Aircraft Discussion

[Wolf of Badenoch]

Some of the early jetliners looked pretty damn sleek, the de Havilland DH 106 Comet and the Vickers VC10 being the best looking of them all:

 

Some of these are still going as tankers, but they're on borrowed time. Come September, they'll all be gone. One will be preserved, however.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Valenta

[GTAfiveFAN]

Well I guess this isn't a real aircraft, I thought some of you would find this interesting:

 

It's a barbecue grill that Continental wanted made for their social events, and its based off a Boeing 777

 

If you want to see more pictures, they can be found here: http://bbq.about.com/od/customsmokers/ig/C...e-Smoker-II.htm

[Ari Gold]

I love the ATR-72. Every time our family went back to the old country, we'd pretty much always fly on an ATR-72 from JAT Airways between Belgrade and Frankfurt/Zurich/Vienna or which other European city we used as a "base" to fly from Australia. Shame that, slowly, JAT are replacing the ATRs on their routes with 737s; I found the interior cosy (though the engine was loud), but I always had an appreciation for the plane given how different it was from all the other airliners I had been on.

 

[Outcast]

I absolutely hate the 737 (even newer iterations) and the same can be said of the A318 through to A321s. I much prefer E190s and E195s over those. There literally are no words to describe the hate and loathing I hold towards those planes.

 

Going back to the BOAC Comets. I also think they look very sleek. I'm not particularly happy about the fact that it was the British aviation industry which led the way into the commercial jet age. If Boeing or Douglas had gone first and we had learnt the problems with decompression and metal fatigue, doubtless we would have seen the Comets in service for longer than they were. I highly resent the fact that lessons were learnt off of our backs and as a result the American aviation industry took the lead.

 

EDIT: Russian aircraft have always interested me. Would I choose to fly on one? Probably not, but you can't deny some of their designs are pretty out there.

 

Tell me this doesn't look cool as hell

Edited July 6, 2013 by Outcast

[Wolf of Badenoch]

 

EDIT: Russian aircraft have always interested me. Would I choose to fly on one? Probably not, but you can't deny some of their designs are pretty out there.

This ain't too shabby:

 

I know it's a cargo aircraft, but My God is it beastly.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Valenta

[RoadRunner71]

The Lockheed 'Connie' Constellation is a favorite of mine:

That's a beautiful plane

 

 

Russian aircraft have always interested me. Would I choose to fly on one? Probably not, but you can't deny some of their designs are pretty out there.

 

I was going to say the same, I'm not an expert in planes like you guys but the russian/soviet designs are quite peculiar. I especially like the navigators "bubble" room they have in the nose, from military to civilian aircrafts. This is the Tu-104:

 

 

 

When I was a kid an saw some old soviet/russian cargo planes closely from another plane I thought that bubble had some kind of lounge

 

And the An-12, which if I remember well was the VDV airborne assault plane, also with that characteristic nose.

 

 

 

[Outcast]

Those bubbles always remind me of the B17, I think they're awesome but a product of bygone days. No room there anymore since its jammed full of avionics equipment. I would absolutely love to take a ride in there though. Just the view from inside and the experience of being at the very front of the aircraft. Absolutely amazing.

 

Just saw this on youtube and I think it's pretty awesome.

 

 

EDIT: I fully believe we have taken a big step backwards with the retirement of Concorde. It's always been a dream of mine ever since I was in primary school to fly on the Concorde. When I was young I had a tutor, and her husband helped design the Concorde. I remember I would spend a lot of time just looking at all the Concorde stuff they had in their house.

 

 

Also those of you in the UK might remember this BA commercial. It really is one of my favourite commercials ever.

 

Edited July 6, 2013 by Outcast

[Sup3rman]

To me the definition of bubble nose is the B 29. It is also one of my favourite planes of all time. The design is why i like it, a huge silver plane with a glass nose.

It was also in a movie that made me like the B 29, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark.

[GTAfiveFAN]

Uh oh... This is breaking news as of now so I don't know much but a Boeing 777 operated by Asiana Airlines crashed upon landing at San Fransisco International, a witness said they heard a pop (maybe landing gear?) then a fireball. From what I see, it doesn't look so good, it's on it's belly, the top portion of the fuselage is on fire and morphed in, and the horizontal and vertical stabilizers are gone I hope everyone is ok

Edited July 6, 2013 by GTAfiveFAN

[Wolf of Badenoch]

 

 

Looks pretty serious.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Valenta

[Outcast]

Early reports seem to suggest it hit the seawall which may explain the loss of the rear section along with the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Looking at the pictures the rear exit doors seem to be intact which may indicate a higher angle of attack during final approach. I'm thinking if the aircraft had a little more altitude this wouldn't have been any more serious than a tail strike. Of course this is just me speculating.

