Piper Cub - two or three dials that sometimes work, a stick, a go lever, some pedals and a door you can open in flight. :)

Sadly not old enough to have any real "back in the days" experience though! :(

Frank Fry,
i heard second hand has a very interesting project....think atar

HD

Can't believe nobody has mentioned a Maule of any variety.

You know, geeup, that you can get treatment for that problem.

Haven't flown some of the classics already mentioned, both old and new(ish), but so far for me the best was a BE55D. Better than the BE58 and lesser variants of the BE55. The kick in the back on takeoff was worth the cost of the flight alone (an IFR renewal a few years ago).

Sorry HarleyD...........You knew it was coming........How simple was the basic DH82 Tiger Moth

No starter, no alternator, no mixture or carby ht knobs, no lights, no battery, no flaps, no trim tabs, no radio, no a/h, no hydraulics, no brakes, no tail wheel.....................................NO WORRIES..........................

Nothing wrong with the good old C207, for some reason the older models seemed to fly a little nicer and could carry a lot better payload.

I happened to be in the right place to see some photos of Kakadu Air's MNN, when it was privately owned by a little old gentleman who had purchased it brand new complete with wheel fairings it did look rather dandy! Pity it didn't get a bigger can of climb performance installed prior to leaving the factory.

For tooling about into short strips and still reasonable performance you couldn't beat the late model Aztecs.

For true lust a Cessna C310R with some IO-550's, leather interior, colour radar, moving map GPS and the Cessna avionics sent to Sims recycling.

Not so much 'back in the day' as I'm flying them now however the Beaver is the most "real" aircraft. Ergonomics aren't even considered, but from priming the engine and using the wobble pump to build the fuel pressure up, you can't help but smile as the aircraft fires cylinder by cylinder into life.

Can't help but smile with every start up! Flying how it once was.

By the way, a few dehavillands have made the list!

Extra 300L and S are awesome aircraft, 500+hours on them and I still love every minute in them.

Chippie, beaver and T6........only one word for them, Great.

I have to admit I didn't ever think much of any Pitts I flew (sorry!)

I genuinely feel sorry for studs coming through today who don't have the time or inclination to fly something 'different'. They will never understand what it means to fly truly rewarding aircraft.

Super Cub and BE58.

Bill passed away some years ago --- I have no doubt that his treatment at the hands of CASA, extreme stress, and the assault of Peggy by a CASA "investigator" was a major factor in the rapid development of cardiac problems out of nowhere.

A sad end for a great bloke!!

Tootle pip!!

LOVE the MAULES!!!!! find a rock and we'll do a full stop and go on it.


how about a Pilatus B4 PC11AF MUHAHAHHAHHA

Lets see how the pundits go with that one :ok:

Westwind, 2 x -10 descent profile, hand flown, round dials and no auto thrust. now that was fun:ok:

I know.:O But I only ever flew it as a Glider tug. Agree about the Calair though.

Although I love the freedom of the Tiger Moth and the nostalgia of the Drover [as previously noted], the B747-200 doing base training in the old days would have to have been the best.

G'day ;)

Pa18-180 :d:d:d

What is a real aeroplane? I beleive it is the one that does what it is designed to do really well. In 1966 when learning to fly at RVAC MMB My first instructor (B. McInnes) suggested we had a choice of two aircraft in which to learn, the Chipmunk he told me was cold and draughty and we would need to wear flying suits, warm boots and would have difficulty in comunicatiing with each other. Bruce then took me out to the flight line and proudly showed me the latest technology; the Piper 140 Cherokee, he demonstrated the comfortable seats, heater controls and best of all he could wear his cargdigan and corduroy slippers in total comfort!
Having said that Bruce was a great instructor and a good friend and with the help of the great Roy Goon (CFI) sent me solo in 8 hours.

Although much derided nowdays the 140 served me well and I enjoyed every moment of the training, so in reality this aircraft did exactly what it was designed to do and did it well. I did get to fly the Chippy later on in my training, probably when I when was better equipped to appreciate it.
As mentioned earlier, there is really no such as a bad aircraft.

If you get the opportunity to fly a Prentice you might change your mind about your last sentence.

You are correct Henry, I have never even seen one but an old co-pilot friend of mine had flown them and I think he desribed them as "Challenging".:sad:

OBNB, I think that the phrase that you were searching for was:

"there's whuisky, and there's guid whiusky, but there's nae bad whuisky"

As far as aeroplanes, there are plenty of bad ones, however this thread was actually about -
Back in the day when................

and I thought it was perhaps about aircraft from a bygone(ish) era, the age of aircraft vaguely reminiscent of an ANT18 link trainer, twotter, DC3 -DC9, things like drovers, beavers, stinsons SR9 and even as sleek and modern as the C195.. mebbe.

No doubt the Pa 28-140 was a marvel of it's time, especially compared to cold smelly, old chippie, but it is cold porridge compared to the eggs benedict 'realness' of some of the aircraft that have been cited, especially the chippie in this instance, i think it to be possibly the best trainer ever built, so that at least should meet your criteria as being good for what it was intended.

I went solo in about 6 hours in a Victa 100, fond memories yes, fun yes, enjoyable to fly yes, good for its job of a trainer yes, but for all that the Victa does not bubble to the top of my list. the Drover had the smells and atmosphere hat evoked an older, perhaps more 'real' way of aviating, like a mittiesque lancaster or dak or something like that.

This thread is not about the 'best' plane you may have ever experienced, and I am very sad if the 140 was the pinnacle of a career, though I suspect this is certainly not the case, but, does it fall into the skydrol, leather and wrinkle black 'realness' that this is thread is all about? perhaps in your opinion yes, but in mine:.

DHC-1 :ok:

Cherokee 140 :yuk:

HD

Real aeroplanes to fit HarlyD's criteria?
 

The Hawker Hunter GA 11 and the Douglas A4G Skyhawk.:ok:

I consider it an honour to have flown these real aeroplanes.