Plane Bashing

[starrymarkb]

Have any of the Av-Geeks on here chosen a route (or even a whole trip) in order to bag an aircraft Type.

I will admit that I did chose Dublin last year in the hope of an E-Jet from Exeter - it was subbed for a Dash 8!

(I'd probably post more at Airliners if they didn't charge $25 for posting rights - if you take First Class for a Month can you post after it expires)

 

[Minilad]

Orlando to Miami and back for a Beech 1900
A couple of helicopter sightseeing trips just for the chopper ride

 

[WestCoast]

I will admit that I did chose Dublin last year in the hope of an E-Jet from Exeter - it was subbed for a Dash 8!

I don't get the fascination with the larger Embraers (E170 and E190 family) among enthusiasts. They're very comfortable and pleasant, but they are becoming really common and basically look and feel like mini 737s!

 

[starrymarkb]

they are becoming really common and basically look and feel like mini 737s!

True, though they are still at step up from the (ubiquitous at EXT) Dash 8!

So far I have B752, MD83, B738, A320, DH8D, B146, A319 and ASK-21. Hope to get both the E-Jet and F70 later this year (funds depending)

 

[WestCoast]

True, though they are still at step up from the (ubiquitous at EXT) Dash 8!

The longer Flybe Dash 8 routes from the Manchester and Birmingham bases are transferring to E175s over the coming year.

 

[giblets]

Not quite a route, but when I went to Japan last year I picked Air France, to take the A380, unfortunately the Tsunami intervened and I got a 777 with 10 across seating.

 

[starrymarkb]

The longer Flybe Dash 8 routes from the Manchester and Birmingham bases are transferring to E175s over the coming year.

I know, was thinking of doing EXT-MAN on the early morning E195 - coffee with a friend and Megabus back

 

[WestCoast]

One of the best trips I have ever done was the Manchester - Sofia route
on a Tupolev TU-154M. What an aircraft!

 

[Techniquest]

Surprised to see that there is such a thing as plane bashing! Been dying to get on a plane for just this sort of thing for a while, now I've got my passport form all filled in and photo sorted then it won't be long before I pop over to Ireland or up to Scotland for some red pen action!

Only thing is, how do you know which plane you're on? With trains it's pretty easy to work out, but I don't see it being so easy to find out the ID of, say, an Emirates A380 as you board. If anyone's got any ideas, please do let me know

Desperate to even see an A380, couldn't stay at Heathrow long enough last time to see one arrive unfortunately but they look impressive from what I've seen. I'll settle with an A320 or A340 for the time being though, or even an A321.

 

[starrymarkb]

Surprised to see that there is such a thing as plane bashing! Been dying to get on a plane for just this sort of thing for a while, now I've got my passport form all filled in and photo sorted then it won't be long before I pop over to Ireland or up to Scotland for some red pen action!

Only thing is, how do you know which plane you're on? With trains it's pretty easy to work out, but I don't see it being so easy to find out the ID of, say, an Emirates A380 as you board. If anyone's got any ideas, please do let me know

You should have a look at the Trip Reports section on Airliners Some do some quite impressive day/weekend trips (especially ones by the Flying Finn)

As to reg, if boarding by stairs from the front, the last two digits of the registration are often painted on the gear doors or over the cockpit windows. If not there is always Flightradar24 (use the playback feature)

 

[Minilad]

You should have a look at the Trip Reports section on Airliners Some do some quite impressive day/weekend trips (especially ones by the Flying Finn)

As to reg, if boarding by stairs from the front, the last two digits of the registration are often painted on the gear doors or over the cockpit windows. If not there is always Flightradar24 (use the playback feature)

Or you could just look at the reg on the back

 

[WestCoast]

Or you could just look at the reg on the back

That's what I was thinking.

Surprised to see that there is such a thing as plane bashing! Been dying to get on a plane for just this sort of thing for a while, now I've got my passport form all filled in and photo sorted then it won't be long before I pop over to Ireland or up to Scotland for some red pen action!

Yes, there are whole forums dedicated to that sort of thing, although it's common for people interested in aviation to combine trips with days away, short breaks or a holiday.

 

[starrymarkb]

Or you could just look at the reg on the back

hehe - hence why I said if boarding from the Front! The back steps take you right past the reg!

 

[MCR247]

Plane bashing?! That must be one expensive hobby? hock:

 

[Heinz57]

To say I'm an aviation enthusiast I havn't got that many under my belt...

Airbus A319
Airbus A330
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 767-300

Summer before last I did a couple of days work down in London, the site we were working at was directly under the aproach for 27L and 25R at Heathrow. It was brilliant, seen them all. Every few seconds like clockwork. The best time was in the morning though, we arrived on site just in time to see all the heavies arriving from the west.

 

[WestCoast]

Plane bashing?! That must be one expensive hobby? hock:

Depends on how often you do it, where you fly and what you fly on. I don't really do "train or plane bashing" in the traditional sense as my trips are usually combined with doing something else.

