Prompted by slim_slags post in On Tracks 'Visiting England' thread, about flying over Sydney Harbour, has anyone else got any recommendation for 'Must Do' Flights.

My own personal 'have done' flights are D.H Rapide over London, Jet Ranger helicopter over the Victoria Falls and must not forget my Concorde trip.

They are definately 'Must Do' flights

Land on a beach (I've done that several times)

Fly under a bridge (not yet)

Fly an airship (not yet)

Fly a fast jet low level (god that was good)

Fly high enough to see the curvature of the earth (still working on that).

Thermal a glider for a couple of hours (very very relaxing, in a strangely demanding sort of way).

Get winched out of the sea under a helicopter (well, it's flying! I'm glad to say that the one time I did this was for training).

G

Mountain flying in New Zealand - Wanaka -> Glenorchie -> Queenstown -> Wanaka was just magical and probably the best flight I've ever made. Okay so that's three flights but you get the idea.

Fly any single seat a/c, where you're on your own even for your first flights.

Sydney harbour... On my list for my trip down under next year;

Landing on a beach... good idea...added to list;

Bridge...done...will probably do it again;

Airship...not yet;

Low level Jet...hows Mach 1.2 at 200feet? (F-5 in ColdLake, Canada);

Curve of the earth... still working on that one... FL450 isn't quite high enough;

Thermal in gliders...still working on that one too.. longest soaring flight is 1hr;

Winched into a helicopter...not from the sea, but unfortunately its already done :-(

Mountain flying... Ever landed a Challenger in St-Mortiz? That was tons of fun.

Self check out in a single seat airplane...twice...once in a single seat glider, the other in a Hawker Hunter!

You guys have forgoten my personal favourite: Formation Aerobatics... there is nothing quite like looping my Nanchang parked on one of my friend's wing tip... to each his own I guess

Dan

Agree about the single seat aircraft but do it properly - a single seat biplane :cool:

I've done formation, but agree, formation aeros I really should add to my personal list.


Actually my "got to do before I die" is fly an aeroplane that I designed myself. That may have to wait until I retire and have a little spare time however.

And to add another, one day I'm going to get seaplane qualified.

G

Fly:

At dawn and watch the sun rise.

On a perfectly clear night and marvel at the world laid out beneath you.

Vertically out of the clag into the clear blue sky above.

Back over the border with your wingman after the first Operational sortie.

With anyone on their first flight - just to see the look in thier eyes when they finally understand why you must do this.

I think this is the top 10% of mine:ok:

I would love to do some night-time aerobatics...
Then there's fly a single-seat aircraft;
Fly through the Rocky Mountains;
Complete a long-distance flight - something like a Canadian coast to coast;
And fly a Mustang. :O

Genghis - what single-seat bi-planes are still flying, which I could realistically get my hands on???

(Still working on the single-seat aircraft, btw. I did go to the Tiger Club to do some Tiger Moth flying. Flying the Tiger Moth is a great experience in itself, but the reason for going all the way to Kent to do it was that once I got checked out on the T.M. they'd let me fly the Turbulent, which is my favourite single-seater. Unfortunately I ran out of money after two flights.)

FFF
----------------

Have done and recommend:

1. Orbits over Sydney Harbour
2. Victor One - a VFR flight along Sydney's beaches at mandatory altitude of 500 feet
3. Outback flying to Central Australia, Top End (Kakadu National Park)
3. Overwater flying from Australian mainland to Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef
4. Mountain flying around Queenstown, Wanaka and Milford Sound in New Zealand
5. Beach landing at Big Bay, New Zealand

Would like to fly:

1. Australian mainland to Tasmania
2. Australia to New Zealand via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands
3. Australia to Europe via Asia

Non-stop across the Atlantic in an unmodified GA piston powered a/c. Only just been done (Diamond DA-42 TwinStar in 7.5hrs), and I'll get to do it some day. With proper training and equipment of course! !:cool:

I'm a sucker for long flights! :\ :E

HM293, SE5a replica, Pitts S1S, the Tigerlite is I believe for sale...

I've flown the first of those (a French registered example, there are none in the UK), and tremendously fun it was too (the only biplane amongst my single seaters).

http://pou.ardechois.free.fr/Images/HM293_47DG-02.jpg



Just thought of another "special", which I have done several times. First flight of a newly built aeroplane.

G

I'm sure loads of you have done it and its not a big thing, but it was for me when I had my fresh JAA PPL with 55hrs!
Flying up and around the west coast of Australia with low level "tours" of attractions such as Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef, Rottnest Island.

