as739x From United States of America, joined Apr 2003, 5820 posts, RR: 23 Posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 1673 times:
Just curious to hear your stories that impressed you with a commercial aircraft
On my way to SFO (work) yesterday 3-5-13, I stopped by the Millbrae BART parking garage to watch while SFO operated 19 arrivals and departures. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a southerly departure with a left turn almost immediately after departure to avoid rising terrain to a heading of roughly 050. As the usual 737, Airbus and RJ's departed, SQ 15 (77W) made it's way out and lined up on 19R. I was very surprised to say the least that a 77W loaded to ICN could use a 7,500ft runway with terrain. This left me impressed.
TWA772LR From United States of America, joined Nov 2011, 762 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 1563 times:
I am always impressed to see the A380 at IAH. I love how it takes just as much runway as a 737 on take off and that it can (relatively) turn on a dime, with relatively low speeds at that! It turns almost as soon as it takes off and does practically a 270 degree turn, all within the lengths of the airport (i.e. it takes off 15L and turns within the distance of the 33R threshold to FM1960). I am an all-time Boeing fanboy, and I think the A380 was just a marvelous aircraft when I saw it take off for the first time. Kudos Airbus!
I also love to see the 777s take off over my head in the UA employee lot at IAH, but the A380 still takes the cake.
There's nothing like the smell of Jet-A in the morning. It smells like... VICTORY!!!
IAHFLYR From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 4723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 2, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 1458 times:
Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 1): I also love to see the 777s take off over my head in the UA employee lot at IAH, but the A380 still takes the cake.
It is all about bank angle and speed my friend.
I've seen many of the Emirates 77's complete the turn off the 15's to a heading of 030 well inside of a Colgan SF34. Gotta love those who barking on the flight deck, "bank angle, bank angle"!!!
Any views shared are strictly my own and do not a represent those of any former employer.
mesaflyguy From United States of America, joined Dec 2012, 724 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 1445 times:
My most impressive ride was on a DL MD88 from RSW to JFK sitting in row 34 right next to the engine. The pilot took his sweet time getting off the ground, but he didn't take his time getting up to cruising altitude! Then landing on 13L at JFK was impressive and a bit scary at the same time!
flymia From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 6298 posts, RR: 6 Reply 5, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 1444 times:
The 757 going into TGU is ridiculously impressive IMO.
Any twin engine plane into SBH. But the twin otter is a very impressive machine the flights to SBH or Saba and all those short field landings and takeoff videos are awesome.,
A plane that always leaves me wow is the 777-300 or 777-200LR. Just looking at it is impressive.
"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)
n901wa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 385 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 1433 times:
A few thing that impressed me was
1. The first time I was on the headset on a power run on a L-1011, watching it suck the mosture off the ground. That was way Cool.
2. During Delta Pilot training of the MD-11, they did a beat up at the EL Toro airshow. That was way cool.
3. Working a charter with just me and the 2 flight deck crew on a empty 767-300er, quick climb to 10,000 and turn back over to go east. That was awesome
4. Triming a fuel control on a 737-200 engine. It has to be done running, and at a few settings.
5. Working under nbr2 eng on a L-1011 during Startup. The Sound, and Vibration goes right thru you. I don't know how I didn't loose my hearing back then, but it was awesome
KLASM83 From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 584 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1427 times:
I have different impressions at different times.
First, as a kid, I thought the MD-80 was the bees knees. It has an amazing climb angle, great power, and overall is just a cool airplane around.
Lately, I was surprised by the CRJ-700. When it came out in 2002, my thought that it was *just* a stretched CR2-no other improvements. However, getting to work those in Aspen, see the climb angle, and than see what a rocket it was getting out of that tiny valley with a full load to Chicago thankfully proved me wrong.
