What really unusual/different/old/new/exciting aircraft have you flown?

[Whirlybird]

When someone resurrected my balloon thread from the depths, I realised it was a while since we had a discussion on different sorts of flying. So what have you flown - or been a passenger in - that's really different? You probably all know about mine, because I post so much, but to summarise briefly:

13 hours in Mi-2 and Mi-8 twin engined turbine helicopters in Russia last summer.

An hour in a LET 410 huge (well, around 30 seats) twin engined aeroplane, also in Russia.

A couple of gyroplane trial lessons, in an RAF 2000 and a VPM something-or-other (too lazy to get my log book out to find out what it was).

A gliding trial lesson - not all that differnt, but different for me. And who else gets persuaded to do aerobatics on a trial lesson?
:eek:

About 15 hours struggling to fly an F2 Alpha flexwing microlight - the thread about it should still be around.

A balloon flight as a passenger - well, navigator officially, but at 15kts you don't need to navigate much. :D

A couple of 3-axis microlight trial lessons, one of them over Victoria Falls.

I think that's about it, unless you count sitting in an airship on the ground.

So what have you lot all flown? And what was it like?

[stiknruda]

DC3 - 20 hrs in the RHS
DHC4 - 15 hrs in the RHS
CheyenneII - 7hrs
B200 - 23hrs
various Pitts Specials 130hrs

and the best.........

well Curtis Pitts needs to take a bow!

Stik

[LowNSlow]

I flew a Kittiwake down in Haverfordwest (not quite as exotic as Russia Whirl). A lovely single seater built by RN apprentices and one of only 3 built.

[AerBabe]

Most unusual - Gardan Horizon and Stik's Pushpak
The GH was fun. Very responsive, but not enough time to really judge it well... ;)
The Pushpak was fantastic. Very docile, and very stable. Needs a lot of rudder input (sorry Stik :o ).

Most expensive - Beech Baron.
WOW. This was incredible. I think we covered Welshpool to Shobdon in about 10 minutes, and at 1000' the speed makes it feel like you're a lot lower than you really are. Had to go around on the first approach because I was just too high.

Oldest - Chipmunk.
Well, that's a whole other thread! There may be an update in a few weeks....

Also had some RHS time in a Luscombe, which was the first light aeroplane I went up in apart from the C152 I was training in. That was an eye-opener!

Finally, lots of LHS time in an R-22, thanks to Whirly, and 30 min PIC. And one circuit in a glider. :)

[Tinstaafl]

Had 1/2 an hour flying a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer once.

'Ponderous' is about the best descriptive I can think of, about similar to an Islander I think.

[Final 3 Greens]

An hour in a Cessna 175 from the early 60s.

It was a bit like an early 172 (straight tail, noe rear view panel, manual flaps), but had a geared engine that turned something like 3300rpm into 2700 for take off..

Not exotic, but unusual on the UK register.

It flew very nicely, but seemed to be more sensitive in pitch and haevioer on the controls - also a bit wierd to hear an engine running at higher rpm than you would expect in that type of aeroplance.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Oldest I think was an N3N-3, which was a 1940ish US Navy trainer. Big, heavy, powerful, and even more fun than a Harvard, but with even less view out the front.

Most unreliable is the Jaguar T2a, but that was work. Also the aeroplane that I've been most frightened in (on several occasions, and no - I wasn't being shot at).

One of the most unusual and interesting was a French HM293 flying flea, which is a tiny little biplane with a stick that drives the rudder for roll and the forward wing for pitch - the lower/rear wing (they are staggered) was fixed and there were no roll controls on the wing. Funny thing was it was incredibly sporty and felt rather like I imagine it would flying a Sopwith Camel.

Another really odd one was the British MW4 (only one ever built) the entire tail structure is single-piece and mounted to the fuselage-tube with the universal joint from a Triumph Stag. Flew remarkably well but tended to Phugoid and you didn't want to put in pitch or yaw inputs too fast or the control kept going with the tail structure's inertia.

Lightest was a little British flexwing microlight called a Halfpint 130SX, which I worked out I flew with a TOW of 160kg. Had a very strange little 25hp engine that you had to decompress with special spring catches every time you pulled it through to start.

Most expensive that I paid for myself, a PA28-235c, which is a 235hp fixed gear Cherokee with a VP prop and far too many fuel tanks. Most expensive I didn't was probably a Merlin which I did a little time up the back of as a flight test observer at Westlands.

G

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

T21 open cockpit glider

My beloved Chipmunk since 1978.

Waco biplane (in Clearwater, Florida). Heavy and sedate, but nice.

Stearman. Ditto.

Tiger Moth. Good fun, but really an awful aeroplane in many ways.

Stampe. Everything the Tiger should have been but isn't.

Acrosport. Very twitchy with little 'feedback' through the controls.

My (so far) only helicopter flight - in a Gazelle. Interesting, but not for me.

Oh - a late addition - a flight on a Mainair flexwing 912 Blade. Like squatting on a toilet bowl with nothing between the porcelain and the ground but 2000 feet of clear air. Good fun!

And finally my favorite pilot's aeroplane - Yak 52. Warbird experience at a fraction the cost. Everyone should fly one (I did for over 2 years). It will change how you think about flying.

But top of the tree for exotica must be BA Concorde G-BOAD jumpseat flight (as reported in 'Pilot' a couple of years ago) from startup at Manchester to shutdown at Paris CDG including flying to 60,000 feet and mach 2.02. An amazing experience, and probably not to be available eber again post 11/9 for anyone but Concorde flight crew.

