Your Top Five Coolest Flights

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jay Honeck
I've made a few additions since the last time I started a thread like this -- have you?

Here are mine:

1. Oshkosh FISK Approach -- Without a doubt, the single coolest flight any pilot can ever make. Landing at the Mecca of Aviation, landing in front of 10,000 - 100,000 pilots, camping with old friends. It's the single flight that every GA pilot must make.

2. Grand Canyon -- My two hours spent flying over the canyon rank as the most beautiful, most scenic two hours of my life.

3. Mackinac Island -- One of the world's truly gorgeous flights, made all the better by the fact that it's so hard to get there any other way.

4. Mustang Island to Galveston, TX -- Following the chain of barrier islands down the Gulf of Mexico from our home on Mustang Island to Galveston, Texas is truly one of the world's prettiest -- and easiest -- flights, and I am blessed to be able to do it regularly. No navigational aids needed -- just keep the strip of sand under your left wing, and it's all good! (Best of all, you can park at the Lone Star Museum in Galveston, and walk to Moody Garden's Hotel restaurant -- a truly fine meal.)

5. Meig's Field, Chicago -- Sadly, this one is gone forever -- but I was fortunate enough to make that flight several times. A similar waterfront/downtown airport is St. Petersburg, FL, which I've also been lucky enough to land at -- but Meig's was the ultimate. To be able to fly next to (and lower than) the big skyscrapers, to skim over the sailboats, to catch a cab to some really neat Chicago attractions -- boy, what a loss to GA.

There have been so many others. Landing at Dulles was way-cool, for a VFR-only weenie in a Cherokee like me. Landing at First Flight Airfield in Kitty Hawk for the 100th Annivesary of flight was unforgettable.

Dang, I could go on and on -- but what were YOUR Top Five Coolest Flights?
 
Pre 9-11 Flying in to Regan National and the view after taking off.

  • Post 9-11 Flying the Hudson River corridor and having ATC vector me over the top of La Guardia to avoid the TFR at UN
  • Flying the Warbird Approach into Osh.
  • Flying my Dad from Chester County to Brookhaven His first flight in a small plane in ~50 years. He had gotten his license in 49 and then quit flying to raise a family
  • Flew T-6 down in FLA. Got to do rolls and loops and log .5 hours of dual.
 
- Big Beach to Milford Sound in New Zealand. Take off from a beach and land in a fjord.

- Bahamas. Specifically, Staniel Cay, where I had some hellacious crosswinds.

- Oshkosh (AirVenture) in a King Air. I was able to sit right seat on the outbound leg.

- Queenstown to Geordie Hill Station. My first grass landing, and my first time flying in another country.

- Custer, Yellowstone, and Glacier National. Beautiful scenery, chance to get some 310 time, and great company.
 
Post 9-11 Flying the Hudson River corridor and having ATC vector me over the top of La Guardia to avoid the TFR at UN
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That's on my list of must-do flights.
 
1. Leadville, CO - highest airport in North America. Travelling over, in and through the Rockies is a real experience.

2. Custer, SD - Pretty scenery, some nice mountains, great vistas, the Black Hills, and Mount Rushmore.

3. Saint Simon's Island, GA - Nice little vacation getaway off the cost of GA.

4. Taos, NM - Great destination summer or winter.

5. Tangier Island, VA - odd little island in the middle of the Chespapeake Bay. Worth a day trip for the crab cakes alone, or overnight if you want solace.
 
Taking my 6 year old daughter for her first airplane ride.

Taking my Dad to Cedar Key (KCDK)

Taking my wife to Marathon Key (KMTH) for a little R&R and to pick my daughter up from Sea Camp

Taking a friend and his two sons along the space coast to see the space shuttle on the pad (and the boys first airplane ride).

Picking up my sister at Dunn Airpark (X21) and doing the same flight

John
 
Leadville, CO - highest airport in North America. Travelling over, in and through the Rockies is a real experience.
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I'd like to have that one in my logbook. What were you flying?

