Plane ecstacy

[warren t claim]

 

*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.

I'm going to book a lesson in that just so I can put a packet of Rothmans on the dashboard.

[wuvvum]

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

 

 

Cherokee caravan

Don't think that's a Cherokee - nowhere for the engine to go. Could be an Aztec, or a Cessna 310 or something?

[wuvvum]

 

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

There's a video on Youtube of a (presumably empty) Airbus A319 doing something similar:

 

 

And here's a double decker having a go:

 

[AXrescuer]

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

I think the honour of ugliest aircraft goes to the old Super Guppy.

[AXrescuer]

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

 

 

Cherokee caravan

Don't think that's a Cherokee - nowhere for the engine to go. Could be an Aztec, or a Cessna 310 or something?

Looks like a Twin-Comanche fuselage.

[myglaren]

Quite right guys, it is a Comanche after all, I was sure I had read Cherokee on it. Wishful thinking perhaps, or the name most familiar to me.

 

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

Just visible if you zoom in.

[Negative Creep]

World War 2 is my forte, not really sure if you could class that under "shite" though. There were of course terrible planes but I possibly not so funny when their flaws costs thousands of lives (although conversely you could say by failing they saved the lives of their targets).

 

Although in keeping with the spirit of the thread Blackburn Aircraft really were the Talbot of the skies with every aircraft a dismal failure

 

 

 

[Jon]

Funny timing this - I received these images off my uncle this weekend. He'd scanned them in for me and the original slides had come from a work colleague of my dad. I have no idea where they were pictured, other than that it's obviously the UK. Sorry for the poor quality, though the slides weren't the best in the first place, with most being very underexposed, hence the loss of detail:

 

 

 

My dad wasn't able to identify the model from peering into the slide, though he said it was American when I read out it's number.

 

 

Bonus shite content here too. The Cortina looks like a Mk4 to me, though I can just make out its V registration. Still, I suppose the mk4 and 5s look similar from the back. The Mustang's W registered, which would date the picture as the Early 80's at least. Owned by a USAF worker serving in the UK?

 

 

And here's some pictures of it back on land. It obviusly took a nosedive into the water.

 

 

Some happy chaps dismantling it.

 

 

So, can any resident plane shiters shed any light on this? Is there a way of finding out the histories of planes trhough their registrations? Any idea of the age of the plane and when the crash happened? FACT ME!

[Volksy]

Looks like N444M is still flying, so I assume the registration has been transfered to a similar aircraft.

 

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N444M

 

Last flew in June 2010

[ChinaTom]

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N444M.html

 

ah, beaten to it.

[j-j]

Love old planes too. For me it's the 'Jet age' commercials starting with the Comet the B707 and Caravelle (the sound of the 707 still makes me quivver), and the DC-9 and B737 100/200 types with the PW engines - they also made a proper noise. And though I have never seen one in the metal, the B52 makes an amazing noise - the harmonics between the 8 engines makes for some sound.

 

I have vague memories of them as a kid in the mid-late 80s. I also recall seeing a VC-10 at that time. on approach at Glasgow airport one summer evening with the sky all red it was a silhouette.

 

All of the Boeings from the 50s to date: 707, 727, 737, 747 and all of the comtemporaries. The DC-10 was a phenomenal thing. And let's not forget the L-1011 Tristar! That was some machine too.

 

I'd love to have seen a Trident in the air.

 

But none of these can do what Concorde does to me!!

 

I always have an irrational nervousness when flying in a B737 and a similar restfulness in an Airbus... It's unjustified but it's there..

[Lankytim]

An AC47 flew over my place of work earlier on.. I heard it coming from miles away. They have a very distinctive engine note... fantastic!

 

Piston powered military chod is where its at for me.

[whitevanman]

it's a Grumman Widgedon/Gosling, WW2 era

[whitevanman]

An AC47 flew over my place of work earlier on.. I heard it coming from miles away. They have a very distinctive engine note... fantastic!

