The best airplane?

Design my own, and have it built.
 
flyersfan31 said:
Pilatus PC12. I wouldn't waste more than 5 seconds making that call.
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pgengler said:
Actually, looks like anything over 10gph is included in the benefator $$, so it's only the first 10 gph that we're on the hook for. I think I'd be happy with a PC-12.
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Walt said:
John,
I would go for a TBM 850. If that were not available a PC 12 would be second choice.
Walt

PS Could you have it here by Christmas?
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FlyNE said:
I'd have to say a PC12.
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PC-12 for me too.

One of the things I'd like to do before I die is take a flying tour of the Caribbean, from Florida down to Curacao or so and back, maybe with some friends, for like an entire winter... Maybe longer. A PC-12 would fit that mission pretty well, I think.
 
If someone else is paying for fuel and upkeep, it would be hard to turn down a P-51.

As far as a 'practical' traveling machine, a Grand Caravan (on floats) would be cool. Who cares that it's not extremely fast, with as much crap as it can haul, you can shove comfy recliners and a small bed in there!
 
CJones said:
As far as a 'practical' traveling machine, a Grand Caravan (on floats) would be cool. Who cares that it's not extremely fast, with as much crap as it can haul, you can shove comfy recliners and a small bed in there!
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Problem is, you can't get a Grand Caravan on floats for some reason. The Amphib Caravan that Cessna sells is a Caravan 675 + floats, and I can't find any floats that will work for the Grand Caravan.

Sucks, too, 'cuz you're right, that would be a sweet machine. :yes:
 
All the replies have been pretty cool so far, but I was thinking that an A-10 would be a cool "personal" aircraft. Maybe a C-130 would be more appropriate with the stuff that we have to carry with 2 young 'uns.....

I did like the p-38 with turbine engines...that would be a screamer, and it would carry a bunch of stuff....

--Matt
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Problem is, you can't get a Grand Caravan on floats for some reason. The Amphib Caravan that Cessna sells is a Caravan 675 + floats, and I can't find any floats that will work for the Grand Caravan.

Sucks, too, 'cuz you're right, that would be a sweet machine. :yes:
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If someone else was footing the bill, I could find a way to get floats. ;)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Problem is, you can't get a Grand Caravan on floats for some reason. The Amphib Caravan that Cessna sells is a Caravan 675 + floats, and I can't find any floats that will work for the Grand Caravan.

Sucks, too, 'cuz you're right, that would be a sweet machine. :yes:
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The service center across the ramp had one in for an inspection recently. Wonder why/how it got the amphibs? Didn't ask any questions, but slobbered slightly when the hangar doors were open.
 
wabower said:
The service center across the ramp had one in for an inspection recently. Wonder why/how it got the amphibs? Didn't ask any questions, but slobbered slightly when the hangar doors were open.
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Tom Downey mentioned a specific float model in chat one night (Aerocet's IIRC, forget the number) but on looking at their web site they don't sell 'em any more and I couldn't find any more info anywhere else either.

:dunno:
 
There's also the Koadiak, which looks remarkably similar to a Caravan, but you CAN get with floats. Would be a neat option, for sure! We were drooling over them at Osh.
 
OK. I now need something heavily armed........for the revolution. :devil:

Oh, wait, I already picked the F-5. That'll do nicely.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
There's also the Koadiak, which looks remarkably similar to a Caravan, but you CAN get with floats. Would be a neat option, for sure! We were drooling over them at Osh.
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First let me say that I've got the float rating and enjoyed it immeasureably. I own a pure traveling airplane and get plenty of use out of it. But...

Kodiaks and Caravans on floats? Man, you'll never get those things to do a good loop. People get way too hung up on getting a bunch of utility out of airplanes and end up not enjoying them after a while. When you were a 10 year old kid making model airplanes and reading all those old Ballantine's books on WWII aircraft, were you dreaming about someday flying a Caravan on floats? Heck no!

