[trooper]

Title says it all......

For me it was a Transavia PL-12 Airtruk.... (well it was more likely the later T300 or T300A Skyfarmer... but Airtruk sounds SOOO much better)

Don't recognise it from the name? Think Mad Max...

For me the Chinook comes a close second.. Just something unnatural about twin rotor helicopters!!

[dot]

For me, one of the RAAF's Aeromacchi MB-326 (more popularly known as a Macchi) and to prove it - here's a photo!

Ok, so not that strange, but relatively uncommon at least.

I've also flown (in) DHC-4 Caribou's and C-130 (E and H) Hercules - a bit different to what I fly around in these days...

PS. As a precursor to a marriage proposal, I actually took Mrs Dot for a Caribou ride over Melbourne (rear door lowered) before taking her to a nice restaurant and proposing - she accepted naturally!

[trooper]

Couldn't have popped the question IN the 'bou... too damn noisy!!! Interesting lead up TO the proposal I must say! BZ!

The Caribous and Hercs I flew in always lowered the ramps.... well.. for the Freefall jumps at least!!

Less common? Nomad? Pilatus Porter? Sea King? Seahawk or AS350B?.... Both off the back of a Frigate... ? Hmmm... that felt a bit scary.... Pilot of the Squirrel took us off into the middle of nowhere... went in to a hover at about 30 ft... sat there for a bit.. let us look at the featureless horizon in every direction....then his voice came over the headset.. "Feeling lonely?" He was a character... typical navy helo pilot though... got hypoxic above about 100 ft......

One other actual weirdo just occured to me.. Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer!! What piece of ****e that was!

[dot]

Oh - and dangling from a Blackhawk - and being dunked in the water near TVL - the pilots call it tea-bagging - they did hoist me in - eventually.

[Ikara]

Sea Venom - HMAS Albatross 1970. Navy version of the Vampire. Fun ripping over the ocean at very low altitude and lotsa knots.

Iriquois - checking out pilots for Vietnam. Learning how to auto-rotate if "shot". Not a lot of fun when as a passenger you aren't told what's about to happen and the bloody thing falls out of the sky over Nowra and the pilot isn't allowed to gain conscientiousness until about 1000 feet!

Flying to Woomera in the mid 70's in a single engine thingy that had the engine at the rear pushing rather than pulling. Made a strange noise as I recall.

JB

[trooper]

I was at the 'Tross just a few years after you I think mate!!

Not a bad posting that one......

[Therma]

Saravia (Saratov Aviation) YAK 42 from Moscow to Saratov - nothing else flies there

Man, talk about antique. Around 35 years old, probably with original threadbare upholstery, whistling jet engines, bakelite switches, broken tray tables, torn curtains and Stalin era stewardesses. Kinda makes Dashs and QF dragons look like Rolls Royces and geishas in comparison. Having just gotten off a near new SQ 777 300 ER with the big TV screens and 200 program AVOD made the contrast even more evident

[vitaminp]

My Tiger Moth flight is probably not weird, or unusual...but it was damm cool flying upside down .

dot - now a macchi flight is uber cool!! Back when I was in Air Cadets, the Dux of Junior and Senior Non-comissioned officer school got a flight in a PC-9. I came in second on JNCO, and later found out I was the actual dux, but it got awarded over me in a scoring error. Salt rubbed into wound when the winner made 5 separate drill errors at passing out parade when collecting the award But i'm not bitter (wow..that was a little rant).

[Therma]

I mean if you want to go into esoteric, I had a bi-plane ride in San Diego earlier this year as part of a company function. Forgot the exact model, but it was a 1927 vintage "executive express". The pilot was an off duty US Navy fighter pilot and he even did a few rollovers. It was great fun and I certainly felt a lot safer that in the Yak. The frightening thing is that they still make them with vast majority going to corporate jet market. I guess the fittings would be different

[Maca44]

Many years ago (1960's) flew in a DC-3 and it was a great way to lose weight. It doesn't scare the crap out of you, as such, it shakes it out of you when the engines get going for take off.