old planes

[carrick58 23]

Speaking of Nostalgia , I can still remember flying on :

 

C-47 ( with seats) An Air America a/c ( CIA ?) From Saigon to Da Nang , Vietnam

C-130 s ( jump seats or floor. ( a really smooth ride)

C- 123 Provider ( Noise very High)

DC-4 ( More common name C-54 Skymaster) Alabama- Tennessee ( U.S.) ( Noise and oil leaks from the cowlings. Scary )

UH-1H Helicopters, UH-1B

OH 58, OH-58A

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2011 by carrick58

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Lucky Git!

[Hauksbee 103]

Born in 1938, I had my first ride in an airplane at age 2 on a DC-3.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Mine was a Bristol Britannia

 

[Ghost029 1]

Mine was a Cessna 172 that I left prior to landing. My first landing was in a Lockheed Tristar L-1011 on my way to boot camp.

[NS13Jarhead 6]

My first flight was on a Lockheed Super Constellation some time around 1964.

 

Since then I've done so many commercial airliners that I couldn't count them all. But as for miltary flights:

 

CH-46 (one "hard landing" and one in-flight fire)

CH-53

UH-1

C-130

C-141

IL-76

T-34

T-2

As far as I know, in the T-2, I still hold the NAS Pensacola record for heaving. During three half-hour dogfight practice flights, I barfed eleven times!

[carrick58 23]

I had a ride in a Cessna 172 also up by the Artic Circle ( My 1st wife was in the back with me and she puked. Not an enjoyable experience .)

Freedom Bird was a 707. Later had a Ride on a 747. 3 Years ago went back east ( Calif to Noth Carolina ) on a B 330 AirBus ? ( and it was a Bus people brought everything on board except live Chickens)

[carrick58 23]

Mine was a Bristol Britannia

 

 

Hey Widowmaker, what was it like on board the Bristol in flight ? For example, On board Treats ? Airliners 707 and 747 used to pass out dinner, peanuts, booze. On the C-54 I only got an Apple and a 7 up . On the current Airbus U bring your Sandwich unless flying 1st Class then they give u a Sandwich and Drink. ( difference in price was 650.00 U.S.) of course u board and off plane 1st.

[carrick58 23]

My first flight was on a Lockheed Super Constellation some time around 1964.

 

Since then I've done so many commercial airliners that I couldn't count them all. But as for miltary flights:

 

CH-46 (one "hard landing" and one in-flight fire)

CH-53

UH-1

C-130

C-141

IL-76

T-34

T-2

As far as I know, in the T-2, I still hold the NAS Pensacola record for heaving. During three half-hour dogfight practice flights, I barfed eleven times!

 

My Man !

[Hauksbee 103]

Airliners 707 and 747 used to pass out dinner, peanuts, booze. On the C-54 I only got an Apple and a 7 up .

On the DC-3 we got nothing. (of course, we were only going from Pittsburgh to Boston.)

Edited December 16, 2011 by Hauksbee

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Hey Widowmaker, what was it like on board the Bristol in flight ? For example, On board Treats ? Airliners 707 and 747 used to pass out dinner, peanuts, booze. On the C-54 I only got an Apple and a 7 up . On the current Airbus U bring your Sandwich unless flying 1st Class then they give u a Sandwich and Drink. ( difference in price was 650.00 U.S.) of course u board and off plane 1st.

 

I wish I knew Carrick!...I was too busy filling my Diapers to notice!...It was a flight from Singapore to London...with my mum...to get my British Passport sorted...my dad was working with the Foreign Office out there (or MI6 as they're better known)

[+daddyairplanes 10,253]

first flight in a 727. many a flight since in L1011, C-130(J model has hard seats. not broken in yet like the E's) and C-17 and a 737 trans atlantic. (whaddya mean no smoking in iceland after midnight?!?!?!)

[carrick58 23]

On the DC-3 we got nothing. (of course, we were only going from Pittsburgh to Boston.)

 

Same O on Air America s C 47 ( DC 3) CIA Must have been Cheap &^%$%

 

However, on the airliners the flight attendant 's wore outfits similar to these except the had a wings pined on Probably Delta airlines or PSA or TWA ? I cant remember.

 

http://youtu.be/35oy2Howz_M

Edited December 17, 2011 by carrick58

[carrick58 23]

I wish I knew Carrick!...I was too busy filling my Diapers to notice!...It was a flight from Singapore to London...with my mum...to get my British Passport sorted...my dad was working with the Foreign Office out there (or MI6 as they're better known)

 

We must have someone in the Forum that has flown on one . How about it anyone ? or knew someone describe a flight on one.

