by Reuben Dunn

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: May 01, 2008

Trekkies might recall the closing scene of the Deep Space 9 series. The entire team was breaking up but the Ferengi bar owner Quark observed "The more things change, the more they stay the same".

It's been a bit like that with the Boeing 7X7 series. Back in the 1960s, the 707-320 was the aircraft most airlines used for long-haul services. There were a few DC8s about, the odd Coronado and the even odder VC10 but, it was the 707-320C which was the first choice. It was operated by the likes of Pan-Am, TWA, BOAC, Qantas - those carriers who needed the variant's versatility and endurance. The 320C could operate LAX/LHR non-stop always and it could get back almost always. Flag carriers as a rule would seat 169 in all economy configurations but some charter airlines got closer to 180.

The next version was, for no apparent reason, called 720 rather than the obvious 717. It had the same fuselage cross-section as the 707 but it was about 40 seats shorter - it had a smaller wing (therefore lower fuel capacity) and down-rated engines. That was used extensively on coast-to-coast services in the USA as well as services to the Caribbean and Latin America. Elsewhere, it did sterling service for the likes of Lufthansa and MEA operating from Europe to the Middle East and Africa. The 720B could claim the best seat-mile costs for a medium haul airliner and Boeing used to advertise it as "Profit Machine".

Next came the 727, one of the world's most successful airliners. The 727 still had the same fuselage cross section but the engines were now tail mounted and there were three of them. It was still shorter - a typical configuration being 129 economy seats and it could be seen at airports all over the world on medium haul routes.

If there was ever an airliner that replaced the Dakota (that was often claimed to be an impossibility), it was the last in that series, the spectacularly successful 737. The engines are now back podded under the wings but there are only two. Early versions accommodated around 100 but that capacity has increased over the years as the type has been developed and stretched to the extent that it hardly resembles the first variants - current production models have more seats than the original Standard Setting 707-320C.

The one thing that hasn't changed? The Galley!

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