View Full Version : PILOTS favourite/least favourite aircraft
purplehelmet
28th Apr 2010, 20:05
i was chatting recently to a mate of mine who's captain with thomson's,he was saying that he was quite pleased that some of the older 767s had left the fleet because "some of the controls were quite stiff and they felt a bit heavy compared to the newer one's"he also said how much he liked the new(ish)737s.
so i wondered if any pilots would like to share with us which aircraft are their favourite/least favourite to fly and why.
many thanks. ph.
G SXTY
28th Apr 2010, 22:33
I'd be surprised if anyone claims the Dash 8-400 as their favourite. ;)
On the other hand, I don't know anyone who flew the BA 146 and didn't love it to bits. Which - considering it had a reputation for poisoning you – is quite a compliment.
sludge
29th Apr 2010, 03:53
Pitts or Eagle. No need to bother with anything else!
privateer01
29th Apr 2010, 04:39
Every single one requiring a type rating is like falling in love with a new girl friend.......
Now every fleet has a dog or hanger queen in it.
There was a Convair 580 years ago that always flew like a pig on ice below 200 knts.
Love the Falcon 20 with the TFE731.....hate it with the CF700
Love the 727-200 with -15's or better...hate it with -7's.
Ryan PT-22.....very cool and very vintage. Just always seemed to want to kill me. About 10-15 knts between stall and cruise.
Piltdown Man
29th Apr 2010, 08:42
If we are talking about airliners, I thought the Fokker 100 with 650 engines was the "Bee's Knees." The more modern Embraer 190 which I now fly is far more capable, but a dog to fly. The Embraer is full of Honeywell's finest rubbish in the form of a badly spec'ed FMS and dreadful Autopilot/Flight Director controls.
PM
DeepestSouth
29th Apr 2010, 19:38
No contest for either, chaps and chapesses:
Favourite - SF260, dream to fly (apart from the approach), fantastic visibility, aerobatic, fast. Best flight ever - clear March day, 1976 - Inverness to Dundee and back 'over the top'.
Least favourite - from my gliding days, the Fauvel flying wing. Give it half a chance, bloomin' unstable in pitch, swine in cross-winds and on tow but ... quirky and fun between landing and takeoff ,,, sometimes!
RedhillPhil
29th Apr 2010, 21:08
Don't know if he was saying for effect on young impressionable chaps but many moons ago I had a pal who's dad was a BEA captain. His claim was that every aircraft landed except a Trident three which had a controlled crash. He also claimed that they were frequently "a bugger to get off the ground".
G SXTY
29th Apr 2010, 23:06
That'll be the 'gripper', aka the world's only 4 engined trijet. By all reports it made full use of the earth's curvature to assist take-offs.
Favourite by a long mile: B747-400
Least Favourite: A319. Especially on a windy day.