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READERS SHARE FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS
THE OLDEST AIRCRAFT YOU’VE FLOWN ON
TIREDOLDHACK2
My first experience of flying was on Air Vietnam (as then was) in a DC-3, in about 1963. And I loved it. Other vintage aircraft have included a Comet, Viscount (both Dan Air), DC-6 (Iran Air), Fokker Friendship and then into the jet age with Boeing 707s and Vickers VC10s. My favourite? The Viscount, I think. Big windows. And you?
➜ AMCWHIRTER
My first flight was on an Aeroflot TU-104 in 1967. The oldest aircraft was a DC-2 from the 1930s – I was lucky to be invited on a special DuxfordSouthend flight to Amsterdam Schiphol in the eighties. It was the most interesting aircraft on which I have ever flown. My favourite would be BA’s Concorde, but BOAC’s Super VC-10 and SAS’s DC-9-0 would not be far behind.
➜ MARTYNSINCLAIR
One of my first flights was in 1968/69 on a BEA Trident 3, in economy with my mum, dad and brother. We were sat in a club format with a table between us. I think the oldest aircraft was a Tiger Moth out of Netherthorpe, which still holds the record (I think) for the shortest UK runway at a registered airport.
➜ FOLIUM
We had a couple of C-47s to bring Frelimo troops from Mozambique to Nyanga in Zimbabwe for basic training in the late 1980s. Supposedly, one of these venerable planes had been part of the 1st Airborne Division drop on Arnhem in
1944. Judging by its condition, that was not beyond the level of plausibility.
➜ CWOODWARD
My first flight was in about 1954 on a Vickers Viscount to Gibraltar with my parents. I was eight. Then in 1961 out of Heathrow on an Air France Caravelle for a school skiing trip. I remember the heart-shaped windows and the noise. In 1972, I took a Super VC10 from Heathrow to Sydney. As I recall, that flight was via Honolulu. It was very comfortable with good food. We made about three stops.
Last week I was talking with the in-flight service manager on a Cathay Pacific flight out of Singapore; we remembered flying together on a Tristar into Kuala Lumpur when, after a hardish landing, the roof panels fell down. Not an unusual occurrence, nor was the air-con dripping… Lots of hand towels stuffed into the air vents. I was often able to sit up front on the jump seat coming into Hong Kong Kai Tak – great fun when a typhoon was about.
➜ CANUCKLAD
I’m a tad jealous of those lucky enough to have enjoyed Concorde. However, I do have a claim to fame. Many times I‘ve flown on a very specific aircraft – a DC-8-43 owned by CP Air that should have been preserved in a museum, but probably ended up as a drinks can.
➜ BACKOFTHEPLANE
Having flown to and within Cuba numerous times, I’ve experienced an awful lot of ageing Russian aircraft – not enjoyed any of them really! A VC10 was the first aircraft I flew, aged three months – I pity my poor mum/fellow passengers. Also flew what I think was a DC-3 within Kenya – flew very low so a bumpy ride.
➜ SOUTHERNOCEAN
My first flights were what I think was a B727 from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then a BOAC VC10 from Heathrow via Nairobi and Rome back in the 1960s. As a student, Dan Air Comets from Gatwick to the original Athens airport were a cheap option for the summer.
Since then, flights on older aircraft have included an SAS DC-8 from either Stockholm to Oslo or Oslo to Bergen (I can’t remember which). This was in the 1990s and it must have been near the end of this type’s lifespan. It was also a surprise as I was expecting a DC-9. The most obviously antique was a Pulkovo TU-154 from Helsinki to St Petersburg – not an experience I would want to repeat.
➜ POSHGIRL58
Among others: a BEA Vanguard. My first ever flight, aged 11. A BEA Trident One – my first jet flight aged 11 and two days. A British Midland B707, which had leaking overhead panels stuffed full of paper napkins. A B757 – that great workhorse of the skies, including one with leaking overhead panels and a noisy door seal (the joy of an emergency exit seat). It’s difficult to pick an older favourite, but probably the Trident One and B757.
➜ BPP
Supposedly one of these venerable planes had been part of the 1st Airborne Division drop on Arnhem
Early sixties – ah, memories! A twin-prop Avro. Canvas seats, open cockpit, very noisy, unpressurised, so about 3,000m all the way. And a Vickers Viscount – a bit more comfortable, but propellers weren’t fully synced, so not pleasant.