Ive decided a topic discussing Classics is needed because I miss needles and losts of fun gauges that were all manual to look at and then push. I miss what gives a plane character. Most planes now are computers with wings and engines on them. Bakc then they had a soul you felt excited to bored one hear the prop or anicent turbine get started up the noise the adverts once played explaing what and aircrfta was those where the days unfotunately i was born then so all I know is through reaind g and being on one DC3. Stranmge how the older planes survive longer than the modern ones. CLASSICS AND VINTAGE SI SALUTE YOU. HOPR THE GRVAEYARD IN NEVADA ISNT TOO COLD THERES HOPE YET.  so post about the classics discuss love enjoy be passionate prove the soul they have. That a modern airbus and boeing dont. Prove the clasics was better sure greenpeace hates them but F greenpeace.

[boring alert]Spitfire - for its iconic design...[/boring alert]

DH Mosquito - for the brilliant innovation of its design.

DH Comet - first jetliner, only fatally marred by one aspect of design.

DH/HS Trident - come on, not many aeroplanes of the 60s could land themselves - even the Chinese wanted them

Too many more to list...

DC-3 for more reasons than I can fit in the max 5500 characters.....that is a one of a kind classic.

For once I'll give some credit to you spitty lovers out there.....it sure is a classic

Continuing tyhese are clssicly great rules:
Rule one: No matter what else happens, fly the airplane.
- Flying is hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror.
- Fly it until the last piece stops moving.
- It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.
- An airplane will probably fly a little bit overgross but it sure won’t fly without fuel.
- Believe your instruments.
- Think ahead of your airplane.
- I’d rather be lucky than good.
- The propeller is just a big fan in the front of the plane to keep the pilot cool. Want proof? Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat.
- If we are what we eat, then some pilots should eat more chicken.
- I’d rather be a chicken than a turkey.
- Without fuel, pilots become pedestrians.
- If you’re ever faced with a forced landing at night, turn on the landing lights to see the landing area. If you don’t like what you see, turn 'em back off.
- Standard checklist philosophy requires that pilots read to each other the actions they perform every flight, and recite from memory those they need every three years.
- Experience is the knowledge that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
- There are some flight instructors where the student is important, and there are some instructors where the instructor is important. Pick carefully.
- Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.
- No one has ever collided with the sky.
- Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
- It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here.
- One peek is worth a thousand instrument cross-checks.
- Experience is a hard teacher. First comes the test, then the lesson.
- Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands.
- Never let an airplane take you somewhere you brain didn’t get to five minutes earlier.
- If it’s red or dusty don’t touch it.
- Don’t drop the aircraft in order to fly the microphone.
- An airplane flies because of a principle discovered by Bernoulli, not Marconi.
- Cessna pilots are always found in the wreckage with their hand around the microphone.
- If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the stick back they get smaller.
- To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder.
- Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man.... Landing is the first!
- Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great landing.' It’s one after which you can use the airplane another time.
- Definition of 'pilot': The first one to arrive at the scene of an aircraft accident.
-The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival.
- If you’ve got time to spare, go by air.
(More time yet? Go by jet.)
- IFR: I Follow Roads.
- There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.
- If you don’t gear up your brain before takeoff, you’ll probably gear up your airplane on landing.
- It only takes two things to fly, airspeed and money.
- Forget all that stuff about thrust and drag, lift and gravity, an airplane flies because of money.
- Do you see that propeller? Well, everything behind it revolves around money.
- The difference between a duck and a co-pilot?
The duck can fly.
- I’m from Transport Canada (or the JAA, FAA, DGCA) and I’m here to help.
- It’s better to break ground and head into the wind than to break wind and head into the ground.
- The owner’s guide that comes with a $500 refrigerator makes more sense than the one that comes with a $50 million airliner.
- Flying is not Nintendo. You don’t push a button and start over.
- The six P’s:
Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
- The future in aviation is the next 30 seconds. Long term planning is an hour and a half.
- Life is lead points and habit patterns.
- Gravity: killer of young adults.
- The only thing that scares me about flying is the drive to the airport.
- Young man, was that a landing or were we shot down?
- Sorry folks for the hard landing. It wasn’t the pilot’s fault, and it wasn’t the plane’s fault. It was the asphalt.
- Learn from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make all of them yourself.
- An accident investigation hearing is conducted by non-flying experts who need six months to itemize all the mistakes made by a crew in the six minutes it has to do anything.
- Things which do you no good in aviation:
Altitude above you.
Runway behind you.
Fuel in the truck.
A navigator.
Half a second ago.
Approach plates in the car.
The airspeed you don’t have.
- It is far better to arrive late in this world than early in the next.
- You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
- The more traffic at an airport, the better it is handled.
- If man were meant to fly, God would have given him baggy, Nomex skin.
- If God meant man to fly, He’d have given us bigger wallets.
- If God had meant for men to fly he would have made their bones hollow and not their heads.
- What’s the difference between God and pilots? God doesn’t think he’s a pilot.
- Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous.
- You can land anywhere once.
- Flying is the perfect vocation for a man who wants to feel like a bo

