State Pkwy in the tractors, and brought people into the hangar, and put them in empty 707's, and showed movies! The commissary guys fed them, the hangar guys kept them warm with APU power. And, I heard, someone even delivered a baby! How could you not be proud of that.

Back when pilots really flew passenger jets

As an engineering lab tech, I had the pleasure of helping develop the Sperry SP-50 AFCS (autopilot) for the 727, then wrote several of the maintenance manuals. Always had a fondness for this bird.

When I was growing up in the 1980s, the 727 is the jet gave me the, "flying bug". The sound of those JT8D jets, and the sleek proud lines. But alas! I was born too late. As I got older and started seeing these birds dwindle for quieter, basic, cookie cutter planes, I knew I wouldn't make a career out of it. the 727 is all I used to ever want to fly. Thank you for sharing this. I can live vicariously through the gentlemen in this video. With analog instruments and actual hands on, "pilot in command" flying, the 727 is a pilot's plane. Again, thank you for sharing.

@ie210 Yes, the speedbrakes are manually deployed. Some airlines did have them with the "auto deploy" option. Only three 727's were delivered to TWA with that option, but the option was removed after delivery.

Pilots who flew the older versions of the 727 learned to be aggressive when activating reverse thrust. The levers were difficult to move. Later, the linkage and cable system was equipped with Teflon bearings, and the levers worked much easier. The technique was to bring the levers rapidly up to the 12 o'clock position, where an interlock stopped the levers until the clamshell doors (reversers) moved.

Yep,TWA was great. And so was the 727.

outstanding flying bob! my dad was with delta in stl for 30 yrs and proudly retired. i spent most of my juvenile hours in the air in those 727's and miss them deeply. it is still my favorite and i respect the old rusty knuckles vets that took their controls! you good ole boys sure are a dying breed. thanks for your service!

That's what I call a cockpit! The ending is perfect. :) Great video, thanks for sharing.

The classic 727 is back!

I think all respondents realize now that this is pure 727. The comments to the contrary were not malicious. It is a learning and sharing experience. That was the spirit of this post. My cockpit was not one of high drama, so the You tube should be the same.  Let's have fun.

Sure miss the ole 727. One of the best handling airplanes I've had the pleasure of flying, and there've been a lot.

RIP TWA and 727 ❤❤ Hard working pilots!!

Love the old birds. I've talked briefly with a few pilots and they all raved about the 727. Seemed to be all you'd see at airports stateside for years. Nice video, thanks.

Nice landing Capt. Bob; even with the thermals, you make landing “Miss Piggy look so easy. Truly the mark of a consummate professional airman.

The Boeing 727 is my 2nd favorite single-aisle airliner (A320 being my #1). Always enjoyed flying that old bird in flight simulator, never boarded a real 727, but still have the pleasure to fly it virtually.

what a great plane. Really changed commercial aviation as we know it today by having the ability to access smaller airports, thus opening jet routes that were previously not possible. Many people forget the 727's historical significance here

I find myself coming back to this video time and again!

Ahh, the old 72...she stole my heart almost 40 years ago, and she still refuses to let go :-)

I loved sitting in my backyard & watching the jets departing & en-route to DFW. I miss the 727's. Don't see them anymore. You could always tell one from the sound, long before you spotted it in the sky.

Those were the real pilots, mechanics and planes!

When I lived in Chicagoland, I was under the 14L approach pattern. O'Hare was my base, then. Great airport, great city.

Absolutely admire this bird! I remember as a young boy, my uncle worked for Fed-Ex, just as the 727 was beginning to retire from the commercial fleet and emerge as a cargo backbone for Fed-Ex and UPS. He flew the 727 for 20 years before retiring into general aviation as a CFI. He comments on missing the "sport's car" like feel of it's handling characteristics. The 727 is so primitive and basic in it's operation that it could easily qualify as a giant Cessna! Even it's autopilot was common of what is seen typically in today's GA aircraft!

Thank you for posting this Bob! My 5 year old son wanted to watch some actual cockpit vidoes of real airline pilots in action, and this was the first one I showed him. He was in absolute awe! It took me back to when I was a boy taking my first airplane ride at 5 years old. It was on a TWA 727 in 1979. My dad was in the air force, and we'd been transferred from Carswell to Anderson AFB, Guam to begin his stint as a B52 pilot. The 727 took us from DFW to LAX where we took a 742 to Hawaii and then Guam. I'll never forget how awesome the 72 looked sitting on the ramp! That was a real airplane. I'll never forgot the Captain and flight crew either. They looked like pilots, acted like pilots, and were even dressed like pilots without a wrinkle on their shirts to be seen. Partway through the flight, a flight attendant asked me if I wanted to see the cockpit. I'm sure my dad put them up to this, but it was something I'll never forget. Hope you are enjoying every bit of your retirement!! I almost forgot.....that pilot greased the landing just like you did!

