# What plane is shown in this clip from Who’s Harry Crumb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605 "2020-04-26T13:05:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605/1 "2020-04-26T13:05:19Z")
The link is to a clip from the John Candy movie Who’s Harry Crumb? The plane is supposed to flying from LAX to Buenos Aires. It’s one of those three engine planes with one of the engines being in the middle. The question is what kind of plane is it? My guess is a Boeing 727 or a DC-10, but I don’t know enough about planes to tell the difference. Mild language warning, there is one f-bomb in the scene. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-DPZ7FVV-Js/maxresdefault.jpg "Holding out for a Crumb") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DPZ7FVV-Js) Thank you for any help you all may be able to provide. I figured this would be better in general questions but please move if it belongs in Cafe Society. ETA. The movie is from 1989 if that helps any. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605/2 "2020-04-26T13:29:46Z")
Sure looks like a 727: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trijet#/media/File:Boeing\_727-200\_Advanced\_Champion\_LAX.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trijet#/media/File:Boeing_727-200_Advanced_Champion_LAX.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605/3 "2020-04-26T13:32:48Z")
[727](https://www.google.com/search?q=727&client=firefox-b-1-m&sxsrf=ALeKk03W0m48C13IqIjkKIxSvHSarzeZug:1587907743575&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinm_enmYbpAhUxnOAKHaiTDmMQ_AUIBigB&biw=1280&bih=624) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605/4 "2020-04-27T00:36:10Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > My guess is a Boeing 727 or a DC-10 … Definitely 727, and not [DC-10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-085TjhUPo). Both are tri-jets, but the way the center engine appears is very different. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plane-is-shown-in-this-clip-from-who-s-harry-crumb/852605/5 "2020-04-27T01:40:32Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Definitely 727, and not [DC-10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-085TjhUPo). Both are tri-jets, but the way the center engine appears is very different. Also, the other two engines are mounted on the fuselage, not on the wings. The L-1011 had an S-duct like the 727 (Air is drawn into the engine through an intake at the base of the vertical stabilizer, and fed to the engine through an S shaped duct, while the engine itself in the back of the tail cone). But the L-1011 had the other two engines on the wings, so we can eliminate the L-1011. The 727 was the only tri-jet with fusalage mounted engines that was common in the US. As an aside, aircraft design seems to be becoming much more homogeneous these days. You can identify most planes of the 1970s and 80s mostly just by noting the number of engines and where they are located. Noways nearly everything has two engines mounted on the wings, so you need to be much more detail oriented to identify planes today.