However, I doubt my 2p day return from Liverpool to Belfast City 3 years ago will ever be beaten on price! Fair enough, it was Ryanair and I jumped through all the hoops (paying with a certain debit card e.t.c) to get that price.

 

[trentside]

Plane bashing?! That must be one expensive hobby? hock:

I've done a few 'plane bashing' trips and it did wonders to reduce the bank account. Often it's a case of hunting round various websites to find the best price, often for the same flight. Sometimes you find great value fares in unexpected places!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I don't know if a C&P from Excel will post correctly... Let's try...

( Edit: OK, but the columns are a bit squashed, but it's readable... )


Flying Log : Peter Mugridge

Date Registration Type From To Time Accumulative

04/01/1986 G-BGKE BAe1-11 Manchester Manchester 1h04 1h04
25/01/1986 G-LINK S.61N Gatwick Heathrow 0h19 1h23
30/04/1986 G-BASE B.206 Brooklands Brooklands 0h08 1h31
30/04/1986 G-BASE B.206 Brooklands Brooklands 0h22 1h53
25/04/1987 G-LONG B.206L Brooklands Brooklands 0h28 2h21
14/02/1988 G-BOAG CON102 Heathrow Heathrow 1h19 3h40
03/09/1988 G-BHJW Ce152 Biggin Hill Biggin Hill 0h25 4h05
29/04/1989 G-OJCB B.206 Blackbushe Blackbushe 0h57 5h02
02/07/1989 G-ROGR B.206 Mary Hare Mary Hare 0h04 5h06
23/09/1990 G-AMRA DC-3 Coventry Coventry 1h40 6h46
18/04/1992 G-BTIA BAe146 Stansted Stansted 0h42 7h28
04/07/1992 G-BNWB B767 Heathrow Paris CDG 0h44 8h12
11/07/1992 G-BNWC B767 Paris CDG Heathrow 0h38 8h50
08/07/1993 G-BNWL B767 Heathrow Paris CDG 0h43 9h33
08/07/1993 G-BNWB B767 Paris CDG Heathrow 0h39 10h12
09/09/1993 G-BOAF CON102 Manchester Heathrow 0h34 10h46
29/01/1994 G-BMCJ PA31 Blackbushe Blackbushe 0h45 11h31
05/03/1994 G-BNWE B767 Heathrow Paris CDG 0h37 12h08
05/03/1994 G-BNWC B767 Paris CDG Heathrow 0h38 12h46
10/06/1995 G-WIRE As355 Redbridge Redbridge 0h04 12h50
13/07/1996 G-PUMB As332L Aberdeen Yardley Gobion 2h51 15h41
29/03/1997 G-BNWA B767 Heathrow Heathrow 1h32 17h13
12/07/1997 G-PUMG As332L Aberdeen Yardley Gobion 2h44 19h57
04/10/1997 n/a Balloon Vauxhall [ Tethered ] 0h11 20h08
13/11/1997 G-BIKY B757 Heathrow Paris ORY 0h56 21h04
13/11/1997 G-BMRI B757 Paris ORY Heathrow 0h39 21h43
11/07/1998 G-PUMA As332L Aberdeen Yardley Gobion 2h36 24h19
06/08/1998 G-MIMA BAe146 Heathrow Ronaldsway 0h51 25h10
09/08/1998 G-MANU BAeATP Ronaldsway Heathrow 1h16 26h26
15/08/1998 n/a Balloon Vauxhall [ Tethered ] 0h15 26h41
01/04/1999 G-FLII GA 7 Elstree Elstree 0h45 27h26
10/07/1999 G-PUMH As332L Aberdeen Yardley Gobion 2h38 30h04
11/08/1999 G-REBK Be 200 Biggin Hill Biggin Hill 2h25 32h29
22/04/2000 G-PUML As332L Aberdeen Bagby 1h47 34h16
22/04/2000 G-PUML As332L Bagby Yardley Gobion 1h10 35h26
14/07/2001 G-EZYL B737 Aberdeen Luton 1h06 36h32
31/08/2001 G-FLII GA 7 Elstree Elstree 2h21 38h53
07/09/2002 I-DEIL B767 Rome FCO New York JFK 8h32 47h25
10/09/2002 G-BOAF CON102 New York JFK Heathrow 3h23 50h48
02/12/2003 G-BXTB Ce152 Old Sarum Old Sarum 1h11 51h59
15/04/2004 G-DOCN B737 Gatwick Krakow 2h04 54h03
18/04/2004 G-DOCM B737 Krakow Gatwick 2h05 56h08
11/07/2005 G-DOME PA28 Old Sarum Old Sarum 0h55 57h03
08/09/2007 G-LENI As355 Lee on Solent Lee on Solent 0h09 57h12

 

[Anon Mouse]

One of the best trips I have ever done was the Manchester - Sofia route
on a Tupolev TU-154M. What an aircraft!

don't they have a habit of falling apart and crashing? Or was that just the Aeroflot examples?