 

Piston powered military chod is where its at for me.

are you sure it wasn't just a C47? the AC47 is a vietnam era gunship hence the A before the normal designation

[ChinaTom]

You can still ride most of the old jets. Iran still has a 707 from Tehran to Mashhad - I think its classified as military, but it does take paying passengers. I heard it was being retired this year, but I have it on good authority that it is still flying. I'm sure Alitalia still runs 727's and you'll see them on the domestic routes in the states too (along with 717's). 737-100 and 200 series still bounce between the islands in Indonesia. Somewhere in Africa there is a Tristar still going on commercial flights. The UN still uses one for evacuations. I was on a DC-9 in Indonesia that was older than me, and when we were taxiing out, a BAC111 trundled past that had more patches than original shell. Africa is a great continent for obscure aircraft.

 

Highlights for me have been Tup134 and 154's, Ilyushin 96, Junkers seaplane and a Yun-7 turbo-prop.

 

Worst ever flight was middle seat in the central row of 5 in a TAP DC-10 from Lisbon to San Miguel, Azores. 2-5-2 was the worst idea ever.

[CortinaDave]

 

Bonus shite content here too. The Cortina looks like a Mk4 to me, though I can just make out its V registration. Still, I suppose the mk4 and 5s look similar from the back. The Mustang's W registered, which would date the picture as the Early 80's at least. Owned by a USAF worker serving in the UK?

 

 

'tis a MK4 - the solid chrome bumper and wing mirrors are the giveaways for me. Must just have been a late reg - quite a few MK4s ended up on a V

 

*removes anorak*

[trigger]

Quite right guys, it is a Comanche after all, I was sure I had read Cherokee on it. Wishful thinking perhaps, or the name most familiar to me.

 

.

I don't know if these photos are of any good, I took them at Bromley this year.

 

 

 

 

[Lankytim]

An AC47 flew over my place of work earlier on.. I heard it coming from miles away. They have a very distinctive engine note... fantastic!

 

Piston powered military chod is where its at for me.

are you sure it wasn't just a C47? the AC47 is a vietnam era gunship hence the A before the normal designation

Yes, quite right.. It was a C47.. I seem to remember the airfix kit of an AC47 I built many years ago. Hey atleast I didnt just call it a Dakota!

[whitevanman]

An AC47 flew over my place of work earlier on.. I heard it coming from miles away. They have a very distinctive engine note... fantastic!

 

Piston powered military chod is where its at for me.

are you sure it wasn't just a C47? the AC47 is a vietnam era gunship hence the A before the normal designation

Yes, quite right.. It was a C47.. I seem to remember the airfix kit of an AC47 I built many years ago. Hey atleast I didnt just call it a Dakota!

Very true, they were only really called Dakota's by the RAF, US forces called them Skytrains as for other airforces...feck knows

[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

I think the honour of ugliest aircraft goes to the old Super Guppy.

Well at least the Guppy was ugly for a purpose, i.e. it had to carry Airbus parts. The A380 is a landmark airliner but still looks hideous.

[whitevanman]

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

I think the honour of ugliest aircraft goes to the old Super Guppy.

Well at least the Guppy was ugly for a purpose, i.e. it had to carry Airbus parts. The A380 is a landmark airliner but still looks hideous.

the Guppy was not built to carry Airbus parts, it was built long before that, first flew in 1965 years before Airbus Industries was even formed

[Tayne]

 

 

 

So, can any resident plane shiters shed any light on this? Is there a way of finding out the histories of planes trhough their registrations? Any idea of the age of the plane and when the crash happened?

 

 

FACT ME!

 

I don't claim to know anything about planes, but I like a good mystery.

 

I've been raking around on the web for the past hour and a half and found out quite a bit.

The plane itself is a Grumman G44 Widgeon.

 

 

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch does not list any accidents remotely matching this one, but their online archive seems to only go back to 1990 or so.

Its possible that they never found out about this crash but I doubt it. They do list a few minor incidents relating to fatigue related failure in older Grumman aircraft so something of this magnitude and involving so many people would certainly have been reported.

 

 

As as been shown the registration number is now on a Grumman G44.

Its been suggested that the registration number was transferred to another, similar, plane.

I'm not convinced though. It doesn't look too badly damaged and was/is probably worth a fair bit.

The odds of that plane being written off in the UK and the US registration then being reassigned to another similar plane (one of only 317 made) must be very low.

