Most interesting aircraft you've flown on?

Nissan doctor

Whats is the most interesting/rare aircraft/airline etc that you've flow on?

Blue Punto

I flew into the Baldonnel Airshow in 1986 onboard N4565L.
I was lucky enough to be on the first of two trips it was ment to take after it returned to pick up the second group a problem was discovered in an engine (iirc)and it didnt return which meant we had to bum a lift to the city so we could get back to DAP to collect my dads car:D

This pic is by Malcolm Nason on flickr hope he dont mind me using it but I believe I was onboard when the pic was taken
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanair/5472435136/




Then this year I got onboard VH-EAG,didnt get to fly in it but still a rare opportunity

Inside EAG by niallsaviation, on Flickr

VH-EAG by niallsaviation, on Flickr

kona

Blue Punto wrote: »

Then this year I got onboard VH-EAG,didnt get to fly in it but still a rare opportunity

Was that when it was in Dublin this year?

Latchy

Other then the usual passenger arlines ie, Are Lingus ,Ryanair ,KLM , Easyjet ,Manx Airlines ( horror show ) The Alouette helicoptor with the Irish Air Corp would be the most memorable and interesting .

Blue Punto

kona wrote: »

Was that when it was in Dublin this year?

EAG was never in Dublin ,I got this chance while in OZ earlier this year

kona

Blue Punto wrote: »

EAG was never in Dublin ,I got this chance while in OZ earlier this year

Oops Im mistaken it with the Qantas 707.

Nissan doctor

Blue Punto wrote: »

I flew into the Baldonnel Airshow in 1986 onboard N4565L.
I was lucky enough to be on the first of two trips it was ment to take after it returned to pick up the second group a problem was discovered in an engine (iirc)and it didnt return which meant we had to bum a lift to the city so we could get back to DAP to collect my dads car:D

Thats a coinsidence...my first flight was to the baldonnel airshow in 1986 aswell, mine was in EI-BRI, shannon execs sa-227:D



Some of the interesting ones I've had..

EI's last 707 on an ASI(I think) flight to knock.
Helijets Viscount during its final tour,
Omega air's Citation, N7070A,
G-BBAF, the caledonian tristar on lease to EI,
Iona's emb110 a few times,
and every aircraft that Ryanair had prior to the 738's with the exception of one 1-11:)

Blue Punto

I flew on EI-APG and ANO both 707's plus many of the 200 series 737 in the EI fleet and one of the 747's

Also flew on the TU-154 on four occasions (2 balkan & 2 Tarom)
And Aeroflot Il-62's
And also Spantax CV-990

One of my more memorable flights was an emergency landing in a Northwest Orient A319 on it first flight for the complany into MSP.Ive always had a preference to fly Boeing since then for some reason

radar0976

My first ever flight was on "The Iolar" EI-ABI at the official opening of Farranfore. My uncle was the pilot which made it even better.

L1011

I've got probably the most boring "list" ever, Britten Norman Islanders (done Aer Arann Island's entire fleet of these), a British Midland DC-9, a lot of Ryanair's 732 rustbuckers and a Saab 340 are probably the most "interesting".

The horrors of being born too late for properly interesting stuff

roundymac

A Beech 1900D from Windhoek to Swakopmund, we were given our inflight meals at the gate, sandwichs fruit and water.

shanman

My first flight was at Weston with Bob Levis in Piper Super Cruiser EI-ADV. Next flights were on Aer Lingus DC3's to Scout camps in Guernsey and Cherbourg. Most interesting flights were in a Polish Airforce IL14 and An12 at Krackow in 1991. Other Russian types flown in were An2, An24, An24RT, An26, An 30, IL62, IL86, Tu154, Yak 40 & Yak42

mobpd

Concorde : BA flight from lhr to jfk. Was truly amazing.

knockon

B707 - Omega and Angolan Air
DC8-62 (VIP Config) + 63 - Aer Turas and a DC8-73 Transamerica SNN - LAX) No really unusual then but now yes.
And all the usual modern stuff.

