Does Nostalgia Influence Our Aircraft Choice?

[Mithras 87]

I wonder how many people are flying aircraft with some personal meaning to them? Maybe from an incident in their childhood? I’m not a sentimental guy, but when I saw a freeware BAe Jet Provost available, I got excited … I was looking  for something military to enable me to fly out of RAF airbases here in the UK.

 

http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/2234/fsx-hunting-bac-jet-provost-tmk5/

 

When I was a boy, being taken to airshows/aerdromes/airports by my planespotting uncles, these Jet Provosts buzzed all over Doncaster, flying from the RAF training base at RAF Finningley. When I got a personal guided tour of the airbase when I was about 13 I remember being in the maintenance hanger and being allowed to sit in the cockpit of a JP. Today they’re role is taken by the BAe Hawk.

Familiarity breeds contempt and I never thought anything of the JPs at the time, but seeing the FSX version it has really captured my imagination. The 2D cockpit panel looks great from memory!  It brought back a flood of memories, airshows, and other parts of the airbase tour – meeting the base commander in his office, getting a lesson and a ride down the main runway by the airfield fire service… absolutely brilliant.

 

I’m sure I’ll be using this model a lot, it looks a nice easy plane to fly. And although I can fly out of Finningly, it is now a commercial airport (Robin Hood Airport: EGCN), so it will surrounded by EasyJet and Thompson flights. 

 

[uhntissbaby111 58]

For me, it definitely does sometimes. When I think of 727, 737 classics, and 757s I think of great memories of me and my dad boarding early morning flights on UAL out of KORD to KLGA back when I was a little kid. And the 767 reminds me of flying LOT to visit family in Poland. So those aircraft have a special meaning to me. And unfortunately none of them are done to current study sim standards!!!!! One can only hope

[Scott - A2A 164]

Mithras,

 

Great question and IMO, absolutely.  And I think the strongest influences are from our childhood.  As a kid, I remember having some metal aircraft.  The P-51 and Spitfire were my favorite ones.  I also think the entire high wing / low wing debate and preference is rooted in what pilots train on.  Their first flying experiences are tied to one type of plane.  For me, however, I chose to train on a low wing because it looked closer to those planes I played with as a kid.

 

Scott.

[BillW 210]

Absolutely. I had great trips on DC-10s, 727s, MD-80s and 737s. They dominate my let aircraft picks for that very reason. GA aircraft choices are from what friends owned and personal experience. I feel a kinship to all of these.

[Pablo30 0]

My fav, is a DC-8-64. I worked for Air Canada in the UK and CP Air in Canada.

I flew many hours on them.

. :england-flag:   :canada-flag:

[airernie 263]

Another absolutely.  

 

90% of my flying is done in a C172 because when I had the money to fly that's what I flew.   I learned in a C150 and would love to find a Carenado quality version of it for FSX, but have had to settle for the 152.

[ClearedtoLand 149]

I, too, have one aircraft which I have purely for sentimental reasons, the Just Flight 747-200, as it was the aircraft that carried me to Brazil for the first time. A country of which I have very fond memories. Other than that, I keep the South African Airways paint for the PMDG 747 400, as that was my first ever international flight, even though South African Airways no longer uses them on international flights. Last I heard (many years ago), they only had two or so and used them for flights to Luanda. But that might have given way to Airbus 340 600s as well now.

 

I don't really get aircraft for sentimental reasons, but I do make sure to get the repaints of all the airlines that I have been on for the aircraft that I have.

[Alan_A 1,650]

What a great question... and here's another vote for "yes, absolutely!"  My father had a real feeling for First World War and between-the-wars aircraft, because those were the ones he built balsa wood models of, and read about in the pulp magazines.  My center of gravity is the 1960s - I used to spend childhood summers on Long Island, about a minute's flying time off the end of the JFK runways, and I can still see those jetliners parading overhead during the evening rush hour.  I love the American orange-stripe-and-meatball logo, and in my office, I keep 1:400-scale models of some of the aircraft of  the "fallen flags" - Eastern, National, Trans Caribbean, the United blue stripe and the Northeast yellowbirds...

