Chen Chuanren goes storm-chasing onboard Honeywell’s 757 testbed and explains more about the systems aboard this specialist aircraft
In 1983, Boeing rolled out the fifth 757-200, c/n 22194, from its Renton factory outside Seattle in Washington.
It was delivered to Eastern Air Lines as N504EA on February 28, 1983, where it served the airline until the carrier closed in 1991. The aircraft found a new home in 1995 when the UK charter company Airtours International Airways acquired it from storage. The 757 continued to fly for Airtours and, subsequently, MyTravel, after Airtours was restructured and brought under the management of MyTravel Group in 2002.
Honeywell acquired the aircraft in 2005 to replace its Boeing 720, with the 757 aptly reregistered as N757HW and stripped and modified to become the company’s new testbed. Unique to the Honeywell 757 is the third pylon on the right-hand side aft of the flight deck, used for airborne engine tests.