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Boac, I bet it was the most exciting of all the aircraft you have flown.
The Lightning was something special, particularly so as it was designed and built on a shoe string in a bike shed.

Surprised nobody has put any of these up yet.

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OM - on balance, having been fortunate enough to fly the Harrier as well, I think that just wins for 'exciting' since it was so different - I will NOT, however, be putting it forward as a 'thing of beauty'.

Boac, Lightning and Harrier, both pretty special aircraft.

I was lucky enough to be given a go in this one, the only non transport military aircraft that I have flown in, (except the Chipmunk),

Who was that with?

The aircraft was owned by Philip Meeson, the then owner of Channel Express, who was kind enough to let me have a few trips in his aircraft.
I was fortunate enough to be given a trip in his Pitts special, the DH Rapide and the JP, the latter flown by the chief pilot, a former RN Harrier pilot, who gave me a full aerobatic experience together with a little, very ginger, handling experience.
I found the Pitts experience highly disagreeable, I prefer to be attached to something more substantial, but enjoyed the JP as at least it had a canopy to stop me falling out when upside down.

This was the DH Rapide, I had two trips in this aircraft, one with my wife who generally lacks enthusiasm for such things, but she thoroughly enjoyed such a staid way of flying.

Uncle Roger was right with his "Ahhhh De Havilland" when you consider for a moment they didn't make many ugly ones.

Indeed - that Rapide has beauty.

Agree. The mosquito is a good example

Tiger Moth, Chipmunk, and the inevitable Comet, piston and Jet.

Another vote for the Spitfire, with its elegant form and all its associations.
An enduring memory is seeing and hearing one perform a victory roll over the nearby airport in 1990 on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Unforgettable.

You all know that this would be posted as soon as I got into town on the computer.

The clip is after they sprayed them some God awful colour. Sacrilege. But just look at that performance, the noise and air pollution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrGAaUqGbn0

That wouldn't be a Mighty 10 would it Ex-A?

Here's a nice piccie to make your Christmas.

I never flew in the shapely, stylish and beautifully engineered VC-10, but was very pleased to sit in the left-hand seat on the flight deck of the preserved example at Duxford. It looked feasible to hold a cocktail party in that spacious cockpit! Formerly owned by some ME potentate I believe, with internal fixtures and fittings just a tad on the vulgar side. Very impressive to gaze upwards at that huge and lofty swept-back tailplane from ground level ...

603DX wrote: It looked feasible to hold a cocktail party in that spacious cockpit! Formerly owned by some ME potentate I believe, with internal fixtures and fittings just a tad on the vulgar side.

If you want to hold a party on a flight deck, its gotta be a Beverley. How the ladies get up there isn't my problem, but warn them to wear slacks

As for fixtures &v fittings, at Vickers, Hurn, I was taken for a tour of a Viscount, the personal a/c of the late King Hussein of Jordan. The most impressive a/c interior that I've actually seen.

Unless I'm mucho mistaken the one in #34 is G-ASIX / A4O-AB, the Sultan of Oman's private transport, now at Brooklands.
Gold bog, gold toilets, two bedrooms, and as you walk towards the rear of the passenger (plebs) section, the size and pitch of the seats decrease. The Sultan and his lot lorded it up front. From what I've heard of people who flew with him, he treated his staff and crews very decently and was well respected and liked by all. I believe he is still alive.

https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explor ... -oman-vc10

The young chap in the RH seat is my son then aged 12.

Capetonian wrote:Unless I'm mucho mistaken the one in #34 is G-ASIX / A4O-AB, the Sultan of Oman's private transport, now at Brooklands.

Yep, you're quite right Cape, it was at Brooklands not Duxford. (I'm a frequent visitor to both, plus a multitude of other aircraft preservation venues!)

Me mate Pinky wrote..

I understand your choice Alison, but I would have to say that my choice has to be the Spitfire.
Particularly the Mk IX.

Apologies for lack of piccy of same.

Here's one!



The inescapable fact is a Spitfire Mk IX is THE most beautiful aeroplane ever, both in appearance and handling. There is no other.

End of discussion. End of thread.

Thanks Slasher, me old..!

Many years ago I once remarked to my now late Father that.....'I'd give my left bollock to fly a Spitfire!'

He was suitably horrified at that remark but later conceded that he appreciated my desire.

It turns out that back in late 1944 he had the opportunity to take a then brand new Mk IX for a 'quick flip.' He said that he 'played with the controls for a bit'....'went through the cockpit drills' in his head a few times whilst the Pilot who flew that particular aircraft stood on the wing next to him and coached him through the drills.....
and then thought that he'd better not, in case he bent it!

Dad kicked himself for the rest of his life!!

However, he did later take a Beaufighter for a 'bit of a fly around...' And finished the war flying Sunderland Flying boats with 461Sqn RAAF.