 

When it comes to simming, though, I've found that nostalgia can sometimes be a trap, at least to this extent - I've found myself buying an aircraft that I absolutely have to have, because I have such affection for it, only to find that the sim rendition isn't very good or very satisfying.  And on the other hand, thanks to some truly excellent simulations, I've discovered aircraft that I wouldn't have known much about otherwise - the Stratocruiser by Scott and his team at A2A comes to mind.  So while I love to remember those BOAC VC-10's going overhead (you always knew they were coming before you saw them, because of the tearing sound of the engines, nothing else sounded like that)... my flightsim experience is sometimes just a little bit to one side of my nostalgia. 

[tttocs 301]

I guess it depends on how broadly you define nostalgia, but I certainly prefer planes which I've had some connection to.  Planes I've flown, flown in, had friends who flew or just planes I always wanted to fly.

 

 

 

I also think the entire high wing / low wing debate and preference is rooted in what pilots train on. Their first flying experiences are tied to one type of plane. For me, however, I chose to train on a low wing because it looked closer to those planes I played with as a kid.

 

My first logged hour of instruction was in a Beech V35B Bonanza but beyond that fortunate hour, when I learned to fly the local choices were Cessna, Cessna or Cessna.  No one in my area offered anything else.  My bias then and now was for low-wing as well, but I still logged many hours in Cessna 152s, 172s, 177s and 172RGs before ever getting to fly a low-wing plane as PIC.  Along the way I built a certain respect for the advantages of high-wing planes, but I still transitioned to low-wings at the first opportunity and went with that when I purchased as well.

 

My sim flying does reflect that bias tinged with grudging respect, as I have three Cessnas (A2A 172 and Carenado 210 and 337), with everything else low-wing.

 

Scott

[robertorizzo 7]

For sure.

Every machine in my hangar is linked with reminiscence and nostalgia, 727s, 707s, and so on. Even some sceneries are strictly linked to my true life experience.

 

 

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[ctiger 49]

I never thought about it until I read your question. The answer is absolutely yes.  I remember back in the 60's-90's most of my travels were on Delta's L1011, 727 and then the American 767.  I now fly all of these planes in FSX as a "want to be pilot". 

[robertorizzo 7]

For sure.

Every machine in my hangar is linked with reminiscence and nostalgia, 727s, 707s, and so on. Even some sceneries are strictly linked to my true life experience.

So it's not just a simulator but a time machine too. It's my alter ego i visit almost every day; he's happier than me.

 

 

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[simmerhead 885]

Yes there is a lot of nostalgia involved as to what aircraft interests me. My whole childhood was about the Twin Otter and Dash 7 which I flew with frequently, and living just outside the fence of a large NATO air base I got to see most military NATO aircraft operating in the 1980s up close.

 

My dad was an ATC at the air base, so we often had pilots come home and visit us, and I got to hear "war stories" from a lot of pilots. When I was younger I was more interested in fighter jets and will never forget the sound of F-4 Phantom II taking off, or the A-10 Thunderbolt II coming in low and slow. But as I grew older the P-3 Orion, which was stationed at the air base, has become my all time favorite aircraft. The sound of the Alison T56 turbo props are just awesome, and seeing an Orion doing a low pass with full throttle before going skywards is jaw dropping.

 

But essentially all aircraft are dear to me. I never get tired of watching them and my second favorite place to be in the world is at an airport.

 

I learned to fly in a Cessna 172, but I must admit that it never grew to love it. The Piper Aztec that I flew later was a completely different lady though, and although ugly on the outside, flying a twin was empowering to say the least.

[avgaskoolaid 292]

For me, nostalgia absolutely influences what/where I fly in FSX. I have many great memories of when my family would fly between Damascus, Syria (where we lived year round) and Upper Michigan, where we spent summer and winter breaks. We would fly Marquette,MI-->Detroit-->Amsterdam(and later Paris)-->Damascus. The SAAB 340 is my favorite plane for this reason (We took them on the Marquette-Detroit flights), and it is why I am seriously considering getting X-Plane becuase of the LES Saab.

[xplanery 250]

Definitely, one of the reasons why I like the 757 so much are all numerous Finnair 757 operated holiday charter flights I've boarded through my childhood and youth. 

 

Longest of them was around 14 hours, Helsinki to Holguin, Cuba with a fuel stop in Halifax. It was great to see Greenland for the first time ever, due to some weather conditions the flight flew more north than usual.

 

I just love how powerful that aircraft is compared to most other airliners such as ordinary B737's and A320's.

 

Also most of my main airports of operation (such as Athens LGAV and Helsinki EFHK) I've chosen partially because of real life memories from them.