Fido Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 You always hear a pilot say "It flies like a dream".But, airplanes have you flown that were not so nice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDR Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 After several years on the DC 9 I found that the 727 flew like a truck. JMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innuendo Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The Harvard, it did square loops if you let it, and there were two kinds of Harvard pilots, those who had ground looped, and those who were going to.Actually the Mk IV was significantly better for this than the predecessor as it had a steerable tail wheel.Nostalgia can make it a bit better but it was a fairly tough trainer. The RCAF introduced 25 hours on the Chipmunk before going on to the Harvard which made ab initio flight training an easier progression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinnaker Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The Dash-800 100/300 is a remarkable airplane for what it can do, but it really wasn't 'nice' to fly. It required rudder and trim with each power change. With the straight leg gear it was also referred to a shopping cart being thrown out of a pick up truck for its unforgiving landing qualities. You can't argue with its performance numbers on why it is such a great work horse of an airplane though.Edit to add - I found the 727 was a rocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I have to agree with Spinnaker, the Dash 8 is an extraordinarily capable aircraft and in the hands of a skilled pilot can fly in weather conditions that will ground anything else in the category but it sure doesn't fly nice and it does land like a shopping cart being thrown off the back of a pickup truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I have to agree with Spinnaker, the Dash 8 is an extraordinarily capable aircraft and in the hands of a skilled pilot can fly in weather conditions that will ground anything else in the category but it sure doesn't fly nice and it does land like a shopping cart being thrown off the back of a pickup truck.Neither you nor Spinny never found the sweet spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Neither you nor Spinny never found the sweet spot? If there's a sweet spot - it's a really, really small spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Having been in the back of my fair share of Dash 8s, I can't say I've ever seen a crew find the sweet spot. I'd add that one of the wheels on the shopping cart is slightly askew most times.The nicest handling airplane I've flown was the Citation V, as long as you weren't on the ground. I was convinced that the shock struts welded themselves to full compression and only went back to normal after engine shut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Having been in the back of my fair share of Dash 8s, I can't say I've ever seen a crew find the sweet spot. I'd add that one of the wheels on the shopping cart is slightly askew most times.There is a sweet spot. The trick is to be able to find it consistently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 There is a sweet spot. The trick is to be able to find it consistently. Spot on, Conehead!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I got a roller once on a Dash 8-300. Winds were calm, a nice cool summer morning landing on 20 at YEG. We left the flaps at 15 and the props at 900 and I had about 1 power change on the approach. There were about 10 pax in the back and not a ripple in the air. We crossed the threshold and just kept a bead on the end of the 2 mile runway and the only indication of touchdown was the sound of the tires spooling up. Another 8 seconds or so and the nose touched down. It was the only time that I experienced that on the Dash. Sometimes you could get smoother touch downs if the runway was wet, but typically it was an arrival that could only be appreciated by naval aviators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Re the Dash 8..."thas nodda shahpping caht...the aye330 & aye340 are SHAHPPING CAHTS...", (with even tinier sweet spots)...I can prove it. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Stuff that big, we're all just passengers from 50' down anyways Don! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 J.O., I beat the bogies to the runway surface about half the time (there goes the nose again...) and the passengers knew about the other half! I knew one or two pilots who could land beautifully every time, in the touchdown zone to boot - Pat Hirst was one, Angus Ingram (L1011) was another, Al Cheyne (DC9) another...Best aircraft I ever flew, by a very long way, was the L1011-500 - simly a brilliant design with a fine balance between automation, capability and just plain flying/handling characteristics. Despite the shopping-cart-falling-downstairs nature of some landings, the A330 & A340-300/500 were the next best aircraft, for me anyway. To me the automation is superbly designed and reliable, but you have to know the airplane well.There was no "worst" - they were all pretty nice to fly but I suspect those things that have those bits and pieces bolted everywhere onto the fuselage and wings to address some kind of aerodynamic quirk, would qualify...Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Any pigboat drivers here? I heard they were a handful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Hi Don. I've heard many good things said about the L1011. Having never flown it, save for a short time in the simulator in YYZ with an old friend, I have to say that the A330 is my favourite airplane. I miss it very much. All kidding aside, I actually had a pretty good run of landings on it, save for one arrival at DUB during my line training when windshear pulled out the rug from under me at 40 ft (I think Rich still has the bruises ). But I never tried for "rollers" on the A330. Just check the descent at 30 ft and let ground effect do the rest. It usually worked pretty well and set me up nicely for de-rotation to stay in synch with the unlocking bogies. A gentle nosewheel touchdown is definitely a challenge, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyBlazer Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Not to take away from the Glorious talk of the nighty dash 8...... But, I always felt that the METRO was a large peice of junk....Especially the 3 and 23 where they had extended the wings as an afterthought but left the ailerons where they were. Initiate roll and count to 3 then she might start...It was a lawn dart to travel in as well.SB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdix Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 B707 - not what you would consider forgiving, but great to fly once familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollywud Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 The mighty Dash-8 was probably the hardest aircraft to land consistently well, especially with full flaps. The sweet spot I found to be either calm winds or wet runways. Although I had plenty of smooth ones on the Dash, no airplane stroked ones ego like the BAe-146. That said, I find the A330 a pleasure to land under most conditions unlike the A320/321 which were far less forgiving. The Dash 8 gets my vote for the closest thing to a tractor to fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southshore Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Oh, Wud, yer takin' me back. The 146 was, I'm willing to spec the nicest landing machine ever. The down side of that was when they parked them, lots of us went back to the Mighty Dash. It wasn't a 'smooth' experience. When we were re-checking on the Dash, the FA would walk in the crew room and see they were working with ex 146 folks and their head would drop to their chest and you'd hear "oh noo". They still have flashbacks. That being said - if any machine is going to take off or land in bad circumstances, it'll be the Dash. But it ain't pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Not to take away from the Glorious talk of the nighty dash 8...... But, I always felt that the METRO was a large peice of junk....Especially the 3 and 23 where they had extended the wings as an afterthought but left the ailerons where they were. Initiate roll and count to 3 then she might start...It was a lawn dart to travel in as well.SBI have to disagree - the Metro was heavy in roll but had lots of stability and the the Garretts' snappy response rate gave lots of control to the pilots (and it landed better than the Mighty Dash 8). The Metro could fly a 2-1 descent at flight idle from FL250 and hold the pressurization and still do the straight-in approach and clear at the intersection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 The HS748 flies like a steam tractor. Heavy and slow and underpowered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planett Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Heavy, slow, and underpowered (HS748) is undisputed, but I thought it could be landed smoothly and predictably after a while, especially at 43,000 lbs. Huge dihedral, huge flaps, huge rudder, huge rudder pedals, huge throttles, tiny engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 727.It was tough at both ends of the spectrum... high altitude instability and tough to land consistently. I got bumped back to the DC-9 after the 727 and was amazed at the ease of handling of the -9 in comparison.I don't think there has ever been a better looking passenger aircraft, though.OOps... just noticed that GDR mentioned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I think the MD11 has the title for worst stability during approaches and landings. The tail feather are just too small! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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