Boeing Yahtzee: an avgeek challenge

I've been noodling on the idea of spending a day to catch each member of Boeing's airliner product lines, a "Boeing Yahtzee," for a few years now. As time marches on, and older aircraft get retired, this thought experiment gets more and more difficult to accomplish.

In a nutshell, the challenge consists of "catching" at least one airborne 707, 717, 727, 747, 757, 767 or 787 airborne in a single, continuous 24 hour period; specifically:

• Only one member of each product line is needed; give yourself bonus points for different configurations and variants.
• You don't need to catch them all at one airport
  
• Most of the airliner product lines are self-explanatory; to alleviate ambiguity:
  • The E-3 and E-6 both count for the 707, the KC-135 doesn't.
    
  • 717 is the aircraft originally marketed as the MD-95, but catching a KC-135 (which Boeing internally referenced as 717) captures a historical minutia bonus.

Most importantly, we all groove on aviation in different ways - "catching" each of type could mean anything from traveling to an airport and seeing it in person, noting it on your favorite flight tracking website, picking up an ADS-B signal, or hearing a radio call over a scanner. Personally, I'd need to get a photo of each to scratch this itch, but you do you!

Here are a few of my notes on what it'd take to catch each type here in the US, which is the only country where this is plausible, at least on a regular basis.

Boeing 707

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

The US Air Force's E-3 Sentry, with its distinctive Frisbee, is the most numerous of the remaining air-worthy 707 derivatives, most of which are based at Tinker AFB, near Oklahoma City.

Developed in the 1950s, catching a 707 derivative 68 years after its first flight is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in this challenge. No longer in commercial service, we're limited to seeing them in their military roles, where they continue to be operated by the US Air Force (E-3 Sentry or AWACS) and the US Navy (E-6 Mercury).

Tinker AFB, near Oklahoma City, is the main operating base for both the E-3 and the E-6, which makes it a logical beginning or conclusion to a trip, if catching them in person is your goal. It's my understanding that weekdays are generally the most likely time to see one, but with any military activity, there's no public schedule, and they could fly at any time.

The E-6 fleet also has forward operating bases at Travis AFB (near San Francisco), Offutt AFB (near Omaha), and NAS Patuxent River (near Washington DC). In the US, the USAF also has a handful of E-3s based at Elmendorf AFB (near Anchorage).

Boeing 717

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

Delta and Hawaiian are the last remaining 717 operators, and operate them out of ATL, HNL, DTW, and MSP. If attempting a Boeing Yahtzee in person, catching a member Delta's fleet in the eastern half of the US is probably most prudent.

As of a few weeks ago, when QantasLink flew its final 717 service, Hawaiian and Delta became sole remaining operators of the type. Hawaiian's fleet is used for inter-island flights, Delta's sticks to the eastern half of the US. As it stands now, just about every 717 flight has ATL, DTW, HNL or MSP as either the origin or destination.

As such, if you're looking to do this challenge by spotting in person, you might consider crossing the 717 off of your list at OKC, where you'll be starting or ending your day trying to catch a 707 at nearby Tinker AFB. Delta flies a pair of daily 717s between OKC and ATL.

Boeing 727

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

Half of USA Jet's 727 fleet on short final at MCI in June, 2024. The remaining 727 freighter fleet seems to be used exclusively on unscheduled, last-minute flights to deliver parts to keep just-in-time manufacturing facilities running.

There are only a handful of 727s still flying in the US. Most are flying ad-hoc cargo to keep just-in-time manufacturing moving for IFL Group and USA Jet. Zero-G does high-dollar parabolic weightless experience and research flights, and VP-BAP, which appears to be doing passenger charter work.

While the freighters are most numerous, an analysis of their flights over the last 30 days indicate there aren't any patterns to their schedules. Over the last 30 days, the most frequent origin airport (and number of flights) for the 727 freighters were: LRD (36), SLW (23), YIP (19), YQG (13), PTK (11), BJX (8), GSP (8), YXU (6), and GYH (4). Cargo is generally getting picked up from LRD and SLW, and then delivered to the eastern half of the US (including a good number one or two-off destinations not listed above). YIP is the home base for USA Jet, PTK for IFL.

So... if you were going to make a plan to actually see a 727, you could hang out at LRD, YIP, or PTK for a few days and pretty much be assured of seeing one, but if time was constrained, I think the best course of action would be keeping tabs on the Zero-G schedule.

In the recent past, Kalitta Charters II had a good number of 727s, including a few that would fly on regularly scheduled flights for DHL, but their last three-holer retired in April. InterJet West, a little-known, blocked-from-public-tracking carrier out of TOL, had a single 727, N209TR, but it's apparently in storage at TUS.

