727C47
2008-01-06, 05:23 PM
OK, we landed yesterday afternoon at LAX, a sweet 25L arrival,chasing an AA 757 down finals,then parking at the old Imperial terminal. We had 2 hrs till our team showed up,so we crawled all over that DC-3 that is perma parked there,part of the LAX museum. Standing in that cockpit,brought back memories,of many an hour spent in quiet contemplation,watching the night pass into day,serenaded by the rolling rythm of those PW 1830's. Music. A MaxJet,yes,a MaxJet 767-200 took off,using about 1/3 of the runway,probably heading toward temporary retirement in some desert boneyard. A Shangai Md-11F, blasted up,and away,that was a new one for me. Then a Qantas 747-400 plopped gracefully,wingtips gently flexing,onto 25L ,tired after coming all the way from Oz. The star of the show was N707JT, taking off in front of us ,black smoke streaming,engines screaming, that lovely 707 shape, filling the sky,suddenly in my minds eye it was 1968, and i'm crabbing off the Crossbay bridge with my uncle,and cousins, watching a steady stream of Starstream, and blueball 707s ,yanking and banking over Jamaica Bay,leaving those black smoke trails behind,jet noise like thunder, echoing ,then fading away. Wow. Time to get back to work, I admire the lines of our retro blue/white 727-200,such beauty,more art than science,at least equal parts, no excuse for a jet ,any jet,an embodiment of speed,and adventure, to not look kick butt,even when it is standing still. Taxing out, a FedEx727 arrives,followed by one of our sister ships. Retro jet day at LAX. Cheers.