Boeing 720 C-FETB
The last flying Boeing 720 aircraft C-FETB has made its final flight.
This Pratt & Whitney Canada test bed aircraft was used to test various different type of engines. Engines could be installed on the nose or on a side pod (on the right hand side of the fuselage). Seen here departing from Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport for Canadian Forces Base Trenton Ontario on Wednesday 9th May 2012 where it will be displayed at the National Air Force Museum of Canada. This particular Boeing 720 (cn 18024/77) first operated by American Airlines as N7538A . In the early 1980s it was sold and operated for MEA - Middle East Airlines for a number of years as OD-AFQ before being sold to Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Boeing 720
Introduced by Boeing in 1959 the 720 is a smaller capacity lighter and medium-range version of the 707 which was one of the most successful airliners of the 20th century. Although only 154 were built the Boeing 720 was still profitable due to the low research and development costs of it being a slightly modified version of the 707-120. C-FETB was the 720 flying test bed operated by the Quebec-based manufacturer until 2010. For the last 24 years this Boeing 720 C-FETB has helped Pratt and Whiney Canada test more than eight different families of engines.
Report by Derek Pedley and Mathieu Pouliot