Featured Map for 4 March 2016:
First and Last

On Tuesday, the first Boeing 727 completed its last flight, from Paine Field to Boeing Field. A photo by Brandon Farris of it landing, with the fourth Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the background, provided an interesting comparison of the size of the two aircraft. While the 727 is quite a bit smaller than the 787, it is dwarfed by the largest aircraft ever built, the Hindenburg (LZ-129). The Hindenburg made its first flight 80 years ago, a test flight from Friedrichshafen which lasted just over three hours. The image below compares the sizes of the 727-100 and the Hindenburg.

References and additional information:

• Museum's Historic Boeing 727 Prototype Makes Final Flight – The Museum of Flight
• Museum of Flight Completes Successful Final Flight of the First Boeing 727 – Airways News (3 March 2016)
• Boeing 727 Commercial Transport – Boeing
• NASA Dryden Boeing 727 Graphics Collection
• Airships: The Hindenburg and other Zeppelins
  • The Hindenburg's Flights: Complete Hindenburg Flight Schedule
  • The Hindenburg: Size, Length, Speed, and other specifications
• Dead Inventors Appreciation Society: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and His Airships
• Hindenburg airship vector – Public Domain Vectors
• Featured Map: 75th Anniversary of Hindenburg's First Trans-Atlantic Voyage (31 March 2011)