 

[Royston Vasey]

10/09/2002 G-BOAF CON102 New York JFK Heathrow 3h23

I was about to accuse you of a typo, then noticed the equipment!

Like trains, I enjoy air travel but have no real interest in the numbers on the side, though I'll usually notice what type of plane it is.

I travel by air a lot (not much choice in the US) and do keep a tally of my flights for the year. A creditable 25 last year, longest LHR-LAS (Vegas), 10.5 hrs in Club World on a 747. The shortest 6 minutes by helicopter MCM (Monaco Heliport) - NCE (Nice) with three other passengers and two crew!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I was about to accuse you of a typo, then noticed the equipment!

Did you also notice that in the worst case of bad bashing luck possible, it was dud for haulage? Err... should that be "flightage"?!

 

[Royston Vasey]

Did you also notice that in the worst case of bad bashing luck possible, it was dud for haulage? Err... should that be "flightage"?!

Haha, what are the chances!


Edit: actually quite large, less than 1 in 10!

 

[WestCoast]

don't they have a habit of falling apart and crashing? Or was that just the Aeroflot examples?

Russian aircraft are built like tanks (well, there are a few exceptions)! A lot of the accidents were down to Aeroflot's incompetence during the Soviet era. They're very much a different airline now too.

I would very much like to fly on Cubana de Avacion's Ilyushin Il-96 on the Gatwick to Havana route!

 

[Anon Mouse]

Russian aircraft are built like tanks (well, there are a few exceptions)! A lot of the accidents were down to Aeroflot's incompetence during the Soviet era.

I flew Aeroflot a few years ago from Heathrow to Beijing transfering at Moscow Schevenco. The flight from Heathrow was fine, no problems but the flight from Moscow to Beijing was shocking. It took nearly 2 hours before the seatbelt light came off and I could go to the toilet, got chastized by one of the scary hostesses (who were incidently built like tanks lol) by trying to go for a pee after about an hour while the light was still lit. They then had the cheek to give me a set of earphones eventhough the socket in the arm rest was missing with bare wires hanging out. I had to pay for alcohol, for which my Chinese Yuan was shunned, as were my Euro's and Pounds and my Roubles very reluctantly and rudley accepted as they wanted only US Dollars and the food was appaling. The claps and cheers when the plane landed also were a bit worrying. The only good thing I can say about it was that the random young lady had inavetently accidentley put her self a little closer than she intended during her sleep, which was nice

Coming back didnt fare much better, although I don't remember much between the Bar at Scheveno Airport and landing back in Blighty. The looks I got from the Gentleman next to me told quite a story! lol

 

[WestCoast]

The claps and cheers when the plane landed also were a bit worrying.

You hear that on those package holiday flights to Majorca e.t.c from the UK!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I flew Aeroflot a few years ago from Heathrow to Beijing transfering at Moscow Schevenco. The flight from Heathrow was fine, no problems but the flight from Moscow to Beijing was shocking.

Aeroflot have never been known for luxury, but they are a great deal safer than they used to be! There's that other Russian airline called Transaero that loves really large aircraft, they've ordered quite a number of 747-800s and A380s! They fly 747s on short routes, which isn't common at all anymore. I've seen them flying 777s and 747-300s (rare!) into Heathrow from Moscow which is barely 4 hours flying time.

 

[Swanny200]

The wife hates me for this but I noticed that a lot of the Flybe Dash 8's have G-JED regs and on the way to Jersey once had the one that I was hoping for
G-JEDI

 

[starrymarkb]

The wife hates me for this but I noticed that a lot of the Flybe Dash 8's have G-JED regs and on the way to Jersey once had the one that I was hoping for
G-JEDI

That was their first Q400, it left the fleet late last year though (the E175s are replacing the older Dash 8s)

 

[Matt Taylor]

I used to be quite a regular on Singapore flights, I think I had 9V-SPI three times in the end! I made a point of going with NorthWest on a trip to LA some years ago so I could get a DC-10 before they went out of service and then got the bonus of a 757-300 on the MSP-LAX leg.

 

[Ferret]

I'll admit to sometimes selecting my flight based on aircraft type quoted. I've done the Northwest DC10 over the pond move, and I flew LCY-ZRH rather than LHR-ZRH last year specifically because it involved an Embraer rather than an A319 or A320.

 

[Ascot]

Done a few wacky routes for both miles and aircraft type myself. On day flights I tend to mix it up a little and if I was flying across the Atlantic I have flown into Europe then across to Washington then up to New York for example. I've gone out the way to fly an A318 Trans-Atlantic before and that was worth the train to London ! I've done a number of mileage runs to get that last few 100 miles for gold which are fun.