2. Custer, SD - Pretty scenery, some nice mountains, great vistas, the Black Hills, and Mount Rushmore.
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I have to say, I was pretty disappointed to see Mt. Rushmore from the air. What looks so enormous on the ground looked pretty small from the air!
 
Taking my 6 year old daughter for her first airplane ride.
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Ah, yes -- I'd forgotten the first ride with the kids. That was COOL.

Taking my Dad to Cedar Key (KCDK)

Taking my wife to Marathon Key (KMTH) for a little R&R and to pick my daughter up from Sea Camp
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I've heard a lot of people putting the Keys on their "best flights" list over the years. I've gotta get over that-away.
 
1. Edwards AFB
2. Bankstown outside Sydney, OZ. 1998 while they were building the Olympic Venues. Flew over the velodome, opera house, etc.
3. Cape Canaveral
4. Niagara Falls
5. Taos, Leadville, etc - no big deal, I live out here near the cumulo granite...
 
1. Sequenced to land behind "Concord" at Dulles, then taxiing past the Enterprise on the way to the GA ramp.

2. Flying out for brunch at Carlos O'Malleys on Catalina Is.

3. Flying into Kentmoor on Kent Is. for lunch and dinner at the harbor.

4. Flying the T-craft home from Fargo ND to Frederick MD.

5. Oh yeah... Oshkosh.
 
In no particular order:

- My first trip to Oshkosh as a 100 hour pilot. I absolutely stuck a landing in a nasty crosswind.

- Making the first flight in my RV-6.

- My first airplane ride which was in an Aeronca Champ when I was about 4.

- My first trip to Oshkosh in the RV.

- A KC-10 training mission as part of a National Guard reach-out program to employers. We passed and received gas and I have pictures of both to prove it. Very impressive.
 
The top five, in random order:

- KOSC, Oscoda, Michigan - one of the first long cross-countries after getting my private certificate, took Grant and one of my sisters up to land at the last Air Force Base we were stationed at. One of the few 11,800 x 200 ft runways with pilot controlled lighting - looked like Broadway clicking the mic :)

- Big Bay, New Zealand - landing on a beach - pretty cool when your typical runways are flat, inland and have corn and soybean fields around them

- A summer trip to Custer and Yellowstone - the private certificate was about 2 months old; I sat left seat on a Cessna 310 for a couple of hours on the outbound, learned a lot about twins on that leg

- ORD. In a 172; heavy aircraft both in front and behind on approach, and having a 747 have to wait for us on takeoff

- About 5 minutes at the controls of a Pilatus PC-12 with all of 160 total flight hours on it - a short, but very sweet, ride in my dream plane - the smoothest landing gear........ (wiping the drool off the screen)
 
Flying the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks

Flying up Ruth Glacier, up the side of Mt Mckinley

Playing in and out the windows at Monument Valley

Flying the Idaho Backcountry

Flying from Kalispell to Benmark Montana through the Bob Marshall Wilderness by the Chinese Wall
 
1.First flight flying by my self after "soloing". It was 7:30 am on x-mas morning . I had RDU (Raleigh/Durham,NC) all to my self and was told I was cleared for the option -any runway. *RDU has 5/23L 5/23R and 32 /(14 is unusable for landings).

2. Departed ISM (Kissimmee,FL) and loitered just out side of TIX (Titusville,FL) at ~1200' for a night launch of the shuttle (Feb 2001)

3. Flew From RDU to BUY (Burlington, NC) for a young eagle rally that was being held in conjunction with the Balloon Festival and flew kids the day after I got my ticket. What really made it special for me was I had been a ground support volunteer for years, finally got my opportunity to fly .:)

4. Most recently, flew/rode with Kelvin in his 182 to a fly/drive in that Tom (Etsisk) hosted at 5NC3 (Gilliam -McConnell Airfield, Carthage,NC )home of Pik N Pig restaurant that has some of the best BBQ around (even though their slaw sucks) I had never been in an aircraft that has a glass cockpit before . Awesome flight for me. Thanks again, Kelvin!!

5. Sightseeing flight in a helicopter from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon followed by a day of white water rafting.
 
