DBWI-Pan Am Retires Boeing 2707

Today marks the end of a chapter in aviation history with the last flight of the Boeing 2707. Pan Am Flight 4860 from Honolulu to San Fransisco touched down at San Fransisco International Airport thirty minutes ago. The terminal was crowded with onlookers who come to watch the end of the last flight of a supersonic airliner.

Flight 4860 marks the end of four decades of 2707 operations by Pan Am. Japan Airlines was the first to retire the 2707 in April 2016, followed by Hawaiian Airlines in December 2016 and American Airlines in February 2017.
 
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Archibald

Banned
I've stood below a 2707 at Le Bourget Airshow last year. Few people realize how big a 2707-300 is. That thing is more than 300 ft long. It is one of the most beautiful airliners in the world; that gracefully curving fuselage is reminiscent of Lockheed's Constellation.

In the end it found a niche on Transpacific travel, just like Concorde did over the Atlantic. While the 2707 3500 miles range mandated stops in either Hawaii or Anchorage for Tokyo - L.A flights, it was fast enough that it wasn't an issue. Had the 2707 flew at Mach 2.2 and not Mach 2.7, it would have been too slow for the trans-pacific trips; the Anchorage or Hawaii stopover would have negated time saving of supersonic flight.
So Boeing was right to resist pressure in 1972 to make their bird slower for the sake of cheaper aluminium rather than titanium.

Surely enough, building such a massive beast out of titanium was a major PITA, but when you think about it, the soviets build 10 000 tons, 40kt attack submarines out of titanium, Tom Clancy beloved Alfas.

It also helped when William Proxmire slipped in his bathroom in 1972, hitting his head and never fully recovering, ending his political career (it also benefited NASA, by the way). :p
 
The big killer was the MD-12 and the change over to the super jumbo these planes can flight the same routes yes slower but carry many times the passangers . With the growth of cabin fit and the tech boom allow for work to be done on planes or connection without leaving ones office there was no need for supersonic travel
 
I'd say the proliferation of supersonic business jets in the late 2000s and early 2010s did more to kill off supersonic airliners.

I'm currently training to upgrade to a Sukhoi-Gulfstream S-21 type rating.

Sukhoi-Gulfstream_S-21_Wikipedia.jpg
 
When you look back, the 2707 and its variants did pave the way later on for the spaceliners also manufactured by Boeing. Boeing's Orion 3 liner is something else and is always used by the airlines to the various space stations.
 

Archibald

Banned
When you look back, the 2707 and its variants did pave the way later on for the spaceliners also manufactured by Boeing. Boeing's Orion 3 liner is something else and is always used by the airlines to the various space stations.

The 2707 paved the way for large titanium-build spaceplanes.
 
The big killer was the MD-12 and the change over to the super jumbo these planes can flight the same routes yes slower but carry many times the passangers . With the growth of cabin fit and the tech boom allow for work to be done on planes or connection without leaving ones office there was no need for supersonic travel

This, and the Bombardier Global Express gets you hours off of the trip compared to the MD-12 or A380 but without the 2707s comfort compromises and high fuel consumption.
 
This, and the Bombardier Global Express gets you hours off of the trip compared to the MD-12 or A380 but without the 2707s comfort compromises and high fuel consumption.
It also maintains efficiency at high subsonic speeds, which allows it to fly over populated areas without annoying the residents.
 

Archibald

Banned
The 2707 paved the way for large titanium-build spaceplanes.

More on this. Airbreathing SSTOs needs very long fuselage to house liquid hydrogen, which lacks density hence an enormous volume. But if you build the space plane out of aluminium, it would melt during reentry hence it would need a separate heatshield made of metallic or ceramic tiles. By contrast titanium can endure reentry, even more since some LH2 is used for cooling. NASA highly successful Starclipper drew from Boeing titanium breakthrough.
 
IIRC, when Air France and British Airways retired the Concorde in 2003, TWA and AA began providing 2707 service out of JFK.

There is a reason that Air France wanted a Concorde replacement when they started seeing 2707s at Charles de Gaulle in Paris.... ;)
 

Archibald

Banned
OOC: sigh. Concorde landed at JFK, meh :p

with 250 pax flown at Mach 2.7 the 2707 was far better than Concorde. Notably, Mach 2.7 had not been picked up randomly in 1963: it allowed the 2707 to make three daily trips between Europe and America between 6 in the morning and 11 in the evening (giving airport unfortunate neighbourgh some well deserved sleep and respite). A 747 made one daily trip, Concorde, two.

And while 250 people is hard to cram into a supersonic airframe (hence the 300 ft length), it is the minimal number to carry for any hope of earning money. 120 or 140 pax isn't enough.

So Boeing was right to persist against all odds.
 
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