Seriously guys, you need one good serious dose of aerobatic adrenalin rush. Just once. And then come back and tell me your money is no object, hotsy snotsy dream aircraft is a truck on floats... I don't think so :)
 
Rotor&Wing said:
Been there, done that. Get's old really fast.
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I know there are pilots that feel the way you do but I'm totally baffled that about that. My theory is that there are people who become pilots and own aircraft because of the lifestyle that it affords them. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that and Lord knows, it's people like that make the whole world of GA go 'round and 'round. It's an amazing lifestyle you're sporting when you can go jump in your Caravan on floats and in a few hours be pulling up on the bank of your fishing/hunting lodge lake. Wow, who wouldn't want that? But I'll still bet that wasn't what you spent your youth day dreaming about...

It totally baffles me that a person could be bored or turned off by the notion of taking a purpose built aerobatic aircraft up in the sky and learning to safely and proficiently exercise the kind of freedom that's only accessible in this way - total 3 dimensional freedom. For those of us that have spent our lives turning non-renewable fossil fuels in to fun, I just can't imagine a higher form of expressing that than a hot rod aerobatic biplane, preferably a red Pitts, that's loud and blowing smoke, pulling 6 G's to the vertical and showing off how many rolls you can do before it starts to slide. Yeeee-freakin-haaaa! Man, I do it all the time and I'm still sitting here getting goosebumps about it. Does a Caravan do that for you? It's OK if it does... really.
 
PittsDriver said:
It totally baffles me that a person could be bored or turned off by the notion of taking a purpose built aerobatic aircraft up in the sky and learning to safely and proficiently exercise the kind of freedom that's only accessible in this way - total 3 dimensional freedom.
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I found my thrill in helicopters, all that above and more. Really.:thumbsup:
 
PittsDriver said:
Seriously guys, you need one good serious dose of aerobatic adrenalin rush. Just once. And then come back and tell me your money is no object, hotsy snotsy dream aircraft is a truck on floats... I don't think so :)
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Not me. An airplane whose main purpose in life is giving me a severe case of motion sickness is not one I'd consider my dream airplane.
 
jmaynard said:
Not me. An airplane whose main purpose in life is giving me a severe case of motion sickness is not one I'd consider my dream airplane.
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Edit: Hey Jay, that Zodiac is a +6/-3 bird. Don't tell me you haven't looped or rolled it yet?

I'm going to suggest to anyone that has gotten a severe case of motion sickness, that you might have been poorly introduced to aerobatic flight. Even if you are an individual like me, with a low base tolerance for G's and unusual attitudes, it's possible to learn aerobatic flight and, more quickly than you might think, get passed the point that you're prone to bodily emissions. Some of the greatest aerobatic pilots had a low tolerance for tummy churning flight. Solving that problem is nothing more than making the unusual sensations feel more usual by taking it slow, never doing anything you don't understand or expect, and sticking with it.

Sorry for the thread hijack - please continue daydreaming of flying trucks.

P.S. I have zero rotary wing time and it's something that I'd love to do someday. I'll concede it might be right up there on the thrill meter with acro :)
 
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Enjoy your adrenaline rush. Me, I get enjoyment and amazement simply
by flying my cherokee. You might think it's boring, but for me it's all
about flying, not about adrenaline
 
I've had some time in an acro plane. Fun at the time, but I would not want to be doing that sort of flying more than 50% of the time. Same reason that my CBR hasn't been started in 3 months.
 
Bob Noel said:
Enjoy your adrenaline rush. Me, I get enjoyment and amazement simply
by flying my cherokee. You might think it's boring, but for me it's all
about flying, not about adrenaline
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Though I made reference to the rush, for me it's all about the flying also and that's really the main point I was trying to make. If you're dreaming of a Caravan on floats, it's about the lifestyle. Flying - not so much. Not that you can't get pretty stoked about having the skill to haul yourself and several of your fishing buddies in and out of a small Canadian lake. So again, I'm not so much poo pooing any particular use of aircraft and what it might mean to those doing it. But watch a kid play with a toy airplane. What are they imagining and what are they doing with it and when did you guys dreaming about flying trucks lose it? The question was: if you could have ANY airplane you wanted, no strings or cost attached, what would it be? Come on, you know you secretly want that little hot rod airplane :) Get it touch with your feelings Luke!
 
