Piston : Zlin 526

Turboprop : Shorts 360-300. Ugly but great to pole

Jet : Airbus 321. Quiet, comfortable, easy.

DC-8-73 great machine!

in years gone by, the usual answer was
the DC 10, being the only wide body that wasnt underpowered

The Stearman and Staggerwing have been mentioned - but I have a very few hours in the rare Spartan 7W and it is sheer delight. Control forces call for fingertip handling. :)

AMEN on both counts.

You strap on the A-4, roll to the catapult and off you go, just like a bird.

On the other hand, the Phantom rides down the glide slope line it's hooked to a wire. No fuss, no bother.

For a prop, the A-1, Skyraider is tops. Lots of power and stable as a rock once you learn to manage the torque on takeoff.

The Astra SPx, of course! Climbs like a rocket, sips fuel at 450, .875Mmo, good legs...

And the venerable Chippy.

Disliked A320 series and Dash 8. Like the 747-400 apart from crap seats and ergonomic nightmare.

Only flew it a couple of times but I really like the Auster Husky.

Miles Gemini and Boeing 767

Beech 18. Not the first 50hrs though! Built to fly not to drive.. :eek:

And soon enough the Basler BT-67.

The nicest/easiest to fly - C208 Caravan. In terms of handling qualities Cessna engineers got her just right. Perfect balance of control forces/stability/maneuvrability. Would make an ideal primary trainer, but for the operating cost...

Not so easy to handle, but my all time favourite - Extra 300. To quote the late Duke Elegant, "cranky little slut on the ground and a hard ridin' whore in the air" :E (o.k., He said that about a Pitts, but I think this description fits the Extra very well)

Pilatus PC-12 - a great blend of short field performance and decent cruise speed/range, makes perfectly smooth landings everytime due to huge low-preessure tires and shock absorbers. Perfect for short/unpaved runways. A bit heavy on ailerons, but that's the only caveat.

A320 - actually quite nice to hand fly (though feels a bit strange and "spongy" at times) and has a very comfortable cockpit. I have yet to fly a Boeing though...

Helicopters (if it counts) -

Hughes 300. very responsive, yet not too twichy. V eryeasy to control (for a helicopter), with virtually no innertia at all - it just follows your thought/hand. Not so nice for autorotations (sinks like a brick)

Bell-47 - opposite of the Hughes - sluggish, spongy, with huge control delays, very (I mean VERY) slow in crusie. Yet once you get used to it it's a real joy to fly, with unmached visibility thru the bubble canopy. Very benign in autorotations. More like a flying carpet than a helicopter... :O

Without doubt........... L188 Lockheed Electra.

Different classes, and different reasons.

L-1011-500; because it was the best all-round flying aircraft.

L-188C: perfectly balanced controls, tons of power.

DC-6B: because that was what made me a professional pilot.

Beech D-18S: because that made me into a pilot.

Auster Aiglet (like a Cub, but with inline engine); cos that's what I soloed on.

Lockheed Constellation/Prop [DC-6/7 close 2nd]

Douglas DC-8/Jet

It's less about the plane but the circumstance....Point A to B?

Walk out, hop in, by myself at FL450 reading a book, Oregon to Florida in 4.5 hours.

Citation Ultra.

R22s are pure fun though.

Piston: Loved the Chippy, The Beech Baron was a pleasure to fly but the Navajo, when trimmed out, was very pleasant also, had a lot of fun in the BN2 Islander, Beech18, another pleasure to fly but a pig on one.

Turbo Prop: Only ever flew the SC7 Skyvan, (The original 'Shed'), fun but very slow and noisy.

Jet: Favourite all time aircraft has to be the B747-400, followed by B767-300ER then B757-200, B737-200 & -300.

That would be pre B747-400 then?

Auster 9 and Gripper
 

Prop (unfortunately not VP). The Auster AOP 9 was great fun, even if slightly prone to spring a 'ground loop' on you - saw a mate suffer that on a carrier once in the S China Sea. He was helped out, white and shaking, with the sea rushing by 60ft below him. 12 psi tyres let you land almost anywhere. Climb performance required an adrenalin injection in the tropics though, especially in mountainous areas.
Jets - Trident, without a doubt. The "Gripper", once airborne, was fabulous. Not a huge rate of climb, but what a rate of descent! With 1 and 3 in reverse, we got 22,000 fpm once with a windscreen problem. Noisy and heavy on the fuel, but who cared in the days when 'security' was not much more than "You can't take that with you, it stinks (or wriggles or weighs a ton)" and .88 in the cruise until the first fuel scare.
Prober

Despite the over 3300 hrs in the phantom the first real jet i flew (i dont count the 4000 lbs dogwhistle) conquered my heart.:)

--- The "White Beauty" Norththrop T-38 Talon klick:ok:

Big klick

franzl

RetiredF4
 

I envy you -what memories you must have!



Regards
Exeng

Glider: DG-500
SE Piston: GC-1B Super Swift
ME Piston: DC-3
T-Prop: BE-18T (WW-III)
Jet: B727

Schempp-Hirth Ventus b, with wingtips: Yes, wants to be 'flown' all the time, but isn't that why we go gliding? Fantastic on the straight runs, too!
Cessna 404 Titan. You're perched high up with a great view, taxiing out with your side-window hinged up, listening to that lovely rumble. Lands anywhere. Loads of range, lots of lifting-capability. Only Cessna twin with genuine engine-out capabilities.
Somebody mentioned the venerable Kingair 200. Say no more.
Learjet 31a. Does everything it says on the tin, and more. Delightful handling, lots of power (not silly, like the 60, but more than plenty).
The day-job, oh well... good performance, I suppose.