Boeing 737

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

A puff of brake dust (stopping the wheels before they retract) adds some visual interest as this Icelandair 737 MAX 8 departs MSP in August, 2021.

Honestly, it might be more challenging to catch any of the aircraft on this list without seeing 737. With how ubiquitous they are, you might challenge yourself to see 5+ variants (-700, -800, -900, MAX 7, MAX 8, and MAX 9 would be doable in many places), or perhaps make a point to find a freighter, passenger, and BBJ (737 bizjet)? Maybe at least three special liveries? In any event, this is an easy free space on our hypothetical bingo card.

Boeing 747

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

JetTip smart flight alerts went to subscribers at MSP for this National 747, which was apparently operating on a military charter in October, 2024.

There are two types of avgeeks: those who love the 747 and liars. While they're fading out of passenger service (Atlas, Korean, and Lufthansa still operate them in the US), quite a few North American airports get regular visits from 747 freighters. In fact, 15 North American airports averaged at least one daily commercial 747 departure over the last 30 days, they are: ANC (2,519), ORD (692), LAX (512), MIA (476), SDF (402), JFK (358), HNL (197), DFW (158), ATL (120), ONT (110), CVG (108), SFO (87), SEA (67), IAH (61), YYZ (60), YWG (51).

Since we spoke about military variants for the 707, it's worth mentioning military 747s here. The US Air Force operates two types of 747s, the E4-B Nightwatch ("Doomsday Plane"), and the VC-25A ("Air Force One"). The E4-Bs fly pretty consistently out of Offutt AFB (near Omaha), and of course Air Force One is most commonly seen at JB Andrews (near Washington DC).

Boeing 757

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

There aren't any bad looking 757s, of course, but New Pacific's are particularly attractive. Their new focus on charters has them visiting quite a few airports in the US; this is their first arrival at MSP in March, 2024.

Delta, FedEx, United, and UPS are still flying plenty of 757s; 90 airports in the US and Canada averaged more than one daily 757 last month, with the top ten being ATL (4,706), EWR (1,128), MEM (873), MCO (836), LAX (797), SFO (708), SDF (688), DEN (621), ORD (535), and DTW (535). Not as common as the 737, but a straight-forward target for our Yahtzee challenge - for bonus points, catch one of the stretched 757-300s, or one of ATI's combis.

Boeing 767

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

Delta's BCRF 767-400 departing MSP in April, 2024. Sharp-eyed enthusiasts have already noticed A-Rod's Gulfstream G-IV SP in the background.

Again, not much of a challenge catching a 767 in the US or Canada, with daily or better visits at 76 airports over the last 30 days, with the top ten being MEM (2,159), SDF (2,070), MIA (1,817), CVG (1,639), JFK (1,356), LAX (1,010), EWR (919), ATL (675), IND (640), and ONT (637). Bonus points for catching a 200.

Boeing 777

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

N779XW, the first 777-9 testbed, arriving at BFI in January, 2023.

The 777s are fairly easy to catch at most cargo and international passenger hubs - using our standard benchmark, 30 US and Canadian airports did better than an average daily 777 departure over the last 30 days, with the top ten being SFO (1,585), LAX (1,347), JFK (1,289), ANC (1,175), ORD (995), MIA (686), YYZ (674), EWR (552), IAD (514), and IAH (449).

Boeing 787

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

To capture the imagination of younger avgeeks, perhaps "Boékemon" would have been a better name than "Boeing Yahtzee?" Something, something, catch them all? June, 2023.

The plastic princess is relatively easy to catch most larger airports - 27 in the US or Canada averaged better than a daily 787 over the last month, with the top ten being LAX (841), YYZ (807), JFK (673), DFW (569), YVR (510), SFO (487), PHL (429), EWR (387), HNL (378), and MIA (357).

Strategy

So, if you wanted to try catching all of these aircraft in person, what's the best strategy? With the 707 and 727 being the two most difficult, I think you'd take a look at the Zero-G schedule to figure out when you'd be able to reliably see a 727 (and hopefully most of the rest of the list at a nearby hub), and then figure out how you'd get to or from Oklahoma City for a 707 (and the 717 if you started in the West) on an adjacent weekday - you could also roll the dice and try Offutt AFB near Omaha instead.

As such, February 1, 2025, when Zero-G is scheduled to be in Dallas looks pretty interesting; the Metroplex is relatively inexpensive to fly to/from, has great plane spotting, and OKC is a reasonably short distance away...

Nick Benson

Nick lives in Burnsville, Minnesota with his wife and three children. He grooves on railroad and aviation photography, politics, geography, weather, and LEGO. He started JetTip's smart flight alert service in 2017, and is now a full-time avgeek. He can frequently be found atop a step ladder at MSP's Aircraft Viewing Area.