favorite aircraft

[shell_user]

Hello, and what aircraft do you folks love to fly or fly in? I would have to say mine would be either a 737 or airbus 320. I always liked the F-14 also and have been to numerous airshows with my stepdad who is a commercial pilot for 21 yrs now and is ex NAVY pilot.

thanks for your info

adam

 

[Phishin]

P51 Mustang....That high-pitch scream as it makes a dive, and the roar of a low fly-by....is better than sex.

 

[stranger706]

I get to fix and fly on this pretty lady. They don't make them like this anymore.

 

[shell_user]

Very nice stranger! Reminds me of a small Lear Jet. I am probably wrong though.

 

[A_Harman]

SR-71. In my opinion, the most sublime achievement of 20th-century engineering. It could cruise at Mach 3.2 when other aircraft could only dash at Mach 2.0. Everything about it had to be uniquely designed and integrated to the purpose of building a Mach 3.0+ capable machine.

 

[shell_user]

Yeah, wasnt that the aircraft that we bought titanium from the Soviet Union to build it with?

maybe I am wrong thought I read about that in one of my stepdads aviation magazines.

 

[quint]

I can remember sitting in tech school in the late 90's... our building was about 200 yds from the runway, and every time one of the old Pratt powered 60-series DC-8's roared down the runway the instructor would just stop talking and roll his eyes and wait for it to taper off. The entire building shook and even from that distance you couldnt hear yourself think. I knew those days were numbered and those noisy old classic freighters would disappear...

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I am a honk for anything McDonnell-Douglas....the few DC-9's still chugging around, all the MD-80's still out there. Built like tanks.

 

[SaturnIonVue]

My favorite has always been the A4 Skyhawk. Just for its stance, and overall design.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
SR-71.

Agreed. It seems like everything about that plane is just wretchedly excessive.

 

[BobsArmory]

The Staggerwing has to be the classiest airplane ever built. But for modern aircraft I would go with an Aviat Husky. I just love those taildraggers!

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
SR-71. In my opinion, the most sublime achievement of 20th-century engineering. It could cruise at Mach 3.2 when other aircraft could only dash at Mach 2.0. Everything about it had to be uniquely designed and integrated to the purpose of building a Mach 3.0+ capable machine.


Agree. I finally saw it in person last year and it was absolutely incredible...especially when you think of how old it is.

 

[Boomer]

Always loved the B-36 with its pusher props and jet engines as well. Used to have one sitting on the air base at Rantoul, Illinois when I was out there in grad school in the early 70's. I wonder what ever happened to it?

 

[Drew99GT]

It would be cool to fly in a fighter jet, but if I could ever actually afford and fly my own plane, I'd get a Pilatus Porter. It's like the Jeep Wrangler of airplanes. I can't imagine how fun it would be to fly into all the small bush airports over the western US and Canada/Alaska.

 

[suspiciousmind]

Grumman J2F Duck

 

[Kuato]

The one I'm currently flying, whichever that happens to be.

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
SR-71. In my opinion, the most sublime achievement of 20th-century engineering. It could cruise at Mach 3.2 when other aircraft could only dash at Mach 2.0. Everything about it had to be uniquely designed and integrated to the purpose of building a Mach 3.0+ capable machine.


Designed on a slide rule, it is still the fastest airplane ever produced.



WWII: F4U Corsair
Vietnam era: A1E for props, A-6 for jets. The A-6 was universally loved by those that flew it.

 

[BobsArmory]

For military aircraft the B-58 Hustler gets my vote

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
SR-71. In my opinion, the most sublime achievement of 20th-century engineering. It could cruise at Mach 3.2 when other aircraft could only dash at Mach 2.0. Everything about it had to be uniquely designed and integrated to the purpose of building a Mach 3.0+ capable machine.


This was and is a great piece of engineering, particularly considering the vintage tech it was built with.
The XB-70 is even more impressive and is a design of similar vintage.
Very similar performance with much higher operating weight.
Of course, the one design actually saw service while the other was built in only two test articles, one of which was lost in a photo op flyby.
The other resides proudly on static display at the AF Museum on WPAFB in Fairborn, OH.
The AF Museum has a couple of SR-71 types as well, although one is really a YF-12, or maybe it's the CIA version, which preceeded that used by the Air Force.
The "YF" designation came from Lockheed's original proposal that the aircraft be used as a fighter, with the "Y" designating that it was experimental.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
I am a honk for anything McDonnell-Douglas....the few DC-9's still chugging around, all the MD-80's still out there. Built like tanks.



Love the Dougs.
We last flew on a -9 in 2000, although we might have flown on a Delta (ex Northwest) -9 last winter from DAY had it suited our schedule.
We fly on MD-80s regularly (Delta or AA), and we've had a few Airtran 717 flights.
The 717 is really an MD-95, of course.
We used to see lots of DC-8 freighters out of Wilmington, but not anymore.
Since Delta is taking all of Airtran's 717s (WN doesn't want them), the DC-9 developments will be flying for a long time to come.
AA, or whomever buys them, will likely run MD80s for some years as well, since there are just too many to replace quickly, unless routes and capacity are reduced significantly.

 

[shell_user]

Yeah, I always liked the MD-80 myself, never flew on one though.