Somebody's got it ("the bug") real bad... which is good.

I'm right with you on the "bland" thing, but don't be depressed about it- still plenty of classic warbirds, transports and light aircraft still flying, and there are more that will fly again.
But it's not really practical for airlines and militaries to revive or hold on to such technology, operating cost being only one of them, so we won't be seeing fleets of DC-3s and Dragon Rapides plying the airways anymore.


As for being teased for being "plane crazy": they just don't know what they're missing, so you're the lucky one.

And some (sincerely) friendly advice: slow down when you type, dude! 

IM very happy ive just sen a Dc9 landing at Glasgow the first classic ive seen inmany years its smoke was beautiful reminds me of Helen.

The connie is actually brilliant beautiful and nimble yet tough and strong. The only aircraft I feel whcih could not be replaced along with the DC3. And like the DC3 noone has managed to create a newer replacement model which out does it. Ive got myself a brilliant connie model myself if you want the link tell me. Its got beautiful handeling its life like the cockpit etc and flying in wind or at night is a challeneg no fs pilot has ever faced before. I also feel its teh first aircrfat which ha da modern type a/p with full functionality like so few had.

colsie123 wrote on Aug 18^th, 2007 at 5:51am:


No, the connie is not in the same category as the DC-3 at all.  There have been plenty of replacement's for the connie and all successful.  The connie's job was actually quite simple: fly passengers a long ways.  Basically any international jet could be regarded as a replacement for the connie.

The DC-3 on the otherhand, carries people and cargo into both urban centers and rural areas where other planes can go.  No modern plane has yet to match the reliability and widespread use of the DC-3, and none have lived up to it's credentials.

Charlie wrote on Aug 19^th, 2007 at 4:30pm:


My point exactly!

colsie123 wrote on Aug 20^th, 2007 at 3:30am:


Any transatlantic airliner?

Jayhawk Jake wrote on Aug 20^th, 2007 at 2:19pm:


Quite. I doubt it would handle a howitzer hanging out the side either. The closest thing that could get close to the DC-3 for versatility is it's eventual successful replacement, and the aircraft that does its equivalent job now: The C-130. However it can't be as successful as hit had little use as a civil platform and has very few, specialised civilian uses.

If it wasn't for Flight Simulator, I am not sure I would have learned much about the DC-3.  But, on a whim, one day while flying with my dad I loaded up the default DC-3, took it for a spin, and was . . . Wow!

What a gorgeous and fun-to-fly airplane!

Since then, I have picked up bits and pieces of information about the DC-3 and learned what a truly enduring and special airplane it is.  When I am not practicing learning to crash fly in the Cessna 172 and the Gippsland GA-8, I am finding more and more time to enjoy the DC-3.

Why, heck, I even made it into the first Xyn Air liveried aircraft I have ever repainted (just look at my siggy).  Yes, the DC-3 is truly a gem among all the classic aircraft.

Happily daydreaming,
~Darrin

You can always count on Jake for an over zealous critique on his beloved Dakota.

Anybody cover the Cub yet ?......I'm sure that there are still a few pilots living who earned their wings in the venerable Piper stalwart.........