Gorgeous country, wish they made it easier to emigrate :(

Jimmydacraw

I did the "Bay Tour" around San Fransisco a while back. Up the Pacific Coast, over the Golden Gate, Alcatraz and across the 4 runways of KSFO, all at 2000' VFR.

Visually spectacular.

G,

I agree with the bi-plane single seat check out, but some time one has to take what is available. In my case, it was a 10 000lbs of thrust Vintage 1950's transonic fighter. :-)

This post is great. Could not stop thinking on how I love my job / life. Seen and done so many unique things. Just to add to my personal "to do" list, landing on a glacier somewhere in Iceland and unpack my lunch...

D

Some of my favourite flights..
1. Birdsville in a Cherokee. A must. (Races held first weekend in Sept)
2. Flying to Tasmania in a Cherokee via Flinders Island.
3. Victor 1 along Sydney's coastline with the orbit near the Bridge.(did something similar in a Dash 8 too. Nice)
4. 500' along Williamtown (near Newcastle NSW.)
5. Flying in the Kimberley. Wet and Dry seasons. Unbelievable scenery and challenges. Top fun (and scary at times).
6. Ningaloo Reef. Try it at 100' :E
7. In fact, most of the Coastwatch flights were fun. Buccanneer Archipelago. West coast of Oz up to Darwin. 100' to 1500' when on task. Nice.
8. Flying over the Great Barrier Reef.
9. Seeing the Rowley Shoals (Indian Ocean) for the first time.
10. Returning from Kassel (Germany) on a very cold but gin clear night and seeing nearly all of the UK glowing with lights.
11. Any night flight over London. (so long as the heater worked!!)

On the wish list.
1. Fly supersonic intentionally.
2. Space flight.
3. Fly a mil fast jet.
4. Fly a tailwheeler.
5. Survive aerobatics.
6. Fly a jet (going to do that one in 2005) :D

I've flown up the Hudson River at night on the flightdesk of a 737 into EWR. Sadly, the option to ride up front is no longer there these days.

Aerbabe wrote:I would love to do some night-time aerobatics...Just done some tonight overhead Rivenhall disused. It does add a whole new dimension to doing aerobatics and I can absolutely recommend it!

Gerard

Night-time aerobatics? Is that like instrument flying? :E

tb10er,

I've flown up the Hudson River at night on the flightdesk of a 737 into EWR. Sadly, the option to ride up front is no longer there these days.

In a 737 and then with somebody else flying? Boring!

All the TFRs have gone now, so stick in some flaps so it goes nice and slow and fly yourself up the Hudson at 1000ft

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/181613hudson_sectional_new.jpg

Can I recommend Manhattan on a crystal clear Autumn day.

Out of White Planes, down the Hudson, 1000' along the west side of Manhattan, orbit Liberty Island and the Lady, back up the East River, left over central park (yup, still at 1000'), back up the Hudson to White Planes again.

Topped Sydney I reckon.

-bcfc

EDIT - tb10er & Slim_slag beat me to it :O

Mont Blanc is beautiful at this time of year. Just flew it this afternoon with a friend.

Hi all
Love the thread.....to do before I die,eh?....first,shag somebody nice in the cabin, then return to the front office and finish the flight...........have a dogfight, good and sweaty, with lots of hammering guns, expletives and beer and bullshit in the bar afterwards...........fly my first commercial flight...........pull off a perfect three-pointer in a Spitfire.......fly one of the new-built Focke-Wulf 190s........fly an Me109 and land it in one piece.......do lots of aeros in something like a Tiger or Stampe or T-6(none of yer noisy identikit Extras/Laser/Stampe shite).......fly in one of the classic combat jets, like an F-4 or a Hunter or a MiG.......do a tour on the aid/relief flight circuit in Africa..........fly at dawn and dusk in an open-cockpit on the longest day of the year.....Ah,Christ,I don't care.I'm going to keep flying until they screw the lid onto the urn.
Cheers and happy Christmas to all who fly!!
regards
TDD

Ah,Christ,I don't care.I'm going to keep flying until they screw the lid onto the urn.

Fair play to you mate, my feelings exactly! Especially the Me-109 (Bf-109 for the pedants) and FW190s... pure joy. Although you never know, since I'm bound to end up in hell, maybe I'll get to fly Boeings after kicking the bucket. :{ :E

And a very happy Christmas to you all. :ok:

Fly with Andy Slattery.........For me the experience could never be bettered!

