North American F-100F Super Sabre for me. ADS-OKC in 34 minutes.



[Edited 2004-01-24 03:16:28]

Not too "rare," but I flew on an Air France A320-100 from FCO-CDG in August of 2001.

I think I'll probably take the cake in this post...  

The rarest plane I have ever flown on is the Douglas C-41A. It was used as a VIP transport for the secretary of war in WWII, only one was built. Although externally similar to the C-47, DC-3, R4D, etc...it is indeed quite different.



[Edited 2004-01-24 02:53:31]

Good thread !!

Rarest airliner: Stinson Tri-motor

Rarest turbine airliner as a pax: BAC 1-11 or F-27 (not sure of production numbers)

Rarest as a static display airplane: Tu-144D

Rarest by manufacturer: any one of about 10 homebuilts I've flown in....(this is kinda of a "trick" answer, as the builder is listed as the manufacturer by the FAA).

SLCPilot

Delta's "Soaring Spirit" 777-200ER, when it was in the Olympic c/s. MCO-ATL.

Grumman Mallard...not really that rare...

Greg

737-300..........lol


i think there are only what? hundreds on a day to day basis in PHX alone!? lol  
Cheers

[Edited 2004-01-24 03:23:28]

Don't think you'll top this one.

I flew on a B-17 Fly Fortress from Owls Head to Bangor, we buzzed John Travolta's home on one the islands off Rockland. I hope he was there to enjoy it. We had a B-24 Liberator flying just off wing must have been an incredible site.

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/ is link to the organization that flys them.

I also flew from Machu Picchu to Cusco on this Russian Mi-17 http://www.shieldsaroundtheworld.com/pichtml/p0001781.html that was a fun one also.

[Edited 2004-01-24 03:56:37]

The rarest plane I ever flew on was on a Convair CV990 operated by Spantax, a defunct Spanish charter airline . I flew JFK-MAD in June 1978 to visit for the summer two years after my family moved to the United States. I was only seven at the time but I clearly remember having to land in the Azores on the return trip in order to refuel. Those Convair's were real fuel hogs!

I also was lucky to fly on N747PA in August of 1988 MAD-JFK. This was a PanAm Boeing 747-121 msn19639 line#2 which is the oldest 747 after the prototype. It was named Clipper Juan T. Trippe after the airline's founder and someone posted recently that it was converted into a restaurant in Korea.


Regards

DAirbus

For me:

flown in airplane:Piper Archer, in fact that's a flown it airplane 

flown in airliner:A330, also happened to be first delivered

static in museum:Comet/Concorde/Vulcan (not sure on numbers)

A PBA DC-3 from BOS-PVC-BOS back in 1980. Pretty cool for even back then! 

Rarest airplane i've flown in would be the Grumman Cougar- there weren't too many of those produced. And i also flew in a vintage 1960's model Cessna 210 which was in pretty bad shape.

Rarest airliner would be the DC-10-30 if you could call that rare lol

The rarest airplane that I have ever flown on would be Concorde.

EmiratesA345 

I flew on a Swissair Convair CV-990, from Bombay to Zurich via Beirut and Geneva, back in 1968.

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Photo © Mel Lawrence

Although not too rare, I'd have to say it's the Ford Tri-Motor (1929). Maybe it's the Stinson Reliant, though (I think it was a 1937). Both were a joy to fly in.
-N243NW 

Flyf15,

The rarest plane I have ever flown on is the Douglas C-41A.

I believe C-41 was the designation given to the Douglas Sleeper Transport - which was the name of the first DC-3s. Some were requisitioned by the US Army in 1941. They can be identified by the small windows above every second main cabin window. They were provided for passengers occupying the upper berths.

I get to fly a few old and/or rare propliners such as the Nord 262A, the Let 410 and F-27...

My rarest airliner is the Lockheed 10A Electra. CF-TCC was originally owned by Trans Canada Airlines and was restored by Air Canada who use it for charity sight-seeing flights - crewed by AC Pilots. When I flew in it in 1999 we had a 747 Captain in the left seat and a 767 Captain acting as first officer.

I flew a really rare Tu-134 once in the 80's, POW-OSL. The rare Tu-134 was the one that got us home without incident. I've flown some of those Aviogenex russkies as a young adult. Never again.

Avions Mudry Cap-10b, currently the worldwide fleet of 38 is grounded due to cracks in the spars. I got about 15 hours in them though, and it was a lot of fun.