SSD

[QDMQDMQDM]

Auster Mark IX TODAY for the first time ever, an aircraft designed by my father-in-law. A great day in many ways, therefore.

QDM

[ChrisVJ]

Ghengis

You flew at Westlands? When? I was there approx 1964. My father was a pilot there 1949.

ChrisVJ

[Genghis the Engineer]

I'd not wish to claim excessive grandeur, I have done one or two odd jobs for their QA and flight test departments between about 1990 and 1997, I've never actually been employed by them.

G

[ShyTorque]

Fixed wing:

Slingsby T-21 (first solo aged 15) and Blanik gliders.
Chipmunk.
Cessna 150 & 152 (soloed aged 17).
Auster Autocrat (can't remember much about it).
Allons Ercoupe (had coupled ailerons and twin rudders. Steers like a car on the ground by rotating the yoke left / right like a steering wheel. Very underpowered, stopped it climbing by the extra drag of an arm out of the targa top).
Jet Provost 3 & 5 (not nice and not quite as bad, respectively).
Hunter T bird (Nice!).
Harrier T bird (easier to hover than many helis I can think of).
Beagle Husky (Rare, Auster with Lycoming engine. Liked it but someone crashed it trying to pick up a banner. Slow due to fine pitch prop fitted for towing).
Bulldog (QFI'd on these for a while. Good handling but tends to lose height during aeros).
Steen Skybolt (sadly it spun, crashed and burned on its next flight, killing my friend who was flying in the front seat, just as I had previously been).
Jodel (wooden, just like my flying).
Grob Tutor (plastic Bulldog, poor roll rate, good vertical performance, can gain height during aeros despite less power).
Tiger Moth, somewhere in there and perhaps a few others, now forgotten due to onset of old age.

Helis:

Whirlwind 10 (Hard work, big aircraft, no stick feel, fuel computer out very difficult but an excellent trainer. Solo engine-offs required as part of the course with about 40 hours total heli flown).
Wessex 5 (Flying emergencies trainer).
Puma HC1 (Used to be the queen of the skies, not sure these days. A fast lady).
Gazelle HT2/3 (sports car, more aerobatic than many fixed wing).
Chinook (Big. Enough said).
Huey UH-1 (Rugged and basic).
Bell 212 (As above but more fiddly with twin engines).
CH-53 (BIG! First flight was night, using NVG. Landed it on IR in the desert with no external visual references due to brown-out conditions. Flew it on a desert firing range with two miniguns firing from the forward doors just behind me and a half inch Browning firing off the ramp. Very impressive).
AS-355 F1 /F2 /N (simple but do a good job)
Blackhawk (my all-time favourite aircraft. First flight was night using NVG and carried out air-air refuelling from a C-130. Excellent all-round aircraft, very powerful for its size and good single engine performance).
S-76 (All models, including SAR, for which it is underpowered, and firebucketing, ditto. Fast though. Only heli I've flown that will easily exceed VNE in level flight).
R-22 (only once, never again, thanks)

But they're all unusual, the way I fly!

[Aerohack]

QDMQDMQDM: 'Dicky' Bird is your father-in-law? How is he? I had a long letter from him a year or two back on the subject of one of his other designs, the Auster Agricola, but have not been in touch for a while. Many years ago when I was researching the Beagle affair I had several fascinating meetings with him, and kept in occasional contact.

[atb1943]

Dragon Rapide, first flight, Portsmouth, way back.
Auster Alpha, a year before it crashed in France
Percival Proctor, to France and Holland
Vickers Viking, Blackbushe, organised by 'Sid', the motorcycle cop who patrolled that part of the A30.
S-61, Peterhead to Aberdeen
S-76, Aberdeen to Bidford Dolphin
Bell 212, Forli to Bologna, courtesy Bologna police, 11 p.m.
Tiger Moth D-ENDE, from a Russian Army Mi-24 base near Magdeburg (ex G-ANDI), including my first loop
Trident G-ARPI, Le Bourget to Heathrow
Fox glider, two-seat version of Polish Swift
Rubis, a pretty retractable French mono, only seven laid down for the govt flying school
TB-20, Le Bourget to Morocco and L'Ayoune
Cessna 172 Lanseria to Pretoria and back via Waterkloof (on a Sunday)
Learjet Lanseria to Capetown and back
Jet Provosts and a Strikemaster, the latter from Shoreham to Duxford in 2001, my second loop (plus other lovely things)
Short 360 Inverness to Aberdeen
DC-3 and Avro748 Lympne to Beauvais (Skyways coach-air service)
Nord 262 Lyon to St. Yan
Grumman Tiger, Sywell to Cranfield
VC-10 Frankfurt to Heathrow, EAAC
Champion Tri-Traveller, Biggin Hill
Chipmunk Charlton Park to Rendcombe
Piper Navajo, Shoreham to North Weald
Piper Dakota G-FRGN, last year, Kidlington
Thunder & Colt balloon in Hungary and Czech
Piper Twin Comanche, Le Plessis Belleville to Egypt and Jordan, plus an Arrow 3 around the pyramids, and a Cessna 337 from Rhodes to Egelsbach
JU-52 Frankfurt to Biggin Hill in 2001

and the one that got away....

Lufthansa's Me-108 to Duxford last year, which I had to pass up because I had already booked our summer holiday!

