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Post by mikebish on Apr 2, 2020 15:54:31 GMT 1
Right. Cant resist these games so here goes
Your first flight: the MAS Viscount pleasure flight whenever that was (73?) Previuosly got right to the front of a queue at a Speke Airshow for a 1-11 flight then got told they were finished. Not happy.
Your last flight : Qatar 777 from Doha in January. Second leg of a return trip from Sri Lanka
Shortest flight ; Abbout 15 mins in an Aztec after a Speke Air Rally. A freebie.
Longest flight : Have done Oz a few times so about 13 hours LHR to Bangkok, Singapore to LHR or Abu Dhabi to Sydney on Etihad, got upgraded on that one so difficult to forget!
Worst Airline ; Difficult but I did fly Dan Air to Ibiza once! Never been a fan of BA either
Best Airline ; Probably Etihad for the 13 hour upgrade mentioned above!
Worst Airport ; Manchester departurs about 18 months ago were terrible. Generally OK. Also a memorable (for the wrong reasons) stop at Piarco Port of Spain years ago. On the way home so no money for a beer!
Best Airport; Singapore. By a mile.
Worst Aircraft flown in ; The Dak to Leuchars was an experience!
Best Aircraft flown in ; Big fan of 787 Dreamliner. Not done a 380 though
Rarest Aircraft flown in ; Dassault Mercure. Gatwick to Paris. Think they only built about 10 and foistered them onto Air Inter.
Bound to have missed something somewhere! .
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Post by mikebish on Apr 2, 2020 15:56:46 GMT 1
Missed something. Only Concorde!
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Post by gerrymanning on Apr 2, 2020 22:27:52 GMT 1
First flight : Eagle BAC1-11 Speke -LHR June 1967
Last flight : Qatar B777 Doha -MAN Feb 2020
Shortest flight : Hughes 269 Hamilton Ontario 4 minutes June 1990
Longest flight : Vietnam B787 Saigon - LHR 13hr 41min March 2018
Worst airline : US Airways
Best airline : Any of the 3 Gulf carriers (BA LAX - LHR Business class upgrade, thanks Bob!!!)
Worst airport : could be any.
Best airport : Pyongyang North Korea, we were the only flight so no hold ups.
Worst aircaft : None are that bad.
Best airliner to fly in : A380, 9 flights and love it.
Rarest aircraft : Sandringham flying boat in the co-pilots seat off a lake in Ireland (with Viscount Brian) Also mentions for C-46/Ju52/Tu204/IL62/IL86/An24 and Tu154.
Regret : Missing a P51 ride in Oz that was very cheap but a grass airfield that was water logged!!!!!!
Added to Viscounts list : 672 sectors in 90 types with 50 different registration letters operated by 131 carriers and 2250 hours as a passenger in the air.
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Post by owensy on Apr 2, 2020 23:42:47 GMT 1
Your first flight: DHC-1 Chipmunk 10 AEF RAF Woodvale WK629 30 mins
Your last flight: A320 Easyjet Belfast - Liverpool
Your shortest flight: RAF Gazelle ZA803 did a circut at Liverpool the day after the Air Britain meeting on 17/6/87
Your longest flight: Boeing CC137 13701 Canadian Armed Forces from Lahr to Ottawa 21 June 1989
Your worst airline: None really
Your best airline: Brittania/Tui
Your worst airport: Lahr although not really an airport but it was poor
Your best airport: Sanford (Orlando)
Your worst aircraft (flown in): Thomas Cook A330 returning from Orlando. Horrible experience (weather/turbulance)
Your best aircraft (flown in): VC10 - flown on several tanker missions, a fine aircraft
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Post by Airbus A346 on Apr 3, 2020 10:32:00 GMT 1
Wish I could remember the registration of the Chipmunk I flew in at Woodvale. My second Chipmunk flight was from RAF Marham while on summer camp - WK574 of Cambridge UAS which ironically is the subject of the Airfix kit.
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Post by Airbus A346 on Apr 3, 2020 14:53:15 GMT 1
It was 31st May 1970 suspect it was WP790.
