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Favorite Aircraft

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aero99

aero99

just a member, not senior
Joined
Nov 26, 2001
Posts
394
There have been some interesting threads about who we are, the cars we drive, sunglasses we wear and even what time we get up.

I thought I would start a new one with your favorite aircraft flown or seen. I think there should be some good talk about experiences with this issue.

Since I only fly 180 hp wonders, I don't have any favorites that I have flown, but the most incredible aircraft I ever saw was a Waco bi-plane with a jet engine mounted on the bottom. If you have seen this aricarft in an airshow you know what I'm talking about. Nothing like seeing a bi-plane, at jet speeds, doing loops and sounding like a jet.
 
As much as I really love the 'ol Saab 340 with all of it's gadgets and whistles, My true love is the Supercub.
Nothing is more "zen" to me than flying a slightly tattered old cub 50 feet off the ground at 80 MPH with nothing but a sectional chart for navigation. Sure, going fast and high and far has it's merits, But It just doesn't satisfy my passion for flight like low and slow with the door and window open. When I'm flying between mountains by myself in a cub, I am one with the universe. Not to mention the exhiliration that you get from concentrating on the perfect wheel landing. When I'm flying that plane, all of my worldly worries dissolve, and it's just me and the plane.

Sorry to get all transcendental, but I know some of you know what I'm talking about.
 
The B737-700 is cool, but nothing beats flat-hatten down the beach (at an FAA approved altitude) in the old 1943 Boeing PT-17 Stearman. No checklists, no radios, just the sound of a radial and the wind in the wires.:D
 
My favorite, out of the models I have flown is the Lear 60. Lots of power and small/responsive enough to feel like a sports car instead of a truck (the MD80)

The airplane that I wish I had, would be a homebuilt Steen Skybolt.

My fantasy warbird would be a P47.

My ideal airplane, one: that never goes more than two hours from home, that never overnights, that only flys 15 days a month, that only flys VMC, that uses pilots who get payed $150K a year. What an aircraft that would be. :)

regards
 
Cessna414/421.
Man what a sweet flying airplane, no bad habits, stays trimmed where you put it. Quiet, fast, and roomy. Baron is more fun to fly on a VFR day but the 400 cessnas are better all around, IMHO.
 
As for nicest flown V tail Bonanza BE-35 smooth as glass. I had my sweetest landings in that a/c and on my commercial DE ride too.

I think the Mitsubishi MU-2 is cool looking.

Add another to the P-51 pile, talk about a piece of history.
 
Any airplane with a radial engine. Also needs to be loud and belch smoke and fire out of the exhaust stack when starting up. Even better, its over fifty years old and leaks oil all over the hanger floor.
 
IF it weren't for this money thing, I' d have to join the list for a p51 right next to an aero L39 czech trainer.
 
The Hughes 369 (OH-6A). After a few hundred hours in it, the controls seemed to be locked to my brain waves - it would respond to where I wanted to go with just a thought.

As far as getting somewhere, it was NOT the ride to have. I suspect the constant tone I have in my right ear is somewhere near the frequency of the OH-6 transmission.
 
Favorite A/C

Warbirds. P-51B Mustang, B-36, B-17 (saw a nice one make several passes where I live last summer), B-29 (I got to sit in the left seat of the CAF B-29 something like 16 years ago). B-58. Skyraiders. C-117 (I remember seeing a formation of them fly overhead as I was sitting in school in the fourth grade - there used to be a static display of one in Pueblo, Colorado).

New warbirds. C-130. C-17 (I think these are way cool).

Military trainers. T-33. T-34 (would kill to fly one - can't be a whole lot different than A36s). T-41B (closest thing to a warbird I'll ever fly).

Nearly any old, round-engined civil airliner. DC-3/C-47/C-53 (there used to be an outfit in Daytona or someplace that typed in the "3s" and I know some still work for a living in the U.S.). Convair 340 (I think I have it right - there was this operator, Florida Air Transport, I believe it was, that had two of them to fly Wall Street Journals from Wiley Post in OKC to Memphis every night five nights a week - I tried get with them just to ride and get my foot in the door - never happened). Connies. Other Douglases. Boeing Stratocruiser, including C-97s.