Of course, the 757. Even with as much hype it gets here at a.net, on a short hop with pilots who really wants to move tail, pretty much earns the high praise given here.
gemuser From Australia, joined Nov 2003, 5219 posts, RR: 6 Reply 8, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1393 times:
On a QF B744 going from home (SYD) to AKL! They had about 25% fuel on board, that's a LOT of fuel left behind, it climbed like a rocket straight to FL 390. We arrive about 10 minutes early, so what? We left about 40 late! That's 50 minutes made up on a 3 hour flight!
A very impressive performance.
Another one was back in 1969 in an Ansett B721 out of POM for SYD. There was no seat vacant and POM-SYD is getting very close to max range. So we taxi out to the end of the runway, he drops that incredible wing into max lift config, locks the brakes, FULL power applied and we just stood there for a good 30 seconds or so. Brakes released, pops up off the ground almost immediately, he holds the nose down and accelerates along the strip, gear up with several good thumps, then over the flat country side to bring the speed up, finally lifts the nose and away we go. Most exciting take off I've ever done in an airliner.
TWA772LR From United States of America, joined Nov 2011, 762 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1386 times:
Quoting gemuser (Reply 8): We arrive about 10 minutes early, so what? We left about 40 late! That's 50 minutes made up on a 3 hour flight!
In those terms, then my favorite is actually the Emb-145. Those planes can show on time, and literally 5 minutes later someone will tell me its on the ground ~30 minutes ahead of schedule! When that happens I say it pulled a miracle. In fact, whenever I work at my airport, the flights that arrived early/on time, was almost always express flights. Mainline was a different story.
There's nothing like the smell of Jet-A in the morning. It smells like... VICTORY!!!
mia305 From United States of America, joined Mar 2013, 238 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 1369 times:
I have a couple.
1. Seeing the A380 takeoff from the Mia Employee lot. Just amazing, took almost all the
runway was real low and quiet.
2. Took an AA 777 from MIA-LAX. I had a window seat. After take off we hit the coast
we made a left turn and climbed straight up I was pressed into my seat. That was pretty cool.
3. Taking off and landing at Lga. Having to make those sharp turns after takeoff and before landing
that's nice as well.
4. Landing at SFO. I remember taking an EA L1011 and while landing we were getting lower
and lower I thought we were landing in the water until the last minute we passed the threshold
of the airport. That was a very fond moment for me.
SW733 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 6072 posts, RR: 10 Reply 12, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 1315 times:
From a passenger standpoint, I'm always amazed at how quiet the inside of an A380 is. That's impressive to me.
Not commercial, but the C-17 Globemaster is my favorite aircraft of all time (as an engineering nerd). Its capabilities impress me. I've only flown in one once, but loved it.
n729pa From UK - England, joined Jan 2011, 262 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 1275 times:
Some years ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (for those of you not familiar with this, it's an annual motorsport event in a English country home estate....F1, Rally, MotoGP, pre-war Silver Arrows, CART, you name it...) anyway one year they had a SAA 744 fly down from LHR on it's usual day long stop over and it did some manoeuvres that you'd never normally see and of course being empty it was climbing and banking very rapidly. It caused a few accidents too apparently as no one in the town nearby was used to see an airliner than low over them.
A year or two later the s/n 004 Airbus come and stole the show doing some amazing climbs and banking too, a slow fly pass too, they really put it through it's paces that day.
But I've always loved watching a 747 take off, bank and climb away, I never get bored of that, but sadly it's becoming a rarer thing to see these days.
Love it when the 757 visits the city. FI's hub is KEF (45 mins out of Reykjavik city center) so it's rare to see them land at RKV, Reykjavik "City" Airport.
The 75' is a beast! With those oversized RB211s it's like a sports car! Also loved taking off in it once in Corfu, Greece. Went up like a rocket!
RussianJet From Kazakhstan, joined Jul 2007, 6293 posts, RR: 23 Reply 17, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 1195 times:
Quoting SW733 (Reply 12): From a passenger standpoint, I'm always amazed at how quiet the inside of an A380 is
I was similarly impressed - in fact, amazed. Unbelievably quiet.
