Birds No.1

Birds No.1

Bathed in the warm light of a late afternoon on September 1, 2001, the distinctive profile of a Boeing 727-200 wearing the then-current businesslike blue and gray of United Airlines is seen over the Potomac on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, about to pass by the equally distinctive seagull sculpture of the Navy and Marine Memorial (sometimes referred to a "Waves and Gulls").

An iconic and admired sight over the Potomac for more than 30 years, the “Three-Holer” bleeds off airspeed in her characteristic nose-up attitude, huge double flaps deployed behind her rakishly swept wings. Her three JT-8D engines seem to be saying “this is how a jet is supposed to sound.”

Shortly, she’ll be thundering over the 14th Street Bridge and beginning the tight
right turn that will line her up for one of her “solid” arrivals on Runway 19.

This sleek, rugged, and proud workhorse of the skies can have no idea her days are numbered. Just ten days later, the tragic events of 9/11, leading to sharply curtailed air traffic and pointing to more regional jets and smaller mainline aircraft on most domestic routes, the expensive modifications required for secured cockpits, as well as the lower operating costs of her younger cousins will prompt United, American, Northwest, and Delta, major operators of the type, to retire their fleets of these venerable Boeings.

She may have rattled some windows in her time, even set off some of those pesky car alarms in airport parking lots, but there was nothing to compare with her -- a heady combination of sleek and powerful, a true pilot’s airplane, a true airliner devotee’s object of admiration.

The skies will not be the same without her.

The image was captured on Fujichrome 100 slide film in a Canon EOS-1 using a 28-80mm L-Series lens with polarizer.

It is dedicated to my Pilot Friend-in-Heaven United Captain Charles W. "Tex" Goppert, who sat in the left seat of this type until he retired, after flying over great stretches of land and ocean as First Officer for many years on another classic, the DC-8.

Photo + Narrative ©2001/2010 Steve Ember