Comments on: Top Flight

By: Russ Brown

Russ Brown — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:55:52 +0000

I was on the Sea Scout ship Yankee Clipper in Lake Washington (Seattle) when Tex Johntson and copilot Gannett barrel rolled the first 707 while on a flyby. You talk about an OOOOAHHHH by the thousands of spectators. It had to be a great plane – no pieces came off.

By: nayab

nayab — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:35:30 +0000

Really enjoyed reading this! It’s amazing to see how flights like the 747 and DC-3 shaped modern air travel. Makes me want to plan a trip myself. When I’m looking for flights, I usually check Bookme.sa.it’s super easy to see what’s available.

By: Steggy

Steggy — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 03:12:45 +0000

Somehow the Connie should be in there somewhere.

That combination of dolphin-shaped fuselage, three-finned empennage and four rumbling radial engines was unique, even if the later versions of that beautiful machine were cursed by the Wright Turbo-Compound’s fragility (the world’s finest three-engine airliner). The Connie exuded an aura that other contemporary machines (especially the whale-like Boeing Stratocruiser) completely lacked.

By: Rod

Rod — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:58:35 +0000

Tony Nowikowski’s point about what seems to be such a small total number of 707s produced accentuates the dramatic expansion of commercial aviation, world population & material prosperity. Almost 12,000 A320-family aircraft have so far been built; so far.

DB Cooper!? whoa, facepalm

By: Brian Christopher Anderson

Brian Christopher Anderson — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 18:48:22 +0000

The 5 most significant aircraft in history:

The Wright flyer – because it started everything.
The DC3 – because it made commercial aviation possible on a large scale.
The 707 – because it created the jet age.
The 747 – because it brought cheap international travel to the masses.
The Concorde – because, however impractical, it defined sex appeal in the air.

Honorable mention: the SR71 – because it looks like what Darth Vader would fly.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 01:36:53 +0000

In reply to Nathan. I disagree with you on 707-v-Concorde, but I won't argue. Both were beautiful planes.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 01:35:36 +0000

In reply to Chris H.. Good thinking. Regional jets are one of the worst things ever to happen to commercial aviation. But you can't say they haven't been influential or important. What makes them awful is how the major airlines used them to outsource a vast percentage of their networks, and they often fly not between hubs and outlying small cities, but from major market to major market. They're also an inefficient use of airspace and airport space, contributing to delays.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 01:34:04 +0000

In reply to Ed. I'll grant you the Wright's flight, but I think in my article I was avoiding the obvious.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:48:04 +0000

Hi Patrick! Pan Am’s inaugural 707 flight was on October 26th, 1958 and American’s was on January 25th, 1959, making them closer to three months apart rather than a year. Personally, I think the 707 is much prettier than Concorde, especially the -320, 320B, 320C, and 420 variants.

By: Gimlet Winglet

Gimlet Winglet — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 05:17:16 +0000

I’ll put in a good word for the Lockheed Constellation. First pressurized airliner, and the excessively powered large prop engines let the plane find many new roles over the years. The sinuous shape of the fuselage was about designing around the prop wash and avoiding prop ground strikes, as was the low tri-fin tail. It set many distance records at speed as a commercial airliner, not a specialist plane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Constellation