CRANDALL’S WORKHORSE:
American Airlines Boeing 727-223 [N6805] JC Wings 1/400 Scale
It is highly unusual for JC Wings to produce models that represent airlines from North America and even more unusual for them to make classics. This is because they appear to have a tacit agreement with their production partner, Gemini Jets, not to tread on each other’s toes. It was therefore quite a surprise to see that just before Christmas 2019 they released an American Airlines 727-200 and even more of a surprise, given JC’s reputation, that is was delivered very soon after the announcement. Historically when JC has made US models it is due to issues with licensing, but I would be surprised if that were a problem with this model. Nonetheless it is always good to see more 727s in 1:400 scale so I’ll quit guessing and concentrate on the model itself.
THE REAL THING The Boeing 727-200 Advanced ruled the airways in the USA during the 1970s and early 1980s. All of the major US trunk airlines utilised the type and some, most notably Braniff International and Continental, built their fleets around the type (BN only had a few DC-8s and the odd 747 whilst CO only had DC-10s extra to its 727s for most of the period). Although the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 came to be the foundation of the American Airlines fleet during
Article and Photos by Richard Stretton
the mid-late 80s it is actually to the trusty trijet that AA owes much of its success. There is no doubt that of the big US trunk airlines American, probably more than any other aside from Delta, benefitted from the passing of the deregulation act as its strong leadership under Bob Crandall powered its change from a classic New York based regulated trunk airline to a Dallas based pioneer of hub and spoke operations. American was an early adopter of the lengthened 727-200, taking 41 727-223s between February 1968 and September 1969 plus an extra aircraft from its takeover of Trans-Caribbean in March 1971. This is no real surprise since AA had been one of the earliest customers for the series 100 in January 1964. All of these early standard 727-223s would be upgraded to Advanced status during the 1970s but it would not be until mid-1975 that American would take delivery of its own new 727-223 Advanced models. The airline would continue to add the type to its fleet from that point forward, no doubt finding it an excellent replacement for its early 707-123Bs. It even acquired 15 727-227 Advs that were originally intended for Braniff in early 1981. This is somewhat ironic considering American’s ruthless role in killing Dallas’ previous hometown airline. In total 83 727-200 Advanceds were added to the original 42 non-Advanced models and they enabled the massive expansion from the DFW hub as well
as solidifying operations at other major American hub operations such as Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK and into the 1990s Miami. Most of the eldest series 200s, all of the pre-1977 build fleet, were retired by 1996 - replaced by a mixture of MD82s and new Boeing 757s. The remainder soldiered on into the late 90s. The last four aircraft weren’t retired until April 30, 2002. N6805 was one of the earliest non-Advanced models delivered in March 1968. She remained with the fleet until May 1994. After that she served a short lease to Private Jet Expeditions and was converted to a freighter after purchase by American International. Her later career was more exotic with stints in Ireland, as EI-HCC, with Hunting Cargo and Air Contractors, and then finally an export to Indonesia where she was used for spares by Tri-MG Airlines.
The model boasts a very shiny tail with the AA logo.
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