Ghengis - believe I knew the owner of the N3N-3, if it was the one in the UK.

[foxmoth]

dH - most single types apart from the Puss moth
Stampe
Chippie
Harvard
Pitts
Cap10
Issacs Fury (beutifully built but ASI calibrated to show approach speed 1 kt above stall - hence the guy that built it had already bent it twice! - and no, I didn't)
Latest Robin 4 seater, nice to fly, but the interesting bit was the new King radio fit that it took me most of the delivery flight to work out!

[str12]

C-150
C-152
PA-28-141
PA-28-161
T67 Slinsgby - all time favourite. Did some aeroswhen the PA-28 was unavailable. 60kts, stick back to vertical and kick the rudder - Yee Haw!. Over cooked it once and was inverted before kicking the rudder - exciting.

After the PA-28 it felt like a sports car.

[FlyingForFun]

I feel left out here, it makes my flying look boring :( Not that any flying is boring, but it's all relative :D

Most exciting aircraft I've flown is the Pitts S2C - wow! Also the most expensive, at $300/hr.

I think the rarest aircraft I've flown is probably my own, the Europa - but that's only because it's a new-ish design. I think they are becoming more and more common. Although when I flew into Exeter last year, the woman who collected the landing fees wasn't sure what to do, because it was the first time she'd ever seen any aircraft land there which wasn't in her list of how much to charge each aircraft.

Most enjoyable aircraft is probably the Super Cub. As much as I love aerobatics, there's nothing quite like flying a couple of thousand feet above the ground, with the window and door wide open (but enough cockpit there to not have to wear goggles), in a slow but responsive aircraft - pure bliss!

And, at the opposite end of the scale is the Aztec - the biggest aircraft I've flown, and a complete pig - let it get even slightly out of trim, and unless you've been spending time in the gym you'll feel it for a few days afterwards. Very challenging, though - especially final, where you have to be lined up as soon as you turn on to final, because you can't just "point it this way a bit" like most of the other aircraft I've flown.

SSD - I'm jealous, I'd love to fly a Waco! Have you read Michael McCafferty's web-site (http://www.triple-m.com/adventures/)? Definitely recommended reading, but not unless you've got a few hours to spare! :D

Still hoping to add the Tiger Moth to my list later this year. I know it's a pig to fly, has a horrendous amount of adverse yaw, yadda yadda yadda, but it's just one of those things that I know I've got to do.

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

[LowNSlow]

FFF a few thousand feet in a CUb? Mine used to have nosebleeds if it went that high :D :D :D

You'll love the Tiger. Despite being a bit of a mishmash of a design it's loadsa fun. Wear a thick warm jacket though, the windscreen is very effective at guiding the wind to you :eek:

If you ever get a chance at a Stearman (aka Boeing Kaydet) go for it. It's how a Texan would design a Tiger. Does what the Tiger does on twice as much horsepower. Better windscreens too :cool:

Flat out over the surf at Pendine beach at 50'in a Twin Commanche was a blast too :D :D

[djpil]

Just flicked through my log books for some types consistent with the topic:
Akro Model Z, CT-4 (including the turboprop prototype), most Pitts, Christen Eagle, BA-4B, Condor, Stits SA-6B, PL-4A, Stearman, Ultrabat, Maverick, Optica, Husky, Harvard, RV-6, Austers, Emerald, Chipmunk & Tiger Moth.
Its been fun.

[matspart3]

The 150 hours or so in my log book makes fairly dull reading
PA38
PA28
Robin DR400
Robin 2160
PA28RT
Zlin 242
PA34 Seneca
With a Stampe and (my new share in a...) WAG Aero Cuby being the only noteable exceptions.

That said, I've enjoyed every minute of it!!

Also been fortunate enough to have 'hands on' experience of
Mk3 Jet Provost - beautiful...loved watching the wingtip vortices is steep turns on a hazy day
Cessna 208 Caravan - aerodynamics of a housebrick put oodles of power, extremely versatile
MH Broussard - Lots of noise, not much speed

...and jump seat rides in
Boeing 737
Fokker 100
Falcon 50EX

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

FFF said:

SSD - I'm jealous, I'd love to fly a Waco!

I saw it flying over our hotel in Clearwater, and tracked it down to Clearwater Air Park where I found the pilot. He was doing joy-rides - front cockpit controls removed, and 2 passengers in there with him flying from the back cockpit.

I showed him my log book and licence and we talked tail dragger technique for a while (most of my time is tailwheel, mostly Chipmunk but also several others including varoios Cub types and Citabrias). I eventually persuaded him not only to put the front controls back, but to let me do the flying. After some persuasion, he even agreed to let me do the take off provided he was happy with my taxying.

He was, and I did. It was actually very easy to fly, with a reasonable view from the front cockpit even with the tail down. It had a Jacobs radial but a fixed pitch prop, and was quite heavy and stable - very like a Stearman. We flew out over the sea and the costal strip, but he wouldn't let me aerobat it (we didn't have parachutes, which he said were madatory for aeros in the 'States).

By no means an oustanding 'flying' experience - It's not a srpightly-handing machine. But a big open-cockpit biplane in those balmy temeratures was fun! And it's an unusual one for the logbook.