Trevor451

Last year, I flew on a 20 year old Tunisian boeing 733 before. I did not feel safe on it at all :eek:

stopthepanic

I flew to London, as a child, on a BA Trident, my ears are still ringing from the noise. Apparently I wanted to get out half way there!!
I also got a complimentary flight from Dublin to Hollyhead on a Dublin City Helicopters, Sikorsky S-61 back in the 80's.
Also flew on a British Midland DC-9 before they withdrew them in the 90's.
I also sat in the first officers seat in Eddie Irvines Falcon 10 while it was being taxi-ied to a new parking position and got to do the brakes

Tabnabs

Three most memorable for me-
AL 1-11 (very noisy down the back)
SAS DC8 (Accelerated down the runway like an F1 car)
Air Maldives Dehavilland twin otter (take and landing on the sea is an incredible experience)

With helicopters; a Sikorsky S-61 N into Cape Town in the middle of the night with Table Mountain all light up as the backdrop.

Davidth88

Bellanca Super Viking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellanca_17-30

I think it's still the only one on the G- Register.

At the time owned by a .com millionaire , we were at the RSA fly in in France and he took me up for a spin

Had a close shave because the ATC there quite often revert to French when speaking to a F- aircraft.

They cleared an aircraft to land in French , then instantly cleared us onto the runway , luckily my school boy french was enough to understand what the ATC had just done and I told the Pilot to wait ( he was just about to taxi onto the runway ..... )

Gave me the flying bug.

Blue Punto

stopthepanic wrote: »

I flew to London, as a child, on a BA Trident, my ears are still ringing from the noise. Apparently I wanted to get out half way there!!
I also got a complimentary flight from Dublin to Hollyhead on a Dublin City Helicopters, Sikorsky S-61 back in the 80's.
Also flew on a British Midland DC-9 before they withdrew them in the 90's.
I also sat in the first officers seat in Eddie Irvines Falcon 10 while it was being taxi-ied to a new parking position and got to do the brakes

Do you remember drinking coffee @ 35000ft with John and John

Nforce

Must unusual aircraft I've flown aboard was an An-2...though it was a one way trip and I wasn't aboard for the landing.;):D

Bearcat

not a word of a lie, one of the best days of my life was having to get to the states at v short notice. Company paid for me to jump on concorde. I nearly shat myself. It was a tremendous experience having a glass of cellar wine at 56000 feet above the subsonic traffic. We actually caught up with the sun as it was winter and we departed at 5pm. The one thing I recall is that is was noisey, actually it was like a rocket on T/O. Going supersonic I think they lit the inners first then 1 and 4.....whoosh. It was like the kick of an old turbo charged car......nothing at first and then this big surge. Relative wind noise in the cruise was loud. Most of the people on board were having light snacks as they were to be dining later in NYC.....me I tucked into the finest steak and more chateau wines. At JFK on landing the one thing I remember was when they cut the power it was like hitting a brick wall......the aircraft just quit flying. They used a lot of power all the the way down to the deck. I came off the flight with pens, folders, stickers, you name it. Crew knew I was on a jolly as against the regulars and made me feel like a king.......what a day, especially when it wasnt out of my pocket:)

A320

Not thad odd but I went on a testflight on a 737-300 after an overhaul!! it was cool and kinda scary at the same time!!!!

IrishB.ie

The most "interesting" had to be an Aer Lingus 330, unfortunately it was a Short, not an Airbus. Might have just been unlucky on the day but got to fully appreciate why it was called the "vomit comet" and "a shed with wings".

Bearcat

A320 wrote: »

Not thad odd time!!!!

great to see some here having a priveledged existence....for me a trip on concorde was a one off.

Andrew33

Urban Samba XL, cool plane. Have also flown on a Dan-Air 1-11 in the midst of a hurricane, interesting flight that one!

stopthepanic

Blue Punto wrote: »

Do you remember drinking coffee @ 35000ft with John and John

the plane was at 35000ft but the back row was a little further up!!!;)
Ah, the night the 'Coachbusters' were born!!good times buddy.

newcavanman

I flew on an EI viscount to london in the 60s but i was too young to really remember or appreciate it, i also flew in an EAS vanguard to paris in 1980, now that was a bumpy ride .My most unusual tho was coming back from L asked could i visit the flight deck. the crew were bang on and allowed me to sit in for most of the flight. As we descended over the irish sea i said id return to my seat, imagine my shock when i was told to strap in to the jump seat, and i got to sit thru a very bumpy landing on 24 . The crew were replacements for a sick crew and hadnt been to Dub in several years and asked me where was their stand, saved them looking up the Jeppsen etc . I think i nearly floated out of the cockpit when we were parked , only to be greeted by fuming, now ex-wife, who took the hump cause i had left her on her own. Miss the 757, not the ex tho

lord lucan

One of my biggest regrets is never getting to fly Concorde. I'd happily pay €10,000 for a one-off spin across the Atlantic in her. Bearcat has just made me extra jealous.:o