Some people make it look easy, some people push it to the limit, some people try to be flash beyond their limits.

Then you get blokes like Andy who are just plain gifted.

If you don't know him then its your loss.
If you do then you will know where I am coming from!

Coop & I flown with Slatts too Bear:O

Sydney Harbour via Victor 1 is pretty good, I've done it 3 times in the last 6 months, but the weekend before last was special, filed a flight plan (via web) and held at long-reef for 10 mins, however when I finished harbour orbits , SYD 123.0 cleared us WEST of the bridge along the paramatta river and onto prospect, rarely get that one !!!

Willietown beach/Nelson Bay at 500 feet is also nice, saw a few kids playing and waving once , so (not to be rude) I turned around , and waggled my wings to them, I could see the grins and smiles for miles from where I sat! (during my 60TT and 20Hr X-c in a tailwheel :uhoh: what was I thinking!!


Birdsville is always an argument about who flys there, and not back!! but it must be done! (bottle to throttle rule)
Great Ocean road.

Fraiser Island!

Shuttle landing Facility at Cape Canaveral, if you ask nicely, they'll let you down to 500 along the runway (some years ago, probably not poss now ?)


To Do!

Arran Islands off the west coast of Eire, I recall that you often have to deal with Shannon ATC , but once again a flight plan works wonders. (you get cliffs of Moher en route)

Blasket Islands off west coast of Kerry - Land on charlies private strip :)

I'd love to do Manhatten, is that stil possible after 911 ?

Lord Howe Island!

Whitsundays hoppins (easy and relaxed.I think)

New years lotto should see me snugly fitted into a flugwerk 190 in a few months!


cheers

7gcbc

I had a mate who lived in Alaska and had a cute little supercub on a strip up there. He had to come down to the "lower 48" on business a lot which is where I met him, he was always going on about how Alaska was the final frontier, how I should go up there, and about how he missed his cub.

Then he had floats put on his cub, and since that day I've never seen him again. He didn't care about making money in the "lower-48", he just couldn't leave his float-plane for weeks at a time, he was having too much fun.

So although I've been to Alaska I've never flown there, sounds like it's well worth doing. I also think there's a well established VFR route for getting there from the US via Canada that's supposed to be a great trip.

1. R405 Sydney Harbour

2. Victor 1 (Sydney Beaches North thru Jibbon Point

3. Central Washington Helilanes (may be closed now)

4. Central New York self announce area

5. Black Bottle Round in W Scotland on Midsummers day

h-r

Stillin1 said - "With anyone on their first flight - just to see the look in thier eyes when they finally understand why you must do this."

Done that. :) Took my seven year old son on one of the Classic Wings Rapides at Duxford this summer, and just sat watching his face as we took off. He was looking out of the window at the world rushing by, when all of a sudden, the ground fell away... he turned to me, all wide eyed and grinning, pointed out of the window, and roared with laughter. He understands. :ok:

Don't know if I've got 50, but here are a few, some I've done, some still to do:

Completely agree with GtE on making your first filght in a single seat biplane. That's more a rite of passage than a checkout and, to be done properly, has to be done in a Pitts! (Thanks to Rob Millinship for all the help and coaching!)

Fly to NYC on Concorde. On the flightdeck. Both ways.

Look up to infinity above you from the open cockpit of a Stearman, then up at the ground above you from the top of a loop (Thanks, Ian!)

See the White Cliffs of Dover as returning airmen saw them during the war, and finally understand what they were talking about.

Spend an hour getting to know the T-6 Texan

Land on a beach

Partake in a 7 ship Pitts formation to a chateau on the Somme

Spend hours in something old, slow, and fabric covered between surface and 800 feet (Taylorcraft and Cubs are especially good for this)

30 miles of Grand Canyon in a Pitts

Land's End to John O'Groats

Air-to-air and air-to-mud in an F-15E

Ride along on a practice mission in a B-52 including low level bombrun and air-to-air with Phantoms (not that I actually saw a damn thing, what with being strapped to the floor in the "10th man harness")

Refuel B-52s from the boomer's position in a KC-135

Display a Mustang or Corsair in an airshow at Duxford

Perform a formation display with my mate at any airshow or village fete (next season?)

Take my niece and nephew for their first airplane rides and hope for the kind of reaction Beauman got from his son

and the best one of all, take a flight to nowhere in a Piper Cub on a sunny June evening after work, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, doors open, trimmed for hands off, watching the world go by for an hour or so, then land just as the sun sets on the end of runway 28...


Pitts2112