What's the best thing you've seen in aviation?

[Chock 17,769]

That must have been incredible!! Isn't the airstrip at Barton quite short, too? I just can't imagine that at all!

Yup, Barton is a tiny GA airfield, although it is big enough that it occasionally had Lancaster Bombers divert to it during the Second World War. I'm pretty sure I have a picture of that Concorde fly-by at Barton somewhere. If I can remember where the hell it is I'll see if I can dig it out.Al

[Guest jonthedoors]

If I can remember where the hell it is I'll see if I can dig it out.Al

That'd be an absolute treat, thanks!

[byork 2,259]

I live close to a joint civil/military airport, and while it's not the best thing I've seen, I do see the occasional F-4 Phantom coming and going. You can hear those things from miles away.The F-4 is my favorite plane; meanest and toughest looking plane there ever was.

[Plainplane 6]

Yesterday I flew from Orlando to New York (JFK) and back to Orlando in the same day on JetBlue A320s.While at Kennedy I saw the Emirates A380 taxiing and I got my first clear photos of the plane. Also on the return I got to see the mid-air sunset, one of the most beautiful sights there is. When I got to the terminal I saw a JetBlue A320 that was so new that it didn't have a name yet.Also last weekend I went to Sun 'n Fun, and saw a whole bunch of performances including Aeroshell and the Golden Knights. I also got to tour a KC-135.Also a couple years ago I got to see an A4C Skyhawk being restored.

[Jean-Paul 167]

Nice thread :( The best thing I have seen was during the 07 Le Bourget air show. The weather was as awful as the A380 was amazing :

[Cessnaflyer 56]

Nice thread :( The best thing I have seen was during the 07 Le Bourget air show. The weather was as awful as the A380 was amazing :

Very nice I like how it looks like it is emerging out of it's own condensation.

[spesimen 135]

My best experience was back in around 1984-5 during an airshow at KPTK when I was in 6th or 7th grade and a huge FSII fan on the old apple II.There were rides available in small planes (i think piper cubs?) where you could pay like $10 and have a ride in the pattern around the airport. That was pretty cool and the first time I'd been in a GA aircraft.But.. After walking around for a while we discovered a chap with a biplane of some sort who was giving aerobatic rides for like $35. The pilot strapped me into a parachute and showed me how to pull the cord and how to get out of the plane if something went amiss.Then we took off and headed away from the airport... After a few minutes he asked me if I was ready.. We started slowly with a barrel roll, which was intense. He said "are ya ok?" and I pretty much said "heck yah!!" and it went from there. Did some loops and more rolls.But the best part was the hammerhead stall. I'll never forget flying straight vertical, hanging in space, I could see the Pontiac Silverdome in the distance as we floated there for what seemed like ages and then tipped sideways heading straight towards the ground.It was 100x cooler than any roller coaster I've ever been on! My only regret is that I had eaten a lot of corn dogs and junk earlier and my stomach started to disagree with the positive/negative G changes. After about 15 minutes I told him that we should probably head back if he wanted to keep the back seat clean (I had a little bag to use but didn't want to go there if I didn't have to.)I can't imagine in today's world that it would be nearly as easy to have a ride like this what with insurance costs and things like that.When we got home my Dad caught a lot of trouble from my Mom who was furious that he would let me do anything like that :) But I think he knew it was worth it, one of the coolest experiences in my life!

[tf51d 284]

The best thing I've seen in aviation, was my first Space Shuttle Launch at the Kennedy Space Center. It was a night launch at 3AM in the morning, and it lit up the sky like it was morning! I seen a few more, as well as Atlas and Delta launches since then and now I watch them from my backyard, since I moved to Florida. The best thing I've done in aviation of course was flying Crazy Horse a TF-51D (Training version of the P-51D) Mustang.

