United787 From United States of America, joined May 2005, 2845 posts, RR: 2 Posted (8 years 6 months 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 3822 times:
I remember back in the 80's flying American Airlines and on the safety card they called the airplane the 7X7 Stretch. I seem to remember the 737, is that right? Was it the 727? Does anyone remember? Was it even AA?
Interesting to note that United had common safety cards for their 737-200/300/500 aircraft, made possible by the fact that doors and overwing emergency exit plugs were in the same locations and of the same type on all three variants. Therefore, it is possible that the aircraft referenced may have been a 737-300; AA operated ex-Air Cal 737-200s and -300s (in full AA livery) for several years after acquiring Air Cal in 1988. On the other hand, the 727-100 and -200 types used by AA in the 1980s did not have the same door arrangements and therefore could noy have used a common safey card.
Tango-Bravo From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 3810 posts, RR: 27
Reply 5, posted (8 years 6 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 3325 times:
Quoting United787 (Reply 4): I added the X because I couldn't remember which plane it was. I think FlyTPA is correct, it is the 727-200.
Indeed I very much recall that the 727-200 was commonly referred to as a "727 Stretch" or simply "Stretch" for some years after the type entered service in 1967. At the time, it was a dramatic stretch (20') of an existing design. I clearly remember the first time I noticed a 727 that seemed to be longer -- I even asked someone if it was a 727 to which the reply was "it's a 727 Stretch." Even after McDonnell-Douglas rewrote the definition of "stretch" with its DC-8-61/63 series (37' longer than its DC-8 predecessors) the 727-200 continued to be known as a "Stretch" at the same time the longer DC-8s were more commonly known as a "Stretch Eight."
In all of my memory, there was never such a reference to the 737-300 (or even the later 737-800/900) when comparing it to a 737-100/200 or when comparing the DC-9-80/MD-80 to earlier, much shorter, DC-9 variants. By then, airframe "stretch" had become so commonplace as to render the term almost meaningless when referring to various airliners.