The End of an Era?

[expat]

One of the saddest things, if not the saddest, is it takes away one of the final opportunities that were available for people, mainly children, to come up and see what goes on up the front on the flight deck of an airliner.

How many of us on the forum older than our mid teens were inspired by going up front on an airliner when we were younger? Quite a few I suspect. The charters that will inevitably replace some of our civilian carrying passenger routes will, just like any other civilian airliner, have the door firmly locked.

That's one thing we'll miss.

During my time in a blue suit and Op Warden, though the suit switched between Khaki and DP's depending on the time of year

[BSW727]

Making cockpit visits to the 727 as a boy and later as a teenager is one reason there is a 727 cockpit in my basement.

[Rich H]

Sad that such a beautiful airliner will go... 
I thought the TU-154 was the fastest civilian aircraft?

With a cruising speed of 975km/h, the Tu-154 is one of the fastest civilian aircraft in operation and has a range of 5280 km

From Wiki.

[C]

[quote]Sad that such a beautiful airliner will go...

[Leigh]

any airliner can be the fastest it just depends on how many pieces you want it in at the end  ill leave

ut on a serious note thats kinda sad but i never knew you could do that :O

[SeanTK]

The VC-10 could definitely out-clock the 154 by a little bit, but I think now that the VC is on it's last legs, the 154 is the fastest airliner. Unfortunately, many Russian airlines are steadily replacing them with Boeing or Airbus brands as the years go on. I think Aeroflot relatively recently retired their 154s. Granted, you can still see many of them in the Eastern countries, but I suspect that within the next dozen years, they will become exceedingly rare.

Also note that wiki says "one of the fastest" not THE fastest.

Finally, if you are just going by "civilian aircraft" with the exception of the privately owned military fighters, I think the title belongs to the Cessna Citation X.

[Rich H]

The VC-10 could definitely out-clock the 154 by a little bit, but I think now that the VC is on it's last legs, the 154 is the fastest airliner. Unfortunately, many Russian airlines are steadily replacing them with Boeing or Airbus brands as the years go on. I think Aeroflot relatively recently retired their 154s. Granted, you can still see many of them in the Eastern countries, but I suspect that within the next dozen years, they will become exceedingly rare.

Also note that wiki says "one of the fastest" not THE fastest.

Finally, if you are just going by "civilian aircraft" with the exception of the privately owned military fighters, I think the title belongs to the Cessna Citation X.

True yep, I should have really read it. 

[C]

The VC-10 could definitely out-clock the 154 by a little bit, but I think now that the VC is on it's last legs,

Steady on. The '10s got a few years left yet!

As for fast airliners, I doubt any company is operating any "legacy" aircraft anywhere near the speeds they used to. I suspect most will have trimmed their cruise speeds down in the quest for better fuel economy!

[BSW727]

Before the 727 was retired, manuals frequently limited their speed to M.78. This occured in the '70's during the oil embargo.

It'll do M.84 without breaking a sweat.