Anybody willing to let me have a go in their Aero 145? Please, please? :)

Tiger Moth
Chipmunk
VC10

parabellum, bergerie - in my limited experience, chipmunk, seconded! (thirded)?!

first experience was aerobatic flight over woodvale as an air cadet:)

Excellent thread chaps and as much fun as the Concorde one.

Well done all!

CW

Franzl,

Did you meet/know Paul Day (Ex-RAF) ? He probably has more F4 hrs than anyone I have heard of. You might be parallel pilots except you need to have loads of Spitfire hrs as well !.

Best wishes.

No, unfortunately i never met him and never saw him live in the spitfire, though on yT.

Great flying there!

I might have similar amount of Phantom hours, but he has acumulated a uncomparable amount of flying expierience in combat jets, i think besides the hours in historic aircraft like spitfire and hurricane he logged 2000 hours in hunters and 1000 hours in the Tornado. And he is still flying.

Besides him i would feel like a greenhorn.


franzl

All time Fav: Denel Oryx Chopper (South African Air Force Puma body with Super Puma everything else). There's no substitute for that power.

For fun: B727. M 0.88 at FL280. I'm glad I didn't fill the gas tank.

For capability: B747-400. ATL-JNB at 396 Tons. She did it with a smile.

Warbird: AT6 Harvard. She keeps me honest

Nicest: J3 Piper Cup, then the L-188 Electra.
A300 as a workhorse. B737NG just for the money...

RetiredF4:

Paul Day's Spit routine is all the evidence one needs to disabuse airshow pilots of the need to pull +/- 6gs to impress the crowd! :ok:

Best overall B757 RR engines

Close second L1011

I hope someone is keeping score on this thread.

Worth mentioning: DC 9 51, Beech D 18 various models and L188

hi gents !

my favourite aircraft is the space shuttle. very good short take off performance and a good climb rate. capable of going above the weather, no need for flying around cb,s , that all with a serious cruise speed. roomy cockpit and a nice autopilot. the only thing is that she is a little tricky when you have to go around being on final. :ok:

keep on posting gents , and a happy new year to everybody !

Has to be the A36 Bonanza. Sweet bird.

G-159 Gulfstream 1 :ok:
(and an honourable second mention for the SD360-300)

It seems that the L-1011 is a favorite with quite many aviators. Unfortunately I'll never get enjoy the planes from the good ol' days.:{

Cessna 182A,
Boeing 757 (flew only 200 - RR Eng) and 767,
handflying them, as beautiful as my son and as well sexy as my wife!

dinophyler,

These are the good ol' days. The aircraft that you fly now will one day be in a museum or on a pole, for the next generation to wish for the good ol' days:ok::ok:

My turn :

Best Aircraft ever : DC3 - I learned 90% of everything that I know on the DC3. I learned the other 10% on the DH82 Tiger Moth:ok:

New Category....

Most Boring aircraft : F27 Friendship. Totally reliable, never let me down, got my initial command on it, but booooooring:zzz:

Regards,

Old Smokey

My first fighter, the North American F-100. I specified the builder because there are several 100s, but only one Hun. In 400 hours, it and some squadron pilots taught me more about flying than 10,000 hours anywhere else could have--basic handling stuff.

The C-5, of course. A nightmare to get out of the parking spot--truly a maintainer's full employment program, but could carry many things that couldn't be flown on anything else and a pleasure once airborne. Running a 10-man crew taught me a thing or two about herding cats, as a side bonus. BTW, funny happenstance, I flew both F-100s and a C-5 to the Boneyard.

The Global Express, my current steed. 12 hours at M.84, a reliable magic carpet. Flies beautifully, but few modern planes don't. Can't wait for the new cockpit.

Along the way, the A-10 was fun and challenging until the silk letdown, the Citation was a pleasant entry into corporate flying, the Sabreliner another pleasant NAA flying machine, if cramped in the cabin. Being an engineer on Mr Boeing's 727 was boring were it not for all the entertainment provided by Apollo 8's commander.

In short, I loved 'em all.

GF

I'm humbled by the previous responses
 

but here's my smaller-fry faves among twenty or so types:

Taildragger: Steen Skybolt
Mine was a 180hp built by my old Doctor and his lovely wife. I'm not sure I ever became a master of taildraggers but that little beauty taught me a lot about how to use my feet.

Small nosedragger: Glasair III
Pretty little thing. Fast & relatively easy to fly though landings could be thought provoking. Currently fly a II though with a bigger engine.

Light twin: Piper Geronimo
Souped up Apache. Fun and just deceiving enough to kill ya...flew in and out of a 30' wide and 2000' long strip in NorCal which refined skills somewhat. Thankfully.

Did only a few hours on the DC3 Smokey and certainly loved
every moment on it, but you couldn't do a nice barrel roll as
you entered downwind or a pleasant boredom-breaking loop
while cruising enroute like you can in the DH82! :)

Thought the thing just exploded
 

First 105 i saw in action was at George AFB me waiting on our turn to take the runway after a flightof 105´s departed.

When they hit burner, the nozzle split open with a terrifying bang, lots of fire and the aircrafts started to creep away. :\

franzl

Fastest - Connie
Funnest - Catalina
Heaviest - Beverly
Easiest -Jenny
Ugliest - Wilga
Oldest - some sort of Cougar

Oops, I thought you were talking about Flight Attendants.