View Large View Medium Photo © Paulo Rudolf Herren

View Large View Medium Photo © Aeroview Zurich/Worldwide

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Photo © Andreas Beuermann

Ford Tri-Motor... Back in the 70's there was a guy on the air show circuit with one. He took people for rides for a few bucks. I told him I was a commercial pilot and he asked me what I flew (Piper Navajo at the time). I told him what I was currently flying and he said to sit up in the front with him. Shortly after takeoff he said "The aircraft is yours"! So I can say I actually rode in it as well as flew it! That was a memory that will last a lifetime!

New Standard D-25-A Biplane built in 1931, operated by Waldo Wright's Flying Service:

View Large View Medium Photo © Tom Turner

View Large View Medium Photo © Radomir Zaric

One of five D-25-As built (different engine than the standard D-25), one of four New Standard D-25 biplanes flying today.


Ford Trimotor 5-AT-74 built in 1929 operated by Grand Canyon Airlines:

View Large View Medium Photo © JLS Photo

View Large View Medium Photo © JLS Photo

One of six known Ford Trimotors still flying.
This one has quite a colorful history:
http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/about_us/N414H_info/index.html

Rarest airplane would have to be a Air Inter Super 12

dc-3 delta ship 41 last year sfb- sfb about a 15 min flight. what a piece of machinery

Era Aviation DC-3: ANC-ENA-ANC last rev pax DC-3 in the u.s

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Photo © Chuck Ross

Varig L-188 ELECTRA: SDU-CGH first and last electra to fly in brasil

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Photo © Daniel R Carneiro


Reeve Aleutian Airways L-188 ELECTRA: ANC-CDB last rev pax electra in north america

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Photo © Stephen Boreham


Maya Island Aiways C-208 CARAVAN: CUK-BZE just a hard acft to fly

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Photo © Chris Benesh/back2planes


Horizon F-28: SEA-PDX not sure but one of the last f-28 in the u.s

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Photo © Bruce Leibowitz


Desert Air DASH-6: LAS SKYDIVE got to jump from 15.000 ft to fly on that one!

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Photo © AirNikon

Common up here, but not in the lower 48: AS 737-200 combi, my favorite plane. I've flown on this several times from FAI-ANC and back. Alaska Air is the last major US carrier operating the 732-combi and it's just operated in AK, although it is occasionally used as a substitute plane in SEA (minus the cargo!).

L1011- 500 rarest of the jumbo tri jets. (i miss the Tristar)

737- 200 in the late 90s

NAMC- YS11A 500 (was suprised at the quality of the flight it was very smooth)

Mooney Porsche, If I'm not mistaken only 49 were made. Virtually all have been re-purchased by Porsche. I got to personally fly 6MP on several occasions as the owner was trying to burn the remaining hours on the engine to sell it back to Porsche, will only tied down at FME for a couple more weeks...

You know Iran Air still uses 747SPs and 737-200s. I've been on each of them so many times in domestic and international flights.

This one shortly before it went out of service, from SYD to CNS, and in business class on the very front cabin : It was awesome ! My dream come true...

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Photo © Craig Murray

View Large View Medium Photo © Craig Murray

View Large View Medium Photo © Alexander Ananian-Cooper

What a beauty !

-North American P-51D, LN1451D, "Saturday Night Special

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Photo © Chris Markerson

-Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, The infamous "909"

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Photo © Vivian A Watts


-A-26, Lear 45, Citation 2, T-Commander, and many more....

-Imagine you had to make a decision between the B-17 or the B-24. Which would you choose?

-Still waiting for my ride in the "Mitchell" ~ Working in aviation at least pays one way...Not cash...

It's not that rare but it is still pretty special for me.
Flew BOS-KEF-LUX on one of these beauties.

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Photo © Eduard Marmet

A TWA CV-880 from SFO to LAX in 1972. The flight continued on to STL

I've flown several times between PGF and ORY with Air Inter on Mercure and Caravelle

I flew on the America West 737-100 in December 1999 (I think) - it was about a month or two before it was retired. In December 2002, I flew on a KLM 737-900 from LHR to AMS. Okay, not particularly rare, but it meant I had flown in all nine versions of the 737, -100 to -900.

Airtours International
Boeing 747-219B
ZK-NZZ
MAN-TFS-MAN

This aircraft was only leased for 1 summer in 1998, and I managed to fly on it!

View Large View Medium Photo © Brian Stevenson - SPOT THIS!