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Post by acklington on Apr 3, 2020 19:53:26 GMT 1
Your first flight: DH.89a Rapide G-ALGE local 15 min pleasure flight Newcastle Woolsington 1961, MacSmith Air Charter
Your last flight: A319 Airbus, Easyjet, Bristol to Isle of Man, 27 October 2019
Your shortest flight: Slingsby Cadet TX.3 XE806, RAF Ouston, 11 August 1963, practice cable break, 2 minutes
Your longest flight: L-1101 Tristar N756DR, Gatwich - Miami, Delta Airlines, 1st January 1993, 9 hours 11 mins
Your worst airline: Euromanx or Comed Aviation, probably Comed as it was only desperation that made me take a single flight with them
Your best airline: Pan Am, I got to tell them where to fly - A310 Airbus, Filton to Bristol Lulsgate and return, 1985 But otherwise it is Aer Lingus, give me a laid back Irish pilot anytime!
Your worst airport: Gatwick
Your best airport: Boston Logan (great photography)
Your worst aircraft (flown in): ATL-98 Carvair, 23 pax in a hot smelly broom cupboard at the back end, Southend to Ostend
Your best aircraft (flown in): Empire Test Pilot School BAC 1-11, IOM to Boscombe, low level cruise down Wales with air cadets
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Post by owensy on Apr 3, 2020 22:33:22 GMT 1
Wish I could remember the registration of the Chipmunk I flew in at Woodvale. My second Chipmunk flight was from RAF Marham while on summer camp - WK574 of Cambridge UAS which ironically is the subject of the Airfix kit. I still have my 3822 with all the logs still in, luckily
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Post by Airbus A346 on Apr 3, 2020 23:20:13 GMT 1
Regarding the Ansett Flying Boats Shorts Sandringham mentioned I remember it well for the wrong reasons. We - Ken Ellis, Cliff Woosey, Dave Price and Myself turned up at Loch/Lough Derg to find the aircraft but no flights were available. Very disappointing, we had to keep our heads down for a while as Mr Ellis was none too happy. Sadly Cliff a good friend and work colleague is no longer with us.
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Post by andyh on Apr 4, 2020 15:30:48 GMT 1
Your first flight: C.1984 (possibly the year before) - pleasure flight in a B206 Jet Ranger at one of the Liverpool Airshows
Your last flight : British Airways A.321Neo, Heathrow - Manchester, March 2020
Shortest flight ; Probably the Jet Ranger flight above or ZK-HML, AS.355 Twin Squirrel in Queenstown, NZ - literally from the bottom of a hill to the top - about four minutes in total!
Longest flight : If we'r talking non-stop, guessing Manchester to either Singapore or Hong Kong at around 12hrs 30mins.
Worst Airline ; Lan Chile. Worst airline catering I've ever had and flight crew that had no clue how to crack a smile.
Best Airline ; Singapore Airlines, without a shadow of a doubt
Worst Airport ; Jomo Kenyatta International in Nairobi is probably up there, though some of the Greek islands (Corfu, Rhodes) could give it a run for its money
Best Airport; Singapore. By a mile.
Worst Aircraft flown in ; A340-300 - the Lan Chile flight mentioned above was actually a sector on a trip to New Zealand via Oz. We flew on it in economy from Sydney to Auckland - incredibly cramped, zero leg room and little foot room either as I had the box for the inflight entertainment electronics, etc under the seat in front of me.
Best Aircraft flown in ; Best is probably Concorde for the sheer thrill of it and fortunate enough to have flown both British Airways (subsonic) and Air France (supersonic), although in this day and age I would say the A.350 is the most comfortable aircraft I've flow in for many years.
Rarest Aircraft flown in ; Most of my 400+ sectors have been fairly run of the mill aircraft - a stand out is probably an Antonov An.2 (FOLA pleasure flight from Liverpool in August 1995) - UR-70363 - the only eastern-bloc aircraft I've flown in. Possibly pushing it to describe the An.2 as "rare" given how many were built!
It's been nice looking back on some of these memories. Makes me realise I am very fortunate to have travelled as much as I have - already itching to get going again once restrictions are eased, though am not sure how long that will be. Not entirely sure that I'll be off on the break we have booked in Corfu at the start of September!
