Anybody else 'obsessed' with one particular aircraft ??

[Jonny]

On 12/3/2018 at 2:31 AM, cngaero said:

I must admit to being torn between three different aeroplanes, so I'd like to share my obsession if I'm allowed. 

Firstly, the Spitfire in all its marks and guises.

<SNIP>

Secondly, the Lancaster. 

Just the word Lancaster summons up very strong emotions within me of the price paid by the 55,573 members of Bomber Command who were sadly lost on operations in WW2. 

Every year, my wife and I take a few trips down to Lincolnshire and stay at the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa, which was the one time Officers Mess for 617 Squadron.

Joanne is mesmerised by the atmosphere of the place and loves to relax in the Squadron bar and take in the artefacts on display, so there's never an argument whenever I suggest going. 

We then toddle off to East Kirkby to see Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre and "Just Jane", the only other lady that I'm allowed to get close to. We like to go there for the 1940's Hangar Dances and the night time Lancaster taxi events. 

Whenever I hear those four Merlin start, it brings tears to my eyes. It's always a very moving event and if you haven't experienced one, I'd thoroughly recommend it. 

<SNIP>

 

Oh yes ... the Spitfire.  And the Lancaster.  

 

My my dear old dad, who was a Quantity Surveyor at Martlesham Heath, arranged to take  me as a young ‘un there, where I was able to sit in an Anson, and later watch the two Merlin + two turbo jet Lancaster take off, disappear briefly, then return to land what seemed to me to be a few feet from me.  As it taxied back I was leaping up and down and the pilot must have seen me because he waved.  At ME!  Heaven.

 

I take cngaero’s Point about the Petwood and the Lincolnshire Avistion Heritage Centre.  When I had a significant birthday my wife treats+ me to a taxi ride in Just Jane.  We stayed at the Petwood where I sat in the bar looking at the artefacts (including the tree bough that one of 617’s aeroplanes ‘collected’ during a daylight raid) and wondered if I could have accomplished what all those incredible men did, then the next day onto East Kirkby.  I took my wife out to the apron just as they started towing Just Jane out of her hangar.  Mrs. had her back to all that so I kept her talking until Just Jane was literally looming over her and asked her to turn round.  “What’s that?” she said (aaaaargh!!!) so I said it’s THE Lancaster.  To watch and hear the engines start close to was incredible as indeed it was later,  standing wedged behind the second pilot / engineer as the engines were started for my taxi ride.  Another memory was at Duxford when PA474 came along with the Canadian Lancaster.  Yes indeed, on both occasions tears came to my eyes - as they were at the one-and-only Scampton airshow when PA474 came over with her Spitfire and Hurricane companions. The sight of a Lancaster flying over that RAF station was incredibly moving.

 

Sorty to ramble ... but these two aeroplanes are MY obsession.  I could add the Hurricane, Mosquito, Sunderland but the Spitfire and Lancaster come out ahead.

 

Jonny

 

[bushande]

For me it's the Tomcat flat out! And no it's not a passion anymore it's an obsession as sick as it can be. Ever since I met her in the flash back in '97 when I was a lad I was literally hooked. Was lucky enough to be around them during my short Euro-US exchange stint while being with the forces and tried to follow up on the big lady's retirement till '06. However was stupid enough to not have had a decent camera or sufficient interest in photgraphy to really take enough presentable shots of the lady. Got over a hundred books on her (no kidding there are that many!), bits and pieces of the real deal like tailhooks, noseart panels, grips and data plates. Amassed a picture collection of more than 40K analogue and digital pics. I always liked the thing but just felt that obsessed after the USN phased them out and I suddenly realized that I never truly appreciated the severity of it. I watched her here and took some casual snapshots there and suddenly she was gone. Left quite some hole I confess. Heck I just made the way to Iran just to catch her properly and really savour the experience this time. It's just been two weeks and I already miss that thing again. Tomcat all the way for me till I barf and then some.

