#5: North American Navion:
Not as fast as a Mooney or a Bonanza, but very comfortable to fly. They are bull-strong, the Air Force bought a bunch and used them for rough duty as L-17s. The Navion was also the first light airplane I ever rode in (courtesy of my uncle) in 1964. For that sentimental reason, when I did my complex/high-performance checkout in 1993, I flew a Navion.
#4: The "Tri-Holer", the Boeing 727:
If you flew on a jet within the US in the 1960s-`80s and it wasn't a transcontinental flight, you probably flew on one of these. Three engines that could not be replaced by fuel-efficient high-bypass turbofans, as well as a need for three pilots, eventually meant the 727 was largely phased out of domestic passenger use by the 737 and the 757.
#3: The Cessna 150:
For probably close to 40 years, if you earned your private pilot's license in the USA, you probably flew a Cessna 150 or a 152. This particular model shown is fully aerobatic, it is known as the "Aerobat" by Cessna and the "Scareobat" by almost everyone else, because of its rather poor power-to-weight ratio for an aerobatic airplane. However, William Kershner, who literally wrote the book on aerobatics, taught for thousands of hours in Aerobats.#2: The Supermarine Spitfire:
If you are an airplane nut and the Spitfire does not sing to your soul, I respectfully suggest that you haven't got one. Yes, I know, Spits got all of the glamour while the Hawker Hurricane did the hard work during the Battle of Britain. Sue me.
#1: The Stinson 108-2 Voyager:
Because I own one.
No comments:
Post a Comment