Blast from the past: Braniff's Cowboys 727

[fgoodwin]

Anybody remember this?



Did anyone ever actually SEE it?

[big dog cowboy]

I never did see it in person. As an aircraft manufacturing person I do thank you for posting this pic. I hadn't thought about that bird in a long time. By chance does anyone know what year this could have possibly been?

[k19]

Originally Posted by big dog cowboy

I never did see it in person. As an aircraft manufacturing person I do thank you for posting this pic. I hadn't thought about that bird in a long time. By chance does anyone know what year this could have possibly been?

1981 and for only 2 away games.

Funny Story: The Dallas Cowboys considered their Dark Blue Jerseys as "bad luck." The Cowboys plane was used for only two Cowboys away games. They lost both games, and so their was talk that Braniff would have to re-paint N457BN in another color because the Cowboys thought it was "jinxed." The re-paint never happened because of the May shut-down.

Heres a better picture



and a better one here

[bbgun]

cool pix. thanks.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by k19

1981 and for only 2 away games.

Yep, the Cardinals and the 49ers. We were undefeated (4-0) until those 2 losses and the plane was scratched from service. We finished 12-4. Lost in the NFC Championship on "The Catch."

[bbgun]

Originally Posted by Hostile

Yep, the Cardinals and the 49ers. We were undefeated (4-0) until those 2 losses and the plane was scratched from service. We finished 12-4. Lost in the NFC Championship on "The Catch."

Because of the defeats?

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by bbgun

Because of the defeats?

That was the rumor. Braniff was hoping the Cowboys as a client and having a high profile plane would pull them out of a nosedive. If I remember right (I might not) Braniff closed their doors not long after that plane was introduced.

BTW, Southwest Airlines out of Phoenix have a Suns, D-backs, and Cardinals plane. So other airlines did follow Braniff's lead. I believe they did it first.

[fgoodwin]

1981 was the year we switched from royal blue road jerseys to navy blue, hence the color of the plane, I assume?

[bbgun]

Originally Posted by fgoodwin

1981 was the year we switched from royal blue road jerseys to navy blue, hence the color of the plane, I assume?

Tex eradicated two jinxes in one year. We actually used two different road unis that year.

[fgoodwin]

Originally Posted by bbgun

Tex eradicated two jinxes in one year. We actually used two different road unis that year.

Tell me more?

I recall Schramm tweaking with the trim around the numbers because the original white numbers with gray trim made them almost impossible to read on TV. He added a line of navy trim to make the numbers more legible for TV, but I don't remember a road jersey other than the navy blues.

Can you describe the other jersey or better yet, have a picture of it?

[bbgun]

Originally Posted by fgoodwin

Tell me more?

I recall Schramm tweaking with the trim around the numbers because the original white numbers with gray trim made them almost impossible to read on TV. He added a line of navy trim to make the numbers more legible for TV, but I don't remember a road jersey other than the navy blues.

Can you describe the other jersey or better yet, have a picture of it?

That's exactly what happened. They started out looking like this in September:



Then ended up looking like this in December:





Very few teams have ever changed their design in-season.

[fgoodwin]

Great pix.

And I see my memory was faulty -- the numbers were gray with white trim, not the other way-around as I had recalled.

Thanx!

[big dog cowboy]

Thanks for all the info/pics guys.