Plane ecstacy

[ChinaTom]

I like planes - especially old ones. While most onlookers were wowing the double decker, my attention was entirely on the IL62M. I wonder how often these two can be sharing the same tarmac?

 

[carlo]

That A380 must be the ugliest plane ever to take to the sky. Suppose at least it looks different to all the other Boeings and Airbuses. Like you I hark back to the days of Tridents, Tu 154s and DC-10s etc

[cms206]

IL62M. I think I just made a mess...

 

 

... seriously though, never had any experience of IL62s but for about three summers spent many a happy time doing load control on Balkan TU-154Ms. There really is nothing without pistons which can match the howl of 3 Soloviev turbofans on a take off roll...

[brammy777]

This thread reminds me of the time I went to Italy, and how the AliItalia planes all looked quite run down and really old. I think the livery does a fine job of aging pretty much anything though.

[Negative Creep]

That A380 must be the ugliest plane ever to take to the sky...

I disagree

 

[STUNO]

OH no! you are all wrong

[Negative Creep]

I see that and raise you

 

[M'coli]

IL62M. I think I just made a mess...

 

 

... seriously though, never had any experience of IL62s but for about three summers spent many a happy time doing load control on Balkan TU-154Ms. There really is nothing without pistons which can match the howl of 3 Soloviev turbofans on a take off roll...

I hear what you mean!

[carlo]

This thread reminds me of the time I went to Italy, and how the AliItalia planes all looked quite run down and really old. I think the livery does a fine job of aging pretty much anything though.

Not sure if that's a criticism or not. I have always thought the Alitalia livery, which must surely be the oldest current livery still in use, to be an absolute design classic which still looks fresh today. Anything's better that Easyjet or Thomson plastered all over a white fuselage anyway. I suppose we could have a whole thread on airline liveries but this is supposed to be Autoshite...

 

[Alexg]

Why has that Jumbo only got three engines.... *

 

 

 

* I guess the other is out of shot, but the photo suggests they are much closer together on the opposite wing

[Station]

I think the most likely explanation is that it has fallen off some time ago, and the engineers just haven't noticed it.

[myglaren]

It's a spare in case one of the others fall off - you do have a spare wheel, don't you.

 

That Ilyushin looks very Flash Gordon, can't say I have seen one of those before.

[simmo]

This one has five:

 

[Tayne]

,.

[myglaren]

This one has five:

 

That's just greedy

[ChinaTom]

Some bigger planes have hidden nacelles that can transport an engine back to base for repair etc. The DC10 had this facility, but was the cause of one of the crashes that took that bird out the sky once and for all.

 

The IL62 was a bit of a copy of the VC10, but it actually has one of (if not THE) best safety record of all Soviet designed planes. They are very over-engineered which makes them heavy and therefore poor mpg. I think it is the biggest plane that has total manual control. Cables and rods all round. A right nightmare if you get an engine fire though as you have shut it's neighbour down too which makes the plane virtually uncontrollable.

 

The one in the photo is nearly 40 years old. Prime plane-shite. Don't we have a member here who worked on VC10's?

[ashmicro]

The Alitalia 747 probably only has 3 engines - I work with Italian engineers all the time - doing things right isn't as important as looking good. Alitalia stewardesses are all gorgeous.

 

Speaking of gorgeous, my father once flew one of these when he was in the RAF:

 

 

It was an older aircraft even then, but my Dad said that "It climbed like a homesick angel"

[myglaren]

They Lightnings are indeed exceeeeedingly nice ca.. aircraft.

 

We used to go to the airshow at Middleton St. George airbase (Now Teeside/South Durham Airport) and recall vividly, while stuck in traffic waiting to gain entry, one flying over the line of cars then climbing like the one in your photo and being able to see right onto the engine. First time I had seen that and was immeasurably impressed.

 

ETA: My second daughter and family moved to within a mile of the old airbase last Wednesday. I don't think they were aware it was so close. Seems pretty quiet there anyway.

[ChinaTom]

This Ilyushin is the plane equivalent of a Skoda 1000MB with a Tatra V8 out back, unassisted cam and peg steering, swing axle and part worn crossplies all round.

[trigger]

This thread is just Plane Shite!

 

I got this little plane when i had to fly from Manila to the South of the Philippines a couple of years ago on a holiday to Boracay Island.

 

It was just a 18 seater thing and was very quick and the engine breaks were amazing, It literally threw you out of your seat.

 

[brammy777]

Did a bit of research on the IL62, because I didnt know how old they actually are, and found this airline which still uses them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Koryo

Nice modern fleet they have! And for the record, I do love the Alitalia livery. I wish BA still used that livery with the dark blue lower quarter, that was lovely. The current one is crap.

[brammy777]

Did a bit of research on the IL62, because I didnt know how old they actually are, and found this airline which still uses them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Koryo

Nice modern fleet they have! Banned from the EU as well. And for the record, I do love the Alitalia livery. I wish BA still used that livery with the dark blue lower quarter, that was lovely. The current one is crap.

 

Also, I have no idea why that blank post is there, hit edit because I had used an incorrect tag, and it just leaves it there?

[Stixy]

Plane Shite

 

[ChinaTom]

Trig, that looks like a Dornier 328. Lovely little things. They do little jet versions of them too.

 

Small plane with decent legroom, mostly young pretty female passengers - beats the phlegm gurgling hungover gang I usually board with.

[Jozza]

I'm another one who's an aircraft buff (and lapsed PPL learner*) with, just as with cars, a weakness for British-built tin- big fan of the Trident, VC10 (the most attractive airliner ever built IMHO), Britannia and BAC 1-11.

 

I always seem to favour utility aircraft that are deemed by everyone else to be hopelessly ugly- Shorts Skyvan, B-N Trislander, Cessna Caravan, Bristol Freighter, Antonov An-2 and so on.

 

A particular interest of mine are all the fantastical 'what-ifs' that the British aircraft industry managed to dream up in the 1950s, some of which were golden opportunities lost (TSR-2, Vickers VC-7), some were brilliant bits of engineering but of no practical use (Saunders-Roe Princess, Bristol Brabazon) and others were just plain bizarre (Fairey Rotodyne and, a particular favourite, the Avro Atlantic, which was a proposal for a civilian airliner version of the Vulcan bomber).

 

*If you ever want to experience 'aerial autoshite' I can recommend a trip in a well-used flying school 1980s Piper Cherokee- pale beige with orange and brown stripes on the outside, beige plastic with brown velour seats, crackle-effect black trim and all held together with lashings of gaffer tape on the inside.

[myglaren]

*If you ever want to experience 'aerial autoshite' I can recommend a trip in a well-used flying school 1980s Piper Cherokee- pale beige with orange and brown stripes on the outside, beige plastic with brown velour seats, crackle-effect black trim and all held together with lashings of gaffer tape on the inside.

Speaking of Autoshite+Piper Cherokee, how's about this, then?

 

 

Cherokee caravan

[whitevanman]

never realised how many of us actually liked planes, my faves are Military stuff of the 50's/60's and the inter war years....some really weird shite was on the go in those 2 periods

[trigger]

Trig, that looks like a Dornier 328. Lovely little things. They do little jet versions of them too.

 

Small plane with decent legroom, mostly young pretty female passengers - beats the phlegm gurgling hungover gang I usually board with.

Correct on all accounts, I've just zoomed into the photo to check, Me and Mrs T was sat on aisle 1 right behind the pilot, we all had a bag of nuts and a carton of this Panda pops drink as our inboard flight meal, It was quite nice really!

[Tayne]

.

[Quintus]

A couple of very different Lockheed planes...

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-mCPA_Gk0