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A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The 707 developed from Boeing's 367-80 demonstrator and entered airline service in 1958. Its swept wing carried four podded engines, while the cabin used a six-abreast cross-section that influenced later Boeing narrow-bodies. Several fuselage, wing and engine developments followed. The -320C in this catalogue is a convertible passenger-and-cargo version.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗Returning to the 707 when an airline career disappeared
De la Torre recalls the shock of losing an established airline job and returning to the 707 after several years away from it. A cargo position offered a way back into flying, but the unfamiliar avionics and an uncomfortable first approach reminded him how much had to be relearned. Ground school and simulator work restored some confidence, while the new operation took him across the Americas and the Atlantic.
OldJets · retrospective of 1990s cargo flying. Mixed 707 family experience, including convertible freighters; publication date not established.
OldJets · Read more ↗Control tabs and hydraulic assistance share the aircraft
The manual describes tab-assisted elevator and aileron controls, hydraulic roll spoilers and a boosted rudder. Outboard ailerons are inactive with flaps up. Stabiliser trim has interlinked manual wheels, electric control, a motion light and electrical cutouts.
707-320C · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube TiJayFLY · 8 min ·
MSFS Boeing 707-320C Tutorial | Full Flight
A simulator flight guide that also discusses navigation and approach-mode issues in the featured release.
Simulator · Aeroplane Heaven/Microsoft 707 · MSFS
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Boeing 707-320C
The 707 developed from Boeing's 367-80 demonstrator and entered airline service in 1958. Its swept wing carried four podded engines, while the cabin used a six-abreast cross-section that influenced later Boeing narrow-bodies. Several fuselage, wing and engine developments followed.
The -320C in this catalogue is a convertible passenger-and-cargo version. Its flight deck includes a flight engineer position and systems from an earlier jet age. The Working Title manual identifies the specific simulated layout, including cargo configuration, navigation and flight-control details.
Boeing 707-320C
Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
Development milestones
First flight: December 20, 1957 ( 1957-12-20 )
Developed from: Boeing 367-80
Wikipedia contributors · Boeing 707 ↗Boeing 707 · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1373928556
Pilot accounts
Returning to the 707 when an airline career disappeared
De la Torre recalls the shock of losing an established airline job and returning to the 707 after several years away from it. A cargo position offered a way back into flying, but the unfamiliar avionics and an uncomfortable first approach reminded him how much had to be relearned. Ground school and simulator work restored some confidence, while the new operation took him across the Americas and the Atlantic.
One memorable assignment carried cattle from Germany to Brazil, turning the freighter into a very distinctive workplace. The work could also stretch far beyond the trip he had packed for: he remembers leaving home for five days and returning three months later. Eventually his growing concern about operating conditions outweighed the attraction of the pay. He describes leaving the 707 in December 1996 for an A320 first-officer position and a lower salary.
OldJets · retrospective of 1990s cargo flying. Mixed 707 family experience, including convertible freighters; publication date not established.
Read the full account · OldJets ↗Learning an airline cockpit from the seat behind the captain
On his first transcontinental 707 flight, Schiff sat behind the captain, working out groundspeed with a circular flight computer. The headwind seemed extraordinary to someone arriving from general aviation, and he thought he should report it. The captain’s dismissive response became a lasting memory of how humbling the junior seat could be in that era.
Schiff balances that story with appreciation for the many captains who shared the flying and helped first officers develop. What impressed him most was the airline’s training: two pilots who had never met could enter the cockpit already knowing their respective duties and work smoothly together. His retrospective is as much about learning when and how to speak as it is about learning an aircraft, and about the influence senior crewmembers have on those following them.
AOPA Pilot · January 2008. Early TWA second-officer experience on a 707, followed by reflections on crew relationships; variant unspecified.
Read the full account · AOPA Pilot ↗What an emergency taught him about the cabin crew
Hutchinson joined BOAC’s 707 fleet in 1966 after military and corporate flying. In his later interview, he recalls an otherwise settled early airline career interrupted by the April 1968 fire shortly after departure from Heathrow. With a route check taking place, he was in a rear cockpit seat. He remembers the urgency of compressing the normal phases of a flight and the emergency work into the few minutes before landing.
The evacuation left an especially strong impression. Hutchinson describes guarding an unusable exit and watching the cabin crew work under extreme pressure. The experience reinforced his understanding of their central role in protecting passengers. His recollection is not accompanied by an independent accident investigation.