That was very well done!! Great job, pilots and thank you for the upload!! RIP TWA and we thank you.

This is the only cockpit video of a TWA jet that I can find on youtube. I've watched it about 2 dozen times since you uploaded it in 07. THanks again. I fly a CRJ and always try to hand fly the approach if the weather permits.

The spoilers are deployed immediately after touchdown. On this aircraft that is done manually with the pilot's right hand. The pilot then uses his right hand to reverse the thrust of the engines. The two movements happen very quickly. At 3:55 you can see the pilot pulling the reverse thrust levers aft. Above the engine instruments, the amber "Reverser Operating" lights can be seen. The action was too fast to pan the camera. The frame at 3:55 is this channel's icon.

Hey, the auto exposure on the camera was going nuts as it was panned inside to outside among the cumulus clouds. Too bad we couldn't improve that. Thanks for the comments, and nice to have you along for the ride. Too bad the jump seats are empty when so many would love to ride up front. It was a fun job.

Wow! Nice video. Always flew TWA in the 50's, 60's and 70's and especially overseas.

Wonderful and well managed approach and landing Capt Bob.The epitome of Pilot In Command. Smooth operator!. I flew my Commercial Pilot checkride (trained by a TWA Capt who owned a school in St Charles county near ST Louis) in similar conditions on an afternoon of Aug 11th 1990 at St,Louis Lambert field I was awarded my Commercial Single and Multi engine Pilot license. I will never forget that hot sweaty bumpy after noon(flew with my shirt unbuttoned). I will also never forget one of the hardest landings I ever experienced there on a TWA 727 from JFK. We might have flown through a windsgear but pilot did chop power hurriedly still in the air.. I did the 727 FEX exams earlier in 1990 but never got to fly this beautiful bird which is as old as myself.I got close to getting jobs on it twice in Yemen and Kenta. . I am currently on furlough PIC of VIP Embraer Legacy 650.I yesterday applied for a 727 -200F job in Africa and am expecting an interview.I am so excited at flying this old girl to punctuate my career with some invaluable history. It beats the excitement I had when I trained on my first Jet CRJ and a short while later on. A320 in 2010.I did my Legacy 650 initial type rating at FSI in St,Louis too in 2014.Watching this video takes me back home in terms of my career at St,Louis Lambert field.Thanks again Bob. Let’s chat over the 727 techniques sometime. I hear there is a difference between the 727-100 and 200 which requires some unusual methods in rotation and flare. Also saw some operators dropping Flap 40 after nose wheel on ground to help further with braking. Why was Flap 40 banned? I flew a single engine approach and GA on a Microsoft Sim and it was unbelievably manageable but high speed required. A minimum of 160KIAS I recall but closer to 180 at the heavy weight I had. .Best regards skipper!

Great landing, I've always heard the 727 was hard to land soflly....I guess you had to get to know her. Thanks for the video! I remember at TL watching 727s takeoff and all the car alarms going off !

I miss TWA. Flew them often out of St. Louis. I might have been on that flight.

Back when a flight deck looked like it belonged in an airplane instead of an office cubicle

TWA was a great airline. I flew their non-stop 747 service from HNL to STL and back several times while stationed in Pearl Harbor.

TWA.. Class airline.. Not only did I fly on TWA back n forth to the states from CDG for 10 years, where I spent my childhood growing up as an expat, but 16 years later I flew for TWA, 727/767 FO. The employees of TWA made the airline a class company to work for. I truly miss all them and I miss working for one of the last great and influential pioneers of the aviation world. So very sad how the new generation, and I can say its true, have never heard of TWA.... Such a shame...

Prompt and aggressive reverse thrust application gives the best results. Slow, smooth application allows the engines to spool down, thus delaying reverse, and the point of maximum aerodynamic drag for braking occurs immediately upon touchdown. While the application is prompt in this vid, the amount of power applied is modest. In the cabin, the ride is smooth and not abrupt. The 727 can have the reverse applied while the nose wheel is still off the ground. Almost no wheel braking is needed.

I love tri-holers! The 727 is a rare site, even here at KLAX. Great video, great approach, great landing, great handling by the skilled pilot!