Practically I'd love to have a Maule M5-235, Not so practiically I'd love a Harrier or F-15 Strike Eagle, maybe a F-4 Phantom would be nice too.
 
PittsDriver said:
Edit: Hey Jay, that Zodiac is a +6/-3 bird. Don't tell me you haven't looped or rolled it yet?
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Have not and will not. The POH has a "no aerobatic maneuvers" limitation; it's placarded "no intentional spins"; and that's +6/-3 ultimate, which means it's really a +4/-2 limit with the required 1.5x safety factor. There have also been some in-flight breakups of the Zodiac XL that have been linked to aerobatics.

I'm going to suggest to anyone that has gotten a severe case of motion sickness, that you might have been poorly introduced to aerobatic flight. Even if you are an individual like me, with a low base tolerance for G's and unusual attitudes, it's possible to learn aerobatic flight and, more quickly than you might think, get passed the point that you're prone to bodily emissions. Some of the greatest aerobatic pilots had a low tolerance for tummy churning flight. Solving that problem is nothing more than making the unusual sensations feel more usual by taking it slow, never doing anything you don't understand or expect, and sticking with it.
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I've never done aerobatic flight. I also have a very low tolerance for G forces; a 2-G pullout from a dive has been enough in the past to make me lose it. Could I get past that point? Possibly. I just don't see it as something I would enjoy enough to offset the sickness getting there. As it is, I'm not looking forward to the spin training I'm going to need for my CFI-SP ticket.

Everyone's mission, dream or otherwise, is different. For me, aviation is not only about the fun of flying, but also about the rest of my life that it enables. "Lifestyle"? Only in part. Being able to throw the TRON costume in the airplane and make a photo shoot in Minneapolis and a comedy club appearance in Chicago on the same day was fun - but no small part of that wsa that I got to fly myself there.
 
jmaynard said:
I also have a very low tolerance for G forces; a 2-G pullout from a dive has been enough in the past to make me lose it.
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Would wearing the Tron suit while flying help???








:D
 
Yeah, you can't loop a Grand Caravan on floats, but you CAN fly it onto a lake in Canada with darn near the whole family and take enough gear to spend a full week fishing and/or hunting. If someone else is footing the bill, I'm not gonna blow the opportunity for access to a $1.5+M aircraft for a $150k Pitts Model 12 - I can find a way to pay for that myself. ;)
 
flhrci said:
You wouldn't want the S-3 if you knew how crappy the avionics are. Ask me how I know!

David
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I was an avionics tech on the Viking. You don't have to convince me.

The bird had a Sperry Univac AYK-10 General Purpose Digital Computer. It ran sonabouy monitoring, FLIR operation, radar operation and data recording. There was something else but I can't recall what it was now. The computer's CPU took up four cubes at the end of the avionics aisle, each about 14" in size.

Until I got out of the Navy, I had never played with the personal computers that existed at the time. A friend had a Timex Sinclair and a Commodore Vic 20. The Vic 20 had more speed and capability than the AYK-10 and it was just a tad bigger than your average keyboard today.
 
CJones said:
I'm not gonna blow the opportunity for access to a $1.5+M aircraft for a $150k Pitts Model 12 - I can find a way to pay for that myself. ;)
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Totally agree. That's why I bought the Pitts and you caught me day dreaming about that Red Bull P-38:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/red-bull-p-38-lightning/549427660

http://www.ezellaviation.com/Past Pages/P38/wings.html

As I mentioned before, this probably comes as close to a priceless aircraft as any on the planet. It's heritage: the highest scoring ace in WWII didn't fly a Mustang, he flew a P-38, the Forked Tail Devil as it was called by the bad guys.
 
It's heritage: the highest scoring ace in WWII didn't fly a Mustang, he flew a P-38, the Forked Tail Devil as it was called by the bad guys.
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Yeah, against inferior Japanese planes that caught fire if you just looked at them. Not saying Bong or any others weren't heroes and great pilots, but by that time Japanese planes were inferior and most of the experienced Japanese pilots were gone.
 
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