Does Nostalgia Influence Our Aircraft Choice?

[styckx 1,870]

Sometimes Nostalgia, sometimes randomness.

 

Perfect example of randomness.. I was sitting here late the other night.. It was 2am. I turn on ABC and Look Who's Talking the movie is on..  There is a point where John Travolta takes Kirstie Alley out on a date in his airplane.. I never saw the plane before. Very unique looking GA aircraft. so I Googled "Airplane in Look Who's Talking".. Found out it was the MS-760 Paris Jet. Then found an FSX version of it and added it to my hanger..

[ViperPilot 81]

Sometimes Nostalgia, sometimes randomness.

 

Perfect example of randomness.. I was sitting here late the other night.. It was 2am. I turn on ABC and Look Who's Talking the movie is on..  There is a point where John Travolta takes Kirstie Alley out on a date in his airplane.. I never saw the plane before. Very unique looking GA aircraft. so I Googled "Airplane in Look Who's Talking".. Found out it was the MS-760 Paris Jet. Then found an FSX version of it and added it to my hanger..

I agree totally. There are times I'll be watching some Aviation documentary, or catch a story in the News with a particular airplane. I'll go hunt out all the 411 on Wikipedia, then take a peek in the Library to see if someone's made the same airplane.

 

Nostalgia plays a part, too... for me, it's the historical context of the airplane rather than a personal attachment. That's why I have airplanes like the Beaver, the Ryan SC-W, the C-195; for the roles they played in Aviation History.

 

[PDX Flyer 111]

Yes, but certainly not exclusively.  Most of my aircraft are what is the best choice for GA.  But I have enjoyed the DC-6 and DC-3 which I used to go the airport as a boy and watch.

[Guest]

Guess I am the only one who has no nostalgia in this regard at all. I wasn't brought up with airplanes, my parents never came even near an airplane, and I myself only flew ONCE in a... er... I think it was a Cessna, but I don't even now. Makes me wonder what ever made me start flight simming...!!! I guess it simply was the idea of flying that attracted me. Anyway, I pick my planes purely on what I like at that moment and not based on nostalgia.

[jime59 58]

Most definitely. When I saw A2A's B-17 w/Accusim I was in sim heaven. My dad was on them back in the 40's and I've always had a feeling towards that particular airplane.

Also, CS's 727. I grew up within a couple of mile from Ohare Field and they would come really low back then over my house. So yeah, nostalgia played a big part on some of my sim purchases.

How could it not ? 

[january 19]

OH my- in that case I go back to being thrilled by Tiger Moths and standing under the wing of an AVRO Ansen at an RCAF recruiting exhibition.

A few years later our Grade 7, 8 Manual Training class was asked to make wooden scale models (painted flat black), of a new and unidentified fighter plane. Only near the end of the war did we finally learn we had been making pilot recognition models of the soon to be famous P51 !!

january

PS - My old memory says that the belly radiator on the Mustang was to accommodate the Rolls Royce Merlin engine- which had transformed the 51 from dog to winner and leaving the original Packard engined P51 as suitable only for photo recce. 

Any old timers out there who can confirm this?

[TuFun 426]

For me when I was young, I would draw aircraft... mostly WW2 birds.  Built hundreds of plastic models of WW2 birds and some balsa models.  At 12 years old, I lived next to Wright-Patterson USAF Museum.  I would walk to school passing under XB70, B-24, B29, etc., out the museum gate.  I was there every day until my dad was transfered. Round engines are my favorite as are Harely's... great sound!

[Paul J 349]

Yup - it slimmed down that rounded lower half of the engine cowling that was the distinctive Merlin-Spitfire nose. The intercooler for the two-stage supercharger was contained there, the engine coolant radiator was there along with the engine oil cooler. It actually slightly increased the performance of the aircraft.

 

All the Best,

 

pj

[january 19]

Yup - it slimmed down that rounded lower half of the engine cowling that was the distinctive Merlin-Spitfire nose. The intercooler for the two-stage supercharger was contained there, the engine coolant radiator was there along with the engine oil cooler. It actually slightly increased the performance of the aircraft.