[Ari Gold]

Thankfully the tragedy wasn't worse... Intriguing how this could've happened given how clear the conditions were. Possible pilot error?

 

@Outcast: Great ad. I got goosebumps from that shot towards the end of all the different generations of BA aircraft flying through the air, with the Concorde just streaming through past the others. Beautiful.

[Outcast]

Been reading some more and it seems a lot of people are also saying tail strike on the seawall. Final approach too low and tried to pull up (hence the high angle of attack) then tail strike on the seawall which ripped the tail section off. I've been listening to the ATC recordings and it does seem my earlier speculations were correct. The worst thing about these sort of accidents are that theres no prior warning so passengers don't have time to brace for impact. I always thought if I were ever in a situation like this and there were a rear facing jump seat available I'd go strap myself into one. A lot safer than all the passenger seats available.

[Wolf of Badenoch]

 

Also those of you in the UK might remember this BA commercial. It really is one of my favourite commercials ever. 

 

I remember seeing this on the 42" LCD TV we had (and still do). All I remember is shivers going up my back.

 

On the subject of BA:

 

 

[Ciaran]

 

Also those of you in the UK might remember this BA commercial. It really is one of my favourite commercials ever.

 

It's is one of the best Ads I have ever seen, I remember the first time time I saw it and how awesome it was!

[Outcast]

I love BAs call sign. Speedbird just sounds way better than American or United. China Airlines (flag carrier of ROC Taiwan, not China) also has a nice call sign, Dynasty.

 

Back to the ad, the attention to detail is great. I like how you can see it go from Imperial Airways to BEA to BOAC and then finally to BA.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Outcast

[Wolf of Badenoch]

 

I love BAs call sign. Speedbird just sounds way better than American or United.

 

Back to the ad, the attention to detail is great. I like how you can see it go from Imperial Airways to BEA to BOAC and then finally to BA.

Agreed. As soon as I hear that I know it's BA.

 

I wish they still used the To Fly, To Serve ad, one of the best I've ever seen.

[friendly luggage]

Which airline has given you the best experience during a flight? The best for me was a an Atlantic American Airlines flight because of the good service and free drinks/snacks. I was given plenty of tea, soft drink, and watched a couple of films that weren't even in the UK, like Madagascar 3 and Spiderman. Some American snacks taste funny, but I ate them anyway because I'm greedy On that flight though I had a scumbag passenger who was sat in front of me, recline their chair while the whole plane was eating. Hot tea could of spilled on my lap!

[sivispacem]

I've flown business a few times with BA, that's always been pretty nice.

[RoadRunner71]

American Airlines was pretty good, and the gave us some american chips I had never eaten before. It's the least they can do for us after 7 flying in the air [and still remaining time] Many years ago, when I child and used to go on vacations to the Canary Islands, I remember that flying with I think Spanair (now defunct)/Air Europa or Iberia, the food was pretty good. Then they started making you pay for everything

[Ari Gold]

First Class with Singapore Airlines as a kid was pretty nice. Emirates and Qantas business class were the ones we flew on most often, and both were not entirely shabby either.

[RoadRunner71]

A recording of a witness of the accident has been released, sorry for the bad quality.

 

 

 

[Wolf of Badenoch]

Concorde at Kai Tak (Both BA & Air France):

 

 

 

 

Edit: Just found this:

http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2013-07-0...oldotna-airport

R.I.P

Edited July 8, 2013 by Valenta

[Outcast]

Approach at Kai Tak is hard enough already, Concorde pilots have balls of steel to bring that bird in.

[Wolf of Badenoch]

On the subject of Kai Tak...

 

Edit: It's happened again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23294760

Edited July 12, 2013 by Valenta

[Outcast]

I just saw that too. I'm all for next-gen planes like the 787 and A350, I just cant help myself but smirk at the yanks and their teething problems. Without a doubt Airbus is learning valuable lessons from them.

[GTAfiveFAN]

What do you guys think of trijets? They certainly are not more efficient than today's twin jet setups, but I love the looks of them

McDonnell Douglas MD-11

 

Boeing 727

 

Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

 

Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident

[Wolf of Badenoch]

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is one of my all time favorite airliners. I think it looked best in Northwest/KLM livery:

[GTAfiveFAN]

Wow that's an awesome livery, were Northwest and KLM in some sort of two plane airline alliance, or was this some special thing that a few SkyTeam carriers did?

[Wolf of Badenoch]

 

Wow that's an awesome livery, were Northwest and KLM in some sort of two plane airline alliance, or was this some special thing that a few SkyTeam carriers did?

A two airline alliance.

 

In 1993, Northwest began its strategic alliance with KLM, which was the largest airline partnership ever conceived at the time. This partnership eventually became the Wings Alliance. However, the alliance never grew beyond the two airlines.