- First VAC flight, STP to MHK, crossing a front @ 13,000+ between towering cumulus
- Second VAC flight, MHK to CO12, helping a soldier and his bride-to-be get together
- Mountain flight training/checkout, down a valley about one wingspan from a rock wall, hey, that's where the instructor said to put it!
- Follow the B-17 on Alpha (okay, technically not a flight)
- First real flight for business, BJC to SAF & back. Very cool to have someone else pay for my flight.
 
1.First flight flying by my self after "soloing". It was 7:30 am on x-mas morning . I had RDU (Raleigh/Durham,NC) all to my self and was told I was cleared for the option -any runway. *RDU has 5/23L 5/23R and 32 /(14 is unusable for landings).
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Ah, another jogged fond memory.

I trained at sleepy little East Troy, WI (57C) airport. After I had soloed a couple of time, I remember a flight when I (*gasp*) -- LEFT THE PATTERN WITHOUT MY INSTRUCTOR.

In those pre-GPS days, I looked down and followed Hwy 20 Eastbound, figuring I couldn't get too lost. I was engrossed in something I had never done before -- sight-seeing!

All of the sudden I looked up, and there was Lake Michigan, stretching beyond the horizon! At first I was stunned, then amazed at its beauty....and then I got scared. I had never been so far from the airport before! I saw Interstate 94 coming up, figured I must be getting close to Kenosha (which wasn't Class D yet at that time), and turned around.

I will never forget that flight -- my first of a thousand forays out of the pattern. What a great feeling! :)
 
- Mountain flight training/checkout, down a valley about one wingspan from a rock wall, hey, that's where the instructor said to put it!
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A good friend and QB brother of mine flew for the DNR in the mountains in Idaho, and tells many a story about similar flights.

That kind of flying is so far beyond my experience, I simply can't imagine what it must be like. I've set up scenarios in the simulator that mimic those flights (and my buddy tells me that they're actually pretty realistic), but you can never recreate the feeling of flying THAT close to the granite.

It must be very, very cool. My only similar experience is flying at 140 knots at 25' over the water. The sense of speed was exhilarating!
 
1. 5/23/78 1st solo - C150 N4018V Arlington, TN - wow, still registered to Navy Memphis Flying club!
2. 5/24/78 2nd solo - C150 N11638 NAS Memphis TWR "make immediate right 180 for separation" - as a Flight of 2 F-4 Phantoms smoked on by (and I do mean smoked)
3. 1979, de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth at Santa Ynez, CA thru friend of a friend.
4. 12/17/79 1st cat shot and trap (arrested landing) E-2B Hawkeye, USS Nimitz, off the coast of Athens, Greece.
5. 6/18/06 Father's Day weekend. C172RG N6577R - got to fly both my boys to Custer, SD to spend Father's Day with my dad, the last one we were all able to attend.
 
In no particular order:

1: Silver Distance
2: Silver Duration
3: Gold Distance
4: Gold Altitude
5: Diamond Goal
 
1. First solo, 06/2002.

2. Long solo cross country, 07/05/2002. Tour of upper lower MI, 76G - KAPN - KMKG - 76G. Saw Grand Traverse Bay, Torch Lake, Lake Michigan for the first time from the air.

3. Mackinac Island, 10/03/2002. There is nowhere else like it. The flight was awesome too (first XC with a passenger).

4. KPHN - KATW - KPHN, 06/30/2003. First crossing of Lake Michigan, first logged actual since primary training. The HSI had failed, so it was an interesting flight.

5. KPHN - KBKL, 03/2004. I came over Lake Erie from the north. The Cleveland skyline as you approach Burke Lakefront is quite a sight.

Yeah, not too impressive compared to some people's. I'm working on it. :)
 
In no particular order...

1. Giving my future stepfather a SF Bay Area tour at the suggestion of my mom since I couldn't think of anything else to get him for Christmas. He talked about it the rest of his life.

2. Seeing the Northern Lights over southern Ontario from FL410.

3. Landing at that little bitty grass strip near Gastons with Bob Bement in his C-182.

4. Doing the conformity flights during delivery with the Cessna test pilot in a type which I had never flown before. Not sure what I'm supposed to be doing, but here I am!

