My other transport is a Spitfire!

[PatM]

Spitfire experience too expensive for my tastes- but I too used to fly out of Rochester in the mid-80s when things were a bit more lapsed. To put things into significance- the owner of one of the planes was a fork-lift truck driver. The owner of the plane I flew was b=my next door neighbours- a Financier (thats someone who spends other peoples money, so he used to tell me)
My first bike that i was allowed to bike is 25 years old next week- it too has faired well (R1- Blue) and looks in better nick than my 400/4, which has passed through many hands and has been in mine since 2009. I shall hopefully take it for a spin this week but only if it cools down a bit.

[Athame57]

What I have considered now and then is a ride in a different classic, a Tiger Moth. 

[PatM]

I wouldnt do that- the engines go pop! :-)

[Athame57]

I wouldnt do that- the engines go pop! :-)

Yes, but they glide nicly too! 

[Spitfire]

Mine kept running luckily and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


Cheers

Dennis

[Harold 400/4]

I dropped in to Goodwood a while back on my bike. I was sitting in the sun enjoying a coffee when a guy wandered over in flying kit. We had a quick chat about bikes etc, and he walked off towards the aircraft parking area.
About 10 minutes later, he came back and said he was taking a Stearman up for a flight to keep his hours up, and had a spare seat, so would I like to go with him. I thought this man is a complete stranger, the aircraft is circa 1930s, I’d be mad to accept his offer. So I did. We went for a 45 minute flight out over the channel, and he let me take the controls for a spell. The seating in a Stearman is tandem, so I was in the front. It was incredible.
When we landed I offered to pay for the fuel, but he declined. I bought him a bacon sarnie and a coffee.
He said he was in the army, and when I pressed for more details, he just said he was in ‘logistics'.
That was quite a day!

[Athame57]

The most exciting thing I've flown in was a Wessex helicopter with the door open.  That was as a soldier in NI, being near the border we travelled that way quite a lot those days. The nosiest but roomiest flight was in a Hercules transport going from UK to Gibraltar, however a five hour flight without a loo had it's own complications! 

[martyn916]

I was lucky enough to have a flight in Spitfire for my 60th (several years ago) out of Duxford. It was a fantastic experience and if I had enough money I’d certainly do it again. A very generous birthday present from my wife, who did it because I had been involved with the design, installation and commissioning of an engine test bed to test Griffon and Merlin engines after being rebuilt.

[taysidedragon]

Some of my most interesting flights were at Boscombe Down when I worked there for a few years. It's a Government test airfield so a whole range of aircraft based there, at the time it went from Harvards to Lockheed Tristar, plus a range of helicopters.
I got a flight in a Hercules doing test drops on Salisbury Plain. We were standing in the back with the rear door open. On the way to the drop site the Harvard chase plane came right up under the tail of the Hercules really close. When the loads were dropped the Harvard spiralled around the parachute filming it to analyse the behaviour.
Another flight was in an Andover on a "training flight" to Jersey and back. Beats working!