Gear

Fly Away on These 10 Classic Airliners

  • Saha Boeing 707
  • AeroSur Boeing 727
  • Ilyushin IL18
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saha-boeing-707
Perhaps no airliner will ever see as long a lifespan as the venerable Douglas DC-3, which celebrates 75 years of service, still flying in 2010. But aviation history buffs can easily grab a ticket on some legendary aircraft from the more recent past. Not all are hand-me-down workhorses held together with duct tape and baling wire. Many aircraft still in regular passenger service are several decades old, while others are close relatives to historic models. We bring you a gallery of 10 classic passenger airliners still in regular operation. The list does have one qualifier: Planes must currently be in regularly scheduled passenger revenue service. That disqualifies VIP planes, airshow antiques, freighters and military birds, but it also means that anyone with a stamped passport and a ticket in hand can fly into history on one of these well-loved — if not as well-known — airliners. Above:

Saha Boeing 707

Ah, the 707. It's as much a symbol of American postwar progress as the '57 Chevy and Apollo 11, but it's still flown in regular passenger service only on Saha Airlines — a unit of the Iranian Air Force. Just as Havana residents cherish their 1950s Oldsmobiles and Buicks, economic sanctions mean that Iranian aviators must make do with vintage metal. Despite high maintenance costs, the old planes have had an unintended consequence of spurring a cottage industry of plane-enthusiast tourists who travel the world over to grab a seat on the 707 service between Tehran and Kish Island. Though feared to be retired after a series of technical failures over the summer, the Saha 707 returned to regular passenger service. For how long, nobody knows. *Photo: Unveiling the Boeing 707 on May 14, 1954. Flickr/IMLS DCC*