Edited December 18, 2018 by bushande

[TheindieG]

For me I tend to Love things that I have seen in films. For a long time I was obsessed with Bell Huey helicopters becasue I had watched lots of Vietnam war films. I tried to build them a few times, before I actually took photos of everything, with little success. I am tempted to make one again! My current obsession is the Bell X-1 and its variants. After reading 'the right stuff' I spent too much time looking into the crazy world of X-planes. It is arguably the reason I now work in the industry I do.

[MiG-Mech]

For me Fiat G.91 and MiG-29.

G.91 coz it was the first plane I was working on. It was during education to become an aircraft mechanic.

MiG-29 already when I was in school from books and magazines and base visit.

Later I also became MiG-29 mechanic in German Air Force.

[jet-mech]

I'm completely absessed with anything Soviet, but for me right now it's the SU-34. 

 

The uglier the better for me, but that only stands with aircraft 🤣

 

[Oberleutnant]

I have a few really!

 

BF109 - its just so menacing looking, iconic, excellent and embodies the Luftwaffe in WW2 for me.

 

Spitfire MK. I and IX - just beautiful, excellent planes. One of the best looking and best sounding pieces of machinery ever made IMO. And it was deadly!

 

Vulcan - just a beast. An amazing looking and sounding thing with a deadly role. Latter Black Buck raid is legendary too. High class British engineering.

 

Hurricane - the single most important British aircraft ever made in my opinion. Highly successful and iconic. Unsung hero.

 

Lancaster - backbone of bomber command. Very noisy, powerful and iconic. Something else seeing one in real life. Amazing presence and sense of history.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

SR-71 - an amazing bit of kit but more importantly its incredible looking! Can't help but smile when I see a photo.

F-15 - liked them as a kid and can't seem to shake that off. A great plane.

F-16 - great looking and highly effective plane.

Harrier - a classic and successful British jet. What's not to like?

 

I could go on...

Edited October 30, 2019 by Oberleutnant

[jet-mech]

18 hours ago, Oberleutnant said:

I have a few really!

 

BF109 - its just so menacing looking, iconic, excellent and embodies the Luftwaffe in WW2 for me.

 

Spitfire MK. I and IX - just beautiful, excellent planes. One of the best looking and best sounding pieces of machinery ever made IMO. And it was deadly!

 

Vulcan - just a beast. An amazing looking and sounding thing with a deadly role. Latter Black Buck raid is legendary too. High class British engineering.

 

Hurricane - the single most important British aircraft ever made in my opinion. Highly successful and iconic. Unsung hero.

 

Lancaster - backbone of bomber command. Very noisy, powerful and iconic. Something else seeing one in real life. Amazing presence and sense of history.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

SR-71 - an amazing bit of kit but more important its incredible looking! Can't help but smile when I see a photo.

F-15 - liked them as a kid and can't seem to shake that of. A great plane.

F-16 - great looking and highly effective plane.

Harrier - a classic and successful British jet. What's not to like?

 

I could go on...

Completely agree. 

 

I fear aviation is going much the the motor industry. In 30 years time the aircraft we have now, will never be classed as classics. Nor will we want to see them in museums. 

 

The likes of the harrier and tornado are the last of the classic airframes I think. 

[Oberleutnant]

4 minutes ago, jet-mech said:

Completely agree. 

 

I fear aviation is going much the the motor industry. In 30 years time the aircraft we have now, will never be classed as classics. Nor will we want to see them in museums. 

 

The likes of the harrier and tornado are the last of the classic airframes I think. 

Yup.

 

Will be rather soulless looking pilot-less planes in not too long.

 

Also it seems the way to share cost that multiple companies/countries contribute.

 

I know this has happened many times but we may have seen the last of true British fighter aircraft.

 

Typhoon will probably be the last remotely like one (being based on a BA's EAP).