Those were the days! Hand flying the STAR and the approach. This captain is a craftsman of aviation.

@garyleak Actually, the first officer made the call out, "Half to go". During climbs and descents, the pilot not flying calls out, "one to go" when approaching by 1,000 feet, the assigned altitude. When air traffic control gives only a 1,000 foot altitude change, then the call out at 500 feet before the assigned altitude becomes, "Half to go". Before this approach begins, a 1,000 foot descent was issued, and the 500 foot call is heard. Good question!

@sgilman I lived in StL for a few years. I used to hang out on the other end of this runway. There was a little car park under the approach path. Since it was higher than the runway surfaces, you got a great view of arriving flights. There was also an ANG base with 4 or 5 F-15s. I worked at McDonnell Douglas and sometimes would often stop there after work to let the traffic die down. TWA had a lot of 727s even near the end. You tend to forget what a big airplane it is.

For this captain it was like driving to the store! Incredible!

As you correctly stated earlier, the loud beep tone in the first part of the vid is the gear warning. Later, two types of altitude alerts are given. The first sounds at 500 feet radar altitude. The second starts softly and gets louder and stops sounding at 100 feet radar altitude. At both times the first officer makes the appropriate call out identifying the event and giving the speed and sink rate at the 500 foot tone.

We have the cockpit to one of these at my A&P school it’s so funny to watch airline pilots actually put a real conscious effort into actually flying the plane

Old 727 was my class plane when getting my FAA - Air Frame & Power plant license at TWA. Not many A & P can say that, most are stuck with Cessna little planes when going to technical school.

I miss jump-seating in the 727, Beautiful bird.

Miss the old iron! Flew on all the them (as pax) back in the day. Spent some time on the ramp with Delta 30 years ago, lots of 727, L1011, MD80. And couple years later, fueled FedEx 727 almost every evening. Definitely a great airplane!

Now that is flying!! No FMC or Auto Pilot, just your skills!!

What a great clip! and a great demeanor with that pilot!!! 5* !!!!!!!!!

Impressive to watch...wow.... great respect for these guys!

cap's so calm he's almost singing out the commands

I sure miss TWA

@xylotone0110 Really a nice comment. Thanks. I did many flights from Lambert to Florida during the time you mentioned. Perhaps I gave you a ride!

I really miss TWA,........thank you for posting this & God Bless you.

The hand must transfer from the spoiler lever to the reverse levers, and to be effective, it must be done quickly. In a crosswind, slowly deploying the spoilers can have unpredictable results and is not recommended. Both these controls are aerodynamic braking, which means they are most effective at high speed. In this landing, the wheel brakes were only briefly used as the prior aerodynamic braking slowed the A/C to taxi speed, smoothly and economically.

Very well done! Love the "Crew meals" segment. Excellent footage of a classic. Thanks for sharing.

@exexwhy Sorry I missed this question earlier. It was a passenger flight in the month that I retired. My retirement flight was a baseball charter, and it may be posted later. Thanks.

A classic airline AND a classic airliner! Great job!

And thanks to you for the memory lane trip....I was in your area a lot when I was at LRD (AFB).

I miss these old birds, such wonderful solid airplanes!

@flirjock The left thumb switch is the electric trim switch. It is used to retrim as the aircraft slows, thus relieving the pressure the pilot has to hold on the wheel. The trim switch turns a wheel, not seen, that is rather noisy.

When this video was made, the intro music of "St. Louis Blues" seemed appropriate. The source of that music is a piano roll that I collaborated on from "Blues Tone Music Rolls". John Arpin, who died in Nov. 2007 was the artist. Several new postings in his honor are on You Tube. Hence, this note to identify John's work..a great pianist.

TWA: one of the great airlines in the annals of aviation history. Sad to see it go.

@ampicoab Just a little trivia. Captain Gordon Granger had all TWA aircraft lights switches reversed before delivery from the factory. So Captain Bob is actually turning off the landing lights. As a 727 Check Airman for over 5 years, I too miss "Miss Piggy" as we affectionately called the 727s. The 727 really loved the ground if you pulled the power off too soon so I told my students "leave the power on until you get to the gate"!

I miss the "workhorse". Thanks for the video.

Love the 727!!

No, many commercial flights land using visual approaches. However, almost all flights are conducted on IFR (instrument) flight rules. In other words, IFR flights can make visual approaches and landings. The flight is still on an IFR flight plan even though it makes a visual approach. The flights at Laguardia often land using the "Expressway visual approach", as an example.

good old fashion flying right here buddy! thx for sharing!