 

All the Best,

 

pj

Thanks pj- your Mustang/Merlin info was most interesting. The sound of a Merlin overhead is truly spine tingling.

One of my cousins flew an RCAF P51, with Packard engine, on photo missions over the Normandy beaches- not sure whether that was more dangerous than escorting B17s to Berlin- since everyone on the ground assumed any plane flying that low was most likely to be from the Luftwaffe!

january @ cyxx

[Bjoern 1,153]

I used to recreate real flights of mine, but then I really got into airline history and deregulation and now I just want to take a 72S or 73S into Stapleton or Mueller.

[hmsdreadnought 12]

They do - and I'm continually bummed that we don't have great representations of some of the planes I associate with my growing up - the 727, the DC10, Vickers Vanguard for example. 

 

Fortunately, we do have the DC9 from Coolsky/Mcphat - and it is fun to recreate some of the air canada routes from my youth in the retro paint...

 

Colin

[HugoStiglitz 5]

It affects my aircraft and company of choice. Ever since I was a kid, I would take the United Airlines 767-300 from Chicago KORD to Paris LFPG to go visit my family. This would happen a couple times a year and it was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip to France!    I still remember waking up in the morning, feeling exited to take the plane on a long 8 hour trip, then the drive to the airport, boarding, the meals, movies, and just more and more! I mean, it's even gone to the point where i actually like the in flight movies and food!

[uhntissbaby111 58]

Artie711, I feel the exact same way!! Except for me it was KORD-EPWA on a LOT 763. And also SAS via EKCH to EPWA. As a kid I was so excited to fly that I couldn't sleep the night before. I loved every bit of the experience

[january 19]

"---------representations of some of the planes I associate with my growing up - the 727, the DC10, Vickers Vanguard for example. "

 

Ah yes- many memories of shake, rattle and roll in the Vanguards from Toronto to Calgary & Vancouver !

Spent many hours wondering when the interior panels & fittings of these airplanes would fall apart from vibration as the props went rythmically in and out of synch.

One of the great improvements in my life was Air Canada's acquisition of the DC8s, ushering in the era when flying was pleasurable!! (Too bad it was so short lived as the airlines found it more profitable to haul "livestock" rather than humans.)

 

I was aboard a DC8 from a (same day) round trip to Calgary, hours after it was known that another A/C DC8 had mysteriously dived vertically at high speed, into the ground at St Therese, Quebec. We must have all been pondering our own fates - there was an eerie total silence in the cabin for the entire trip! 

january

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Very interesting reads posted so far.

 

Nostalgia doesn't play a direct role for me, since I wasn't brought up around airplanes. My grandfather was with the RCAF for many, many years but I never had a chance to discuss much of his post-war career with him, and I do recall that he never, ever discussed his WWII career.

 

However, if it's possible, I'm nostalgic for eras in aviation that I never had the chance to experience or witness, both civil and military. 

 

I'm completely fascinated by naval aviation from the 50's up through to the retirement of the F-14;  I've spent many, many hours on the computer not only attempting to replicate operations, but also simply collecting airplanes and paints.  To a parallel but lesser degree, the overall history of all military jets through the cold war period is of interest as well.  The F-14 was something that I was taken with as a small kid; I can blame my parents for that - the first big screen movie I ever saw was Top Gun... when I was ten.

 

I'm also interested in the history, production and use of certain planes as they relate to my home, Canada. From de Havilland Canada to Canadair to Noorduyn Aircraft, I feel quite lucky to live in a country that's had a very lasting influence on aviation.  I've also amassed quite a library on Canadian aviation, both civil and military.

 

So in the sim, I have quite a few different interests to pursue - from flying Dino's F-14 on carrier ops, to flying my not-quite-accurate Milviz F-86 in CL-13 Sabre paint, to running my Twin Otter Extended on floats in the Pacific northwest or in RCAF paint out of Yellowknife...

 

I'm not quite sure you'd call it nostalgia, since it's not based on memories, but I sure wish it was!!