 

But yeah Tornado and Harrier last really interesting ones which you can take real pride in and are classic piloted planes.

 

 

[fightersweep]

Personally, I get enthusiastic over most aircraft. I have a few firm favourites, like the Spitfire XIV, Dornier 17Z, Heinkel He 111, Ju-87, Piston Provost and HP Herald, but largely, if it has wings, I like it. Current interest is the Macchi 200.

 

I have obsessed over one particular aircraft though. A B-17G. 42-107039 SC-M "Ice Cold Katy" of the 612th Bomb Squadron, 401st Bomb Group to be exact. The reason was simply because I picked a photo of an original A-2 jacket nose art painting to base a copy on back in the early 1990s. Once I had my A-2 copy completed, I decided that it would be nice to know a little of the history I was wearing on my back. Trouble was, was that the only info I had was that the B-17 belonged to the 401st Bomb Group, and that was it. 

 

I started by contacting the 401st Association in the US, and the ball rolled from there. After 10 years research, I managed to correspond with over a dozen veterans that had flown missions on the aircraft (even one that flew the aircraft back to the US in July 1945), and gathered a day by day combat diary of her 103 mission career. I even managed to find a copy of the Deenethorpe tower log which at the time wasn't even in the USAF archives. In short, enough for a book I suppose. I think I got pretty obsessed.

 

Here she is over Peenemunde in August 1944...

 

b17_peenemunde_1944.7ph6u9ou7s008cw8k4sc4kckk.ejcuplo1l0oo0sk8c40s8osc4.th

 

Funny though how the research never ends. For years, I had always scanned the photos of Kingman, Arizona hoping to catch a glimpse of "Katy" among the thousands of aircraft parked there. Never did of course. What were the chances? That was until I stumbled on a photo on the Chicago Tribune website a few months ago...and zoomed in on the image.

 

And there she was!

 

Ice Cold Katy Kingman

 

The end of the story!

 

Steve

Edited January 8, 2019 by fightersweep

[Oberleutnant]

4 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Personally, I get enthusiastic over most aircraft. I have a few firm favourites, like the Spitfire XIV, Dornier 17Z, Heinkel He 111, Ju-87, Piston Provost and HP Herald, but largely, if it has wings, I like it. Current interest is the Macchi 200.

 

I have obsessed over one particular aircraft though. A B-17G. 42-107039 SC-M "Ice Cold Katy" of the 612th Bomb Squadron, 401st Bomb Group to be exact. The reason was simply because I picked a photo of an original A-2 jacket nose art painting to base a copy on back in the early 1990s. Once I had my A-2 copy completed, I decided that it would be nice to know a little of the history I was wearing on my back. Trouble was, was that the only info I had was that the B-17 belonged to the 401st Bomb Group, and that was it. 

 

I started by contacting the 401st Association in the US, and the ball rolled from there. After 10 years research, I managed to correspond with over a dozen veterans that had flown missions on the aircraft (even one that flew the aircraft back to the US in July 1945), and gathered a day by day combat diary of her 103 mission career. I even managed to find a copy of the Deenethorpe tower log which at the time wasn't even in the USAF archives. In short, enough for a book I suppose. I think I got pretty obsessed.

 

Here she is over Peenemunde in August 1944...

 

b17_peenemunde_1944.7ph6u9ou7s008cw8k4sc4kckk.ejcuplo1l0oo0sk8c40s8osc4.th

 

Funny though how the research never ends. For years, I had always scanned the photos of Kingman, Arizona hoping to catch a glimpse of "Katy" among the thousands of aircraft parked there. Never did of course. What were the chances? That was until I stumbled on a photo on the Chicago Tribune website a few months ago...and zoomed in on the image.

 

And there she was!

 

Ice Cold Katy Kingman

 

The end of the story!

 

Steve

That's amazing! Great work.

[Muddyf]

Concorde, swiftly followed by anything Bristol.