 

Edited December 17, 2011 by carrick58

[Wayfarer 5]

My first flight was a trip around Weston Super Mare in an Auster, sometime in the late-sixties/early seventies. It later crashed. My Dad always said it was the next week, but I am not sure that wasn't dramatic licence.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Wayfarer

[33LIMA 972]

First time up, was in one of these, circa 1977:

 

 

Last time at the controls, was in this actual plane, 2 July 2006:

 

 

First rotary-engined flight was in one like this, c.1976:

 

 

Last rotary-winged flight was in this actual bird, c.1981:

 

[SteveLohr 0]

In terms of "classic" or "near classic" aircraft I've flown in, mostly as a passenger:

 

B-707

B-747

 

T-34B and C

 

T-2

 

DC-3

 

UH-1

 

SH-3

 

C-130

 

CH-47

 

CH-53

 

Mi-17

 

Mi-26

 

 

Biggest memory? The C-130, as it was friggin' cold.....

[Flyby PC 23]

My fondest memory of an aircraft was a Wessex helicopter I wasn't even in.

 

After a cold and wet exercise 'sleeping' in CFO (that's bombs bullets and nothing but what you stand up in, no fluffy dos-bags, ponchos or cuddley toys). Having been 'tactical' up to our necks in rivers and bogs for two days we were all rather chilly, lined up in sticks waiting for our lift back to civilisation. Every time this Wessex came in for another stick of troops, we just happened to be in the location where all the hot exhaust fumes from the engine were being fanned, and all that warm air was a rather lovely feeling. I've often wondered since whether our NCOs, who certainly knew their stuff alright, picked our spot deliberately. (You can never be sure what's about to happen when Para NCO's are being nice to you).

 

 

Fondest memory of a C130 was being first man to jump, and stood in the doorway for a few minutes before the drop zone. It was very early morning, and the scenery was like the biggest and best train set you could ever imagine, with the dispatcher pointing out 'countdown' landmarks, and the best pubs and restaurants for taking his girlfriend to. I didn't know his girlfriend, but it was nice to know where the pubs were all the same. I was transfixed by the view, and my concentration was miles away when the light went green, and I got a healthy thump in the arm for go!

 

 

I've also parachuted out a Chinook which I didn't know you could do, but the funniest recollection of a Chinook was the first time I ever flew in one. We were out on exercise in the dark, getting picked up by Chinooks and moved to another location. The word came back down the patrol, "Watch out for the hole in the floor. Pass it on". Then five minutes later, "Don't forget the hole in the floor. Pass it on". Another five minutes, ""Remember the hole. Pass it on".

 

We'd all got the message about the hole in the floor, and after a while it was getting a little tiresome. "There's a f!*%"g hole in the floor OK? Pass it on!".

 

Anyway, we finally got to the Chinook, which was on the deck with the back door open, and lit with those red bulbs you see in submarine films. With one more "Don't forget the hole in the floor" for good luck, we all marched aboard. Through the gloom emerged this sodding great hole in the floor so big you could very nearly drive a train through it, which only left about a foot or so at the edge to walk around it. "Watch out for that fkn hole in the floor!" says me, only this time I really, really meant it.

[von Baur 54]

My first static line and my first HALO jumps were both from C-123's (several years apart). Other military jumps were made from:

C-7 (H)

C-130 (SL/H)

C-141 (SL/H)

CH-3 (SL/H)

UH-1 (H)...ok, it was a demo jump, but it was my unit jumping into an airshow at Langley AFB, VA, so I'm counting it as a military jump

 

Sport jump platforms were:

Cessnas from 172-206 (206 had a 4' wide "barn door", excellent for getting everybody out quick)

Twin Otter

Twin Beech

DC-3

C-7

C-123

C-130

CH-3

UH-1 (outstanding RW platform...with those big doors open and the front half-doors removed you could unass 12 skydivers in an instant )

 

Rides (yes, I actually landed on the plane sometimes), other than those already mentioned:

O-2

OV-10 (this almost became a jump platform but the Air Force cancelled the test at the last minute )

OH-58 (CW-3 pilot was crazier than me )

Ch-47 (I don't remember a hole in mine..I think those could be covered and were only opened when the chopper was going to be slinging something, but I won't swear to it...anybody with more knowledge of the subject care to clear that up?)

