Any story on this plane? Being de-iced at ORD today. Looks beat to hell.

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Snips5953@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/cyjko0bf70sf1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db3065cb24f484f207ef48c616e7be574f80678a I don’t know but it’s still sitting on the tarmac.

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shit-shit-shit-shit-@reddit

They might be using it to train people to operate the deicer truck

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fergehtabodit@reddit

Yeah, it's been there in that same spot since mid summer.

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i1a2@reddit

Lol that random 9/11 conspiracy in the comments of that article

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ChemicalOle@reddit

That'll buff right out. Maybe a little speed tape.

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fergehtabodit@reddit

Yes. I heard Boeing sent one of their best buffing teams and you couldn't even tell... However the crew was not able to buff this from their resume

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Most likely, yes. We had two 727s at Denver (one from FedEx, one from United). Deicing companies used the exteriors to train new employees, and the interior for active shooter training and dog sniffing training. We scrapped them a couple years ago. The United one had all the original seats and was really cool to see.

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seeyakid@reddit

Seeing a plane that was about to be scrapped, the first thing the immature kid in me would do is step on every spot that says "no step."

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L1011TriStar@reddit

We asked the guys in charge of the project before going on the wing "can we step on no step?" And they said yeah just be careful and don't fall off. So on that day, we stepped on NO STEP.

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nothingbutfinedining@reddit

I’ll tell ya what, as a mechanic, there is just no way you can complete some maintenance while never stepping on NO STEP. Pro tip: NOT A HANDLE also usually means it’s a really nice handle

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Find_A_Reason@reddit

Or that it not only gets hit enough to fuse your skin instantly, but it won't support your weight either so it will be stuck to your hand after you fall off the helicopter.

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nothingbutfinedining@reddit

Hey I’m pretty confident a pitot will hold my weight

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snoromRsdom@reddit

I'm pretty confident I want to be filming you when you step on the pilot; I love posting viral videos featuring dumbasses.

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nothingbutfinedining@reddit

You sound really fun

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Find_A_Reason@reddit

I have seen otherwise...

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ttystikk@reddit

And... What happened? Did your shoes leave dents in the wings?

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L1011TriStar@reddit

It felt a bit thinner for sure, but it didn't bend or warp anything.

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Muted_Pollution1457@reddit

Most places that say no step are either antennas that aren’t ment to hold weight, even though they will. Or panels that aren’t ment to hold weight. While doing maintenance, on a lot of planes. You have to step on the no step. It will hold people but if you were to give it any dynamic load than it might bend/break depending on what it’s made out of. Spots where there is lights that shine on the tail have a clear panel and about a 3 foot zone of no step around the clear panel to make sure no one gets close to it.

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Zunarc@reddit

Love the username

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houtex727@reddit

Sorry I'm late... but YAY 727! *reads the comments* Aw, it don't fly anymore. But that's ok, it's *helper* 727, training folks for the big leagues! Go grampa 727! :D

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cyberentomology@reddit

Creepy Dave, is that you!

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houtex727@reddit

Dave's not here, man. :)

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agha0013@reddit

Looks like what used to be N257FE

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Somenamethatsnew@reddit

uh fire training! As in training the fire in how to operate on a place best way to engulf it and what to burn down first?

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rb-2008@reddit

My guess is that the trope of word play is pretty well used up by now on Reddit to the point where it’s almost not even worth trying to have real conversations anymore. The majority of comments are just like yours, very skippable and easily downvoted. You’re also dealing with an aviation sub full of no nonsense oriented individuals.

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Somenamethatsnew@reddit

fair enough on the first point, (i haven't seen those jokes before, or if i have i have just ignored them) but idk i have seen plenty of jokes on here so it being a sub with no-nonsense-oriented individuals i'd call bs on (those jokes having plenty on upvotes) honestly some of it might just be downvoted for downvoting

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rb-2008@reddit

I’ll defer and let your negative comment karma speak for itself.

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Somenamethatsnew@reddit

i mean i'll take the point that it might be a bad joke (as the negative comments would suggest (even going to the point of downvoting people saying they had a giggle at it) but yeah there are plenty of jokes on here

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wj9eh@reddit

I don't know, I'm here and I'm full of nonsense.

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juanmlm@reddit

That’s hilarious.

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Somenamethatsnew@reddit

yeah i was trying to make a light-hearted joke, guess that's not welcome here

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Cxopilot@reddit

I also giggled a bit

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OhNoEnglandBloke@reddit

I giggle tbf

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Somenamethatsnew@reddit

then i'll count that as mission accomplished!

