Aircraft you love and hate to fly ...
 

What aircraft have you flown regularly that puts a smile on your face and others you would be happy never to sit in again ?

LOVE

C310R - nice all round aircraft , solid , looks great with that long nose

Pilatus Porter - turbine, great build quality and could dive like a Stuka

C210 - single engine 310

Pitts S2A - open cockpit and pilot skill builder

HATE

C152 - underpowered, with 2 fat asses on a 45 deg C day it would be lucky to get airborne

Robin R-2160 - a flying Renault with the same build quality , some loved it I hated it , the only nice thing about it was being able to taxi with the canopy open on a hot day. What's with that tail ? Lots of tacked on surface area to fix up a crap design.

Love = Beechcraft Baron 58... What can i say that anyone who has flown a Baron doesnt already know... Superb flying machine! :ok:

Hate, Hate, HATE = Cessna 172... Omfg how i never ever want to fly one of these aircraft ever again!!! :yuk:

LOVE:

C210 - I fly it for work, but it's a great machine. Lots of power and nice and stable.

Citabria - 0-1000' in 3.3 seconds. Plenty of power, aerobatic and a joy to fly with lots of windows to look out of at funny angles. Simple, too.

HATE

C172 - Underpowered, mushy controls, almost all examples old and tired. Too many hours spent doing CPL navs in 'em.

C152 - Anaemic performance, hot and high = burning and death. Cramped as hell when your instructor was 6'2" and 120kg.

Love: DHC6: Does exactly what it was designed to do brilliantly. BE20 and BE90, Super as it does everything well and comfortably, 90 for the aileron responsivesness and challenge in the flare. B206 as doors off is just great!!!:ok:

Average: B737 due to the amount of aileron work required in a strong crosswind, to achieve an average of wings level, and a completely useless speedbrake! B777: Does everything well, especially with GE power, but still just a truck.DHC8: Always a challenge for a smooth landing with those oleos.:)

Hate: Nothing really, although the C150 series doesn't do well in power or comfort 2 up, it was fine single pilot. Same with the Traumahawk! :bored:

Love:

Pistons:

Most IO-520 powered machines with a particular fondness for the A36/BE58 and the C210.

Turbines:

Can't beat the Conquest :E

Hates:

P68 and the Seminole!

Love:

BAe 146 - the last pilot's airliner before automation killed all the fun;

FK27: well harmonised and a challenge when stuff went wrong - you have to love the pneumatics;

BAe J32: when empty, like a little sports car (particularly with water meth);

Siai Marchetti SF260: You'd swear you were in a jet fighter (and could be if you had the TP);

Tolerate:

Various Boeings and Airbii: efficient, but soul-less

Shorts 360: Only the Irish could design the systems on that one - the fuel tanks live directly above the cabin;

Grumman AA5B: much better design than equivalent spam-cans;

Piper Arrow and Seneca III: just feel solid, if unexciting

No thanks:

Any C152/172/182: utlilarian to say the least

Love: Cessna 185 - very rewarding to fly if you fly it well

Hate: 152/172s - as per reasons already stated.

Love - A340-600

Love and Hate - Metro (always getting me through another day, but quietly waiting to pounce):sad:

Gotta agree with you on the Shorts 360 remoak! Previous job was flying the delightful (if ergonomically challenged) D/E 55 Baron. What a sweet fun ride they were.

Jumped into the Shorts and was completely horrified. About the only aircraft I had flown previously with that much adverse yaw was probably my mate's Citabria, or perhaps the old beat up glider I flew once as a teenager!

Also, no seat rake adjustment may be fine for your average 6 footer, but for those of us with slightly shorter arms, just reaching the power levers from the right hand side was entertaining. But the thing did have headroom. 7'3" in the main cabin if memory serves!

Hate: Got to be the Metro, the pig of the sky a plane that trys to kill you on a regular basis.

Ten posts and no-one has yet bagged the GAF Nomad?

Love the Yak 52, Tiger Moth and Pitts Specials S2A/B S1S

HATE the P68 and Cherokee 140.

Here is a wee addition to the thread, what about machines you are (looking forward to flying) planning on or close to having a crack in?

For me it is definately the DH Rapide and Pitts Model 12.

Can you guys please explain what is so bad about the Metro - I will now never fly in one of these planes, hearing their pilots speak so lowly of them, scary stuff. :sad:

Ask a Philippine Air Force Pilot

Paging Tinpis.

As for me...
Love; Chieftains. Pawnees with a 250hp engine

Hate; Seneca 1.:ugh: Cherokee 140.

Somewhat indifferent re 'Bongo vans' despite having the characteristic hearing loss caused by all the time I logged in those things.

Love: C208B, C310, C402c, C404, C421, C185, C188, C210, DHC6, PC6, PC12, PA18. R22, B47G, EC130.
Hate: C152\150, R2160, P68, PA30\34, PA28-140/160/180.
I'm sure there are others in both lists. I will add them as I remember them.

Best - Aerostar and Kingair B200

Worst - Beechcraft Sierra. (What a hunk of junk!!)

:ok: Love ANYTHING with wings....even the boxes they came in!! All aircraft are like women. Must be handled gently, looked after and well maintained!

Love: Nomad, ATR. The Nomad was just delightful and in a crosswind isn't too dissimilar to the ATR, both love to heel over in a crosswind!

Hate: GA8 Airvan, those things aren't designed to fly straight, run out of rudder in any crosswind over 15 knots, are extremely uncomfortable and are a prick of a thing in turbulence!

Loved every experience:-

Baron
Good solid and reliable Beach.

BE200
Big baron but burns kero absolutely loved its flexibility.

PA31
350 was nice but you needed a good ginger beer, the under carriage rigging could generate some concerning moments.

FK27
Loved the fact that it was all pilot driven. It was really air driven, manual fuel trimmers, and you gotta love the prop system. High aspect wing and cable controls taught you a lot about anticipating the delay to an input.

FK50
Nice, A bit of glass and a modified wing.

B767
Out of anything I have flown this rates highest. Awesome power, roll rates approaching fighter rates and when you got the wheels on the ground could stop in about 600m. 330kts to 10nm? No worries and still would be stable at 1000’ Up and down the East coast or 12 hours to SHA. Loved flying it into / out of Hamilton Is. (1700m Water at each end!)

Auster / Tiger moth
Nothing like still flying at 30kts and trying to land !

PA38 / C150/2

Preferred the Axe. When it stalled it stalled! Not just mushed, taught me and the student a bit of respect for aerodynamics !


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