Favorite Era of Commercial Aviation

Favorite Era of Commercial Aviation?

  • Pre World War II exploration and establishment?

    Votes: 17 32.1%

  • The 1950's Golden Age.

    Votes: 31 58.5%

  • Hustle and Bustle Jet Age.

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • Total voters
    53
C

Cowboy1968

Charter Member
What is your favorite time pried for commercial Aviation? Was it the days of the pre-World War II pioneering companies establishing the routes that are flown today? Was it the 1950's "Golden Age", when the great propliners ruled the skies? Or is the the modern era of hustle and bustle, do anything for the buck and fell the seats of the Jetliners?

My personal favorite is the 1950's, when the air lines weren't just glorified bus services. When they actually took care fo the passengers I love the sound of four synchronized prop engines turning over. The airplanes were works of arts. ships like the Douglas DC-4, the Lockheed Constellation and the Boeing 377. Now the 377 was pure luxury. A wonderful aircraft that yet has to be equaled in the jet age. The competition between TWA and PAA to get the fastest times over the Atlantic, but yet still offer the confort passengers were used to seeing in the DC-7C and the L-1649. All these planes were works of art.

In the jet age everything pretty much looks like everything else..

With the arrival of the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8 and the De Haviland Comet 4, in the 1960's, things changed for the worse. the end was near for the propliners. They struggled in secondary routes and in primary routes where people still wanted the easy luxury, but by 1965 they were pretty much doing charter duty with small unimportant non schedule airlines. By the 1970's it was even hard to find an airport equipped to handle the old props.

Realy the only jets to fall into the Golden Age thinking of operations was the De Haviland Comet 1 and II, and well they didn't last because of structural problems, and when the Comet 4 emerged from the redesign it was built to compete in the B707 era of "put more butts into the seats as cheaply as possible, while still charging as much as we can times."

As you can tell my opinion runs to the Golden Age, What is your opinion?
 
I'm right there with ya! Although, I do like the modern t-props too. They may still be glorified tuna cans, but there's something sweet in the sound of those blades! Orville and Wilbur used props, and that's good enough for me!:applause:
 
I don't really even like turbo props that well. I prefer the roar of a good radial engine. That raw deep roar. Even the engines of the DC-3, say power.
 
I love the era of the Tin Goose, Fokker Trimotors, DC-3 and the Pan Am Clippers...so the 1920's and 1930's are my favorite era aircraft.
 
For me it's definitely the 1950s. Born in 1952 and having lived my first seven years with KLM's Convairs, DC-3s, -4s, -6s and -7s, L-749A Connies and L-1049C/E/G/H Super Connies, Viscounts plus all the other beautiful big props such as the Strats and the first jet (Tupolev Tu-104) flying in front of our house on approach for Schiphol's runway 23 (now 22), one can hardly avoid getting hooked on the 1950s stuff.
Thank goodness there is CalClassic.com (hat off for Tom Gibson et all) :applause::applause::applause::applause: which has this fabulous software (aircraft, sceneries, AI traffic etc.) with which one can re-create her/his own 1950s/early 1960s world.

Cheers,
Maarten
 
The begining of the very first jet airliners was very interesting, Boeing first flew the Dash 80 in 1954 it was a pure USAF tanker program but then Boeing with the AF okay modified it for commercial use. Douglas had no experience in building a commercial jet at the time, they sent their engineers (spys) to a open house sponsered by Boeing to show the public a mockup of the 707...they secretly made measurements of the mockup and photograped the interior of the 707 and the Douglas DC-8 was born. There was no prototype, Douglas just flew the first one off the production line.

Cheers

Casey
 
There's just something about Lockheed Vegas and Orions, Junkers F13's, W33's and W34's that just piques the imagination. And don't get me started about the Pan Am Clippers and Empire Flying Boats. Yep, I'm pretty much a fan of the Golden Age.:engel016:
 
I like 'em from the mid 30s to the late 50s. :d

I can't seem to make up my mind between DC-3s, Boeing 307 Stratoliners and DC-6s.
 
Has to be the 1950s for me. I can't even begin to guess how many hours I've spent in Greg Pepper's DC-7s, but those hours include two Trans-Atlantic Flights and a North American Trans-Continental Flight. You wouldn't imagine how much I would pay to be able to go back in time, dress up in a nice suit and tie, drive out to the airport in a '55 Chevy, and take a ride in the luxury and class of a Pan-Am DC-7.

I like old planes, old cars, old music, and old movies. Sometimes I think I was born far too late in time.
 
"...the 1950's, when the air lines weren't just glorified bus services. When they actually took care fo the passengers I love the sound of four synchronized prop engines turning over."

Since the props were gone from the primary routes by the time you were in diapers, how do you come by that opinion?
Just curious! :confused:
- H52
 
Research, study of business models and it helps that my Grandfather flew for Pan American after Korea when he wasn't flying for the USN. I am a Pan American kid. I cut my teeth on a DC-3. When I was in High School i worked for a freight company around Enid, Oklahoma. The company operated two DC-4s and one DC-6. I shined every inch of those birds. I changed plugs on those engines. I may not have been out of diapers but I was raised playing with the old spark plugs for toys.
 
Thanks for the info, Cowboy. I had prepared a somewhat lengthy reply explaining that I too consider myself a PAA kid. However, an inadvertent click of my @#%$$@ multi-button mouse send it off into la la land. :frown: Sorry.
- H52
 
It's a toss up for me....between the pre-WW2 period and the period after WW2 up through the end of the 50s/into the early 60s. They call FS2004 the Century of Flight. Well, I am enthralled with the first half of that century. Props, radial engines...those are key features in all of my favorite aircraft, GA, Commercial or Military. Jets....the early ones are okay, but once they become flying robots with more computers than guns...not interested any longer.


OBIO
 
It's nice to see us PAA kids still trying to keep our Airline in memories. the Pan American flag is flying agiain but well, its not the same company and it even failed. Also the name went over to Railroad around 1990............its sad, but it happened.
 
I love the transition era. For instance, in Atlanta, there were years where one saw CV-880s and Martin 404s on the ramp together. I also like the late steam/early diesel era of railroading.

Marc
 
burcham8 said:
I love the transition era. For instance, in Atlanta, there were years where one saw CV-880s and Martin 404s on the ramp together. I also like the late steam/early diesel era of railroading.

Marc
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So Do I. seeing the raw power (not so powerful ocmpared today) of an EMD F7 ABBA set pulling a freight or the Big Boy of the Union Pacific blowing that big head of steam......is wonderful. God the 1950's hold a big place in my heart. in a previous life i had to be living in that era.
 
Cowboy1968 said:
I don't really even like turbo props that well. I prefer the roar of a good radial engine. That raw deep roar. Even the engines of the DC-3, say power.
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I have to modify this statement. I don't like the ten can t-props we have today, but i do enjoy flying the L-188 and the C-130, both designed in the 1950s.
 
I am not into airliners, but the 50s by all means, there has never been a tubeliner built with the grace of a "Connie", even when it's called a "Starliner"..

Caz
 
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