You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : Civil Aviation

I was looking at the retired airframes thread and it got me wondering: which airframe did you have the chance to fly, but just didn't take it, and now probably won't have the opportunity again?

My biggest regret is the 732. I always thought it was an incredibly awesome airplane, yet I never availed myself of the chance to fly on it. Given my obligations in life, it's improbable that I'll have the opportunity now.

What a bird, though.

Lucas wrote:What a bird, though.

They were very much the meeting point of utilitarian aviation and modern airliner, which wasn't always a good thing. I've flown on some 732s that were amazing, Palmair's springs to mind. I've also flown on one that was condemned later that week and another that was limited to low-level local flying (restricted to 10,000ft if memory serves correctly) due to having a leaking issue.

I would love to have flown on a working CV-880/990, having only spent time on the grounded Spantax fleet at PMI long after their flying days. Still the fastest non-supersonic airliner ever in service, although there are stories that one or two accidentally broke the sound barrier.

DC10-30
DC7
DC6
A380
Concorde
Boeing 720
Lockheed Constellation
A number of Russian birds

DC-10
747
717
707
dc-9
lockheed 'lectra

though i did get time witht the 732...not the 731 like i thought

JLAmber wrote:
They were very much the meeting point of utilitarian aviation and modern airliner, which wasn't always a good thing. I've flown on some 732s that were amazing, Palmair's springs to mind. I've also flown on one that was condemned later that week and another that was limited to low-level local flying (restricted to 10,000ft if memory serves correctly) due to having a leaking issue.

I remember a number of WN 732's that looked like a diesel submarine after a battery replacement due all the patches on the side.

If I did fly a 732 it was when I was about 3 so don't recall much - always disappointed I didn't book a short hop with Ryanair just for the experience. Incidentally a number of theirs had a restriction of around FL240 which is why they were so common in MAN as they never needed to go higher!

I also missed the MD-11 - I was booked on the KLM final flight but had a diary clash I couldn't get out of. I was able to change (but not cancel) all my flights and hotel so it wasn't a total loss, but a day in AMS for the sake of it wasn't quite the same!

I also regret not flying the LCY-JFK A318, though it was never really in my budget.

JLAmber wrote:
They were very much the meeting point of utilitarian aviation and modern airliner, which wasn't always a good thing. I've flown on some 732s that were amazing, Palmair's springs to mind. I've also flown on one that was condemned later that week and another that was limited to low-level local flying (restricted to 10,000ft if memory serves correctly) due to having a leaking issue.

I love when a story gives me an actual belly laugh, and you flying on an aircraft that was then immediately condemned did just that. As for the CVs, I remember reading about one of those that hit another airplane at the flight levels over Europe, ripped off most of a wing, and still landed. Pretty incredible stuff. I never even got to see one of them.

mhodgson wrote:
Incidentally a number of theirs had a restriction of around FL240

DXing wrote:
I remember a number of WN 732's that looked like a diesel submarine after a battery replacement due all the patches on the side.

Wait, I'm sensing a pattern. This whole altitude restriction/falling-apart thing, was that just because airlines could get away with it? (Exception: Hawaii) I saw that two airlines in Canada are still running these for pax and was thinking about taking a summer vacation there for the experience. I thought that they'd all be retired.

darrenvox wrote:DC-10
747
717
707
dc-9
lockheed 'lectra

though i did get time witht the 732...not the 731 like i thought

With all the flying I did to ATL, you'd have thought that I'd have been in an AirTran 717, but no such luck. 707 would have been the cat's pajamas, too!

DXing wrote:A380

You of all people have not been on an A380!?!

Lucas wrote:I love when a story gives me an actual belly laugh, and you flying on an aircraft that was then immediately condemned did just that.

Remarkably it flew for another 16 years after being told to never darken the doors of UK airspace again. There is a story that it was sold to a short-lived Belgian airline in that time and their pilots refused to collect it, which is backed up by its history.

mhodgson wrote:If I did fly a 732 it was when I was about 3 so don't recall much - always disappointed I didn't book a short hop with Ryanair just for the experience. Incidentally a number of theirs had a restriction of around FL240 which is why they were so common in MAN as they never needed to go higher!

The DUB runners! The flying Kilkenny can was one that had ironically sprung a leak. We had EI-CJC at BLK which was the Hertz-liveried 732 known as the sieve. I believe it was allowed to FL190 but didn't go that high because the poor F/As sat in the exit jump seats were getting a bit light-headed.

Lucas wrote:Wait, I'm sensing a pattern. This whole altitude restriction/falling-apart thing, was that just because airlines could get away with it? (Exception: Hawaii) I saw that two airlines in Canada are still running these for pax and was thinking about taking a summer vacation there for the experience. I thought that they'd all be retired.

It was a tribute to the way the 732 was over engineered that they almost always operated perfectly safely with start-ups, third world outfits and European bucket & spade operators that would flog them mercilessly for 6 months of the year then rent them to Canada for the ski season. As a number have mentioned, they were often patched up, taped together and a bit rough round the edges but they worked. The 732 was for many years the Cummins diesel of flying - they didn't win any beauty contests and you can often tell their story by the various scars they bear but they keep going and are remarkably easy to maintain, relatively speaking.