SSD

[Aerohack]

Not so much the aircraft (though rare and interesting in themselves) as these flights spring to my mind:

Antilles Air Boats' Short Sandringham (the one now in the Southampton Hall of Aviation) from Calshot late one summer evening, the legendary 'Charlie' Blair in command and his wife actress Maureen O'Hara as 'flight attendant'. Standing up with head in the astrodome, watching the glowing exhausts and the just-coming-on lights of the Isle of Wight and imagining I was aboard a C-Class Empire Boat cruising down the Nile. Pure magic!

Right seat in Philip Wolf's Beech Staggerwing out of Redhill during that very hot summer in the '70s, climbing to 10,000 feet or theraabouts and watching the fires burning below as we wound down the windows (itself a rare treat in an aeroplane) and cruised around Hampshire and Wiltshire, basking in the deliciously cold air.

Jump seat ride in the B-17 Sally B during a display at RNAS Yeovilton (strictly forbidden now, of course), with the late Don Bullock in command, Keith Sissons co-pilot. During one particularly low, typically Bullock pass I could perceive no difference in the view through the windscreen, deck angle aside, than when we'd been parked on the apron. "How low were we on that pass?" I asked Don after we'd landed. "Oh not very; there was at least two feet between the props tips and the runway." He may have been exaggerating, but not by much.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Jump seat ride in the B-17 Sally B during a display at RNAS Yeovilton (strictly forbidden now, of course), with the late Don Bullock in command, Keith Sissons co-pilot. During one particularly low, typically Bullock pass I could perceive no difference in the view through the windscreen, deck angle aside, than when we'd been parked on the apron. "How low were we on that pass?" I asked Don after we'd landed. "Oh not very; there was at least two feet between the props tips and the runway." He may have been exaggerating, but not by much.

I recall the Barton airshows C. 1979. Don Bullock's low pass in the B17 - all you could see unless you were in the front of the crowd was the top of the fin going past....

Airshows ain't what they used to be.

SSD

[Aerohack]

Yes, from the crowd's point of view it was utterly pointless unless you happened to be in the font row. Don offered me a trip in the Invader when that arrived, but I hadn't been able to set it up before he put it into the valley at Biggin and killed all aboard. A tragic and unnecessary waste of lives.

[Volume]

Flying the genesis glider was probably the most unusual

http://www.groupgenesis.com/images/Genesis2%2018.jpg

I´ve been passenger in the Convair CV-990 ´Coronado´ in the late 70s, the Sonic Cruiser of that time, the fastest subsonic transport ! Some are still existing, but none of them in airworthy condition.

[FlyingForFun]

SSD, I admit it, I'm a vain git who's sometimes more interested in the looks of an aircraft than how it handles. And all Wacos looks beautiful - they've got exactly the shape that a classic bi-plane should have! So I don't care whether it's "an oustanding 'flying' experience" or not! :cool:

There are at least two companies in the US who are currently manufacturing Waco kits - original Waco designs in almost every way. Way out of my price range unfortunately, even if I did have the time and space to build a kit, which I don't - and buying a pre-built one will have to wait until I win the lottery. I don't believe the PFA have approved any of the kits yet, anyway, so there'd probably be a heap of paperwork to do.

LnS, I said a "couple" of thousand feet, which is lower than a "few" thousant feet! :D Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about... I've taken a Super Cub to well over 10,000' before. (But only because the scenery was over 9,000', so I think it's allowed!)

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

[Whirlybird]

Oh I forgot, I did about 20 minutes in a Pitts too, great fun.

I also did quite a lot of flying in Welshpool's F22A when they had it, at least before I took up whirly-wing flying and couldn't afford to do both.

I suppose looking at my logbook would be sensible before posting on a thread like this. :D

[QDMQDMQDM]

FFF a few thousand feet in a CUb? Mine used to have nosebleeds if it went that high

I went up to 6,000 feet on Saturday for the hell of it and got a bit of the wobbles. Cubs are very skinny, which is nice down low, but disconcerting higher up. I think I'm going to have to train myself, though -- 10,000 feet next time and keep doing it until I'm happy!

QDM

[TheKentishFledgling]

Favourites that spring to mind.......

Pitts (thanks stik!)
Cessna Golden Eagle
Baron 58
Auster (thanks LNS!)
Yak 52 (thanks Lowtimer!)
Cap 10 (thanks FNG!)
Jodel D140 on skis
...and Cyclone AX3...but that was just scary!

Hopefully soon stik's Pushpak as well!

tKF

[Kingy]

QDM

Know exactly what you mean. I took my L4 up to 7000ft the other week (took a while) it does seem a little flimsy - didnt like it at all..!

Interesting types er..

Isaac's Fury - fantastic in the air, 'interesting' on the ground -particularly with a 15-degree ground camber and worn bungees! :eek:

Spezio Tuholer - only a few mins on this so far but great fun... (it broke!) Hopefully going to get it back in the air soon after a couple of years - can't wait.

Lots of gliders - K6,7,8,'10',13, Puchaz, Bergfalke4, Blanik (creaky)

Lots of stuff when I was a kid, Miles Messenger and Gemini, Tipsy B, Commanche260, Rallyes, Jodels and loads of other things I’ve forgotten - wish I paid more attention instead of arguing with my brother in the back....

Actually, I must be one of the few PPLs with NO C152 or PA28 time - never even been in one!

Kingy

[ChrisVJ]

First flight, Auster from Yeovilton, approc 1948.

Second Dragon Rapide from Heathrow.

Includes Dragon, ( pre Rapide.) Held together by open string stiching underneat, rattan chairs. Jumped out of it. Not considered as leaving a perfectly good plane.

