Used as a Boeing demonstrator on a world tour. Was also a systems test airframe. In basic UAL colours but never operated by them. Re-reg as N68650, for various operators. Sadly, destroyed in mid-air collision with Cessna 310, N3121S, near Hendersonville NC 19 Jul 1967. The second N7003U (c/n 18791) was first registered in 1965. Photo most probably taken on 22 Oct1963 when the 727 visited AMS for the first time. KLM selected the smaller Douglas DC-9, which did not fly until 1965. The only Dutch airline ever to operate the 727 was Air Holland in the 1980s, but Lufthansa, Olympic, Air France, Iberia and Alitalia 727s visited AMS very frequently. Photo from: Amsterdam City Archives

Gloom and Doom. My first multi day trip to the New York area was a washout--literally. After getting off a few shots in EWR Friday morning it began to rain, and was still doing so Sunday afternoon as I waited for my flight home at LGA. I snapped a couple of shots through the window, this being the only one usable. Less than a month later this 727 collided mid-air with a Cessna 310 over North Carolina and was destroyed.