Yes please!! Would love to see them.

“Sunny VIII” was my actual first flight. Next up was a flying lesson in a Cessna 150, then an impromptu lesson in a Nanchang (both of which I ‘steered’ rather than piloted!), then I stopped counting as airliners entered the equation!

Still looking, i moved house recently and they must be somewhere in the pile!

thing i remember most about my 1st flight in a Cesspit was how utterly boring it was after the Mustang!

for the record my 1st actual was as a patient in the aeromed chopper after being knock off my bike by a speeding driver at the age of 16, hence i dont count it!

Yes – I was bricking it though!! Rod Dean was the aircraft’s pilot, he and Nicola Rennie (who took care of Spencer Flack’s aircraft display logistics) looked after me very well (Nicola had flown up from Leavesden in the Mustang with Rod that morning – wow!!). “Sunny VIII” was of course destroyed in an accident in the US some years later. The sad thing about your first flight being in something like a Mustang is that most of what I have flown in since has been comparatively dull (although happily I have managed to get a Mustang fix or two since then!)!!

great piccies there Davski, i will have to see if i can find mine from VH-BOB

not my 1st actual flight but its the one i count as my 1st, my 1st actual is really not one that should qualify.

I certainly like the internal cockpit colour -don’t know why. If there are any rich benefactors out there I have the space for a Mig 21!
Paul

There is actually a MiG-21 on the Australian register although it hasnt flown for some time now

Supermarine Scimitar,XD239, 800 Sqdn coded 103/R 13.5.63 L/C DF Mills diverted from Ark Royal to Khormaskar with radio and Hydraulic 1 intermittent failure. After 4 failed deck passes ,failed on first attempt at runway due to poor visibility,lost height in turn ,ejected, aircraft ditched in 6 ft of water. Wreckage shipped to Uk, Fleetlands. Sold as scrap 1967 to Birmingham Unimetals Ltd,

Sounds like the salt water immersion did it in.

No argument about any of that, except one point, i.e. the question of what one describes as “in service”. My opinion is that one should compare like with like. The question that began this discussion related to the F-4, still in front-line service as a fighter & tasked with a combat role as a fighter 50 years after its first flight. I took the question as asking what else had matched that record, & named a few types.

None of the types in the RAFs historic flight fit that description, so I don’t agree with comparing them, in their current role, with the F-4*. But I do get a thrill every time I see them fly over, & I fervently hope they continue flying for many more years.

*Or any other type performing a similar role, or indeed any fighters relegated to non-combat roles but still on the military register.

very true, i see yor point

hmmm with the 50-year front surely the F-86 Sabre would go close? the Bolivian AF were still using them as theyre primary fighter in the 1990’s

1) True. But I alluded to it elliptically before to point up the silliness of counting aircraft which are kept flying, & notionally in service, in non-combat roles. We really, really, can’t count historic flights.

2). No, definitely not the oldest type. There’s an older one in the same unit :diablo: – though one of the Spitfires in the unit may be the oldest individual fighter notionally in service.

1.) true within reason, but they are a useful PR tool for the RAF, i would say they definitely do have a place as being called in service, especially as they all retain theyre original serials and are operated on the military register.

2.) I forgot the Hurricane!, but with that said there has been periods of time when none were flying with or on charge with the RAF, not so the Spitfire.

What about Martin-Baker’s Meteors?

AFAIK thay are the oldest fighters which are still in service.

Technically the Spitfire is yet to leave RAF service, surely making it the oldest serving type in any capacity?

It is from a Bristol engine (non sleeve valve) so my guess would be Jupiter, Mercury or Pegasus.

Wellington?