Lucas wrote:I saw that two airlines in Canada are still running these for pax and was thinking about taking a summer vacation there for the experience. I thought that they'd all be retired.

Do it while you can! The last few 732s are the last chance to experience real jet-age flying from the days before composite fuselages, mood lighting and noise-reducing chevrons made flying so sanitary.

yes there are two pax 737-200's, but if you want to work for cargo nolinor is your bet.....raglan/xstrata is used to transport employees from montreal to the nickel mine site (airport nearby)...so yes...Can North, Air Inuit, have 737-200's for pax, though Nolinor also does pax...just with half cargo..

Lucas wrote:

DXing wrote:A380

You of all people have not been on an A380!?!

Almost got a ride on a QF from SDY to LAX but the my airline changed the way they issued OA passes a few weeks before the trip and I couldn't get the pass line up before departure time.

Other than that, never had the need to use another airline where that might have been an opportunity.

Always wanted to fly an IL-86 and land somewhere with no gates so I could use the cargo door stairs.

Has to be this one.



As for 732s, I got one of Ryanair's shagged-out examples on a STN-PIK. The no smoking signs were all in German, and the overhead plastic was the colour of tobacco. What a noise, though.

I will always regret not flying an MD-11, but I never had the opportunity to fly one in time. I had looked into booking a KLM 744 from YYZ-AMS for spring 2020, and sadly, we know what happened there.

One "coulda, woulda, shoulda" moment for me is taking my last few mAAd dog flights before the September 2019 retirement. I was able to get a flight from RDU-DFW on one, as they'd long quit flying to ATL, but the return back had to be on other types. I had the option of an AA 757, 767, or 787 with the appropriate connections (ORD, PHL, etc.). Sadly, I picked the 787, as I had no idea the 757s and 767s would be history a few months later. Lesson learned, don't go for the shiny new toy just yet...

darrenvox wrote:yes there are two pax 737-200's, but if you want to work for cargo nolinor is your bet.....raglan/xstrata is used to transport employees from montreal to the nickel mine site (airport nearby)...so yes...Can North, Air Inuit, have 737-200's for pax, though Nolinor also does pax...just with half cargo..

It would be nice to take one and make it into a fishing trip!

I regret never having flown aboard a large propliner like a Connie, DC-7C, or even an Electra or Britannia. When I worked for AF, I was aboard the Concorde every morning, but never when it was flying. Just parked at the gate. Unlike BA, AF didnʻt allow employees to nonrev on Concorde. My ultimate fantasy would have been to ride one of the old Pan Am Clippers like the Martin M-130 or Boeing-314.

I regret not flying the AutoGyro Calidus when it, and I, were part of the local flying club.

Clipper out, Concorde back. How cool would that be?!

JLAmber wrote:

Lucas wrote:Wait, I'm sensing a pattern. This whole altitude restriction/falling-apart thing, was that just because airlines could get away with it? (Exception: Hawaii) I saw that two airlines in Canada are still running these for pax and was thinking about taking a summer vacation there for the experience. I thought that they'd all be retired.

It was a tribute to the way the 732 was over engineered that they almost always operated perfectly safely with start-ups, third world outfits and European bucket & spade operators that would flog them mercilessly for 6 months of the year then rent them to Canada for the ski season. As a number have mentioned, they were often patched up, taped together and a bit rough round the edges but they worked. The 732 was for many years the Cummins diesel of flying - they didn't win any beauty contests and you can often tell their story by the various scars they bear but they keep going and are remarkably easy to maintain, relatively speaking.

Lucas wrote:I saw that two airlines in Canada are still running these for pax and was thinking about taking a summer vacation there for the experience. I thought that they'd all be retired.

Do it while you can! The last few 732s are the last chance to experience real jet-age flying from the days before composite fuselages, mood lighting and noise-reducing chevrons made flying so sanitary.

Some good points there! And they certainly handle better in icing than an ATR. Plus one of the flights is to a gravel strip...where else will I get the chance to go to a gravel strip on a jet? (Since I don't plan on running drugs.)

ShyFlyer wrote:I regret not flying the AutoGyro Calidus when it, and I, were part of the local flying club.

Is it still down there?

I really don't regret not flying in certain aircraft. But, I'm extremely grateful for being able to fly in DC9's and DC10-40's routinely... at least a dozen times in the DC9 and 5 times in the DC10-40.

Lucas wrote:

ShyFlyer wrote:I regret not flying the AutoGyro Calidus when it, and I, were part of the local flying club.

Is it still down there?

I'm not sure. N-number shows expired as of April 2020. The aircraft was pulled from the club sometime before that in 2018 by the owner who was leasing it to them.

Has to be Concorde. Always found some reason not to do and then some airline crashed one into a hotel.

Did 737-200 of America West, Delta, American, Aerolineas Argentinas, Southwest, Dan air (G-BICV) and Britannia. MD11 of American and VASP. Boeing 707 of British Airtours and Boeing 720 of Olympic airlines (SX-DBI)

Only airbus type i have yet to try is the A318 but not many of those in Europe and as for Boeing only the 747-800 and 737-900 have eluded me. (717 as well)