Few others not so noteworthy.

Searey.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Actually, I must be one of the few PPLs with NO C152 or PA28 time - never even been in one!

It may be trite to say "you've missed nothing". But It's true. So I'll be trite and say it ;~))

SSD

[M14P]

Anyone else flown a Helio Courier? If so could how short do you reckon you could stop in/haul the thing out again?

FLS Sprint - not bad but basically no gain on a Bulldog.

Wilga - slow, ugly and fabulous

[ShyTorque]

Don Bullock's B-17 flypasts? Impressive? Oh yes, they were impressive all right. To a point. :rolleyes:

I watched him take off in the Sally B at a public air display at Sleap in 1978 or '79, I think. He immediately made a very steep turn to the left through 270 degrees and flew back across the runway, turning hard towards the crowd line at a ridiculously low height.

Yes, very impressive. Even more impressive was the fact that he literally dragged the port wingtip across the tarmac, taking off a good few inches of metal in the process and putting up a shower of dust and sparks. Fortunately he got away with it that time because if the aircraft had gone in he would have killed many spectators that day, probably including me, my wife and her parents. A mate of mine who had had cadged a ride in the back confirmed what I thought I saw and he said that he would NEVER fly with the guy again. Good decision.

When the B-26 went in at Biggin it was very sad but, looking back, not too surprising. :(

[Wycombe]

Logbook is all Cessna/Piper basic singles, but I've been lucky enough to passenger in lots of interesting stuff (for me, anyway). Those that stick out most in my mind are:

Heli's -

Wessex - one of the last, out in Akrotiri, sedate and gentlemanly, but very hard to fly well I've been told.

Chinook - an absolute beast, all those big blades thrashing around. Did one trip with about 7 Tonnes underslung. Whole thing felt like an airborne pendulum. Quite quick when it wants to be aswell.

S61N - it was very windy the day I flew in one of these, but you'd never have known it. Main rotor hub is about the size of an R22!

Fixed wing -

Gulfstream 5 - only a short trip, but Wow, what a way to travel

Ilyshun IL-18 (the Russian Bristol Britannia) - left more black smoke behind us than an B52 as we "beat-up" Bristol and Cardiff (on a jolly courtesy of RIAT at Fairford)

Tu134 - (the Russian 1-11/DC9) - flew from LGW in one of these in 1980, Airport workers were taking pictures as we taxied out (mostly because the airline was Interflug, rarely seen in the West in those days)

VC10 - a gloriously quiet and smooth airborne experience (because all that great noise is behind you!). Last flight in one was a positioner out of Teeside a couple of years ago - zero to 27000' in about 10 minutes (ok, there were only about 10 of us onboard, but impressive for such an old lady)

C130 Herc - "Albert" is probably my favourite, spent many happy hours "down the back" trying to get comfy or peer at those big props out of the portholes. Fantastic noise, smell and vibration. The view the guys up front have is fantastic. Took part once in one of those "Tac demos" you see the RAF do at Airshows - the most I have been thrown about in any aircraft :D but loved every second of it.

[SKYYACHT]

Sedburgh T21
Kirby Cadet Mk III
Blanik Sailplane
K7/K8/K18
Grob DG500 Twin Acro (Viking) 615 VGS RAF Kenley
Grob G-109B (Viking) 613 VGS RAF Halton
DH Chipmunk
DH Tiger Moth
SA Bulldog
PZL Wilga (Definitely a cross between a Combine Harvester and a Super Cub)
Citabria
Stolp Starduster Two
Bucker Jungmann
Cessna 150/152/172/182
Piper Tomahawk/Cherokee/Warrior/Arrow/Seminole/Seneca/Super Cub/Commance 6
Varga (US Built two seat tandem trainer, looks a bit like a Chippie, but with tricycle gear)
Dimona Katana

Blueskies

[Circuit Basher]

Was going to omit replying to this thread, as I can't remember all of them (and thought it was a bit dull ;) ), but here goes:

Gliders
Kirby Cadet Mk III (Dual/Solo)
Blanik (Dual)
Sedbergh T21 (Dual)
G109B (Viking) (Dual)

Powered GA A/c (Dual unless otherwise stated)
DH Chipmunk
Huskey
C172 (Solo)
C150 (Solo)
C152 (Solo)
PA28 (Solo)
PA38
Partenavia P68 (Pax)
Fuji FA200 (Solo)

Powered Military A/c (Dual/Pax)
DH Chipmunk
SA Bulldog
Whirlwind
Wessex
Lynx
Puma
Huey
Sea King
Chinook
HS125 / Dominie
Andover
C130
Hawk

Also SA355 (Dauphin) and S61 as pax when I used to do some work in the Hebrides!

[Edited a couple of times as I keep remembering another one!!]

[Genghis the Engineer]

Err wasn't the question what interesting and unusual types have you flown, rather than the complete list. I've no doubt there are people here with 100+ types in the book but it's scarcely rivetting reading.

And how on earth was Kentish Fledgling able to get scared in an AX3? Bored and uncomfortable I can understand, but scared?

G

[Fokkerwokker]

Avenger and Zeke (replica)


oh and a few others in between;)

FW

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Chinook - an absolute beast,

I don't think I'd fancy that. All those inter-meshing blades connected by shafts and gearboxes - if anything, anywhere in the drivetrain fails the whole lot will come down in a welter of splitered blades and tumbling fuselage. And these are helos that do really beat the air into submission - you can hear them so doing from miles away.

