Worst airplane

[rettofly]

What is the worst airplane you've flown?

Mine was a Seneca I for my multi commerical checkride. Only one working nav/com, every other bit of electrical equipment was broke except for the transponder.

Cowl flaps would not close.

Left engine took twenty minutes to start (at least I knew the examiner wouldn't fail that engine in flight)

The plastic covering for the throttle/mixture/props was broken in half.

The outside looked like it may have caught on fire at one point.

And you didn't get pink-slipped for showing up with an unairworthy airplane? Gotta love that examiner!

 

[Ralph]

Actually the examiner picked out the airplane. I'd never seen it before as I had done training in a different city.

But yes, i thought the same thing. Will I get a pink slip for agreeing to fly this thing?

 

[Humblepilot]

Traumahawk?

No one puts up the Traumahawk (Tomahawk)? Poor performance with a student and fuel and ohhhhhhhhhhhh those midday summer lessons with a tie on and the sun baking you to a crisp inside the solarium of a cockpit.

Humble

 

[sky37d]

BE95

I did my ME in Texas, at RBD, in late August. Talk about hot. You needed gloves to open the oil door, the instructor would hold open the door during taxi. My first flight was about 5 PM, we had full fuel, instructor, me, and someone who wanted to watch. I was glad the runway was as long as it was, because that thing took FOREVER to get in the air.

Maybe it was just me, because up until that time, all my flying was done in a Maule. Talk about short field takeoff!!

 

[Typhoon1244]

Worst I've flown? N835AS, one of our CRJ-200's. I've been in blast furnaces that cooled better...

 

[Iflewjetz]

The Jetstream ( lawn dart, wiggle pig) was real fun to roll. You had to have finesse to when you flew and did your revisions at the same time.

 

[enigma]

The Jetstream ( lawn dart, wiggle pig) was real fun to roll. You had to have finesse to when you flew and did your revisions at the same time.

Here are just a few more. Junkstream, jetscream, sewer rat, sled, etc, I prefer sewer rat.

If I was forced to fly a t-prop for the rest of my career and they put me in a 1900, I'd be happy. If they put me in a sewer rat, I'd retire and find another unfulfilling job.

regards,
enigma

 

[Rick1128]

It really all depends on the particular aircraft you are flying. There are good ones and bad ones. And so-so ones.

As long as you understand the design limits and criteria, you understand the aircraft better. If you try to use it outside its design premise it comes out as one of the worst aircraft. I have flown many of the aircraft listed above. And I have found them to be good overall aircraft. It just depends on the observer's experience.

I have flown the 337. I liked it. But then mine had Robertson STOL kit and extra large AC unit. We were doing powerline patrol with it. There is no sensation of speed like flying level with the wires carrying 500,000 volts. If you like a real pig, try a 336. Its like the 337 but the gear is fixed. It can't get out of its own way going straight down.

Then there is the Aerostar (AKA Aerosl*t) a ground loving b*tch if there ever was one. Heavy, screwy systems, no where near as fast as everyone thinks it is, noisy and so on.

But keep this in mind, even if you are flying your worst ever airplane, it is still better than driving down the freeway, during rush hour in a driving rain.

 

[mach none]

Beech Muskeketeer. Underpowere and weird. The one I flew was fixed gear, but had a gear handle to practice.

 

[rettofly]

Actually the examiner picked out the airplane. I'd never seen it before as I had done training in a different city.

But yes, i thought the same thing. Will I get a pink slip for agreeing to fly this thing?

Have you got your new ticket? If the examiner supplied the bird, it would be hard to justify.

 

[Citationkid]

The Merlin IIIC. Didn't really like the way it flew. Wasn't maintaned very well either so it had a lot of problems. I like the way it looks tho.

 

[Mugs]

Lay off the J-Ball there Enigma.

It lands great on one engine.

Loose the hydrualics --- the only loss there is the carry-ons in the pod all soaked in the blown out fluid.

Come on, it was fun looking back to see if the fat lady would trip over the spar cap as she wedged her load down the aisle. Legend has it that one whale went down and had to be extracted from the aisle jam by the paramedics.

Remember the Jetstream song sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island? How could you not have loved that?

Finally, your scan will never be better than it was is the Wetdream.

God save the Queen and the Jetstream!

 

[Citationkid]

So you actually remember how they flew? At 14? That's pretty amazing. Unless you've flown on Big Sky or your Daddy owns one, you've got a good memory. They were retired from most commerical air service when you were what... 8? That's pretty F'n amazing!

I said a Merlin not a Metroliner you Dumb@$$.