 

My Grandfather started working at Filton in the mid 1930’s and worked on the development of Blenheims, before moving onto a stint at RAF’s Central Flying School before being seconded back to Bristol. Worked on the development of the sycamore amongst other aircraft before becoming an instructor on the Britannia, travelling to numerous South American countries for work (an invaluable source of knowledge for Geography, and fluent in French and Spanish) before ending his career as Chief Flight Instructor on Concorde based at Filton. He met my Grandmother at Bristol (who is still alive and 99!), who built Beauforts and Beaufighters before moving onto engines and building Hercules and Centaurus engines.

 

I get to visit Aerospace Bristol once a month for work, and so see Concorde every visit, go ‘behind the scenes’ and see some pilot instruction aids that my Grandfather would of used.

 

My family still refer to Concorde as ‘Pop’s Plane’.

 

Matt

[Merlin 28]

Lancaster for me mainly because there's  a family connection, My Grandfather served as a pilot with IX Squadron at RAF Bardney from May to September 1943 doing twenty ops in seven different Lanc's, fifteen of the ops were in just two aircraft ED666, G and W4964. J Other than the Lancaster, probably fair to say whatever I'm modelling at the time.  

[Harold55]

I also have an obsession with almost anything that flys but there are a couple that I just love.  Although every one mentioned on this thread I can honestly say I understand the attraction, even though they are all very different.  If I could only chose one aircraft it would be a technological marvel for its time that I have an obsession for which would be the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.  Nothing in the stash but wouldn't it be an amazing choice it Copper State came out with an injection mold of this.  This was one amazing plane which was designed at a time when many people believed it was impossible to construct a multi engine aircraft.  It first flew in 1913 and you could actually walk around inside the plane.  Over 80 were built and they were really the first large bombers used, first night bombers and many othe firsts.   I think in the end if I could only chose one aircraft this would be it but I will add 3 more as runners-up: XB-70 Valkryie, X-15 and SR-71/A-12.

[basket]

Just have a look above my avatar .  7 built ... and 12 in my stash .

 

And the F-4 is second .... very close to the fabulous Mirage III .

Edited March 13, 2019 by basket

[Bigglesof266]

I think we all as modellers and amateur historians have one or two favourites. Chicken or egg, not sure which invoked which, although I'd say my fascination with history and war was what inclined me to model from an early age. I can't say in all honesty I have an obsession with one aircraft after all these years, although the Bf 109 would come close to it if I did. As aesthetically appealing types holding fascination over the years since I first laid eyes upon them, special mention to the He 219 and Ki-61 in particular. Both stand out in my memory as having always held an inexplicable je ne sais quoi appeal for me.    

[PF Naughton]

Hi,

I like most planes, though over the years I have found that I have collected a large array of kits, diecast models, books, articles and pictures of the Brewster 239/339/F2A aircraft.

Pat

[Astel]

I like loads of aeroplanes and I don't think I could narrow it down to one only, so here goes:

 

Jet fighter:

EE Lightning for me; my Dad was an engineer in the RAF and worked on them at Leuchars after being on Valiants and Vulcans at bases in England, his best friend was a Lightning pilot at Binbrook.

 

Piston fighter/s:

Hawker Hurricane, late-mark Spitfires and P51 Mustang (all variants).

 

Piston civilian:

My real passions are single and twin engine civilian aircraft. Can't choose one only; Pitts Special S2B (that would be my dream aircraft to own); anything by De Havilland and my all-time favourite twin, the Cessna 310. I was surrounded by Cessna 150/152 singles and 310 twins when I was young and my screen-name is the callsign that was used by the local flying school at the time.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Astel

[spruecutter96]

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 7:26 PM, bzn20 said:

I went to Yeovilton the week the first 3 arrived . Their Airshow was on the Saturday , got there for rehersals the day before , two went out and vertical rolling in to the Blue til they disappeared , noise didn't and  back down to the deck fast enough for silence 'til they shot overhead. fantastic . We found the 3rd in a hangar and saw it through the rusted joints in the black tin the shed was made of. The next day's show was probably the best air show ever seen . All the aircraft took off in twos and threes , more than 60 jets  and  60 is on the light side. Vixens including Simons Circus display team ( LOUD), Hunters , Phantoms , Buccs ,Sea Venoms  French Crusaders it went on and on . Near sonic low level from behind . Reckon it was one of the biggest flypasts seen in the UK , don't think  it was repeated either. Red's Gnats down to concrete ! A reason I don't go anymore.... Display list below , mind blowing , what a show .

 

XF297/781BY Hunter WV380/794BY Hunter WW659/793BY Hunter WV374/795BY Hunter WV267 Hunter WT711/783BY Hunter XF357/779BY Hunter WW661/728VL Hunter XT453/K Wessex 845sq XT467/G Wessex 845sq XT455/M Wessex 845sq XS523/S Wessex 845sq XS520/Q Wessex 845sq XS512/W Wessex 845sq XK488 Buccaneer XV326 Buccaneer XV340/321 Buccaneer XV344/325 Buccaneer XV339 Buccaneer XT279/322 Buccaneer XT280/323 Buccaneer XT281/324 Buccaneer XJ503? XJ507??  XJ514 Sea Vixen XJ556 Sea Vixen XJ557 Sea Vixen XJ521 Sea Vixen XJ560 Sea Vixen XJ563 Sea Vixen XJ567?? Sea Vixen aircraft given w/o '62! XJ570 Sea Vixen XJ580 Sea Vixen XJ582 Sea Vixen XJ574 Sea Vixen XJ607 Sea Vixen XN647 Sea Vixen XN650 Sea Vixen XN651 Sea Vixen XN654 Sea Vixen XN658 Sea Vixen XN685 Sea Vixen XN687 Sea Vixen XN697 Sea Vixen XN699 Sea Vixen XN700 Sea Vixen XN707 Sea Vixen XN708?? Sea Vixen  XP919 Sea Vixen XP921 Sea Vixen XP957 Sea Vixen XS582 Sea Vixen WW187 Sea Venom FRU WW138 Sea Venom FRU WW200 Sea Venom FRU WW207 Sea Venom FRU XG737 Sea Venom FRU XG701 Sea Venom FRU WM571 Sea Venom FRU WM573 Sea Venom FRU XA129 Sea Vampire XA165 Sea Vampire XT859/725 Phantom FG.1 XT860 Phantom FG.1 XT861/727 Phantom FG.1 XT862/722 Phantom FG.1 XT863/723 Phantom FG.1 XT864/724 Phantom FG.1 XT865 Phantom FG.1 XT866 Phantom FG.1 XT867 Phantom FG.1 XT868 Phantom FG.1 XL714 Tiger Moth WK608/906 Chipmunk T.10 XM647 Vulcan B.2 XP532/32 Gnat T.1 XV211 Hercules C.1 XP683 Jet Provost T.3 XL502/764BY Gannet AEW.3 XV371 Sea King HAS.1 XM838/520PO Wessex HAS.3 XT433/460 Wasp HAS.1 31 Bretagne Aeronavale 19 F-8E 12F 33 F-8E 12F 40 F-8E 12F 41 F-8E 12F 158 S-2F R.Ne.N. 159 S-2F R.Ne.N. 147 S-2F R.Ne.N. 161 S-2F R.Ne.N. 167 S-2F R.Ne.N. 168 S-2F R.Ne.N.

 

And for F4U Corsair fans ...one in the museum !

 

That line-up is just, simply GOB-SMACKING!  Now I see why the older generation of airshow-enthusiasts always moan that "it just ain't like the olden days". RIAT would be over-the-moon to get even half those types on it books (bearing in mind that almost all are no longer in service, of course). 

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Chris. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by spruecutter96
Correcting a typo.

