3 Aircraft you would like to fly

[Archimedes]

We are all obsessive over aircraft. Some of us have a little flight experience (a very few have a lot) and most of us don’t. But even those of us who have experience have probably not flown the aircraft we would like to fly. So, What are the top three powered aircraft you would like to pilot if you were given the opportunity and what flight (real or imaginary) would you like to complete in each?

 

Not that I have thought about this in great detail or anything, Mine are:

1.  Coming in at rock throwing height with the Merlins through the gate; a De Havilland Mosquito FBVI which I’d like to fly across the North Sea to Bergen where I’d rocket up the side of Ulriken and back down to pass low over the streets of Bergen and then along Hardanger Fjord to enjoy the view then back to an airbase in Scotland. (633 Squadron has nothing to do with this particular selection whatsoever…no).

2. Fly down to somewhere in South America in a DC-3/C-47 to experience the sound of those big old radials and enjoy what I believe to be one of the most important aircraft ever made. (I have a memory of a C-47 in a film or TV show doing a pass down an airfield in some out-of-the-way place with the door gunner putting on ‘Satisfaction’ by The Rolling Stones as he strafed the field but for the life of me I can’t find what it was). Then I’d fly up to Xcaret in Mexico, enjoy a week in the sun, find a wrecked motorcycle to buy and take back and then fly back to The States.

3. Fly a Bristol Beaufighter TF.X from Filton down the Bristol Channel and along the Cornish Coast, find a derelict vessel, strafe and drop a fish on it to see what a big load of Amatol and one of the most heavily armed fighters of WWII could do. Why? Because my uncle Bert used to build them. . The route is because I used to sit on the beach at Carbis Bay near St Ives and hear the double boom as Brian Trubshaw piloted Concorde out over the sea on its trials and my dad used to tell me “that is the sound of the best aircraft in the world.”

 

Usual rules apply: three shall be the holy number. Not four, not two unless we shall be proceeding directly to three and five is right out there.

 

Have fun!
P.

[Shoggz]

1) I’m with you on the Mossie FBVI - Twin Merlin power, looks to kill for, and you get to do it with a mate!

2) I can’t decide between a P-51D and a Spitfire Mk.IX/VIII… One of those! They were just - equally to me, such icons

3) And for something completely different - Concorde - flying so fast and high, so that you can see the earth’s curvature (sorry flat-earthers!)

[LSP_Ray]

1.) Corsair. Even though I probably couldn't see the runway in front of me with that big nose.

2.) P-38L for that twin engine goodness plus with the tricycle gear I can see in front of me!

3.) F-86F.

[Landrotten Highlander]

Tough one, as there are so many.

However, I'll go for:

1) Mosquito - When my late Father went through his National Service in Belgium, he was able to fly as passenger with one of the Belgian fighters who fought against the Nazis from British soil.  Funny anectdote: he first asked where my Father lived, then proceeded to fly overhead where my Father saw his mother hanging up the washes.  The pilot then proceeded to show my Father where he lived (the other side of the Country) where he invited my Father to visit town (while still in the Aircraft...)

2) Diamond Aircraft Da 62 for its sleek, sexy lines and modern avionics (not to mention the comfort and ability to take on 6 passengers)

3) Aermacchi M-346 Master Fighter Trainer to keep with twin engines but move to more speed...

[Oldbaldguy]

Bucker Jungmeister; Bearcat; Rockwell Turbo Commander.  If you know anything about airplanes, you know why.

[LSP_Ron]

Too many to list just three...

[D.B. Andrus]

109

P-38

P-47

[Neo]

F-14D Tomcat Baby!!! 

P-51D for sure

MH-65 Dauphin or some variant

[Archimedes]

1 hour ago, D.B. Andrus said:

109

P-38

P-47

Good choices Damian, but whyyyyyyy?…..

 

1 hour ago, LSP_Ron said:

Too many to list just three...

C’mon Ron - you can do it!

2 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

Bucker Jungmeister; Bearcat; Rockwell Turbo Commander.  If you know anything about airplanes, you know why.

Can you say OBG? Clearly I don’t know enough about aeroplanes (sorry airplanes ) - the Jungmeister I can guess but I know nothing about the Bearcat nor the Commander.

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[JeepsGunsTanks]

1. The Corsair, preferably an early one with no floors. Because it did better than expected, and was the star of the Solomons Campaign, and its one of my favorites.

2. The P-47, a M or N. It was a beast of a superplane and probably the Air Force fighter of the war.

3. The Zero, preferably an early war version before it got silly armor and self-sealing tanks. Because it was the best thing the Axis had, and it was a pretty neat little airplane, you put it on if you were big.

 

Runners up the Oscar, because it was supposed to be really fun to fly, even more than the Zero. And the P-38, is the OG turbo bird, and the second best Air Force fighter of the war

 

I didn't even think about modern stuff like jets. If it was jets, it would be the three great ones, the F-14, the F-15 and F-16. Well, maybe throw a Navy Phantom in the works.

Edited April 12 by JeepsGunsTanks

[DrewH]

1 - F4U-1D my all time favourite aircraft. 

2 - Mossie - something about those twin RR merlins....(if one in a spitfire is good, two are better right?)  

3 - F-14 Tomcat - the boyhood dream to take the big fighter for a spin can't be ignored.

[Christa]

Diamond DA 62 because any aircraft that sleek needs sampling, plus Highlander is canny, of course.

 

North American Harvard or SNJ 2 because it was probably the most significant trainer of dad's war, it is gutsy and I have liked it for a long, long time.

 

Hawker Hunter FGA.9 because it is beautiful and because I could dream of maybe getting some sly qualifying jet training in a BAC Jet Provost T4 and then a Hunter T7. Whoopee!

 

Notice how Paul offers alternative wish lists with restrictions . . .

[D Bellis]

SR-71

U-2

Ta 152H

 

D

[MikeMaben]

I've already flown many fighters and a few bombers ... back in my flight sim days

[JeepsGunsTanks]

13 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

I've already flown many fighters and a few bombers ... back in my flight sim days

 

Did you do any Warbirds or AcesHigh? Those were the only "serious" online flight sims I ever did. Warthunder is not serious, but it is pretty.