 

[transienttorque]

Titty baby.

Are you developing a bra that uses Maglev technology to lift and separate?

 

[JJG]

I don't think a poorly maintained airplane is the designers fault. So I do not think the Seneca 1, Cessna 172, or others qualify as the worst airplane ever. Here is my list based on functional airplanes that I thought were not very well designed.

SE-Tomahawk for every reason ever listed about this awful airplane.

ME-Cessna 310. Yes a fast airplane good for passangers or cross countries, but stiff controls made handling trucklike. Wound up flying more with the trim wheels than the flight controls. Complicated fuel system that has confused many pilots. Hangar queen.

Helicopter- Hughes 269 (not the 300). Slow because speed limited by collapsing windshield, liked to tuck its nose in an auto.

 

[stlpilot]

My worst was only the worst because the owner beat it up and of course thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Its was a 1973 PA-28-180 Challenger. First off It barely cranked when starting and this guy did an unusual ritual while starting it up, which included pumping the throttle, shuffling his feet and then I think a chant of some sort (ok maybe not the last). The prop would turn slow then turn even slower and slower and just at the moment you though the battery could not crank anymore and the prop was only tuning over once every 5 seconds, you thought silently in your mind "YES!!!! no flight today!" then and only right then when you had that glimmer of hope.............. the darn thing started. So then you had to shut the door and that was an event in itself, too soft and it did not latch, too hard and it would not latch. One time while doing touch and goes I had to quickly shift my left foot to get a better position on top the rudder peddle, and my size 13 shoes ripped a huge chunk of that cheap hard plastic clean off the covering that conceals the wires down there. I told him it was either that or crash from his bad landing. But the very worst part of the entire experience and not to mention my defining moment as a flight instructor was brought about by............. "The Smell".

From day one I thought something had died in there and it took me a while but finally I realized once day when I went out to his plane alone that their was no smell, so you got it, the owner was the source of the stench. The only way to describe this is to try and imagine this...... a guy goes to taco bell orders everything on the menu, drinks on top of it, goes on a roller coaster to help mix it all together and now he is ready to take the #2 eye tearing, atomic bomb dump of his life. And then..... does not wipe his A$$. I kid you not it was that bad. I actually bought nose plugs but was lucky that I only had to fly with him 6 or 7 times. Finally I could not take it anymore, we were ferrying the airplane to his new airport and this was going be a 6 hour one way trip. He started off the flight by screwing around and wasting time so he was already on my bad side, the smell did not help. Finally we got on the ground and I mustard up the courage and said "dude you stink" he said "what do you mean my flying?", I said "I don't know how to put this but, YOU SMELL LIKE A$$!!!!". I kid you not this was the exact conversation. He just got a blank stare and went back out the the airplane to punish me more. Dont know what happened to him but anyone out there watch out for N22MM

 

[singlespeed]

Any freight dog C-210. Although the wings would not come off in a thunderstorm and it will take alot of ice

 

[JimNtexas]

I hated the F-C when I was a WSO. By the time I got into them (~1976) they had been all shot up and worn out in the Big One.

There wasn't any particular reason to have a WSO since all you had was a radar that never worked anyway.

Hot as hell all the time in the pit, and you were either 6gs or zero, nothing in between.

I went from the F-4C to the F-4G which was like moving in time from 1940 to 2040.

Then I arrived in navigator heaven in the sleek gray form of the EF-111.

On the civil side, I have a few hours in the Cessna 172RG (whatever the heck they call it). That's a worthless POS even if in good condition. They take a perfectly good Skyhawk and ruin it with the stupid landing gear.

 

[Typhoon1244]

I hated the F-C when I was a WSO. There wasn't any particular reason to have a WSO since all you had was a radar that never worked anyway.

I've heard that the early AIM-7's were garbage, too.

Being an EF-111 crewmember put you in an exclusive club, didn't it? I didn't think there were many of them...sounds like a cool jet.

 

[fr0g]

haha.. what a thread subject: everyone has a least favorite airplane, and there is always someone else who loves it...
For me, I really liked the 310, but I flew an older model, 56 to be exact. I also own & maintain a 59 cessna 172, and love that plane. I have to say some things on the metro make you go.. hmmm .. who designed this stuff like the fuel cutoffs next to the boost pumps and SAS clutch. Perfect... plus, the @#$#@ who put the rheostats for the overhead light right where my knee goes should have those knobs implanted in their leg permanently.. However, one has never le me down (yet), so I can't say I dislike it. Any airplane that gets you down safe is a good airplane.

Happy flying everyone!