5. Flight from Denver to Narita through Anchorage and Petropavlovsk.
 
On the last day of Airventure 2004, I pulled my new Pitts S-2C out of the Aviat booth and rolled it down the center of the show out to the flight line. There was a C-130 getting ready to crank up but they let me pull my airplane under the wing past him and hop in at the head of the line leaving. I rolled out and took off as one of the first departures of the day and it was my first solo flight in any tailwheel airplane. Four stops later, I was back in Annapolis MD.

Other cool flights include just about any of the Angel Flights I did that involved small kids needing medical treatments at Johns Hopkins here in Baltimore.

Float rating in the Kenai of Alaska.

Any flight in the aerobatic contest box.

A four hour soaring flight in a Grob 103A over Tahoe.

Circling the lava flows in a rented 172 out of Hilo Hawaii with my honeymoonin' wife.
 
1 - Solo PIC on my first flight to OSH

2 - Spotting, calling, and coordinating a 45 minute car chase and foot chase, at night, from a MD500.

3 - First 1500 mile cross country.

4 - Taking a friend and his girlfriend on a sunset flight over Tampa Bay, the Sunshine Skyway, the Gulf, and him proposing to her in flight (yes, it was planned).

5 - First flight in my own, personal airplane.
 
Alan hit one of mine...

1. First flight after signing the paperwork to join the 79M LLC with a set of keys to "my" airplane in my pocket. No online scheduling, no counter to ask someone for the book or the keys at, just open the hangar and stick your own key in the ignition after pulling the plane out and parking the truck in the hangar.

2. Right seat of an ATR-42 at FL230 for a couple of hours, hand-flying it for 30 minutes or so, the rest in the jumpseat. I won't tell how without beer. Definitely pre-9/11.

3. Colorado Pilot's Association mountain flying course/tour of airports and passes, including KGWS, KASE, and KLXV all in the same day. Trifecta of fun.

4. A few hours in both the 747-400 and 757/767 simulators at UAL TK. Two different years. Landings in the 747 sim, outboard engine loss aborted takeoffs, and a sloppy barrel roll. (Ha.) Only observed and assisted from the right-seat for approaches to minimums in the 757 sim to an airport that didn't exist in the UAL database, but the approaches did. (Made the choice for the guy in the left seat whether to go missed at the bottom every time, really easy.)

5. Diverting for unexpected WX on a Student XC a couple hours before sunset for thunderstorms into KGXY, sleeping on a friend's couch, and finishing my long solo XC the next morning after calls to the CFI and flight school who agreed it was the right call. A line of heavy storms had popped between KGXY and KEIK which was "home" back then.

Honorable mentions:

- Depating KCYS in a 35 knot wind straight down the runway. It always blows up there. Another similar departure from KABQ a decade later.

- Flights to Kansas City, Houston, Phoenix, Juneau, WI and Las Vegas in the "really long XC" book.

- Flying out on KVNY in L.A. smog in the early 90s and then getting an e-mail from Brian Terwillager long before "16 Right" was filmed, announcing the project and watching his results years later and remembering the controller's voices.

- Coyote chasing me down the runway at KSAF. Barking and playing the whole time.

- XC back from KSNY to KBJC at night when one of the comets was at its brightest (can't remember if it was Halley's or Hale-Bopp).

- Formation flight with two Skyhawks where a friend had the video crew and my CFI and I spun the crap out of our airplane for the camera. (All three copies of the VHS videotape got lost, sadly.)

- Cessnas 2 Oshkosh formation fly-over of Whittman Field last year.
 
1) Ride up an over Lake Como in Italy, start/end at Milan.

2) Outer Banks, Kitty Hawk several times.

3) Flying the Rockies on a trip from San Antonio to Idaho Falls & return. Lots of beautiful country.

Probably some others......
 
After yesterday I really have to add departing VFR from KACB. The area is strewn with beautiful lakes and hills. Torch Lake is truly magnificent.
 
Here are mine:
First GA flight with Crocker Snow in his Navion out of Snow field Ipswich, MA
First Free Fall 12,500 ft Suffolk, VA.