[Geofa 108]

My best experience was back in around 1984-5 during an airshow at KPTK when I was in 6th or 7th grade and a huge FSII fan on the old apple II.There were rides available in small planes (i think piper cubs?) where you could pay like $10 and have a ride in the pattern around the airport. That was pretty cool and the first time I'd been in a GA aircraft.But.. After walking around for a while we discovered a chap with a biplane of some sort who was giving aerobatic rides for like $35. The pilot strapped me into a parachute and showed me how to pull the cord and how to get out of the plane if something went amiss.Then we took off and headed away from the airport... After a few minutes he asked me if I was ready.. We started slowly with a barrel roll, which was intense. He said "are ya ok?" and I pretty much said "heck yah!!" and it went from there. Did some loops and more rolls.But the best part was the hammerhead stall. I'll never forget flying straight vertical, hanging in space, I could see the Pontiac Silverdome in the distance as we floated there for what seemed like ages and then tipped sideways heading straight towards the ground.It was 100x cooler than any roller coaster I've ever been on! My only regret is that I had eaten a lot of corn dogs and junk earlier and my stomach started to disagree with the positive/negative G changes. After about 15 minutes I told him that we should probably head back if he wanted to keep the back seat clean (I had a little bag to use but didn't want to go there if I didn't have to.)I can't imagine in today's world that it would be nearly as easy to have a ride like this what with insurance costs and things like that.When we got home my Dad caught a lot of trouble from my Mom who was furious that he would let me do anything like that :) But I think he knew it was worth it, one of the coolest experiences in my life!

I fly out of kptk-what a cool story!

[spesimen 135]

I fly out of kptk-what a cool story!

it's one of my favorite places to fly in FSX because of this heh..(and also, for vfr i know the area since i grew up around there living in rochester and ann arbor for most of my days before i moved out to cali for a job a few years ago. the house i grew up in is right by st. andrews in rochester which is that church that looks like a nuclear reactor cooling tower..)my uncle's father was the postmaster general in pontiac during the 30's and played a role in the early development of the airport as a hub for postal air mail shipments. as a result i spent a lot of time there as a kid, my uncle would often take me to the restaurant in the building near the tower to eat lunch and watch planes take off and land. i don't know if that's still there it's my understanding it's been modernized quite a bit since the 80's.there's a pretty cool article about the history of the airport from the kptk website at http://www.oakgov.com/aviation/news/75_anniversary_pr.htmlcheers,-andy crosby

[btacon 1,791]

The best thing in aviation I've seen is the SR-71, U-2 without a doubt. I was an Air Traffic Controller at Beale AFB for almost seven years (83-89).I've seen some other things, like a flight of four F-117s before the common man in the USAF knew what F-117s were, but the SR and U-2 still made my hair on my arms stand up straight even 7 years after arrival at Beale on the day of my departure.Cheers, bt

[ccaughie 0]

My best, long ago as it was, was Fife, Scotland, from 9500ft in a glider. It was the only time in my relatively short gliding career that I ever got properly established in wave.I know you powered folk see that kind of view all the time, but try to imagine it with absolutely no noise except the wind rushing past (at only 30kts, I was flying a K-8!).Colin

[Guest jonthedoors]

The best thing I have seen was during the 07 Le Bourget air show. The weather was as awful as the A380 was amazing :

The wing vapour makes this picture very sexy indeed.Far better than mine, haha!

I know you powered folk see that kind of view all the time, but try to imagine it with absolutely no noise except the wind rushing past (at only 30kts, I was flying a K-8!).

That sounds truely stunning, indeed!

[Guest jonthedoors]

The F-4 is my favorite plane; meanest and toughest looking plane there ever was.

I agree with you there, but it does look pretty mean. If there was a 'meanest' award though, I think the AH-64 Apache would bag it, easily!

My best experience was back in around 1984-5 during an airshow at KPTK when I was in 6th or 7th grade and a huge FSII fan on the old apple II.... When we got home my Dad caught a lot of trouble from my Mom who was furious that he would let me do anything like that :) But I think he knew it was worth it, one of the coolest experiences in my life!

That Sounds pretty incredible! I do wish that we could offer such things these days, but like you said - the health and safety wombles probably enforce loads of strict paperwork on it, unfortunately...

[Guest jonthedoors]

The best thing I've done in aviation of course was flying Crazy Horse a TF-51D (Training version of the P-51D) Mustang.

Lucky you! That's really something!