View Large View Medium Photo © Brian J. Gore

View Large View Medium Photo © Jérôme Krier

View Large View Medium Photo © Michael Carter

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Photo © Lee Collins

Ryanair737  

a mercure air inter


TLS - CDG

a mercure air inter


TLS - CDG

Hi All,

Douglas DC-3 (Air Atlantique - STN to RNAS Yeovilton - August 1985)
DHC-6 Twin Otter (Scenic - Grand Canyon to LAS - October 1991)
Republic Twin Bee (Lakeland, Florida, - March 1990 and April 1993)
Grumman Mallard (Chalks - MPB to BPI - April 1993)
Fokker F.28 (US Air - TPA to MIA - April 1993)
Vickers Viscount (British World roundtrip from LYD - June 1996)
BAe ATP (British World roundtrip from SEN - December 1998)

They're the rare ones for me!

Viper777

OO-TEF Airbus A300B1
Trans European Airways
BRU-PMI

The first AC I ever had the chance to actually control was a AN-2, the biggest single engine bi-plane in the world. Not too rare, but it sure was fun.

However, the rarest flying thing I've ever been on must be the first ever manufactured Boeing Vertol helicopter (apart from test models of course...) It's stationed at an AFB on the Swedish west coast (ESGP if anyone is interested) and started out by transporting pax. from JFK (well, Idlewild back then) to NY city and finally ended up in Sweden. It's virtually not the same helicopter since about everything has been changed on it, but still...  

happy flying

johan

Johan,
which one is that?
/JM

I flew in July 1970 from Delhi to Katmandu (DEL-KTM 817 km) with an airplane from Royal Nepalese Airways. It was not a jet, but a turboprop and was looking very unusual. The wings were over the windows and the plane was not flying so high. I remember I could see the Terai, the southern part of Nepal fully overflowed : it was the monsoon season.

Can somebody tell me in which airplane I flew at that time ?

Thanks and cheers. Kilavoud.

My rarest is Finnish Air Force Valmet Redigo L-90TP... It was a training flight at Lapland Air Squadron and F/A 18 Hornet flew with us just next to our wing. Finnish designed Redigos are one of the most powerful single engine turboprops ever built and the ride on that aircraft was superb! Excellent performance and very fast aircraft...

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Photo © Marko Suo-Anttila

Flew on a NAMC YS-11 from Honolulu to Lihue in 1987. Very interesting plane!!!

Kilavoud
That should be a Twin Otter.
/JM

Jan, hate to say it, but I missed out on the registration. However, there can't be too many Vertols stationed at Säve, so there shouldn't be too much problem finding it out.

cheers

johan

For me, The 707 heehee. A flight on Independent Airlines from St Louis to Cancun Mexico. I also belive that this aircraft crashed in the Azores.

SAS DC9 srs 21 Turku -Stockholm Arlanda in April 2000
SAS DC9 srs 41 Stockholm Arlanda- Ostersund in August 2000

Ba 742 Chelsea Rose BOM-LHR 9 hour flight in Biz

North American AT-6

Karl

A PBA DC-3 from PVT-BOS-PVT in the 80's.
I wonder if Iflyatldl was on my flight?

JetChaser

T-6, Fouga Magister, Caravelle, DC-3, Convair Metropolitan

I too have flown DL ship 41 the DC-3, it was a quick 20 min flight around DAB, then I havent flown on, but have been inside Travolta's 707 N707JT

Convair 580 for ERA Aviation, N565EA.

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Photo © Dmitry Kudryn

The McCulloch J-2 Gyroplane was an autogyro powered by a 180-hp Lyc. O-360 with a wooden pusher propeller, lift supplied by an autorotating rotor system similar to that of a Hughes 300 helicopter. It was advertised to have the advantages of both rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, but in truth was beset by the disadvantages of both, and was never a success. It held only two people and cruised at 95 mph. It could not hover; it needed 1200 feet of runway to clear a 50-foot obstacle on takeoff, though only a few dozen feet of runway for landing.

The J-2's were built in the early 1970's in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, in the same factory as the company's chain saws. Only about sixty were built, and their accident record was abominable.

I logged time in the #1 and #3 production J-2s, including a rollover accident in the #3 aircraft.

For me, FL DC9-32. Wasn't rare when I flew on it, but now it is.

re: flight from Delhi to Nepal.

Royal Nepal did not get their Twin Otters until summer 1971, but the flight in question was the previous summer.

So what operated in Nepal before the Twin Otters?

