Which airliners do you wish you could have seen/flown on?

[36270k]

The most comfortable aircraft that I have ever flown in was an Air Canada 767 from LHR to Toronto.
The most memorable was in 2006 when Air Berlin flew from Stansted to Belfast.
The steward announced "Velcome to this fokker 100 to Belfast" You could tell who was British or Irish by the tittering/laughter.

 

[birchesgreen]

Lufthansa are running the 747-400 every Sunday in April on the Frankfurt to Palma route.

Ah yes indeed i forgot they are still flying 400s too. I would like to fly the 8i though as i've been on every other variant

 

[Ted633]

And me stuck not far from Stevenage!

Im very happy I got to go on the top deck of a 747 before they went.

Id like to add a De Haviland Comet to my list, but one with reinforced windows please.

Dragging off topic slightly, it's a bit of an urban myth that it was the 'square' windows that caused the Comets to crash. Various elements combined due to metal fatigue not being very well understood, including the skin being too thin and frames not being strong enough. If I've remembered correctly, the cracks that led to one inflight break up came from an antenna cut out.

 

[Spamcan81]

Flew in Concorde and some Soviet stuff so the one I most wish I could have flown in is the VC10.
Turboprops - Bristol Britannia.
Propliners - Starocruiser, DC6 and Constellation.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Sadly missed the VC10 and its Soviet cousin the IL-62, and of course Concorde (though I was there the first time it landed at Cardiff). I'm missing the A300, 310 and 318 to complete my Airbus collection, though I do have a complete set of MD aircraft, including the 717 (yes, it's an MD!!).

 

[JD2168]

The plane I would have wanted to have flown on & seen most is Concorde.

 

[randyrippley]

Sadly missed the VC10 and its Soviet cousin the IL-62, and of course Concorde (though I was there the first time it landed at Cardiff). I'm missing the A300, 310 and 318 to complete my Airbus collection, though I do have a complete set of MD aircraft, including the 717 (yes, it's an MD!!).

Boeing used the name 717 for the C-135/KC-135 military cargo / tanker range

 

[Clayton]

I remember the 707s and DC8s, what a racket! And VC10s, though they survived longer as transport aircraft over me in Oxfordshire. I flew on BAC111, Viscount, and Britannia.

 

[william.martin]

Concord would be great.
Add British airways livery to a typhoon and that would be cool too.

 

[DarloRich]

TBH I didn't go my first airliner until I was in my very late teens so i havent much experiance of flying. Flying wasn't an accessible thing for normal working people in those days. Any airliner or airport was a glamourous item! I did more flying in military planes via the cadets than I did normal planes

Airliner: Concorde.

Non Airliner: Lancaster and Vulcan. I would say Spotfire but you CAN buy a flight in one ( if you have a couple of spare kidneys to sell)

PS the first time i went to Spain was via a coach not the plane.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The Empire Mail service in the 1930's , flying boats landing on lakes etc , - civilised overnight stops in decent hotels. All to improve connectivity with what used to be called "the Empire" .....great documentary on this some years ago.

 

[Deepgreen]

Only Concorde that I have regrets about apart from military aircraft where the SR71 is a given.

What was the SR-71's passenger capacity?

From my younger days cycling around Heathrow - BOAC meets BA! Aircraft used to be hauled across the eastern perimeter road frequently to and from the maintenance hangars.

Sadly missed the VC10 and its Soviet cousin the IL-62, and of course Concorde (though I was there the first time it landed at Cardiff). I'm missing the A300, 310 and 318 to complete my Airbus collection, though I do have a complete set of MD aircraft, including the 717 (yes, it's an MD!!).

Amazingly there is at least one IL-62 still flying, and I saw it over our house last year (it's a freighter). Seemed utterly bizarre to see a contrailing four engine T-tail in the 2020s!

My most memorable flight was probably on a 737 from Chicago O'Hare to Salt Lake City. There was the option to listen to ATC via the plane's entertainment system (I've never known this option on any other flight) and we encountered considerable turbulence over the eastern Rockies. I listened to the pilot saying; "Control, I don't think we can take much more of this, can we climb out of it?" - entertaining for a slightly nervous flyer!

 

[Tetchytyke]

Flying wasn't an accessible thing for normal working people in those days. Any airliner or airport was a glamourous item!

Absolutely.

As a small child I was living in Australia so I flew a few times to/from the UK with my parents to see family, and I can remember the Qantas 747s vividly, back when the fuelling stop was in Bahrain. Once we came back to the UK I then didn’t fly again for almost 10 years, and it was to/from Australia on Cathay Pacific 747s with an Ansett 737 thrown in.

And then it was another 7 or 8 years, until Australia again on Cathay Pacific 747s and A330s and Ansett 737s.

I didn’t go on a European short haul flight till I was into my 20s! Our family holidays were all by ferry.

 

[DarloRich]

Our family holidays were all by ferry.

snap - and we didn't have many of those!

 

[GRALISTAIR]

though I do have a complete set of MD aircraft, including the 717 (yes, it's an MD!!).