I once saw one flying over central London. OK, it's a twin-engined machine, but IMHO far less safe to be in the air over a heavily built-up area than the average GA single whose presence over the Capital's rooftops would be illegal.


SSD

[Aerobatic Flyer]

As a pilot:
Zlin 726. The nicest handling aeroplane I've ever flown.
Pitts S2A. Would love a go in an S1, but don't want to have to buy one first!
RF4. Less than 40hp, but almost as much fun as the last 2.
Jodels on skis.
Dagling primary glider. Bungee launched, to an altitude of about 6ft, which was plenty high enough!


As a passenger:
DH Fox Moth, at an airshow in Rochester sometime in the 80's.
Pipistrel Sinus microlight motorglider, with many-times microlight world-champion Philippe Zen at the controls.

[AfricanEagle]

Unusual : Zlin 42 :eek:
Different: Tucano microlight :o
Old: L-18 :)
New: DA40 :cool:
Exciting : Harvard, Chippie, Cap 10 :D

plus the usual Fuji, Cessna, Piper, Tecnam, Katana, Partenavia .....

Ciao,
AE

[sharpshot]

So nobody here has flown a Lancastrian - are you old enough Ghenghis;)

[stiknruda]

My first post was aeroplanes that I'd flown, this is a list of those interesting types that I've flown in


As crew:
Dominie (HS125)
JP5
Avro Vulcan

as pax:

the most unusual was on the fold down "engineer's seat" in the hopper of a Zlin crop duster!

Stik

[Dop]

Regarding the Chinook. I used to work on the fifth floor of a building opposite the Honourable Artillery Company on City Road, and sometimes Chinooks would fly in there, often passing our window so low we could wave to the pilot.

AND THEY WERE F**KING LOUD!!!!

[TheKentishFledgling]

And how on earth was Kentish Fledgling able to get scared in an AX3? Bored and uncomfortable I can understand, but scared?

It was just the fact that it was so bumpy, and shaky.

At one point, we hit a little bump, and it lost nearly all flying speed.

tKF

[White Shadow]

Glad Aeros has mentioned the little RF4.
A strap-the-wings-on-your-shoulders sort of aircraft.
Beautifully balanced controls - just think your way around the sky.
Wondrously graceful aerobatics....
Turn off the noise and whisper-soar....
Land on a sixpence....
My favorite, I think.
WS

[Dan Winterland]

Ah, the RF4. Owned one of those - cheap flying at £8 an hour. But you had to have large gonads to switch the engine off and soar it. P!ss poor gliding performance and no way of starting the engine in flight (on mine anyway). Got caught out once - landed in a big field, hand swung the motor and took off again!

List of interesting types and comments:

Gliders - 30 types including:

EoN Primary - Chilly.
SF26 - yuk!
Fauvel AV36 - very very scary, not to be repeated!
Nimbus 3 - Awesome performance, just don't try to turn it!

Some power stuff.

Chippy - Over a thousand hrs. Ahhhh, DeHavilland!
Jet Provost - Good kerosene to noise converter.
Jetstream - Quirky, especially the ones with that daft French engine.
Hawk - Ye Hah!
Victor - Marvellous - all that power, but bl**dy uncomfortable on long trips.
Rallye - as owner. Very underated but you could hear it corroding on a quiet day!
Nord 3202 - Vintage French military trainer - marvellous.
Bolkow Junior - Lots of fun.
Tucano - Spitfire performance and great handling.
Harvard - Nice, buy noisy.
Gazelle - A sports car that can hover.
Wessex - Like trying to fly a 2 story house while looking out of the upstairs toilet window!
Husky - Short take off performance, but then drag defeats power.
Robin 400 - All American designers should be made to fly one of these so they know how a GA aeroplane should be!
Slingsby Firefly - Nice effort, but lacking something.
VC10 - A British Classic, impeccable big jet handling. Should have done better commercially, but lost out to the inferior 707 due to Boeing's negative publicity.
Rockwell Commander - Nice.
Seneca - Horrid.
Cessenas Various - Hmmm!
PA 28s - Better than Cessenas, but only just.
Boeing 747-400 - Very clever, but very dull on long flights. Tendancy to eat too much!
Boeing 747 Classics - Less dull, more to do. But have to put up with abuse from an FE!


The worst - has to be some of the gliders, but a microlight I once flew was very bad.

The best - Close run thing between the Hawk, the Tucano and the Chippy. But DeHavilland wins. Ahhhh!
:)

[Aerobatic Flyer]

My RF4 had a big red handle that you could pull to start the engine in flight. As the engine had a small tendency to stop when it had had enough, the handle was quite useful!

As my previous foray into aircraft ownership had been a Slingsby Swallow glider, I didn't find the soaring performance too bad!

WS - land on a sixpence, yes.... just as long as you didn't want to take off again! I once needed most of Sywell's longest runway on a particularly hot day....

If the RF4 had had an extra 20hp, inverted fuel & oil, and carburettor heat, it would have topped my list.

[Dan Winterland]

That big red handle was an exhaust valve decompressor which worked on the right hand cylinders. It boke the pneumatic lock and allowed the engine to start turning, firing once the mag had been switched on. My RF4 had an engine change sometime in it's history, the previous owner omitted the decompressor to save money, so no amount of diving would get the engine to start.