Leer Jet (not sure of the model, but it was cool..VIP transoprt sent to take the team I was on back home from a mission )

Boeing 707, 727, 737

DC-9, 10

couple of puddle-jumpers, can't remember the tyes these days

 

Since getting and playing around with FS-X I've decided that once I retire I'm going to buy an Ultralight and start putting some air under my butt again.

[carrick58 23]

What an Impressive Group !

[Bullethead 12]

 

My 1st flight was in 1965 at the age of 2.5 in a Bell 47 helicopter. This was my only helicopter ride until I was an adult and the only one I ever enjoyed, because they was before they killed so many of my friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_47

 

On the old "classic" prop airliner side of things, I've flown in:

• Convair 240, 340, 440, both piston and turboprop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_CV-240_family
• DC-4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC-4, DC-6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC-6, DC-7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC-7, again both piston and turboprop versions.
• DeHaviland Dragon Rapide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_rapide (at Duxford, ended in emergency landing, but I've got the certificate showing I survived the flight )

One of the great regrets of my life is that I never got to ride a Constellation or a Vicount .

 

I've also flown in PBYs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBY and Grumman Geese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_Goose. This happened in the early 70s when I lived in New Orleans and my father ran all the Shell oilfields in Lousy Anna. They used these planes to fly around to various locations out in the swamps before there were roads to them, and sometimes he'd have to go out on weekends and I got to tag along. This was quite adventurous because they were flying out of rare (and rather short) straight stretches of narrow bayous with miles of cypress swamp on both sides and at the ends, so it was always a question of being able to clear the trees. Also, the planes were always hitting drifting logs. This gave them so many holes in the bottom that they couldn't stay down long. In fact, they never stopped moving while on the water for fear they'd either sink or get too heavy to take off again. You'd land and as the plane turned around at the end of the straightaway, you'd jump into a boat that had maneuvered alongside, and before you'd reached the dock, the plane was disappearing just over the treetops with water pouring out of it. Same routine in reverse when you left. But those days are long gone now. When Viet Nam ended, scads of surplus Huey helicopters became available and they took over oilfield personnel transportation.

 

While in the Corps, most of my flights were in chartered civilian airliners, but I did have the misfortune to ride in C-130s and C-141s occasionally. In fact, one of the more memorable trips of my life was in a C-141 from Cherry Point NAS to Jubail, Magic Kingdom. We left about 0800 on 24 December and arrived about 1000 local time 25 December. En route, we blew 8 tires landing in Torejon, Spain so were delayed there about 6 hours and didn't get going again until about 0100 local time Xmas day. Then we got chased from Sardinia to Sicily by Lybian MiGs until the CVBG boys got their act together and ran them off, flew over the Pyramids, and did an assault landing in Saudi during a Scud attack warning, so it was bailing out the back ramp onto the hood of a truck chasing us down the runway, then bailing off the truck into a trench beside a taxiway. Neither vehicle stopped. Good thing I'd done similar things as a child in the swamps .

 

When I've been the pilot, I've never flown anything old apart from Schwietzer 233 gliders http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer_SGS_2-33A. However, I did survive learning to fly in a Piper Traumahawk, which I guess is worth some bragging rights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shiloh 12]

Born in 1938, I had my first ride in an airplane at age 2 on a DC-3.

 

Did you ever watch Ice Pilots? They fly the DC-3 up in the northwest territory of Canada.

[hood 2]

My first flight was in a C47 over the Owen Stanley's for the first Australian airborne attack on Lae ,New Guinea i943

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

As I've mentioned in this forum before, my first flight was in a Stearman at about age 9 or 10 and I've been hooked on open cockpits ever since. Done a bit of UL flying to that end. In the USAF I had some time in the RC-135, EC-135, and a short flight in an EC-47 where I got to take the right hand seat for about 30 minutes. Also took hops in the Galaxy C-5 and C-130 Herc. Commercial aircraft too numerous to list or remember. I've also sat in the cockpits of an SE5a, Sopwith Camel, Alb DVa, Nieuport 28, SPAD 13, and numerous other WWI and early era planes, most of which escape me at this early hour of the morning.

...must...have...more...coffee...

 

.

[Flyby PC 23]

I addition to the planes I have sat in, an ambition of mine is to fly the seat of a Fairey Swordfish where my father sat as wireless operator.

 

Working on it ....