[LightningMk6]

Obviously for me it would be the English Electric Lightning, was stationed at Binbrook 79-85 on 5 Squadron and the LTF.  In 2009 joined the Lightning Preservation Group

[WV908]

A dive into my stash would show that i’m Obsessed firstly with Lancasters, followed by Tornados, Phantoms, Vulcans, Spitfires, Buccaneers and then Hurricanes and Victors. These types make up about half of my stash, ranging from 12 Lancs down to four Victors and everything else somewhere in between 

 

But, that doesn’t wholly reflect my favourite types.... 

 

My single favourite aircraft bar none is Hawker Sea Hawk WV908. Following that is Lancaster PA474 and Vulcan XH558. 

 

My favourite types are the Lancaster, Tornado and Buccaneer 

 

Favourite variant of any aircraft is the Spitfire Mk.IX and my favourite single engine fighter is the Hurricane. 

 

Which leads into my final oddball obsession, nothing to do with anything else - the RAFM Cosford axis collection, specifically the German aircraft.

 

Pretty much the reason for these obsessions is seeing the aircraft fly. The German stuff at Cosford? Apart from being fascinated by the simple fact the stuff survives (ME-410 in particular) I have no clue why I like them. 

 

I never got to see a Buccaneer fly, but watching them come down the runway at Brunty in a trio, lights on in a storm.... wow! 

 

Cheers,

  WV908

 

 

 

 

 

[Starfighter]

I think my user name and avatar might give you a clue   🙂 Also, the F-100 Super Sabre, Hawker Hurricane and F-4 Phantom, among others.

[spruecutter96]

If I had to choose just one airframe, it would have to be the A-10. Ugly as anything, but boy, what a great design!

 

Chris.  

[Kes]

My preferences do fluctuate a bit, I'm easily distracted by shiny things! I do like stuff in Raspberry Ripple, I've always had a 'thing' for SAAB's mighty Viggen (a former screen name of mine) but the one I always return to is the incredible EE/BAC Lightning! by a huge margin my most built kits are Airfix F1a/F3 and Matchbox F2a/F6 literally 'dozens' of them, I still have a fair few Lighting kits in the stash from Airfix  (1st and 2nd gen) Matchbox (and it's Revell repress) Trumpeter Hasegawa/Frog  and Sword, you never know, I might actually build them one day?

[Don149]

Anything I ever flew in , first Air Cadets and then RAF .

                                                                                      Wellington x2

                                                                                      Lancaster

                                                                                      Dragon Rapide x3

                                                                                      York x3 ( a total of 17 deafening hours )

                                                                                       Hastings x2

                                                                                       Airspeed Ambassador ( B E A Elizabethan )

                                                                                       Viking ( wide body tin Wellington )

                                                                                       Meteor T7 x2 ( target towing )

                                                                                       Dakota .

`Never been aloft in anything modern ! .

                                                                Don .

[HiPoDad]

Only just spotted this thread, many thanks to the op. Getting people reminiscing about their own, and family histories especially within aviation is utterly fascinating to me. My father almost got to fly tail gunner in Lancaster s at the end of ww2 but was returned from training to be sent  back down the mines, so Avro's finest ranks high for me. 

Later in life I too remember air displays that were, shall we say enthusiastic by modern standards. And so the vertical pull ups with the u/c still retracting puts the EE Lightning literally way up there. 

Still later as a van driver in the North Notts area I used to see daily four ship formations of A10's over the Proteus camp area and I swear they would compete to pull the tightest turns around the Tuxford TV mast as well as mock strafing runs on lone white van men (perhaps a bit fanciful that one) but really great fun to pull over and watch. 

A10, big ugly yes, but NOTHING did the job better. 

So a long post for a short list,  into the stash I go only to find I have a total of 5 kits covering that list still to be built. The rest indicates a willingness to pick up any old kit- what the heck, they all have wings.