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Post by gerrymanning on Apr 4, 2020 17:10:54 GMT 1
Martin, ref the Sandringham flying boat. It was in fact operated bt Antilles Air Boats not Ansett a company owned by Charles Blair, his wife the actress Maureen O'Hara would sometimes act as cabin crew.
When we had gone to fly in it we again were told it was not operating as we were the only 4 pax booked on it. On the Friday evening before the "booked trip" the pilot a guy from Oz named Ron Gilles who had flown them for years and years said he could not fly it alone and hoped Blair would arrive from the US Virgin Island next day. When we saw him on the Saturday he said Blair had not arrived but would give us a flight when it came to the England. He said that he was going to do an engine test and we were welcome to come on board. Needless to say we did. When in the cockpit I said could I sit in the co-pilots seat and he said yes. As you can guess a flying boat has no brakes so we were moving along the lake with all 4 engines running. At one point he said 'sod it I have not flown for 2 weeks' he advanced the throttles and we took off. Me still sitting in the RH seat without a seat belt on and the other three standing behind me. We were only up for about 10 minutes but it was wonderful. He said he would have to keep low as Shannon radar might pick him up!!!! I don't think I will ever get a better flight.
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Post by kuga59 on Apr 5, 2020 17:01:38 GMT 1
First flight:See picture. BEA DC3/Pioneer Liverpool to IOM, 1959.( not the exact flight) Memories of the bowl of hard sweets being passed around the cabin and the decent over the cliff at Ronaldsway.
Last flight: Virgin Atlantic A330 St Lucia to London Gatwick. Flew all the way back without a cover on one of the flap boxes!
Shortest flight: 20mins Over London Docklands in the “Barratt” helicopter. Can’t remember what it was.
Longest Flight: London Heathrow/Paris Orly/Porlamar. Viasa DC10-30 about 14hrs. On the flight back the cabin was decorated with Christmas decorations.
Longest in time: London Gatwick/Bangor/Orlando/Acapulco B757-200ER Air Europe about 15hrs
Best Airline: Air Europe/Tower Air: The return journey of the above was as the seasons changed from winter to summer. AE wet leased a B747-200 which had been used on scheduled flights out of the US. We had paid extra for 3 seats for the 2 of us on the 757 + upgraded food and free drink. When we boarded we were shown into the first class area and served first class food and drink all the way home, this time via Orlando, with a delay for thunder storms of 2 hrs. Fantastic!
Worst Airline: BA. Only been with them 4 times. An airline run by accountants. Just a seat to get you there.
Worst Airport: Dubai. Just far too many people (was about 10 yrs ago.)
Best Airport: The new Istanbul airport. Wow!
Best Aircraft: Got to be Tower Air B747 or Emirates A330
Worst Aircraft: Ryanair B737-800. Was about 10 years ago but those seats!!! Flew from Paphos to London Stansted
Strangest Flights :Republic Airlines DC9-15 Toronto - Detroit. From takeoff to landing the first officer gave us a talk on everywhere they flew to in a broad Texas accent.
Most exciting flight: Ryanair B737-800 Stansted to Kristianstad and return. Upfront in the cockpit.
Special Mention: UK Leisure International. Gatwick - Orlando & return. Queued in a long checkin at Gatwick. After about one minute the 2 of us and our 9 month old got taken out the queue to an empty desk. We gave the man there our documents. He then disappeared. Ten minutes later he reappeared with boarding passes etc and said something like “thanks for waiting.Thats organised for you. Have a good flight”. An hour later the flight was called. We started queuing and was immediately taken to the front and was told that everything was arranged and we wouldn’t need anything for the baby. At which point they took the car seat and wheels from us and told us to pick up at reclaim. Then a crew member appeared and took the baby from us and told us to follow her. In the queue at the aircraft door she disappeared and being concerned we pushed our way onto the aircraft only to be told to go to the left right to the front were a sky cot had been plugged in and the baby sitting there with 2 crew playing with him. That crew couldn’t have done any more for us, and it was the same on the return. The flight was great as well.
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Post by Airbus A346 on Apr 5, 2020 17:29:03 GMT 1
Afternoon all, WOW some amazing answers and thanks to everyone who participated, enjoyable reading and a good distraction from all the gloom, also suitably summed up by Andy H .....