First solo, too much fun in a 152.
Plum Island, MA. Lobster for my wife’s first flight with me. She is still hooked!
First flight in my airplane! (C-120)

Alton Bay, on the ice, ask the 12 yo to come and he asks “can I bring my skates?’ sure.
Daughter calls traffic and it’s a B-17 over Lawrence, MA.
First solo spins, ended up inverted that was fun.
 
1- Flying in Jackson Hole every day

2- Approach over the bay into Ceder Key for some killer seafood

3- My first solo

4- circling around the TFR at night watching the space shuttle launch

5- Did I mention flying in Jackson Hole among the Tetons ?

Ben ( living the dream) Haas
 
Coolest flight? Can't remember the lowest OAT I've seen, but it was probably on a winter flight into Aurora.
 
1st Solo at 16 before I had my drivers license.
Brand new pilot at 17 taking my father on a business trip.
Learning how to cut toilet paper in a Ryan PT-22
Rota Spain to Tangier Morocco and return in an Aeronca Champ
Moving our airplane to its own hangar at our new airpark house.
Paul
N1431A
2AZ1
 
wsuffa said:
Coolest flight? Can't remember the lowest OAT I've seen, but it was probably on a winter flight into Aurora.
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Ha.... Now that you have changed the target...

My coolest flight in my experimental was -37f last winter....

My coolest flight while sitting up front in a biz jet was last month. -81f @ fl 450..... ;)
 
flying through the alps, just east of Geneva Switzerland as I was ferrying a plane to India that was too heavily loaded to clear the 15K MEA. could only get to 12K. One of those perfect days that will probably never happen again. A few chandelles when I saw dead ends but other than that, a very fond memory..
 
First aerobatic flight in Christen Eagle.
First solo landing in Extra 300
Sitting at controls in right seat in C5 across Canada
Thirty minutes of stick time flying acro in F-16
Rolling in an dropping live ordnance over range in Alaska in F-16.
Flying aerobatics with champions Phil Knight and Nickolai Timofyeev.
Midair refuelling and shooting machine gun as door gunner in HH-60 all at night with NVG's
 
Flying the ILS at KNEW and seeing the rabbit & approach lights at minimums. "Trust your gauges". Then flying the ILS to minimums at Lake Jackson on the way home.
 
-Loreto, Mexico Baja California Sud across the Gulf of California X2.

-2am flight across NM and w Texas in a Bonanza with showers and St Elmo's.

-scud running to Oshkosh and back to Canada C172 with dad

-lost over the vast Canadian prairie in a 172 pre-loran, pre-gps.

-Canada flying: buzzing icehuts and skidoos, Ontario lakes ~1979, circling CN tower (1800'agl) before landing at Island Airport for dinner.

-brand new 737 acceptance flight from Seattle to Love, including right seat time.

-first ILS to mins at Austin in the CJ, first solo in CJ.

-first flights following a)my first engine overhaul, b) complete reassembly of a C140 and later, a C150
 
1) 1.2 hours in the back of an F16 trying my hardest not to puke my guts out

2) Landing a 172 at JFK with an El Al 747 on the parallel runway and then 45 minutes later, landing at LGA where two guys with guns stood in front of the prop while Bill Clinton got into a limo in front of us.

3) Going from Odgen to Bozeman over Bear Lake, the Tetons and Yellowstone, which I do a few times a year. Prettiest flights I have ever taken.

4) Flying from Sedona to Grand Junction over the Grand Canyon, Flaming Gorge, Capitol Reef and Arches.

5) Nailing an instrument approach into York Nebraska with a gusting cross wind of 20+ knots and a 400 foot misty ceiling as a 500 hour pilot. Still not sure it was the smartest thing I've done in an airplane but happy I had the skills to be ahead of the plane the entire approach and landing.
 
My number 1 would be landing my 182 at the Shuttle Landing Facility down at KSC in 2005. On the way down, ATC kept asking me to confirm my destination because they were sure something must be wrong. I parked right next to a pair of NASA T-38s.
 
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