Bearcat

lord lucan wrote: »

One of my biggest regrets is never getting to fly Concorde. I'd happily pay €10,000 for a one-off spin across the Atlantic in her. Bearcat has just made me extra jealous.:o

Lord L, it was about 15 yrs ago. I can't even remember my first girlfriend buT by god do I remember every second of that Concorde experience. It was truly magic and to say yes I've been at greater than Mach 1 is some box to have ticked.
Cheers

scudzilla

Mine's gotta be the Chipmunk :D

Growing up in Wales i joined the A.T.C (Air Cadets), twice a year we went to R.A.F. Woodvale for flying, had a 30/35 minute flight in a Chipmunk.

I was lucky to go 7 times over my 4 years in the cadets, we'd ask the captain if we could do some aerobatics and 99 times out of 100 he'd agree, barrell rolls, loop the loops, stall turns, we did 'em all. By the end of the day the cockpit was covered in puke.

A year after i left they replaced the Chipmunks with Bulldogs.

One year they had a cadet of the year thing, and the winner got an hours flight in a Hawk from Valley, complete arse licker won it though :mad:

Run_to_da_hills

A 20 minute spin in a tiger moth out in Australia was my best experience.

rustynutz

Jumped put of a Let L410-turbolet over Russia a few years ago

Mission99

P51 Mustang "Old Crow" from City of Derry Airport -including 3 loops and buzzing the dual carriageway.

squonk

lord lucan wrote: »

One of my biggest regrets is never getting to fly Concorde. I'd happily pay €10,000 for a one-off spin across the Atlantic in her. Bearcat has just made me extra jealous.:o

Me too! Concorde was on my list of things to do! Back when I started working, Concorde was still going and I alwasy figured I'd give it 10 or 15 years til I climbed up the rungs a bit and got a bit of spare cash together that I'd book a flight on it. Sadly I'm only at the stage now where I'd have the available cash to pay for the ticket but she's out of service.

I moonlight on the Astronomy forum and while I love planes and always have, I reckoned my only chance to get a taste of what the guys on the shuttle get to see would be by going on concorde. I was looking forward to being able to look out the window, see a blacker than normal sky and the curvature of the earth below me. Sadly it'll never happen now.

These days I just feel particularly underwhelmed when I see the A380 and the Dreamliner being rolled out. They're not that special and not that exciting.

Davidth88

Mission99 wrote: »

P51 Mustang "Old Crow" from City of Derry Airport -including 3 loops and buzzing the dual carriageway.

Geez , ok , you win !!!

RadioRetro

Off the top of my head....
Aircraft; Vickers Viscount, Vanguard, BAC 1-11, VC10, Trident, Comet IVC, 707, 727, 737, DC9, Caravelle, Fokker F27 & F28, DC3, Dornier 27 & 28, Piaggio 149, Jet Provost, An-2 (present for landing), Cessna 172, Bell UH1. Loads of others that I can't remember.

But the most memorable was a De Havilland Dragon Rapide of the Sudanese Air Force, with the flexible cabin walls (single layer of canvas).

Airlines; BOAC & BA (one and the same), AL, Air France, BEA, Alitalia, Sabena, Iberia, Sudan Airways, Nigeria Airways, Ryanair, another French airline since defunct and which I can't remember the name of - three letters. I'm sure there were more but I can't recall them now.

And all (apart from two BAC1-11 flights and a few 737s) before I was 16!

IrishB.ie

RadioRetro wrote: »

another French airline since defunct and which I can't remember the name of - three letters.

TAT ?

RadioRetro wrote: »

An-2 (present for landing)

Where were you for takeoff?

gugleguy

Delta Airlines Boeing 727 on January 3rd 1997 from Washington to New York La Guardia.
Very hard braking upon landing at night. I had actually been scheduled to fly on a MD 80 but this plane had been changed. Glad I flew the 'three holer now!!

Andrew33

RadioRetro wrote: »

Off the top of my head....
Aircraft; Vickers Viscount, Vanguard, BAC 1-11, VC10, Trident, Comet IVC, 707, 727, 737, DC9, Caravelle, Fokker F27 & F28, DC3, Dornier 27 & 28, Piaggio 149, Jet Provost, An-2 (present for landing), Cessna 172, Bell UH1. Loads of others that I can't remember.

