A REAL airplane

[Foxcow]

Any sort of tailwheel aircraft.

 

[Junkflyer]

Twin Beech.

 

[24 carat]

Dudes, I never said the Duchess was a REAL airplane. That's why I am asking you people. The Duchess is the fastest and the biggest I have flown, that's all!

Can't imagine those glass cockpit CRJs and ERJs to be REAL airplanes though. Sorry, gotta try harder.

 

[DC3Flyer]

Anything with a tailwheel

But I'm partial to the DC3. What an airplane!

 

[Partridge]

Never flown the DC-3 but I have flown its little sister (or brother?), the BE18. I would say that that indeed is a real airplane. It'll sort you out with your take-offs and landings allright.

 

[Rogue5]

This is just an absolutely classic thread...

I remember sitting around the crashpad a couple of years ago, drinking beers with a couple RJ pilots, a couple turboprop pilots, and a CFI airline-wannabe guy. After a few rounds of pontification by the CFI telling us all how it is, he drops the never to be forgotten line: "Now a tomahawk, thats a REAL airplane." He said it absolutely seriously. We all just about fell on the floor.

For some reason for the G.A. guys making their way up this question seems to be REALLY meaningful...

:laugh:

 

[FlyingFerris]

Twin Beech.

Yeah, I love flying those things.

Globe Swift-short coupled taildragger with a big engine on a crosswind day


T-6/SNJ-5-big 'ole taildragger with a round engine and narrow gear
Cub/Champ-energy management with big wing, light weight

The swift really isn't all that short coupled when compared to other tailwheels. If that things short couple then the extra is deffintly on that list and I thought that was the easiest tail wheel to land I've ever flown, including a citabria.

Again the Texan has a pretty nominal gear width amongst tail wheels, maybe a tad narrow, but it's certinaly not narrow like some of the other warbirds (spitfire, me-109, wildcat ect.)

Unless you're doing aerobatics how the heck is a cub an energy managment airplane?

 

[24 carat]

For some reason for the G.A. guys making their way up this question seems to be REALLY meaningful...

It is a meaningful question - for those at the lower ranks of aviation at least. We have flown a small number of planes and we just want to know which are the planes that make REAL pilots. Something to look up to I guess. Or look forward to.

 

[Rogue5]

Fair enough.

But allow me to suggest it is not the type of airplane, but the type of flying that will develop your skills to the utmost. Example: flying a 172 single-pilot night IFR in the mountains or a commuter turboprop w/o autopilot through icing and T/S will surely build up as much experience and skill as the sweat you pour out.

Type of experience, not "types" logged, is what matters...

 

[81Horse]

... the CFI telling us all how it is, he drops the never to be forgotten line: "Now a tomahawk, thats a REAL airplane." He said it absolutely seriously. We all just about fell on the floor. ...

We geriatric cases will remember Piper's magazine ads for the first Tomahawk, with the caption: Can 10,000 Flight Instructors Be Wrong?

Well yes -- yes, they can.

 

[Fury220]

I have a lot of love for the T-38. Lots of history, a workhorse, and it performs decently well.

A classic mid 20th century design, too. It looks good from just about all angles.

It's no handful, though...as soon as you get your crosscheck up to speed, it's a piece of puss to fly.

 

[Tailwheelman]

Never flown the DC-3 but I have flown its little sister (or brother?), the BE18. I would say that that indeed is a real airplane. It'll sort you out with your take-offs and landings allright.

Amen. I am currently flying the Twin Beech and its probably the the most "real" aircraft in my logbook. Some close seconds would be the Stearman, J-3 Cub, Swift, the ratty old Taylorcraft i got my tailwheel endorsment in, an old Maule M4-210 that was pretty fun.

The old Twin Beech takes the taco though.....its like being slapped around by a fine looking woman.

 

[[email protected]]

I think a real airplane is an Extra 300S!!! Especially if you put a skilled pilot behind the stick (i.e. Patty Wagstaff).
I DON'T think a REAL airplane is an RJ...
>it doesnt CLIMB great
>its SLOW for a jet...REAL jets have to slow behind them
>it can't go very HIGH or FAR
>it's very UNCOMFORTABLE to be in as a passenger
>they aren't the prettiest airplane in the world
>one of them is made by a jetski and snowmobile manufacturer(i guess that's where they got the "yoke" from)
I'm not trying to say that I've flown the most amazing airplanes in the world, i just really don't think that an RJ should be included in a short list of REAL airplanes.

 

[Midnight Flyer]

I have a lot of love for the T-38. Lots of history, a workhorse, and it performs decently well.

A classic mid 20th century design, too. It looks good from just about all angles.

It's no handful, though...as soon as you get your crosscheck up to speed, it's a piece of puss to fly.

I love how the t38 looks; my father flew it in air force training.
What do you mean by the t38 being a workhorse? I can understand the b727 being a workhorse, but the t-38?

respectfully,
Midnight

 

[Peanut gallery]

You Guys have it all wrong

The best airplane was the 727 especially if you flew it back in the day when the F/A's were young and pretty( and Female ). Three pilots and three F/A's a long overnight in some place far enough away to feel like you were not just down the street. Ah those were the days.

72 would get you out of just about any field with enough gas to get somewhere. Fly in almost any weather and keep you warm on that cold ramp in the middle of the night ( APU ). If you broke down somewhere, just about anywhere in the world you could get it fixed and find parts in short order.

Other amenities that need mentioning, a bathroom not to far away from the flight deck. A galley nearby with a coffee pot and oven that if kept clean worked really well.

But best of all She (727) always managed to get you home. I miss the old girl.