Boeing 737-100/200

Boeing announced a new addition to their jet transport line-up in November 1964 - the Model 737. Aimed at rounding out the Boeing family line-up this would be a short range small capacity airliner filling the space under the 727. As they did when designing the 727 Boeing's new design utilised the same nose and oval fuselage cross-sections from the model 707.
Designed as a small twin-engined transport, the 737 was in direct competition with the market established Douglas DC-9 and BAC 1-11 and therefore faced an uphill struggle to win any orders.

The 737-100 was the first aircraft Boeing launched without any US customers, the launch customer being Lufthansa of Germany who only required ten aircraft. The -100 first flew 9th April 1967 and was in service by February 1968. Only 30 were built and production ceased a year later but by then a larger version was already flying.

737-200
Boeing created a longer and heavier aircraft to accommodate United Airlines requirements who ordered 40 with options on a further 30. The -200 first flew on 8th August 1967 and entered service in April 1968. Over the years Boeing continually improved the aerodynamics, revising the flaps and adding thrust reverse equipped engines.

737-200 Advanced
Further modifications were made and introduced from the 280th example in 1971, this included an improved braking system and undercarriage, Krueger flaps and aerodynamically refined wing leading edge and engine mounts .

The 200 Advanced has the option of carrying additional fuel tanks in the belly hold and rough field landing gear was also available as an option.

737-200C / -200QC (Quick Change)
As with the other Boeing models freighter variants were built. 104 737's were original build freighters. A further 19 variants of the -200 Advanced were built for the US Air Force and designated as T-43.

The last of the 'First Generation 737' was delivered in 1988 after an impressive run of 21 years. Over this period a range of engines had been used (all Pratt & Whitney) from the JT8D-7 through to JT8D-17 which resulted in increasing MTOW's aided by the increasing use of composite materials in later examples.
Most of these aircraft are still in use today.FAA approved Stage-3/Chapter-3 compliant hush kits are manufactured by Nordam and AvAero for the 737-200 and a modification to the JT8D engine nacelle is available from Pratt & Whitney to further reduce noise levels. An EFIS cockpit upgrade is available too from Rogerson Kratos similar to the one they manufactured for the 727.
865 Advanced 200’s were built and the last one was delivered to CAAC on 18 December 1987.  By then the ‘new-generation’ 737-300 was already flying for 3 years. The 737 continues to this day to be the world’s best selling airliner.

The Beginning of the World's Most Popular Jet Family
The first flight of the Boeing 737-100 occurred April 9, 1967. With pilots Brian Wygle and Lew Wallick at the controls, the airplane took off from Boeing Field in Seattle and flew for 2-1/2 hours before landing at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The 737 was designed as a logical short- range airplane to complement larger 707 and 727 jetliners. The 737 was certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in December 1967 after more than 1,300 hours of flight testing by a six-airplane fleet. For the first time, certification included approval for automatic approaches in bad weather under Category II conditions -- defined as 100-foot ceilings and 1,200-foot forward visibility. The first 737-100 was delivered to Lufthansa December 28,1967, and began commercial revenue service on February 10, 1968. The last 737-100 model was produced in 1969 and delivered in November that same year. Interestingly, the last 737-100 delivered was actually the first 737 Boeing produced. The aircraft had been used by Boeing as a test airplane before being delivered to NASA on July 26, 1973, for use as a test and training aircraft by the space agency. Boeing delivered 30 737-100s.
©Boeing - text and pictures courtesy of Boeing http://www.boeing.com

UKDirect
maintain 3 737-200's in their roster. Gloria, Paddy and City of Bournemouth.

Gloria operates out of Edinburgh and her day starts with an early morning run to Amsterdam and back plus a lunchtime return trip to Brussels before heading out to Amsterdam again in the evening.
C'of B' makes daily visits to Norway and Iceland whilst Paddy is busy serving Paris-Orly with a twice daily shuttle (morning and evenings) and internal return flight to Edinburgh, both operating from London-Stansted Airport.
All three arrived in July 1998 at Exeter for acceptance checks and after re-registration, painting and refitting were in service for 20th September 1998, making room in the service sheds for the B727's arriving that same day.
Gloria has flown the whole of continental USA and served the same owners all her life albeit the names have changed through mergers. Gloria was the most expensive acquisition at the time costing a cool $6m and was the first to arrive at the UKD maintenance depot in Exeter.
Paddy arrived next costing in the region of $5m but requiring a little work and City of Bournemouth arrived a week later after Canadian Airlines were looking to dispose of aircraft quickly before an upcoming merger with Air Canada, costing us most of $4.5m.