Lewis Garner Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Hi all, I just wanted to ask everyone really, what are their experiences with military aircraft? I think the closest i've come is a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, the civvy version of DH89 Dominie. A lovely experience, even better it being at Duxford! Apart from that the only flying I get in is with microlights, GREAT fun. Maybe stick a couple of Vickers guns on the side and have a dogfight? Best regards, Lewis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 You might like this then. She was landed on the beach at St Helier, jersey May 9th 2005. The sixteth anniversary of the Liberation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevpol Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 only been in a Dakota, was a Great Warbirds Airshow, mid 80's, very nice, a bit bumpy though! Mark :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Garner Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Nice! They certainly are a very nice bit of kit! I think my dream of taking to the skies in a Mosquito is a long way off! You're a lucky man Mark! I should think the noise was something to marvel at as well? :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Odd to think as a kid it was 'Deeer! Another clapped out Dak, why can't we have a nice shiny Viscount or vanguard!. :n00b: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Another one for the Rapide here. C130 HH-53 Augusta 109 Jet Ranger One thing though.cant stand commercial flying.Scares the s**t out of me.My brother used to fly with Gary Newman.Its what pushed him to take it up as a career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakey985 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 A long day in a P30 Orian out over the South China sea Many hours in Hercy bus,s (C130) and Carabo,s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotBed Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 only been in a Dakota, was a Great Warbirds Airshow, mid 80's, very nice, a bit bumpy though! Mark :cool: me too, best 10 quid ive ever spent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 The face of adversety,Dakota,Duxford Mid 80s:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Military Types flown, Dh82a Tiger Moth DHC-1 Chipmunk Piper L4 Cub T6 Harvard Pilatus P2. Stampe As extra pair of hands, Dakota, Rapide, Andover and Whirlwind wirly thing. The next flight will be in a Chipmunk that I have put new fabric on the wings and control surfaces. Helicopters do not fly the Earth repels them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sea Vixen in the late '60s, but although it is a good story I dont think even at this late date I ought to put it on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 ah, go on! I haven't flown in anything military, but have sat in the cockpit of the Southend Vulcan many moons ago. Great fun. I have happy memories of going in a Vickers Viscount to Jersey in 1970 - we came back on something else by BEA - type forgotten. Have also been in a DeHavilland Canada Otter flying over the Canadian Rockies. Superior adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Mil Chipmunk Varsity Hastings Argosy Brittania Herc Herc on fire over the Med !! Whirlwind Wessex Wessex hanging on the steel string Dakota Canadian government Catalina fire bomber HS 146 on pre Queens Flt cold weather trials. VC 10 Tristar Civvy Heron Dakota Brittania Boeing 737 Boeing 727 Boeing 747 Tristar Fears Snakes heights flying !!!!!! true but the pay was fair and it gave me a fantastic career and an even better pension !! TED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Elsdon Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Ted, sounds a bit like my list! DH Chipmunk (as a cadet, and still a lovely little thing) Loads of gliders, Sedburghs etc aerodynamics of a brick. VC10 tanker (as a cadet got to see a lightning refuel, 14 and it didnt get better than that!) Sea King VC10 cargo & Tanker Jet Provost Victor (In the Gulf, all the electrics packed up!made for an exciting jolly!) Ilyushin IL76 (a real shed, Sarajevo airlift, Estonian crew & adrenalin for all the wrong reasons!) Hercules (Hydraulics spraying me with fluid halfway to Gulf!) Hercules (Nose wheel doing a dodgy shopping trolley impression on take off in Italy) Hercules (I think i spent most of my RAF career getting a lift in one) Gazelle (They let me have a go....hehe!) Wessex Puma (Fast roped out of one) French Puma (Got out of Sarajevo in one!) Norwegian Bell Iroquis (Fast very low level in fog, just wanted out!) Tristar YAK not sure what model, three engines like a big business jet, belonged to UN, jinking about on the way into Sarajevo. The above isnt necessarily in chronological order, and never been on a plane on fire just under fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 But give me my Gipsy any day forgots the gliders can't remember that far back !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Numerous test flights in Cessnas, Pipers, Robins, Grummans etc, two six hour tours of 8th Air Force Airfields in a Grob 109B motor glider, RAF Chipmunks and Gliders, but the more interesting stuff includes..... Flown in... C-47 Skytrain Miles Falcon Major ( 1930's Kings Cup Racer ) Flown... Miles Magister ( 1930's RAF trainer, one of only three airworthy worldwide, and the one featured on TV series 'Dangerous Adventures for Boys' ) Steve Edited January 17, 2009 by Jessie The Jeep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Here's a few pics of the aircraft I flew in. The C-47, taken at Cranfield 1985. The flight cost me £10!!! Also there is the blue and white Miles Falcon Major, seen here at its home base, Old Warden, and also the Miles Magister, owned by the same pilot, Pete Holloway. I flew the Magister on December 17th 2003, the anniversary of the Century of Flight. Steve Edited September 5, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 In roughly chronological order: Boeing 707 Super Constellation DH Beaver DC4 Aero-Commander (I cannot remember what took us to Austria in 1971) Wessex VC-10 737 727 Puma And I cannot remember flying since I returned from Gib in 1980 to BAOR with a weekend break in the UK because of a flight-booking problem and no Air Trooping over the weekend. Is this some kind of record in this world we live in? Except, come to think of it, the Puma, where I was to act as translator / guide for a section of French Spahis (no, not spies! Pay attention at the back) that we ferried from one side of Vogelsang training area to the other in March 1982. And the 727 that brought me me back from Gib to Gatwick, a week later (about March 1980? It was the time PIRA murdered a British Colonel at HQ 1 (BR) Corps, Bielefeld and the alert state went through the roof) the British Caledonian aircraft flying the same route disappeared over the ocean. I have a history of just missing or having a close one just miss major disasters. But that is off-topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 My first flight was an interesting one and did something on it, that is unlikely to happen again in this day and age. It was a Boeing 747, I was with a small party going to take part in an event, QANTAS were a sponsor, so we had the treatment. Part way through the flight, in the evening we were taken up to the flight deck, when my turn came, I was told to sit quietly behind the Captain, there was a "slight problem". This was the fact that a GulfAir flight was on the same height as us and heading towards us! You could see his lights in front and I was shown the radar screen. A quick decision was made and we banked hard to port and descended to a safe altitude.....this was over Tehran. Being my first flight, it did not worry me as seeing the crew handle the situation gave you confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 My first flight was an interesting one and did something on it, that is unlikely to happen again in this day and age. It was a Boeing 747, I was with a small party going to take part in an event, QANTAS were a sponsor, so we had the treatment. Part way through the flight, in the evening we were taken up to the flight deck, when my turn came, I was told to sit quietly behind the Captain, there was a "slight problem". This was the fact that a GulfAir flight was on the same height as us and heading towards us! You could see his lights in front and I was shown the radar screen. A quick decision was made and we banked hard to port and descended to a safe altitude.....this was over Tehran. Being my first flight, it did not worry me as seeing the crew handle the situation gave you confidence.I hope you had plenty of legroom?.Flown three times on 747,s to the states.And the leg room was appaling.I like that story though Richard.I bet you felt a lot better sitting up the front knowing what was going on.Rather than being in the back with all the other cattle totally unawares.:rotfl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 My first flight was from Shipdham airfield in a Gypsy "Kangaroo" - a Tiger Moth split down the centre and widened to take 4 seats. Pity they didn't put a bigger engine in, as it lived up to its name on take-off...... at the end of the runway the pilot 'hopped' it over the hedge into the next field until it was eventually able to lift off :shake: I was only 7 but it didn't put me off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 My first flight was from Shipdham airfield in a Gypsy "Kangaroo" - a Tiger Moth split down the centre and widened to take 4 seats. Pity they didn't put a bigger engine in, as it lived up to its name on take-off...... at the end of the runway the pilot 'hopped' it over the hedge into the next field until it was eventually able to lift off :shake: I was only 7 but it didn't put me off Isn't that a Thruxton Jackaroo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan110 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 One of the most unusual airplanes I ever flew in as a passenger was a Waco, see http://www.wacoclassic.com/ It is a biplane that you can still buy new. Flying in one is like going back in time. Open cockpit and the wind really beats the hair hard to your head, I can see why you need a cap to be comfortable. I'd love to fly a Beechcraft King Air some day but it's rather expensive... Any pilots on HMVF? My interest in military vehicles is a substitute for my interest in airplanes as the vehicles are ever so much more affordable. Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Elsdon Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 My interest in military vehicles is a substitute for my interest in airplanes as the vehicles are ever so much more affordable. If i was considerably better off i would like one of these in my hangar, an Auster AOP MK9 a proper rugged little plane, nothing fussy, and easy to keep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I hope you had plenty of legroom?.Flown three times on 747,s to the states.And the leg room was appaling.I like that story though Richard.I bet you felt a lot better sitting up the front knowing what was going on.Rather than being in the back with all the other cattle totally unawares.:rotfl: Hi Mark, With my long legs it can be a problem, some operators plan the seats with more room, I believe. I have done the Australia return trip seven times now, all on 747. Regarding that incident, when we got back to our seats, I told the others about what happened, I think a few anxious people overheard me :-D. On the return trip, my workmate, who flies microlights, was commenting on how much the wing deflects after taking off and the woman next to me was about to have a fit, I had to tell him to shut up :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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