Ray

Planes that weren't uncommon at the time, but I'll probably never get to fly in again:

Northwest 727 from MSP to GRR.
American Fokker 100 from DFW to MCI.

Also, at one time my uncle had a Beech Duke that I got to fly in once, and according to the airliners.net aircraft info section, they never sold very many of these. Since then he's had a Cessna 414, Cessna 210, and Turbo Commander 690, that I've also been on, and he's been thinking recently about trading the Commander for a Cessna 421.

Northwest DC9-40's and Delta L1011-500's, that's about it for me as far as rare aircraft are concerned.


Steve/New Orleans

Back in the late 70's, I got a 45 minute ride in a 1941 Waco UPF7, which was an old AAF trainer. (Not this particular airplane, but one just like it, even the same color)

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Photo © Andy Vanderheyden

I have very faint memories but in 1956 when I was 2 1/2 not quite 3 I went on my first a/c ride- a VASP Scandia--these were built in Sweden and I dont't think more than may 40 were built as the Swedish challenge to the DC-3. My father told me I stared out the windows all the time. He also said it was very noisy. First A.C flight a remember was operated by Consorcio Real Aerovias Sao Paulo Cumbica Chicago Midway with numerous stops on Superconstellation L1049 in 1958--

have been reading with interest anything on the Southern Preservation Save a Connie by a great group of Australians!

It would have to be a ANK YS-11 for me.

Rarest planes for me:

Air Florida DC-10 MAN-MIA-MAN
Aeroflot IL-86 LGW-SVO-LGW
BAC-111 (BA and BCAL) MAN-LHR-MAN

Not so unique compared to many above but these are my most rare:

BA BAC111, ZHR-LHR, 1979

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Photo © Eduard Marmet

UA 747SP, SEA-HKG, 1988


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Photo © Frank Schaefer

re DEL-KTM

Ray, you are correct, the Twin Otters had not yet arrived by then.
They did operate three F27's but according to TAHS Turbo Prop Airliner Production List none of them were actually with Royal Nepal in July 1970...
9N-AAR crashed in January-70
9N-AAW was returned to Indian Airlines in March-70
9N-AAT was returned to Indian Airlines in October-69

Perhaps the flight was actually in -71? Or the prod list is incorrect?
/JM

For me it would have to be the YS-11 from Air Caribbean that I took on my flight from Tobago back to Trinidad in 1999.

Regards,

BWIA330

An Indonesian airline - Air Mark - Casa 212

All i can think of right now

Ryan

hey

for me the Concorde.
and

Contiental 747-200
C5 (galaxy)

i have flown a lot of regualr planes. But then again i am only 14.

Okay, I'll bite.

A Delta CV-880 from SFO-DAL (I was only 2 at the time - early 60s)
A North Central CV-580 from MSN-ORD in 1976
A Royal Jordanian L-1011-500 from VIE-JFK in 1986

Cheers,
Dave in Berlin

Mil 2 Half hour Flight over Leningrad (St Petersburg )August 1991
Ford Tri Motor Sun N Fun Lakeland 1994
IL86 Aeroflot LHr -LEN Aug 1991
TU154 AFL Len-SVO Sept 1991
B747SP MDN HKG-TPE Oct 1996
B747SP CAL TPE-Nagoya Oct 1996
TU134 CSA PRG-MAN DEc 1994
AN24 A few Domestic Trips in Russia June 2002
B707 AFR Man-CDG June 1977
SE210 Caravelle AFR Man-CDG June 1979
Antonov AN2 In Hungary 1997 (Not particularly rare, But nice!)
C47 Dakota Air Atlantique (Pleasure Flight over the Tall ships Race at Liverpool 1992)
AA5 Traveller & PA28 Cherokee 140 (Not really rare, but also nice!)
EMB110 Bandierante LPL-AMS Genair Aug 1982
Thats as far as I can remember!
Regards
Conair

SAA 747-SP
SAA Historic Flight DC-3
African International DC-8
Jumpseat on an Olympic 737-200
SAAF C-130
And the rarest

SAAF 707

Rgds
SA006

1957 Wien Airlines Curtiss C-46 Fairbanks-Kotzebue-Nome (crew dove "under the artic circle going up and over coming back. That was exciting for my very first flight.

1959 Wien Airlines DC3 Fairbanks-Umiat-Barrow RT

Numerous Pacific Martin 404s in California
I remember one night flight that I watched very intently as what seemed like a piece of cowling melt and drip off the blue hot exhaust. Yes, the FA did report it to the crew after I showed her.