Classic turboprop airliners. Electras, including P3s. Viscounts (Continental used them in the '50s - I remember that they had this distinctive whine).

Ones I've flown: Citation (major wow - only enough to get my type; just as easy to land as a 172; V1 cuts were strange for this light twin driver). A36. BE55 (got my multi and MEI in it), BE58. Tri-Pacer (only one hour to give a CAP pilot a checkout - fun!). Cardinal fixed and retractable (what a GREAT looking airplane). Seminole (primarily single-engine ;) ).

Those are a few of my faves. :)
 
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Any WWII era aircraft! Just imagine the days when 18-19 year old baby faced chaps were flying these massive machines, with a ton of raw horsepower!

Now we can barely fly a 160hp C-172 at that age. Long live the B-17 and P-51!
 
Favorite that I've flown is by far the DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. It can land on a dime and stop before reaching the end of that dime!!!

What a great bush plane!

Cheers!

GP

Purple is a fruit!
Click to expand...
 
The old saying goes, "The two best ships in the Navy are your next ship and your last ship". So I'm looking forward to building multi time while fondly recalling the faithful 172 I use today.

Just to round out everybody's perspective here, though, I'll happily give you all rides in the AOPA Sweepstakes Bonanza as soon as ol' Phil gets down here with the keys for me!!! ;)
 
You won the AOPA's Bonanza?
 
I wish someone would give me a new Baron to fly wherever i wanted to, oh yeah and give me a fuel card too.
 
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I guess my user icon gives mine away =)

My favorite aircraft seen, flown on, hope to fly someday is the Boeing 747. I even have a Boeing 747 shrine setup in a corner of my room.

I have flown on it hundreds of times as a passenger. I've had the pleasure of riding jumpseat on it with a few foreign carriers.

You can drive me nuts by calling another aircraft a jumbo jet like they do in many movies, news articles, etc.
 
I don't have very much experience in avaition with different kind of airplanes.

But I would definetely say the lear24, I don't think there are any real 23's out there anymore as we probably have the oldest flying lear in service and it's a converted 23 to a 24.

it's just as close to getting into a fighterjet as possible in civil aviation.

And i am cherishing (sp?) all the time that i can get in this baby!!
 
To me, there is nothing more impressive than the engineering feat that was the North American XB-70. To think those engineers devised with slide rules a mach 3+ intercontinenetal bomber which rode it's own shock wave. Holy cow, talk about a quantum leap of engineering. It's too bad only two were ever built and the U-2 shoot down turned the whole concept into merely a research project. Despite the turmoil, the late 50's and 60's saw the advent of pure genius on many different types of aircraft.
 
The best story about the XB-70 I've heard was from a guide at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, where the only remaining
XB-70 is on display. The guide says people regularly come up to him as they wander around the huge main hangar and ask where the Valkyrie is. He smiles and just points up. The plane is so big and tall, it looms over the other planes on display, and you have a way of missing it unless you are a little farther away!
 
I must say that I am partial to the F-15. I managed to get a back seat ride before I got out of the military. Very impressive machine.
 
Barron 55. Great feel on the controls, trimmed up perfectly, and everyone knew what was coming before they could see you just by the sound of those IO 520's. As far as my dream airplane goes, that would have to be the ole spitfire. I'd give my left nut to fly one of those.:p
 
My favorite a/c to fly so far has been the good old Jetstream 32. Quite the uncomfortable ride for the pax but fun to fly. NO autopilot so its hands on all the time. Trims up nice for about five to fifteen seconds then its back on the trim wheels. Turns on a dime and being able to go from 250 five out to landing right at ref is a joy. "No problem approach, we'll slow for the 757. Oh, now you want our speed back up to max until the marker, wilco." The ONE a/c I have flown you are never too high or too fast. Just bring the throttles to idle hang everything out and pitch ten degrees down to keep 130. Makes for an interesting view from row 7 (last row). Wonder what the pax think?
Now, I want to get my hand on a vintage Stearman. Used to be one at the flight school I worked at. **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** that thing was cool
 

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