Nice video. R.I.P., John.

What's all those round things on the instrument panel, and all the dials and switches. As said by someone who flew aircraft with such odd things in them. B-727's and BAC1-11's. No not American Airlines. Corporate, all corporate. Now retired, both the aircraft and myself. Great video, nice to see the good ole aircraft once again.

@patjparks That is a good question by a good observer. Yes, tower put someone on the runway for takeoff and advised us of that fact. It means slowdown if you want to land. We did by immediately extending the gear and the spacing worked out great.

And that's the way they did it in the "old" days. That's what my sons would call it now. I started flying 45 years ago, and this looks like it was during that same "era".

*Really fantastic video/upload...thanks!!*

Still B727 crazy, even after all these years.

Lovely. Non pilots should note the constant aspect. Which means note how the runway is kept in the same position in the windscreen when flying a stable approach. That is achieved by coordinated inputs on the three primary controls, elevators, aileron and rudder. The target airspeed is achieved with incremental adjustments to power.

The times when you grabbed the reverses like you were grabbing a thief by the collar

Question for the person who filmed this incredible video: were are you a TWA pilot or other crew member? ❤❤

This is sooo awesome thank you so much for uploading. Remember my Grandpa flying in those old vehicles, it was not easy to fly em!

@LoadedSaiga Even with the handles stowed, the wheel and its notched area for the handles, can give a jolt to the Capt. right knee, and copilot left knee. If either handle is extended, the trim paddle cutout switch should be off to preclude a very strong whack on the knee.

Butter landing in the old days.

former f/a and Flight Service Manager for TWA 1974-1987...joined the US NAVY NURSE CORPS 1987-2014. Was a flight nurse (Go figure) and loved what I did! Sad to leave TWA...Sad to see TWA go to American. Good thing I didn't stay on.

I love this video, thanks for posting/sharing. I only have my PPL but have flown the 727 in a simulator a few years back now. I also love flying it in flight simulator ;) Dreamfleet did a great job of recreating it.

Love the 727s especially the stories about how everyone made fun of the Flight engineers because they were always so young. What year was this originally made? Did you find yourself landing with power still in a lot of times? My teacher flew these for Delta and said a lot of times it would be better to keep some power in on touchdown for a smoother landing??

Indeed it is! Same goes for Pan Am, those were the good old pioneering airlines!

Impressive. A real joy to watch.

When I was about 10 years old, my family went out to lunch with a family friend who was a 727 captain for Ansett. At the lunch table I remember asking him why so many instruments and dials, as it was my belief that all these dials were used 100% of the time to fly the plane. He explained that only a few instruments were used at any one time - he also said I needed to focus my schooling on maths and physics if I wanted to fly - i remember thinking, “physics?? wow that sounds serious”…. 10 years later they were my best subjects….

RIP Capt even after your death I’m still watching this video.

@aztlaxpuroazul The 727 was designed as a short field aircraft with a high cruise speed (Mach .84). Now, airports have longer runways and aircraft can ignore the need for short field capability. The 727 can deploy the thrust reverse immediately upon touchdown...even before the nose wheel is down. A recommended 12 O'clock reverse throttle position will yield about 80% N one. Coupled with the nose high attitude, the plane was slowed without wheel brakes. Great question and observation.

Nice hand flown approach...that’s exactly what I try to do as well!

@malibularry Everything about the 727 was unique! Loved to have the AC packs running on the ground in a humid environment and the condensation streaming out of the overhead vent by 1L. The sound of all three engines in cruise - sounded like a well synchronized machine. Let's not forget the windscreen "noise" from those "square" angles on the front.

that is some serious yoke movement over thresh hold! Ground effect, x-winds? Amazing piloting skills. The 727 is the BEST! shame its gone :(

Love this vid, looks like a 231 Adv with flight directors on the glaresheild. Nice job on the landing!!

Thank you make you appreciate history

I'd like to meet these pilots, they did and do a great job! Awesomeness!!!

best plane ever built..need the 727-300

Hand Flying an uncoupled approach is almost unheard of. I remember that version of 737 with that Radar and Auto Pilot. Worked on quite a few of them. it is amazing how Technology has changed. 727 still in existence today after almost 50 years... I bet an Airbus (started in 2001) will never have a plane lasting this long... Look at the Airbus Cracks. I love the Vintage Boeing. Yesterdays Technology... Got to love it. So much easier to work on.

I miss TWA and all the traffic at Lambert that disappeared with it.