While in retrospect it should have been my scariest flight, I was young and silly at the time so I loved every minute of it. A youth group to which I belonged organised a joy flight in a Dragon Rapide. We all turned up at the appointed departure time bright-eyed and bushy-tailed only to find that while the aeroplane was there, it had no seats in the cabin! Its recent flights had been for parachuting and consequently the seats had been removed and stored in the corner of a hangar. With impeccable planning, the preflight preparations involved literally dusting off the seats and fitting them in the cabin. I was last to board and drew the last seat next to the door. When I went to fasten my seatbelt I discovered that there was a discrepancy in the seat belt department to the tune of one. Not to worry, the pilot produced a length of webbing and proceeded to tie it around my middle with a big bow at the front. There was no briefing on the quick release function of said bow. With all pax safely secured, the cabin door was closed with the customary tug on the handle to verify that the door was latched. It was at this point that the door handle separated from the door. Presumably MELs were consulted and the flight duly departed and returned uneventfully to the aerodrome of departure.
Not long after this flight it emerged that the fuselage fabric was in need of attention. Sections were removed only to reveal the condition of the woodwork. Her flying days were over. In those unenlightened times it was decided that the aeroplane would be burned. On the appointed day of execution the aeroplane was towed tail first to the fire dump whereupon the tail section and rear fuselage separated from the rest of the aircraft. How close had we come to an in-flight breakup?