General Aviation · Paul Smiddy’s October 2012 interview. BOAC 707 experience and the April 1968 Heathrow fire; Hutchinson occupied a rear cockpit seat during a route check. Family context, not a -320C-specific flight.
Read the full account · General Aviation / AOPA UK ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2024707-320C
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
707-320C
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
MSFS 2020707-320C
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
707-320C
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 152 ft 11 in (46.61 m) |
| Wingspan | 145 ft 9 in (44.42 m) |
| Height | 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m) |
| Wing area | 3,050 sq ft (283 m² ) |
| Empty weight | 148,300 lb (67,268 kg) (all cargo configuration) |
| Gross weight | 283,000 lb (128,367 kg) |
| Max takeoff weight | 333,600 lb (151,318 kg) |
| Powerplant | 4 × Pratt & Whitney JT3D-7 turbofan engine, 19,000 lbf (85 kN) thrust each |
| Maximum speed | 454 mph (731 km/h, 394 kn) at 23,000 ft (7,000 m) |
| Maximum speed | Mach 0.887 |
| Range | 3,300 mi (5,400 km, 2,900 nmi) with 13 pallets and 17,000 lb (7.7 t) lower deck cargo |
| Service ceiling | 42,000 ft (13,000 m) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
Control tabs and hydraulic assistance share the aircraft707-320C · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The manual describes tab-assisted elevator and aileron controls, hydraulic roll spoilers and a boosted rudder. Outboard ailerons are inactive with flaps up. Stabiliser trim has interlinked manual wheels, electric control, a motion light and electrical cutouts.
Working Title / iniBuilds · MSFS 2024 manual v4.1, 11 August 2026 · physical PDF pp.100–105; §§14.1–14.6
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Three navigation fits in the same combi airframe707-320C · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The three cockpit choices pair the combi airframe with a Carousel IV-A INS, Universal UNS-1Lw or Garmin GNS 530W. The manual says the navigation fit is independent of livery, with separate chapters explaining each interface.
MSFS 2024 manual v4.1 · physical PDF pp.12–13; chapter 2
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗A companion app for the virtual flight engineer707-320C · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The 707’s EFB app groups flight-engineer flows, door controls, performance data cards and preferences. Its CIVA tab appears for the INS variant. The flight-engineer page also controls continuous automations, giving the single simmer help with a multi-person cockpit.
MSFS 2024 manual v4.1 · physical PDF p.14; §3.1
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗The original MSFS 2020 release707-320C · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The September 2024 Famous Flyer 10 release offers the convertible 707-320C through the MSFS 2020 Marketplace. The announcement lists six liveries, including Boeing Delivery and Pan Am.
2024-09-24 · release and package scope
Microsoft Flight Simulator Team · Read the source ↗Pilot account
Returning to the 707 when an airline career disappearedOldJets · retrospective of 1990s cargo flying. Mixed 707 family experience, including convertible freighters; publication date not established.
De la Torre recalls the shock of losing an established airline job and returning to the 707 after several years away from it. A cargo position offered a way back into flying, but the unfamiliar avionics and an uncomfortable first approach reminded him how much had to be relearned. Ground school and simulator work restored some confidence, while the new operation took him across the Americas and the Atlantic.
Fernando de la Torre Bekdach
OldJets · Read the source ↗Learning an airline cockpit from the seat behind the captainAOPA Pilot · January 2008. Early TWA second-officer experience on a 707, followed by reflections on crew relationships; variant unspecified.
On his first transcontinental 707 flight, Schiff sat behind the captain, working out groundspeed with a circular flight computer. The headwind seemed extraordinary to someone arriving from general aviation, and he thought he should report it. The captain’s dismissive response became a lasting memory of how humbling the junior seat could be in that era. Schiff balances that story with appreciation for the many captains who shared the flying and helped first officers develop.
Barry Schiff
AOPA Pilot · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Boeing 707-320C ManualMicrosoft / aircraft developers Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Boeing 707Wikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 1373928556 · retrieved 2026-09-12Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftDeveloper documentation
Microsoft Flight Simulator Releases Famous Flyer 10: The Boeing 707-320CMicrosoft Flight Simulator Team · 2024-09-24 · release and package scopeType designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 1 profile choice
Boeing 707-320C
Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020
Boeing 707-320C: The profile supplies selected powered-transport yoke resistance.
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