"It's been nice looking back on some of these memories. Makes me realise I am very fortunate to have travelled as much as I have."
I have tried to select my standout answers, what a job, and how to decide the criteria, these are the ones I have chosen .......
Post by ian531 Your best aircraft (flown in): DHC-2 Beaver float plane Post by kevmulYour first flight: Think it was a Fox Moth from Southport (Ainsdale) beach c.1973 Most likely G-AOJH Captain Johnnies pleasure flights
Post by viscountMy worst flight: African Safaris Bristol Britannia (1971), Benghazi to Nairobi across the Sahara by day, kept low by a pressurisation leak, thumped around by thermals. My greatest regret: Not having enough cash at an IAT for a trip on an East German Il-18 (they could not take credit cards). Mine also !
Post by jetdragonYour best aircraft (flown in): BAe 125-800 G-UWWB - I was lucky enough to fly in many other 125's - a great little jet. On my bucket list can but dream Post by northbynorthwestYour best aircraft (flown in): Ford Trimotor for nostalgia. Very nice Post by markmai Your shortest flight: American Eagle Jetstream from Orange county to LAX. I never got to fly in a Js31 sadly.Post by bulldogWorst Airline : Air Sinai F 27 Cairo-Luxor. Scary, pitch black ground, in days when people smoked on a/c. So full of locals all smoking. Food Ugh. Best Aircraft flown in: Varsity when in UAS Post by nstevo Your first flight: Elizabethan Ambassador Blackpool to Newcastle 1964 A true standout Your best aircraft (flown in): Boeing 707 of Middle East Airlines
Post by mikebishWorst Aircraft flown in ; The Dak to Leuchars was an experience! Were you sick ? I remember the DC-3 flight over North Wales.Rarest Aircraft flown in ; Dassault Mercure. Gatwick to Paris. Think they only built about 10 and foisted them onto Air Inter. Rare one there Mike !Post by gerrymanning Rarest aircraft : Sandringham flying boat in the co-pilots seat off a lake in Ireland Post by owensy Your first flight: DHC-1 Chipmunk 10 AEF RAF Woodvale WK629 30 mins Snap Your best aircraft (flown in): VC10 - flown on several tanker missions, a fine aircraft I am very jealous Post by acklington Your worst aircraft (flown in): ATL-98 Carvair, 23 pax in a hot smelly broom cupboard at the back end, Southend to Ostend Another true standout Your best aircraft (flown in): Empire Test Pilot School BAC 1-11, IOM to Boscombe, low level cruise down Wales with air cadets Post by andyh Shortest flight ; ZK-HML, AS.355 Twin Squirrel in Queenstown, NZ - literally from the bottom of a hill to the top - about four minutes in total! Rarest Aircraft flown in ; a stand out is probably an Antonov An.2 (FOLA pleasure flight from Liverpool in August 1995) - UR-70363 - the only eastern-bloc
aircraft I've flown in. My first An-2 flight was in Czechoslovakia, no seats, wooden benches down the side - probably used for parachuting.
Posted by kuga59
First flight: BEA DC3/Pioneer Liverpool to IOM, 1959.
Worst Aircraft: Ryanair B737-800. Was about 10 years ago but those seats!! Presumably pre lightweight seats which are appalling.
Please feel free to add your own thoughts, and a further challenge can you add any relevant photographs taken at the time.
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Post by ian531 on Apr 5, 2020 18:18:11 GMT 1
I agree, some great responses, But I thought we would have quite a few more Some real classic planes mentioned in the lists - very jealous of the Sandringham, VC-10 and the Carvair Ian My DHC-2 Beaver warming the engine before our flight N91549 DHC-2 Beaver, Currier's Flying Service by ian531531, on Flickr Ian
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Post by kuga59 on Apr 5, 2020 21:37:43 GMT 1
Yes Airbus. Many years before the new seats. They are much better. It’s great thinking about these questions It brings back great memories. Like an open bar at the back of a CP Air DC8-63 from Manchester to Toronto. Or a British Island BAC1-11 to Corsica with only 10 of us on board Or a flight in Venezeula in a Dornier 228 2hrs flying up the gorge to fly past Angel Falls to a small village/tourist dirt airfield.
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