All in all, the 4 is a great aeroplane, good cheap flying. I used to negotiate a 50% discount on landing fees as it only had one mainwheel, run it on 4 star and put Castol GTX in the engine (approved - honest!) which then went in my Fiat Uno after 25 hours!

I have a lovely entry in my logbook which says Denver to Boston, RF4, 30 minutes. A CFI in the States was checking by book prior to a BFT renewal. He expressed amazement - I kept quiet, allowing him being very impressed without telling him it was from Denver, Norfolk to Boston, Lincs in a motor glider at an average speed of 80 knots!

I've flown a Slingsby Swallow as well. Didn't so much glide, as plummet. :eek:

[White Shadow]

Aeros - have you met the RF7 (RF4 with clipped wings and more horses - a little Spitfire...))
M. Fournier produced some lovely aircraft. The International Fournier Club in Germany have a superb collection. Don't seem to be many around in UK now.
WS

[Whirlybird]

Well, I started the thread, and I did say "flown", but since it seems to have got extended...

A couple of jump seat rides to North Sea oil rigs, in an S61 and a Super Puma.

Back seat of Genghis' Raven.

I probably mentioned everything else before.

[CoodaShooda]

Health Warning: This thread is capable of inducing severe jealousy :rolleyes:

In the fleeting year of my involvement(such as it was),
C150B (razor back with manual flaps)
Tripacer
C195 (first radial and taildragger)
Chipmunk
Tiger Moth
Dragon Rapide
Thorpe T18
Wirraway
and I was too callow a youth to appreciate the opportunities I had been given. :(

(Training was in more modern C150's , 172's, 182's and PA28)

[Chimbu chuckles]

M14P

I've got a few hours in Helio Couriers, the HC250 to be exact...in 15kts of headwind I could land and takeoff well within the length of the piano keys on 14 at Port moresby. Used to enjoy reversing along beaches @ about 20' in SE Trades just to coonfuse the natives:D

Nil wind I would think 100m was sufficient if light.

The Twin Otter is my all time fav bush plane, with over 2500 hrs on type still the aircraft I've flown the most.

DHC7 is the only 4 engined prop aircraft I've flown lots...very much a 50 seat Twin Otter.

F28 my first jet...wonderfull pilots aircraft with the best speed brake in the business....lots of smoke and noise on departure too, a boys aeroplane;)

Fav jet is Falcon 200...like a fast, sporty F28.

C185...the SE aircraft I've flown most by a long way...what a machine!!

Nicest SE aircraft I've flown is an A36, I own one.

Most unusual...30minutes RH seat in a B25...bloody noisy but nice on the controls...much lighter than operational weight so probably bares no relationship to what they were like in WW2.

A few hours RH seat DC3....ponderous but wonderfully nostalgic...loved looking out the open window at that BRT (Big Round Thing) Interesting to taxi;)

Tiger Moths lots...they really are a crap aeroplane but just for circuits on grass a helluva lot of fun.

Chipmunks...lovely controls.

Pitts S2 a few hours (about 5) few things more fun for aeros.

Decathlon easiest taildragger I've ever flown... fun for aeros and more comfortable.

Memory fading/brain hurting:D

Chuck.

[LowNSlow]

Old ones:
Tiger Moth
L4 Cub
Stearman
Harvard
Auster

Passenger:
Tu-134A that brings me to work every month!

Favourite:
A319 (B767 in the summer) that takes me home every month - the Bloody Mary Express

[Final 3 Greens]

Dan

I have a lovely entry in my logbook which says Denver to Boston, RF4, 30 minutes

Could a Phantom manage (US journey) that in theory? - it sounds in the realm of the SR71 to me!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Did (work again) Leuchars overhead to Boscombe Down overhead once in 35 minutes, so I'd have thought so.

Secret's in the use of altitude, higher you go, the greater TAS for a given IAS. When you can go up to FL490 (the usual limit without a pressure suit) you can cover a remarkable amount of turf quite quickly.

G

[Aerobatic Flyer]

Hi White Shadow,

Aeros - have you met the RF7 (RF4 with clipped wings and more horses - a little Spitfire...))

No... more's the pity! It sounds like the perfect fun machine. In fact I didn't even know that there had been an RF7 (and was there ever an RF8?)

I'm put out that I never thought of Dan's 50% landing fee argument.... it never occured to me!:rolleyes:

[White Shadow]

Hello again, Aeros

Take a look at //cfi-ev.scram.de/
or search for Club Fournier International

Masses of information

WS

ps Just checked G-INFO UK Registrations Data
There are actually 38 Fourniers of various sorts on the UK Register
I just haven't been around enough recently ....

[Wycombe]

Sorry Whirly, but it did say "or been a passenger in" in your opening post, and none of the aeroplanes I've flown are at all interesting in the context of this thread ;)

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Fixed wing:

Smallest...........Mooney Mite. Biggest..........Airbus A320

Rotary wing:

Smallest ..........R22 Biggest........... Siskorsky S61

Most demanding to fly......... Grumman turbo Goose.

My favourite............. The PBY Cat.


Cat Driver:

[javelin]

Aisa I - 115 Paparra - Spanish training aircaft like Chipmunk

Beaver on floats around Vancouver Island

Visit to the Martin Mars (sadly only toured it and didn't fly)

Aeronca Champ at 11,000ft in wave - had been going backwards since 9,000ft !

[elmorejames]

Blackburn Beverly

Go on, beat that!

