In reality, the 727 could takeoff with the stairs down if they were not locked down. If they were locked down, the aircraft would have to crush them to rotate to a takeoff attitude.
That's an interesting thought. Supposedly the 727, with the weight of the 3 engines in the back, was prone to tipping back, and the stairs were rigid enough to prevent that from happening while passengers loaded. So, do you think the plane would be able to 'crush' them on takeoff, or would the stairs be strong enough to prevent rotation?
...a cargo plane could open a back door (like a C-130) and still fly.
General info... A box type, cargo, skyvan type aircraft with a tailgate door, the main part of the door is hinged at the top rear and opens upward and inward to the ceiling of the aircraft, so it is never exposed to the slipstream, or wind outside. There is a smaller section that drops down. On the ground it might serve as a ramp, in flight it just drops flat to the floor. They are designed to be able to open in flight. Most people with military experience are likely aware of that.
I doubt if the 727 was prone to tipping back except under very unusual circumstances. Admittedly, Shutter has posted a picture of a 727 tipping back while parked at what appeared to be a maintenance facility.
Tipping back was fairly routine on WW2 type propeller transport aircraft such as the DC-4. Aircraft such as that with a straight wing had a metal bar that a crew member would place under the rear part of the fuselage during loading and unloading.
This was due to the center-of-gravity for straight wing aircraft being relatively far forward with respect to the passenger/cargo/fuel tank areas. With swept wing aircraft, the center-of-gravity is much further to the rear and tilting is not normally a problem.
Well the main part of my speculative question is about the takeoff. If the 727 attempted to take off with the stairs down and locked, would the stairs be strong enough to prevent rotation, or would they fail structurally ('crush') and allow rotation and takeoff? And if the latter, how likely might it be that they damage more of the tail and possibly cause further problems? I'm curious your opinion on that.
I don't have access to any information on the structural integrity of the stairs or the longitudinal control power for the wing configuration that Cooper specified. Nevertheless, I will speculate a bit.
1. Assume that the stairs are locked down and stay that way throughout the takeoff run. The aircraft would probably need a lot longer runway than was available at SEATAC to generate the lift necessary to fly while the nose wheel was still on the ground. This doesn't look good.
2. Assume that the stairs are locked down and stay that way throughout the takeoff run. If the aircraft has sufficient longitudinal control power to get the nose wheel off the ground, the stairs would probably buckle initially up to the point where the hydraulic pistons are located on the stairs. The aircraft could probably fly but would probably need a longer ground run to get off. This looks quite a bit better.
3. If the aircraft had sufficient longitudinal control power to really smash the stairs to the point that they separated from the aircraft, then it should be a routine flight to Reno.
If the stairs, or portions thereof, came off during the takeoff run, it is possible that some flying debris could damage the aft fuselage but, in my opinion, that would probably be minor. The 727 has a rear fuselage skid that deploys when the landing gear is down and that would prevent the engines and aft fuselage sheet metal from striking the runway. So this scenario would probably not be a big deal or prevent the airliner from going on to Reno.