Conversely, I was impressed by how damn noisy the IL-86 was. It wasn't just the engines, which were very noisy, but everything else too - fittings rattling like hell, noisy flaps, the massive bang when the gear was lowered. All round just a very loud plane indeed. Really quirky design with all the toilets in a huge bank at the rear of the plane too.
The A346 impresses with length, a beautifully proportioned plane. You can see a decent amount of flex as you look down the cabin. Like the A380, also a very quite, smooth ride (but not quite as quiet).
YVRLTN From Canada, joined Oct 2006, 2095 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 1188 times:
One aircraft that always impressed me - and sadly rarely seen these days - is the Dash 7. That machine can take off and land on a dime with 50 pax.
Another has to be the DC3 - 75 years old and still in limited revenue service and while it of course looks dated, in no way does it look that kind of age.
Other than that, another vote for the A380 - I took the AF LHR-CDG flight and while the fuel load would have been very light, it was a full load and we took off from the intersection from T4, the captain said we were on 80% power, and we were off within a few 1000' feet and no noise.
TWA772LR From United States of America, joined Nov 2011, 762 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 1177 times:
Quoting RussianJet (Reply 17): You can see a decent amount of flex as you look down the cabin
I saw that in a UA 764 a few months back. I thought it was awesome the amount of forces a modern aircraft can handle, and then some. This was also after my dad telling me how he saw the same thing on a stretched DC8, in turbulence! If I can clearly see the 764 fuselage bend on a smooth day, I can't imagine a DC8 in a storm!
There's nothing like the smell of Jet-A in the morning. It smells like... VICTORY!!!
rwy04lga From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 2149 posts, RR: 7 Reply 21, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 1151 times:
Waiting for clearance on 19R at SNA...Sitting in 23F....engines powered up...plane shaking it's tail, ready to pounce....you KNOW the pilot must be standing on the brakes...then the release...you're thrown back into your seat...rotate...climbing like a homesick Angel. THAT'S impressive!
The early bird gets the worm, BUT...the second mouse gets the cheese!
rwy04lga From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 2149 posts, RR: 7 Reply 22, posted (2 months 2 weeks 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 1075 times:
Regarding the post above this one: I'm referring to a Delta 757.
The early bird gets the worm, BUT...the second mouse gets the cheese!
IAHFLYR From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 4723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 23, posted (2 months 2 weeks 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 1043 times:
Quoting AR385 (Reply 14): The 727 takeoff at La Paz, Bolivia
With the altitude of La Paz, totally awesome!!!
Any views shared are strictly my own and do not a represent those of any former employer.
neutrino From Singapore, joined May 2012, 351 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (2 months 2 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 1019 times:
Back in the first half of '70s, I witnessed one of the last takeoffs of the Avro Vulcan from Singapore's Tengah air Base. I was completely floored by the never-ending sweep of its mighty delta wing along the runway.
Its pure ecstasy being aurally assaulted with the screaming roar of those quad Bristol Olympus turbojets.
deepunderground From Indonesia, joined Dec 2012, 37 posts, RR: 0 Reply 25, posted (2 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 845 times:
Third or fourthed on the quietness of the A380. We flew last year upstairs from JFK-FRA-SIN on SQ, with our 3 month old, and it was a little too quiet, not really muffling any episodes of fussiness. Luckily still loud enough droning of the engines to lull her to sleep for several long periods!
MIAspotter From Spain, joined Nov 2001, 2274 posts, RR: 26 Reply 26, posted (2 months 1 week 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 821 times:
When I lived in Miami and used to go spotting on the perimeter road, I loved watching the MD11 (AZ / LX) taking off, they shoot straight up like a homesick angel, so cool to watch.
Also the A330, looking at those massive graceful wings was also very nice.
As a Passenger, I have a soft spot for the A320s very quiet and comfortable, and also the A380 impressed me with the quietness. on the other end, the F100 I took recently had me grinning from ear to ear by the sweet sweet noise from the engines and how you could feel every move.
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