;)

[pulse1]

I'll raise you with an Avro Lincoln (noisiest), and a Percival Pembroke (engine caught fire as we touched down).

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Chuck Ellsworth

Cat Driver - did you see the program on the Cat on Ch4 on Thursday? It was stated on there that the Cat is 'difficult' to fly. I'd have thought, true to her name, that she'd be a pussycat?

One guy mentioned heavy controls and the constant need to re-trim, another said that becuase there were no flaps, landing was a problem. Well, I've flown plenty of aeroplanes without flaps and not found it a problem. This latter statement was accompanied by a film of someone holding a Cat off too high, then stalling into the water and bouncing up again.

What's it really like to fly??


Oh, and nice to see so many agree that the Chippy is one of the best flying experiences there is....

SSD

[finfly1]

A little stick time on:

English Electric Lightning (supersonic)
Boeing B-17G
North American P-51D

And flown about 30 other types, passenger in addition 35 or so.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

S.S.D. :

The Cat is not difficult to fly as long as you understand its habits.

Yes it is very heavy on the controls and constant re trimming when required makes it easier, but that holds true for any airplane.

As to hard to land.......... On land it is very straight foward and not having flaps does not pose any problem whatsoever. The secret to a good landing on the runway or grass is to land in a high nose up attitude, and hold a high alpha attitude until elevetor effectiveness decays and the nose goes down. That will ensure that you do not develope nose wheel shimmy which all Cats are prone to. Also the high alpha gives excellent aerodynamic braking.

On the water the Cat is very demanding, unless the touch down attitude is correct it will porpoise and unless corrected will quickly become uncontrollable.

The touch down attitude must be slightly nose high, you have five degrees of attitude change to work with.

To high a nose attitude will result in the far aft portion of the hull to contact the water first and it will slam nose down resulting in a bow wave popping the nose back up like a cork popping out of a bottle. Each occilaton becomes more violent and the third one will result in the aircraft destruction.

To low a nose down attitude is the most dangerous due to the fact that if the touch down speed is high enough ( 80 Knots or more ) the nose wheel doors can peel their skins and the airplane will break up, usually killing the crew.

Having said the above, properly flown the Cat is a wonderful machine.

I waterbombed for fifteen years and we did thousands of water landings without wrecking any Cats. As well as the waterbombing I have several thousand hours of other types of flying including airline flying with them.

Like all aircraft, fly them the way they are designed to be flown and no problem.

Cat Driver:

[Kingy]

Chuck

You mentioned that you had flown the Mooney Mite - what are your impressions? It has long been my dream to go buy one in the States and bring it back to the UK. I'd love to turn up at the PFA rally in one.... and G-MITE is still available - Mmm.

Mooney Mite Web Stie (http://www.mooneymite.com/)

Kingy

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Chuck

Many thanks for the Cat info. I've got a video of 'The Last African Flying Boat', about checking out the possibilty of using a Cat to follow the Empire flying boat route in Africa.

Some lovely airborn and water-landing shots. But it wasn't a good hot and high performer!!

SSD

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Kingy:

Two word answer.............. Buy one. :D :D

S.S.D....

The problem that pilot was having with the Cat porpoising was he had the wrong attitude.

Go back and look at his take off, he had to abort because he had the nose to high trying to force it to fly...he got it porpoising because of to high a nose attitude.

Classic misshandling of the airplane.

Cat Driver:

[wub]

Gliders:
Meise (1930s vintage)
Blanik (metal)
Bocian
K-4
K-6 (1st solo aerotow, ahhh! Compton Abbas)
K-8
K-13
K-18
K-21
Prefect (1st solo)
Mk III
T-21
Slingsby Eagle

Choppers:
Whirlwind
Wessex
Chinook (threw up!)
Gazelle
Eurocopter EC-135 (to bottom of Grand Canyon and back to Vegas)

Single Jet:
Jet Provost Mk5

Twin Jet:
Canberra (did practice approach into St Mary's on the Scillies, that woke them up!)


Tri Jet:
Trident
DC-10 (utterly horrible)

Four Jet:
Nimrod
VC10

Single prop:
Bulldog
Chipmunk
Beagle Husky
Super Cub
Auster 5
Tripacer (at night, landed with goosenecks)
Beaver (never landed in one, jumped out all 10 times!)
Motor Falke

Twin prop:
DH Rapide
Lockheed Neptune
F-27 converted for Fisheries Patrol


Tri prop:
Trislander (utterly horrible)

Four prop:
C-130
Viscount

Airship:
Skyship 500

Plus all current Boeing/Airbus/BAe/Embraer airliners

[Ace Rimmer]

Hmmm

Oldies
Luscombe 8A (there's an aeroplane that'll teach you to land)
Beech 18 (that'll teach you to taxi)

Newies
Q400 (bags and bags and bags of grunt)
717-200 (kinda boring actually)
ATR72-500 (nice manners)


If we can count sims...
Space Shutte App and Landing trainer at JSC (there's a toy that'll teach you energy management...glides in exactly the same way a brick doesn't)

[Aerohack]

Kingy: I have it firmly in my mind that some while ago — we could be talking 10 years — someone brought a Mite into the UK from the USA. My memory tells me it came as a 'makeweight' in a container with something bigger. It has never been registered here, but if I'm right it might (no pun intended) still be around somewhere. It would certainly be good to see one in the UK. To the best of my knowledge, apart from this one — if it exists — there's only ever been one M.18 in Europe, in Germany back in the 1950/60s.