3 weeks ago ... a 1938 LN-65 Aeronca - what a thrill! Thanks Rogers!

BTW the RPM gauge was four times the size of airspeed indicator...

hopefully a Beech 18 next week...

C'mon ppruners - let me hear what kind of history you flew ...

In the early seventies, did a short term contract on DC-3's...and the best in the fleet (18 aircraft) was manufactured in 1936...and oddly enough did not leak in the rain.
Have no idea why not.
An ex-UAL bird, I think.

Can't beat the pre-war stuff but have flown a few of WW2 vintage:

1942 Stearman, 1942 Tiger Moth, 1943 L4 (O-49) Cub, 1944 Harvard and a 1946 Auster.

I only ever managed to sit in the pilot's seat of the former Strathallan Lancaster while it was on the ground. Still a wonderful feeling, sitting there with a handful of large throttles and looking out at a brace of Merlins on each wing. What a shame that she never flew again. C'mon Kermit put her back in the skies.

Any offers for a whizz about in a Mk9 2 seater Spit anybody??

I did my first solo in the mid '50's in a Miles Magister at Denham, G-AFBS, which was built in 1936-37. It was used at the reserve flying school at Woodley thoughout WW2 and now resides at Duxford. Hows that for survival?

I used regularly to fly a 1934 German Meise glider, of the type ued to train future Luftwaffe pilots.

1932 Spartan Arrow

What a loverly old thing it is too

Sir George Cayley

The air is a navigable ocean that laps at everyones door

WUB, sorry to say, no you didnt, cause the Meise wasnt even designed by Hans Jacobs in 1934, and appeared at the design competition in for what was to be Olympic sailplanes in Italy 1939.
There were well over 600 built during the war, and a few war built examples survive, there are no prewar Olympia Meise's left to my limited knowledge.
Sorry to spoil your claim....maybe you are getting confused with the Grunau Baby?

Like many others out there, Tiger Moth G-ACDC, but then she has been rebuilt several times in her long career, dont know if that counts!

Hap, Thanks for the correction. It was a Meise for sure, it belonged to a man called Toby Fisher and I flew it at Weston-Super-Mare. I just got the date wrong (old age creeping up)

Someone has just put photos on the Private flying forum of G-AAMY,(1929), managed quite a few hours in that and another DH60,G-AAVJ, both wonderful aircraft, in many ways better than the Tiger.

Beech18, (C45) G-ASUG, sorry, don't know when she was built.

1934 Porterfield. Apart from being extremely cramped in the front seat, it flew better than most light singles built 50 years later.

IIRC Beech 18 G-ASUG was an E18S. That would put it circa. 1955.

Privatly several years on J-3 Cub, professionally co-pilot on Convair 580, Captain Viscount 700 series, Captain lLockheed L-188...

A quick chance at a friend's Fairchild Argus. Unique in many ways and most enjoyable.

G'day

I crewed on PBY-5As, Grumman JRFs (Goose), Beech JRBs (D-18), PB1G (B17), A-26 Invader and I had several rides in TBMs and PBMs. Of course these aircraft were of WW-2 vintage but the flights took place between 1947 and 1953 so the aircraft were not that old. I guess the only thing that is old is me.

The oldest aeroplane I ever flew?

Pretty well anything owned by the RAF

I've flown IN (as opposed to flown) a 1929 New Standard biplane at Old Rhineback on 11 th July 1982.

And in a 1931 Stinson Trimotor at Oshkosh in 1983.

The oldest aeroplane I've flown isn't a patch on most of these, it was only a 1960 Cessna 150.
Five years older than me, and it was one that had a four-stage mechanical flap lever, like Piper's have.
Also had a pull-start handle to engage the starter instead of a solenoid.

Flown the following - 1933 Stinson SR-9, 1937 Lockheed 10A, 1943 PBY-5A.

18-Wheeler, my 150 was the deluxe version. Had electric flaps.

I own and fly two machines with a combined age of 130 years.

Anybody who visited Old Warden at the weekend would have seen my rubbish attempts at flour bombing/ baloon bursting...!

HP