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njsullyalex@reddit

FedEx donated a ton of these 727s on their retirement to be used for all kinds of training.

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agha0013@reddit

Great idea, probably saved them money in the long run. They flew them to wherever and "abandoned" them in new hands, no scrapping required. Not to say the facilities don't also benefit, free training rig delivered to them. win win all around.

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bwaredapenguin@reddit

Plus the tax deductions of the donations

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Expo737@reddit

Not sure why you were getting downvoted there matey, tax deductions are a huge thing for companies (heck the amount of grilling we get at my airline over recycling cabin waste - even though it all goes in the same dump - as we get a huge tax break for it. I also work for a charity which gets a fair bit of assistance on construction projects paid for by other companies who in turn get massive tax breaks.

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BobbyTables829@reddit

DB Cooper simulations

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Clovis69@reddit

FedEx flew one into Merrill Field (PAMR) in Anchorage for UAA's Aviation Tech program Landed her on the 4000 foot runway after taking off from PANC

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HandleProfessional@reddit

Yep, my A&P school received one of them in '07. Biggest thing we had before that was a King Air 200.

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Cow_Launcher@reddit

Was Air Canada, then Fed-Ex. Donated to the Chicago FD back in 2014 and is now used for training. That damned thing is like three years younger than me and is having a better, more pampered late-middle-age than I am.

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culprit020893@reddit

Looks like the logo for the Chicago fire department on the tail too

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Unable-Cobbler-2606@reddit

It’s got a Chicago fire department logo on the tail, possibly a training prop?

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carp_boy@reddit

A -100? #2 intake looks round, but this side shot is hard to tell.

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foreverpetty@reddit

Future Aerosucre bird? Kidding, kidding...

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UNDR08@reddit

It’s the Cities airplane. They use to train crews for various task. You can see that tail has the Chicago Fire Department logo on it.

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jonwfd65@reddit

Came here to say this

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ChampionshipLow8541@reddit

And I thought that was some guy’s initials. Like Charles Fitzgerald Donnington. And then I thought “who puts their initials on a cargo plane?” 🤣

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Nearby-Asparagus-298@reddit

Charles... Fitzgerald... Donnington. THAT's who.

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NiceJug@reddit

This is cool, it reminds me of firefighter training towers

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No-Brilliant9659@reddit

FedEx donated a ton of their old planes for training when they dropped the 727. You’ll often see them at airports for fire training, or schools for A&P students.

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Electrical-Office-84@reddit

Wew

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verstohlen@reddit

Speaking of them, do remember [these](https://www.ebay.com/itm/225890194604) giant 1/48 Federal Express 727 model planes made of thick paper? I bought and built one back in 1989 or so, it was huge, like 3 feet long, very realistic looking too, and rather sturdy, for being made from paper. But alas, the years and moves were not kind to it, got bent here and there, a smoosh or two, finally I had to put the old bird down. Now they're pretty hard to find, and rather expensive. Anyways, I prefer to have smaller models now, take up less space.

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MeetToPleaseYou@reddit

That had to be a pretty sweet tax writeoff

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TowardsTheImplosion@reddit

And they don't have to pay for desert storage, decommissioning, decontamination, etc.

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R_3B@reddit

Looking at the engines, that’s a really old one. And boy is it rough. I’ve seen active 720s at SAT painted all white w/o N numbers which I believe were federal prisoner transfer aircraft. I can’t make out the logo on the tail. Perhaps it’s for the company that owns it. I can’t imagine that thing has an airworthiness certificate. And another thing, virtually all the 27s went to South America years ago when the new noise reduction regs went into effect.

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wxkaiser@reddit

The OPs title of this post reminds me of the last verse of the song "Beat Up Old Jetliner" by Bob Rivers for some reason. "And if I get to my final destination, I know the next flight will surely be free. But I don't think I'll go back up, Into that piece of shit just to save a few pennies."

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lilzip24@reddit

Yes it’s used as the de-icing trainer

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wxkaiser@reddit

Happy Cake Day 🎂

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TheDankChicagoan@reddit

O’Hare is the best airport, change my mind…

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BackgroundOutcome@reddit

Taxiway changes every 2 weeks

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TheDankChicagoan@reddit

Landing there is such a good experience, especially when looking over the Chicago skyline.