I have loads of flights on those. Used them when AirTran was in existence and then and now on Hawaiin inter-island flights. Delta bought all AirTrans when AT were acquired by Southwest (WN). So now fly them frequently CHA-ATL route and others.

http://my.flightmemory.com/GRALISTAIR

Top Ten Aircraft
# Airplane Amount %
1 Boeing 737 274 13.4 %
2 CRJ 200 196 9.6 %
3 MDo-88 192 9.4 %
4 CRJ 900 107 5.2 %
5 McD90 100 4.9 %
6 Boeing 757 95 4.7 %
7 Embraer 145 89 4.4 %
8 Boeing 717 87 4.3 %
9 Boeing 767 71 3.5 %
10 Airbus 320 70 3.4 %

 

[DustyBin]

Amazingly there is at least one IL-62 still flying, and I saw it over our house last year (it's a freighter). Seemed utterly bizarre to see a contrailing four engine T-tail in the 2020s!

I believe there are a few still flying. I've certainly spotted two over Russia recently on VIP/Government duties. The last ones aren't actually that old, and there are reportedly some unused/incomplete airframes in storage.

 

[birchesgreen]

The North Korean state airline still use them as well.

 

[Deepgreen]

Boeing used the name 717 for the C-135/KC-135 military cargo / tanker range

Latterly the DC9 family became the 717 when Boeing assumed responsibility for McD's products. Not sure if any are still in service now, but three years ago I saw several in service at Venice airport for Volotea. The 717 gap in the airliner series was always puzzling (especially as they used 720 for the smaller 707 derivative), along with the apparent DC5 gap (which was simply a very unsuccessful and short-lived model).

 

[birchesgreen]

Qantas still operate 717s, i've seen them in Sydney airport live streams. I think they are due for replacement by A220s soon though.

 

[nlogax]

From my younger days cycling around Heathrow - BOAC meets BA! Aircraft used to be hauled across the eastern perimeter road frequently to and from the maintenance hangars.

Great pic! Have similar memories as a kid watching Concorde or a 747 being dragged across that apron road while the parents' car waited at the flashing stop lights. A shame that road no longer exists for public traffic.

Have actually been fortunate enough to do a 717 trip from (I think) Denver or Des Moines to Philadelphia via St Louis sometime during 2000-2001. This was with TWA pre their acquisition by AA. Had most of the plane to myself during the second leg, very comfy it was too.

 

[Western Lord]

Latterly the DC9 family became the 717 when Boeing assumed responsibility for McD's products. Not sure if any are still in service now, but three years ago I saw several in service at Venice airport for Volotea. The 717 gap in the airliner series was always puzzling (especially as they used 720 for the smaller 707 derivative), along with the apparent DC5 gap (which was simply a very unsuccessful and short-lived model).

It was the MD-95 that was re-branded as the Boeing 717, no other DC-9 family aircraft were so named. 717 was the original designation for the KC-135 Stratotanker, so the next project was the 727. The 720 name for the smallest member of the 707 family came about because United Air Lines wanted to buy some, but as a major DC-8 customer they didn't want people to think they were switching to the 707, so the 707-020 became the 720.

 

[mlambeuk]

Boeing 707, 737 200, DC10, Vc10, IL62

 

[william.martin]

I am going to go with one that you can fly on but I will probably never fly on... The Boeing 747-800.

 

[Dr_Paul]

I grew up in the 1960s in Richmond under the Heathrow approach, so I saw quite a few different types of plane going in, including the last Avro Yorks. What I did miss, as they were withdrawn shortly before I'd become conscious of different types of plane, was the Boeing Stratocruiser. I've seen USAF ones (KC-97s mostly) since, but I would have liked to have seen one on its way into Heathrow. I can still recall the first Boeing 707 coming in; it was very low on the approach and made a lot of noise, quite scaring me. This would have been around 1960, when I was five years old.

 

[Mzzzs]

I think the Russan knockoff of the concord Tupolev Tu-144 would be a great experience to fly.
Would of loved to fly on one.

 

[DustyBin]

I think the Russan knockoff of the concord Tupolev Tu-144 would be a great experience to fly.
Would of loved to fly on one.

It would have been an experience for sure! Personally I don’t think I could have set foot on one sober enough to actually remember anything!

 

[Mzzzs]

It would have been an experience for sure! Personally I don’t think I could have set foot on one sober enough to actually remember anything!

From memory, the plane only crashed 2 times both not in passenger service so it is somewhat safe. Still would not trust anything soviet.

 

[L401CJF]

I have flown on a 747 before about 10 years ago, but I would love to have flown on a 747 in the glamour days, back when they were new. Must have been Brill!

 

[Lost property]

The DC 3. Seen plenty, but, never flown in one.

That said, when it comes to heavy piston types, sorry, whilst they do have a nostalgic sound, they are very labour intensive to maintain..

Although being an F/E on a Sunderland would have appealed ...because it has a very spacious galley, which is always useful.

 

[AM9]

Like some of the other older posters above, I've travelled on most airliners from western manufacturers since the '60s, - even though my first ever flight was as late as 1979 in a BCAL BAC111 in 1979. Notable exceptions are DC10, Tristar, Caravelle, Airbus 220, 310, 318 & 350, Boeing 777 and of course Concorde. I have seen all of those from the ground though.
Of those, probably Concorde, Tristar and Caravelle would be the most interesting to fly on. I suspect that the Caravelle would have been much like the BAC111/DC9 experiences.