Very rare examples of the B-707 lacking the iconic HF tail antenna
Posted by KodoSky@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 9 comments
The vast majority of Boeing 707s produced have come equipped with the now iconic HF antenna located on the tail, which sticks out with an almost futuristic appearance. However, there are some extremely rare examples of B-707 without this tail design, likely later build models. It’s unknown if this was a factory choice, or retrofit. The two tail variations have been placed side-by-side for comparison.
55pilot@reddit
sooo..........who cares?
Tyraid@reddit
I only fuck the ones with the antenna
aka_Handbag@reddit
TIL it’s not the pitot.
Also TIL not having a certain antenna is weird
Raguleader@reddit
The 707 is a bit before my time, but I've been a fan of the KC-135 (one of the 707's siblings) for my whole career. Just now noticed that it appears to have a similar antenna on the tail, as seen in this photo of a KC-135R:
Clickclickdoh@reddit
Not very rare at all. The 707s lacking the HF antenna were domestic route aircraft.
All of the TWA 131Bs were lacking the HF antenna
United 720-022s similarly la ked the HF antenna.
American Airlines was a mixed bag having some -123Bs with and some without the HF antenna. I think this is because they had some high density routes flown with domestic configured aircraft that needed the HF antenna.
747ER@reddit
I’d consider it fairly rare if only a handful of units that only flew in one country had it. Almost every 707 built had the HF antenna.
Kotukunui@reddit
It was my “go-to” way of quickly telling a DC-8 from a 707.
Farfignugen42@reddit
I dont know if lacking an antenna really qualifies as wierd.
I also dont know that I would call that antenna iconic since I was never aware of it before this post, but I will admit that I dont know a lot about identifying passenger jets visually.
pootismn@reddit
I’d consider it iconic, people in the civilian jet space usually know about it as a quirk of the 707’s appearance