Have you flown in a vintage aeroplane?

[Guttersnipe]

I've been for a ride in this plane once:

 

[Jackanapes]

Flew the Schweizer 233 sailplane many times. She's an oldie but a goodie...

 

[DesertDan]

I have been up in a glider that looked like that, it was even the same color, I don't know if it was the same model.
My step father took me to a airfield outside of Dallas where they offered glider rides, It was a fantastic experience that I will never forget. It was the only time I have ever been in an unpowered aircraft and I can see how someone could easily fall in love with flying gliders.

 

[Mayor La Trivia]

The first plane that I flew in as a kid was a Norseman on floats. It wasn't vintage then, but it is now.

 

[loosebolts]

I had a ride stearman and took a spin in the B-24 liberator "All American." it was a heck of a sight to be in the top turret flying along the California coast line while the sun set looking over four Pratt & Whitany engines and the pacific... no mitsubishi's showed up.

 

[Freightpilot]

I don't know what you classify as Vintage. Old airplanes are kind of an occupational hazard for me. These are some of the older ones off of the top of my head and in no particular order.

DC-3's 4's 6's
Convair 580
B707
B747
B-52
Stearman
DCH-2
L-5
L-19
0-2
BE-18
SA26
SA226
BE90
BE-35
T-34
Taylorcraft
Snow S-2B
Globe Swift
NA-154
Funk B
J-3
J-4
PA-12
PA-18
PA-22
PA-24
PA-25
PA-28
PA-31
CAP-10
TR-2
C-120
C-140
C-170
C-172
C-177B
C-180
C-182
C-185
C-210A
C-310 / U-3A
C-401A
CE-208 (not really vintage But have quite a few hours in one of the first two sold)

Probably a few others if I think hard enough.

 

[GHT]

I too, am not sure what you classify as vintage. This is a post that I did for the favourite aircraft thread:

De Havilland Chipmunk.
It may not be as romantic as the other choices on this thread, but I absolutely love this little aircraft. The joining age for The ATC that's Air Training Corps, or RAF cadets, as they were sometimes called, was eleven, I think, although it might have been twelve, but as soon as I was of the correct age, I was in.
Twice a year, sometimes more, we would spend a week at one of the RAF bases, where we polished our military skills. Among them was flying. As soon as the plane was airborne, you would be invited to take over. I never did know how much the pilot was involved, but I do remember the aircraft's response as I banked, first one way and then the other. Wow! I feel like I am that young teenager again.
The de Havilland Chipmunk was originally designed as a post World War II primary trainer, a replacement for the venerable de Havilland Tiger Moth training biplane used by the air forces of the British Commonwealth throughout World War II.
View attachment 4980
Original de Havilland Chipmunk
The Chipmunk was an all-metal, low wing, tandem two-place, single engine airplane with a conventional tail wheel landing gear. It had fabric-covered control surfaces and a clear plastic canopy covering the pilot and passenger/student positions. The production versions of the airplane were powered by a 145 hp in-line de Havilland Gipsy Major "8" engine.

One of the best treats I had during my time in the ATC was to win a flight in a plane called A Twin Engined Meteor. It was a training aircraft, I can't remember much about the plane, I've looked it up on the internet, The Gloster Meteor looks very familiar, but I just can't remember. The year was 1959, so perhaps military aircraft aficionados may switch the light on in my head. I do remember the ten minute flight, the amazing thrust on take off, reaching 30 thousand feet in about three minutes, I realised then, why my pre-flight medical was so vital. But what an absolute experience for a young tenage boy.

 

[DesertDan]

Off topic a bit; I was surprised to find that by and large it is cheaper to buy a ship that even a small airplane.

 

[cw3pa]

A DC-3 when I was a kid. Operated by Allegheny Air. If you don't count having to land with the airplane; five short one way trips in C-119s when in jump school.

 

[p51]

There is no silence quite so silent as when your only airplane engine quits running before you want it to.

Amen to that. Beats me which is worse, that or the prop coming apart and the engine screaming at full throttle and lack of resistance from the missing prop. The agenda at that point with a helicopter is:
A. Crash
B. Burn
Still, I'd think silence would be more unnerving. All I know is I still have nightmares of that screaming sound and the feeling of weightlessness for a moment. What happened next, I don't write about or talk about often.

 

[Dan Allen]

I mentioned flying around the southwest with my father in an old ex military L21. I just recently found a picture of him while visiting my Mother and scanned it

 

[Flash]

In B-25 Mitchell a few years ago.

 

[hatguy1]

PT-17 Stearman, J-3 Cub, Cessna 120, O-1 Bird Dog, 1951 V-tail Bonanza, B-17G....