1960 Interflug IL-18 Moscow-Berlin

1960 Aeroflot TU102 Leningrad-Moscow

1967 Scenic A/L Cessna Skymaster Grand Canyon- 'Vegas with my T1 Samsonite on my lap.

1961 Swissair CV240 on the cockpit jumpseat because I was Oversold in back (NOT a problem)

1964 (?) L1049 Connie Lima-Cusco It crashed the next day so came back on DC4 that had clear plastic tubes hanging from overhead to suck oxygen while flying over Andes. I tried to see what it what like without it. We are talking dizzy and weak.

1961 C-47 Royal Air Cambodge Bangkok-Siem Reap where I was "arrested" by friendly folks carrying AK47s for taking a picture of an 8 ft anthill at the end of the runway with the acft in background. Seems the plane was considered a military asset. No pictures as they took my film.

1986 Royal Nepal Avro 748 (478?) anyway RR Dart powered turboprop Katmandu to Everest overflight

1960-63 Numerous BEA Comets (loved the red wings)

1970 (?) BOAC VC-10 Nairobi-Nicosia-London Was supposed to stop in Uganda but some guy named Edi Ammin was making noise at the airport.

1967 Alaska Twin Otter Juneau-Gustavus

1968 Prinair Handly Page Heron St Croix-San Juan

Oddest ones (out of the ones I've been, these have been the least amount I've been on):

A330, 2X Swiss ZRH-BOM and DEL-ZRH, August 2002
MD11, 4x China Eastern LAX-PVG, PVG-LAX and Swiss LAX-ZRH-LAX, June 2002 / August 2002
...and also some turboprops on Olympic Aviation throughout Greece in summer 1994

...not too rare at all, but for me they are!  

Tower Air B747-100

Sam 

These are the ones that I can remember that I have flown in

BAC 1-11 British Caledonian LGW-CDG-LGW
B747-121 Pan-Am LHR-MIA-LHR
DC-3 Air Atlantique (numerous pleasure flights)
DC-6 Air Atlantique CVT-DUS-CVT
HS748 Air Atlantique CVT-SOU-CVT
BN-2 Islander Air Atlantique CVT-CVT
PBY-5 Catalina A friend owned one of these! lucky enough to fly a few times with him in the UK, including an air display flight at Biggin Hill, scary!
B-25 Mitchell Titusville Airport, Florida
Auster J/1 Local flight Duxford

Dave

Aeroflot-Don TU-134-A, and Aeroflot-Don TU-154-B-2

Safair 707 FAWK-FAGF vv
Safair L100 FAWK-FAGF vv FAWK-FAOA, FAOA-FARU-FAMP-FAJS
SAAF C160 FAWK-FAGF-FAOA
DH Tiger Moth (Nowra NSW)
DC-3 (SYD Bankstown - Nowra vv)
Air Zimbabwe 707 Super Q JNB-HRE-FRA / LGW-FRA-HRE-JNB
Cessna Caravan Amphibian (CNS-Orpheus-TSV)
Court Line BAC1-11 LTN-PMI vv
BA Concorde JFK-LHR
VS B747-100 LGW-BOS
Suckling DO228 AMS-LTN vv
Skywest Jetstream 31 PER-GDT-CVQ-LEA

A C185F Glider! 

We recieved a high oil pressure indication at about 200 ft during landing, so my friend cut the engine and landed softly on in the water. (it was a seaplane)

Dalavia Tupolev TU-214 for me :

View Large View Medium Photo © William Ronciere

View Large View Medium Photo © William Ronciere

Will

CIVIL:Not too rare, but the airline was. Mackey DC-8 1980.

Rare military aircraft I've been in: As a kid, a Consolidated Catalina at a Confederate Air Force airshow in the mid 1970's. I asked the crew if they were going to get another great from Consolidated, a B-36 in their collection. The pilot laughed, said "No", then he pulled up the rope around the plane, and said, "Come on in!" I looked that Catalina over from stem to stern. Would have given my eye teeth for a flight in that old lady.

Never actually took it airborne but it was a twin-engined Beechcraft.
One turbine and one liquid-cooled recip.
16800 lbs gross weight.
202 inches long.

V


V


Okay, it wasn't an airplane. It was a tug.
But it was a Beechcraft.

For me a Gruman 1 turboprop owned by the company that my dad used to work for.
Commercial an Aeromexico DC8 MEX-JFK.