 

 

So assuming the planes are the same, what do we know about N444M?

According to FAA data its a 1943-built plane with serial No. 1343 meaning it served with either USarmy/Navy/Coastguard/Civil Air Patrol or possibly the Royal Navy(where it would have been called a Gosling).

Its had airworthiness certification done in 1960 (possibly when released from service) and in 1988 (possibly when rebuilt after the crash).

 

At some point in its life its been upgraded to Super-Widgeon spec by Mckinnon Enterprises in Sandy, Oregon. The main change is the replacement of the original Ranger engines with Lycoming engines for increased power to give higher take-off weights. There were also improvements to avionics, soundproofing, emergency equipment etc, I don't know whether there was a standard Super Widgeon spec or it was a package of bespoke improvements that the client could pick and choose from.

The main visual difference is the fitting of three blade propellors, indicating that the conversion was done prior to the UK crash.

 

LiveFlight tells us thats its currently parked up at Mason Jewett Field and has been for 11 weeks.

It might be broken or just the toy of a hobbyist pilot, I prefer to think the latter.

The owner is listed as an individual (not a company), Randy James Wilhite, who lives about 15 miles from the air field near the Chateau Aeronautique Winery.

 

Here's his FAA license details

http://www.avadaviator.com/index.php?it ... up/wilhite

He may or may not be an airline pilot, he seems to be qualified to and is in his mid-40s so likely to be still working.

 

I think he'd like to see the crash photos (imagine if an old owner of your current car contacted you!) so I reckon you should try and contact him, Mr _Estate.

I'll pm you his home address and phone number.

Should that be out of date then, I'd suggest trying the airport to get a message to him.

http://www.flylansing.com/contact.aspx

Although these details are for the main regional airport authority rather than Mason Jewett Field itself.

You could also try the Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 55 have a hanger at Mason Jewett - N444M could even be inside it, but these details are for the head office in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

http://www.eaa.org/contactus.asp

The Chapter's office might be a good start.

[wuvvum]

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

I think the honour of ugliest aircraft goes to the old Super Guppy.

Well at least the Guppy was ugly for a purpose, i.e. it had to carry Airbus parts. The A380 is a landmark airliner but still looks hideous.

the Guppy was not built to carry Airbus parts, it was built long before that, first flew in 1965 years before Airbus Industries was even formed

Wasn't the Guppy originally designed to carry components for NASA's space program?

[gearoil]

Although in keeping with the spirit of the thread Blackburn Aircraft really were the Talbot of the skies with every aircraft a dismal failure

 

 

Except this one...

 

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

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4vkBWLmnZA

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0-xnaRSL6g

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=cK ... small#t=26

 

I bloody love these things.

[fiatdaft]

some plane shite i found a while back.

 

[whitevanman]

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

I think the honour of ugliest aircraft goes to the old Super Guppy.

Well at least the Guppy was ugly for a purpose, i.e. it had to carry Airbus parts. The A380 is a landmark airliner but still looks hideous.

the Guppy was not built to carry Airbus parts, it was built long before that, first flew in 1965 years before Airbus Industries was even formed

Wasn't the Guppy originally designed to carry components for NASA's space program?

That was one of it's purposes, it was originally planned as a limited run to be able to cater for the more easoteric loads that others couldn't carry, bit of a niche market thats grown over the years, The Russians had there own version of it and Airbus built a similiar plane for there own use. cant remember their names of the top of my head

[ChinaTom]

I think he'd like to see the crash photos (imagine if an old owner of your current car contacted you!) so I reckon you should try and contact him, Mr _Estate.

I'll pm you his home address and phone number.

Should that be out of date then, I'd suggest trying the airport to get a message to him.

 

3 hearty cheers and a pint for you. I really hope this happens. There are also a load of airliner magazines that you could contact - I'm sure the photos themselves would be of great interest.

 

Nice one Mr. Tayne.

[whitevanman]

some plane shite i found a while back.

 

 

 

OOO !!! a Fairy Gannet

[Tayne]

.

[whitevanman]

I could be pedantic and point out that it is a Hawker Siddeley made aircraft that as its an S2B which was an RAF only version, either 12 or 208 SQN