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beetfield@reddit

There’s one like that at IND, for deice and ARFF training. Inside of it it’s dark and in disarray with all these dummies laying around the firemen train with, it’s creepy AF.

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DreadPirateR2891@reddit

"When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not."

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g3m1neye@reddit

Can confirm that it’s used to train deicing crews, they’re not using real fluid though it’s just water. Up close you can tell it’ll probably never fly again. No engines, pretty much every bulb is broken, and it’s rusted to hell in many places. She’s nicknamed “Felicia”.

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cyberentomology@reddit

Only icing around there is at the Cinnabon.

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Low-Professional7922@reddit

Pretty high chance you could see a meth storm or two pass through those parts as well.

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g3m1neye@reddit

??

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sparklyjesus@reddit

Bye, Felicia.

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Clever_pig@reddit (OP)

This is great. Thanks!!!

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ValuableShoulder5059@reddit

Get me a towstrap. Don't need lights unless you are trying to be legal.

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swordswallowerseven@reddit

No markings?…. Spook plane?

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ShortfallofAardvark@reddit

Sometimes old planes like this are used to train ground crews. If it was in fact being de-iced then it may be been a training exercise for the de-icing crews.

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CreativeEfforts@reddit

Also has the Chicago Fire Department insignia on the tail

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SFaikel@reddit

Many times, the same planes used to train fire crews are also used to train deice crews.

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CreativeEfforts@reddit

I’m aware, I’m just pointing a detail out

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Intrepid-Koala2315@reddit

Has anyone used those newer Oshkosh with a broom attachment? We have 2 snow blowers, but our brooms are older models. We are moving away from single function equipment.

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Intrepid-Koala2315@reddit

That's a lot of snow blowers

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Sandorvall@reddit

We have [one just like that](https://imgur.com/a/HLsAKUX) at ABE (Lehigh Valley Intl., Allentown, PA) that the airport uses for fire rescue drills. It was an old FedEx cargo plane with one lone window on the side, I suspect this is one as well.

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2beatenup@reddit

Those are battle scars… three engines… cargo tube…older pilots (young ones can’t even fire up the APU… trust me.. ask how I know)…. She’ll be fine.

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MrDShark@reddit

How do you know

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2beatenup@reddit

Seen the struggle in the cockpit while stacking the shelves…. And I am not even a pilot

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hillsons@reddit

Latest addition to the Spirit fleet

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bak4320@reddit

Yeah that’s the Chicago Fire Department logo on the tail. Training

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card797@reddit

CFD Chicago Fire Dept

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jackburton_1986@reddit

Yes, grew up right by ohare, it's a training plane, there is another one they torch on the airfield near Rosemont and part of CFD training

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0range-duche-B4G@reddit

Is that a L-1011

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Gun_nut8@reddit

B727

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0range-duche-B4G@reddit

Older than dirt then…

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doubletaxed88@reddit

I think some DB Cooper cash might still be stuffed under the stairs in the tail

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theVanthony@reddit

Looks like the plane the Cleveland Indians took in Major League.

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CletusDSpuckler@reddit

Little duct tape on the prop and you're good to go.

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Disregard_Casty@reddit

I learned how to de ice on Felicia. What a throwback

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Clever_pig@reddit (OP)

Please tell me de-icing is as fun as it looks.

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NotYou007@reddit

Depends on what you're de-icing. Knocking the frost off a CRJ-900 no biggie but de-icing a C-17 during an active storm is a royal pain in the ass. There is a lot of real estate on top of those wings and your going to get fluid in the APU, you just hope ya don't break it. So sometimes fun, sometimes stressful as fuck. All depends on the aircraft and if it's actively snowing.

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Disregard_Casty@reddit

Closed bucket? Good team? Yeah it’s a blast. Open bucket? Driver sucks? Sucks. Usually it’s great though

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dangledingle@reddit

POSITIVE CLIMB. GEAR UP!

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BackgroundOutcome@reddit

That’s Felicia! Usually they would move it to the north side of the airport during the winter but since Qatar cargo hit the light pole over there and the city closed that taxiway, it’s a permanent fixture now.

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PunkMiniWheat@reddit

Didn’t that happen August last year? Do they plan to reopen the taxiway eventually?

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BackgroundOutcome@reddit

I have the picture in my camera roll on August 7th, and a crew inspecting it on the 8th so that tracks. The taxiway SS2 (formally BB2) is now permanently closed between K1 and Z, they installed taxiway edge lights and took that section off of the map forever.

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