But the most memorable was a De Havilland Dragon Rapide of the Sudanese Air Force, with the flexible cabin walls (single layer of canvas).

Airlines; BOAC & BA (one and the same), AL, Air France, BEA, Alitalia, Sabena, Iberia, Sudan Airways, Nigeria Airways, Ryanair, another French airline since defunct and which I can't remember the name of - three letters. I'm sure there were more but I can't recall them now.

And all (apart from two BAC1-11 flights and a few 737s) before I was 16!

You forgot to mention the Wright Flyer!
No one likes a show off:D:D:D
Only pulling your leg:)

Nforce

RadioRetro wrote: »

An-2 (present for landing)

Chicken!!!

roundymac

UTA, prehaps for the French airline.

Nissan doctor

roundymac wrote: »

UTA, prehaps for the French airline.

Or AOM?

RadioRetro

roundymac wrote: »

UTA, prehaps for the French airline.

That's the one, cheers.

As for takeoff in the Antonov, I was present at that too. I was never in the habit of leaving aircraft in flight.

Sadly no trip on the Wright Flyer but I nearly had a spin in a very shabby looking biplane once (poss a Tiger Moth) but it went u/s and refused to start. One frustrated pilot and one disappointed youngster resulted.

pclancy

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

A 20 minute spin in a tiger moth out in Australia was my best experience.

Me too I've got .2 in my logbook at the controls of DH-82A ZK-BER. Always go up in a warbird with an instructor, it looks great in the middle of all the PA-38 entries. It was so docile in the air but the crab landing i expect is what keeps the insurance premium high.

River Song

I have got 30 minutes flying this, a Boeing Stearman plane. It was in Florida, at a museum. Cost $220, so worth it. That'd be the most interesting plane I guess.

Other notable entries would be "Blossom", the Pink Delta Boeing 767-400ER. It was in DUB last year to do the JFK flight, and I happened to be on it



As for rare airlines, I've had the [unfortunate] pleasure of flying on Strategic Airlines Luxembourg, it was contracted in at the last second to cover Viking's a** when it went under. Nice 6 hour delay in LGW because it hadn't left Luxembourg, had to stop for fuel in Malaga, another extra 90 minutes delay there, and another 4 hour flight down to Banjul, The Gambia. Loooovely. Horrid interior, horrid crew, not a nice experience.



Those curious about the Strategic experience can see more pictures and so forth here in my Trip Report. I'm shuddering thinking about it.

David086

Michael_E wrote: »

Those curious about the Strategic experience can see more pictures and so forth here in my Trip Report. I'm shuddering thinking about it.

Jesus that was some trip :eek::eek:

eire-kp

My highlight would have to been some crop dusting plane in Texas not sure of the make..im sure the man flying was going extra low that day to scare the very nervous Irish lad with him!

I just happened to be working in the field next to their airstrip and asked could I go for a spin for one tank..he was training up a new recruit....absolute lunatics:)

Flyer1

Hard to pick i've been lucky enough to fly a number of different types to date.

A MiG is probably up there on the list..... this one

This is next on my list to fly, should be an interesting machine, same aircraft type feauted in a james bond movie !

owenc

Hi here goes. A bit embaressing that i haven't been on a wide-body despite the fact that i've been to america three times and been to six us airports.. :rolleyes: But anyway..

The best aircraft i've been on would have to be the 757-200 with continential they are the best airline ever they make you feel at home every minute of it, they are so traditional and once you get on the plane its great with all the ptvs and food. http://www.airliners.net/photo/Continental-Airlines/Boeing-757-224/1877799/L/&sid=262d4c78c79dbe1ad42056226fed654e (pic of ptvs quite long aircraft)

The worst one is them dratty 717s with air tran they are pathetic. Constant whining from the engine... only two seats on each row... no head room so you bang your head and then they are rubbish with turbulence so when you hit one bump it feels like you've fallen millions of miles down.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/AirTran/Boeing-717-2BD/0075351/&sid=b539070a6111d885173903200f72c208 (how bland)

RadioRetro

Don't be embarrassed, I've never been on an aircraft with more than one aisle either. Some even lacked that.

But I prefer the smaller stuff, more fun.

LXFlyer

A BA Boeing 707 from Damascus to Heathrow via Beirut in October 1980 with a very steep approach into Beirut!

Also the British Air Ferries Vickers Viscount farewell flight from Dublin - a wonderful hour or so over Wicklow!