 

[Sapphire]

Vintage aeroplane? These come to my mind:

- DC-3 of Dutch Dakota Association out of Bitburg and Luxembourg
- DC-4 of South African Airways when it was in Berlin for the airlift anniversary
- DH104 Dove out of Goodwood
- DH-89A Dragon Rapide out of Goodwood

And not sure if these turboprops count as vintage as well:
- Handley Page Jetstream (still with the Astazou engines) out of Cranfield
- Fokker F27 out of Southampton, Guernsey, Berlin and Muenster
- HS 748 out of Iqaluit and Pangnirtung

For mid September 2001 I had an invitation to fly on a DC-6 in Alaska. Needless to say that this opportunity was void after 9/11...

 

[Orvil Newton]

Define "Vintage". The Cessna I earned my pilot's certificate in was easily 50 years old; and that was ten years ago.

 

[Jaxworx]

Define "Vintage". The Cessna I earned my pilot's certificate in was easily 50 years old; and that was ten years ago.

Does an AT-6 Texan count?

 

[MikeKardec]

I've flown in Otter and Beaver float planes in Australia and the West Indies. There was something really small where I sat inside but behind the pilot (not a Cub) and when the wind blew (you could hear it) it seemed like we stopped moving. As a kid I flew on Twin turbo prop Convairs all over the Southwest, usually Albuquerque to Grants to Farmington to Durango, CO ... a flight they called the "Vomit Comet" because it was constantly bucking thermals and never got much altitude. They would dodge through summer thunderstorms like fighter planes. I get quite motion sick so none of this was very fun. Planes are like ships, I'm fascinated by them but I'd rather drive!

 

[John J]

we had 2 vintage aircraft in the family. My stepfather is a pilot and airplane owner. actually all the guys (stepfather and 3 brothers)in the family are private pilots and one has a rotary wing Lic too. the only Non Pilot is Me.

I was a flight engineer in the Navy and did take flying lessons a few years ago But being honest I was pretty bored with just cruising around doing nothing but burning $$ of fuel and the cross country /traveling aspect of civil aviation is not cost effective anymore so I stopped flying..

I was a serious Diver and underwater guy. anyway my stepfather had several older aircraft and one of his buddies had a rare one . I've flown in all three

1942 Taylor Craft L2 , 1948 Ryan Navion, and a 1938 Messerschmidt 108 Typhoon.

'John"

 

[Stearmen]

we had 2 vintage aircraft in the family. My stepfather is a pilot and airplane owner. actually all the guys (stepfather and 3 brothers)in the family are private pilots and one has a rotary wing Lic too. the only Non Pilot is Me.

I was a flight engineer in the Navy and did take flying lessons a few years ago But being honest I was pretty bored with just cruising around doing nothing but burning $$ of fuel and the cross country /traveling aspect of civil aviation is not cost effective anymore so I stopped flying..

I was a serious Diver and underwater guy. anyway my stepfather had several older aircraft and one of his buddies had a rare one . I've flown in all three

1942 Taylor Craft L2 , 1948 Ryan Navion, and a 1938 Messerschmidt 108 Typhoon.

'John"

Ohh, a Messerschmidt 108 Typhoon. Now thats a zippy little plane. I would love to have one of my own!

 

[John J]

My step fathers friend owned the BF108 Typhoon , He found it in a barn and restored it. My stepfather has an A&P License (Taylor award recipient). I did some work on it as well.

The plane was Painted in western front colors (sold to an air museum a few years ago) It was flown in the northeast airshow circuits for a few years, The aircraft had 2 original 300 HP engines One of the engines was built in France at a Renault factory during the German occupation.

the original engines were always breaking down (poor metallurgy) My stepfather (the A&P mechanic) always tried to convince Bob to install a lyacoming engine for reliability and keep the originals for display.

My stepfather and his buddy went to France to find parts for it. (found an engine and a prop).

Wanting more info on the aircraft they had word of a gent in Vancouver BC that had a BF 108 that was flying. They contacted the owner in Canada and he invited them to see his aircraft.

The BF 108 owner was Col Franz Stigler (ret) Luftwaffe ace and author of this Book

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425252868

here's the Wikipedia account

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



what a time My stepfather and his friend Bob had with the Col. Not only did they get lots of info on the Typhoon but became friends with the Col.

Col Stigler gave them both an autographed print of the famous Incident that the book was based on (well known WWII story) . the prints are signed by Franz Stiglar and Charles Brown.

The Col had some interesting stories, IE when he stole an ME262 (Adolf Galland put him up to it) or the time he was shot down in the med several times in the same day. I guess at a WWII event in the USA some years ago The Col met a P47 pilot that shot him down over the Med (the Col bought him a drink)

A Note: I asked the guys what the col said about American Fighter aircraft in WWII. The Col said (his opinion) the P47s were the hardest plane to combat as they were so tough and were very hard to escape from if they were high above and could dive on German fighters . the P47 dive rate was very fast and the airframes didn't suffer any noticeable compression or control problems as a result of high speed dives. not to mention (8) 50 cal guns.

"John"