Airbus A380

DHC-1 Chipmunk for me. What a dream.

I agree on Chipmunk, first and best piston plane I flew. For gliders, the Slingsby Swallow was the most maneuverable glider and could get into a thermal core better than any other glider I flew. Worst glider was Olympia 401 (one off prototype).

For me, the Piper Apache and King Air 350

1. Cessna Caravan (Supervan) with Honeywell engine
2. Airbus A300-600 (didn’t get to fly the 310)
3. 747-400

Boeing 757, particularly when light !
Chipmunk, Spitfire, piston !

Single PA28-181
Twin: Cessna 310Q

oh alright……..A350 followed by 777

Nicest handling was the premise. We are obviously not talking about doing aeros in A330's, but it flies beautifully. It is not nimble, but I wouldn't say sluggish at all - we never need it to do snap rolls or anything like that !
I would call it majestic.

But the FBW system in an Airbus won't even let you do aeros! When I was doing my B777 course, part of the first simulator session involved doing aerobatics (to highlight the difference in FBW philosophies)!

Hunter F6 by far and away the best. Every pilot that I know walks away from a flight in a Hunter with a smile on their face.

Had the misfortune to fly both a KingAir and a Grob Tutor. IMHO both were equally appalling!

Shrike, any of Beechcraft with the Bonanza type wing so Bonanza, Baron, Queenair, Kingair and I loved the Dash 8 200. It was a bit like flying a big Shrike. Loved every minute in all of them.

The designation for the new version was the RJX. And you're right, it would have absolutely been a world beater. They'd had enough time to refine the design and most importantly put way better engines on it than the old 502's


For my 2 cents... I've loved flying everything really, even the old Cessna 207 gave a certain sense of satisfaction every time you came back from the bungholes alive :} But I guess my absolute favorites would have to be the Cessna 210, Cessna 402 (flew the A, B & C models and preferred the C over the other 2) the B200 King Air and the BAe 146.

SSnR
I agree, the Chippie is a lovely aeroplane - IMHO much nicer to fly with the Gypsy Major than modified with a Lycoming flat six (can’t remember the model number and can’t be bothered to look it up).

Duke Elegant, now there is a blast from the pprune past.

Tales of An Old Aviator …. The Big Chill

pithblot

Never seen a Chipmunk with a flat-six - most of the converted ones have O-360s. If anyone's interested, in next month's FlyPast magazine I compare flying the only airworthy prototype with the only airworthy Mk.23.

G-IDDY had a 6 cylinder Lycoming engine.

Never saw it. What was it like to fly?

I think military aircraft have a distinct advantage as most are designed to be thrown about.
The civil aircraft with a military heritage can be very nice. The HS125 and Falcons are all a delight to fly. The Falcon 2000 gets my vote!

The 747-400 had just the right level of automation while being an actual delight to hand fly. I have no idea how they got it just right.
Conversely the worst thing I've ever flown was the B737NG which is an absolute pig.

I had fun in Grumman Tigers - quite nimble

I'd happily fly circuits, nosewheel up, retract flaps, nosewheel still up, increase power, take off for another circuit.

For night circuits with absolute nill wind, pull back power to 1500 on base and flaps, trim, turn final, and, not touch a thing until flare.

With the canopy open 20cm on a warm Summer Perth night all the way it was like a dreamy haze of perfection.

Grummans were forgiving (in at least they had a reasonably size elevator) - if you were a bit out of trim it wouldn't break your arm figuring out the landing.

Aircraft I'd like to fly again, Cessna 421B and Grumman Lynx.

The Hawk: like a toy. A chimp could fly it, though not necessarily as the military would like. Every pilot should be given a whizz in one just for the joy of it: to experience almost perfect control harmony and a sufficient amount of grunt.

Bigger: 747-300 - less ground effect, less flying wing on the runway than the 400.

Least satisfying handling, least involving: Airbus. Would they do it that way if they had the choice again?

Most satisfying rather than nicest handling would probably be the most demanding.

Gazelle then Chipmunk, last airliners. Nothing could beat the agility and power to weight ratio of the mighty chicken leg. A true delight. No real military use though.

Those who have not had the opportunity to fly a helicopter without a stability augmentation system have missed out.

Best L1011 worst Nomad N22

For me it’s the C210, C402C, C404 and PC12.

Nothing wrong with the DC3, best was the Ceres, then C Agwagan

On the lower end: Piper J3. As simple and pure as it gets. Reveals pilot skill in a split of a second.
In the middle: Twin Bonanza. The most stable IFR Trainer and its wing became the blueprint for the beautiful Queen and King Air
On the high end: DC-10. The intuitive CWS beats all the newer FBW. The Rolls Royce of airliners.

B747-400, final answer!

Airplane With The Nicest Handling....

All of them it would appear!

CT-4 is my personal favourite, longing to fly one again but such a beautifully handling aircraft

Surprised no mention of the Falco and its’ big brother the SF260. Feels like powered controls, really light. Aerobatic, but still stable. Fast enough, maybe 150 - 160 kts depending on engine. Just watch Vne if you let the nose down. Only difficulty is slowing for circuit. My preference was the old “buzz & break”. Cruise speed low over threshold, close throttle and pull up into a pattern that puts you at circuit height and speed for downwind, flap and gear, continue a turning base/final, level the wings just before the flare. Most satisfying when you get it right, don’t do it in front of a flying school, some instructors fear it may give students ideas. You can always say you were doing a runway check,

Obviously room for the Chippy and Turbulent, both great fun. For day to day liveability I have a soft spot for the much derided Aztec. Our C model, much modified and turboed for mapping photo had a ceiling above 30,000’, they will carry ridiculous loads in and out of ridiculous places.

There will always be differing opinions, depending on personal taste and experience. The C185 is a great bush plane, but you will work hard & use full control travel for serious work. The advent of the C206 changed the game in PNG, practically eliminated the ground-loop problem for new hires,but it doesn’t rate handling for mine

There has been a few that liked the Beech wing which is great, but I don't see the little Beech Debonair mentioned, it is a delightful airplane to fly, extremely well balanced. [even if it was near 50 years ago] !

Hawk. First solo aged 21. Felt like the king of the world. Memory stays so vivid. Turned out I wasn’t as good as I thought but omg that aeroplane. Perfect

+1 for the Chippie.

High Speed Low Level
 

The Buccaneer

Singles; Robin DR400; Fy it as a Glider tug in Japan, and, whilst underpowered when towing ASK 21's or a heavyish Single, the handling is superb. Only use a thumb and two fingers on the stick!

Multi: The Seminole is a goody. Don't mind the Chieftain either.

Car RAMROD; You haven't been taking your Medication again now, have you?:E:ooh::D

I've only flown gliders; the best was the Ka6cr. Standard Libelle was pleasant enough, although somewhat cramped. No complaints about the L-13 Blanik either. There were a few which I thought were awful, but that's somewhat outside of the terms of reference ...

Chipmunk
Jet Provost
Hawker 801

Vampire 5 and 9
JP4
737 200

Chippie for sure, B200, but where is the Pup 150 ??
And as for "I was waiting for someone to mention the BAe146. I have heard others say the same. I found it horrendous!!! Unresponsive, lazy, trim dependant." .... probably best you disengage the autopilot next time :rolleyes:
You didn't mention the roll rate for starters .. it's a very honest beauty to fly with a few neat tricks up it's sleeve.