[TheZookie007]

Forking from pedonbio's "Cars I'd Like To Know" thread: as I said in this thread I created earlier today, I'm currently studying for a private pilot's license after years of putting it off, so I'm getting obsessed about planes and other aircraft. One day I even hope to own a couple.

So to start this thread off right, the plane that is on my computer wallpaper: the Embraer Phenom 300e. The spec sheet makes me salivate:

Country of Origin: Brasil
Debuted in 2009 as the Phenom 300, the e variant came out in 2020
Cruising Speed, normal-range: 430 knots / 796.4 km/h / 494.8 mph
Cruising Speed, long-range: 383 kts / 709.3 km/h / 441 mph
Top speed: Mach 0.80 / 464 kts / 859 km/h / 534 mph
Normal range: 1,811nm / 3,353 km / 2,083 miles - so you could fly from JFK (New York) to ATL (Atlanta) and just about back on one tank of gas

Engines: twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535E
Avionics: Garmin Prodigy
Service ceiling: 13.716 km / 45,000 ft / 8.52 miles
Take-off distance: 978 m / 3,209 ft
Landing distance: 674 m / 2,212 ft

Maximum fuel capacity: 2,428 kg / 5,352 lb
Max takeoff weight: 8,150 kg / 17,968 lb
Height: 5.1 m / 16 ft 9 in
Length: 15.64 m / 51 ft 4 in
Wingspan: 15.91 m / 52 ft 2 in

Certified for single-pilot operation, but can be flown with a co-pilot (or the seat can be occupied by a passenger)

Carries 6 passengers in the  5.41 m³ / 191 ft³ cabin in standard configuration; if flown with a single pilot, a passenger in the co-pilot seat, and with a passenger in the belted lav, can carry 11 people total.
Total cabin area: 9.17 m³ / 324 ft³
Cabin height: 1.5 m / 4.9 ft
Cabin width: 1.6 m / 5.1 ft
Cabin length: 5.23 m / 17.2 ft

Current fully-loaded price for a 2023 Phenom 300e: a snip at US$ 11.5 million.

This year, the Phenom 300e overtook the Cessna Citation Excel as the biggest-selling light business jet around.

Back in 2021, there was a limited edition offer from Embraer and Porsche: buy a Phenom 300e and they'll throw in a Porsche 911 Turbo S.

[Hiram]

I'm currently studying for a private pilot's license after years of putting it off, so I'm getting obsessed about planes and other aircraft. One day I even hope to own a couple.

Ah nice - best wishes with your endeavor.  I guess instruments rating is when it gets really hard. 

[solvegas]

Way back in 1979, I took a MAC (Military Airlift Command) flight from Norton Air Force Base (which was closed in the 1990's) to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii to go to my next assignment in the submarine base at Pearl Harbor so I could report to my boat, the USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) and in the flight I flew in a C-5A Galaxy which cost me $10.00 and I had to wait two days in order to get a seat. I went to Norton to pick up the flight since, at the time, I could not afford to fly commercial, and I was told to wait until a spot would open up. I was a low priority, so I had to wait. The seats are in the top of the fuselage, and they face back since that seating position is actually safer than the forward seating used in commercial flights. They did give us a sandwich for inflight meal. Below the seating area there was the main cargo area and I remember seeing several automobiles and pallets and I was told that the Officers on the flight were bringing their private automobiles from California to Hawaii. Unlike the C-141 airlifter which I had used to go from Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego (Remember Top Gun, the 1986 movie?) to Norton, which was near San Bernandino, we didn't need to wear ear protection for the aircraft noise. This is a photo of the C-5A. They now fly the C-5M because it is similar, but it is much modernized.   

[TheZookie007]

Way back in 1979, I took a MAC (Military Airlift Command) flight from Norton Air Force Base (which was closed in the 1990's) to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii to go to my next assignment in the submarine base at Pearl Harbor so I could report to my boat, the USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) and in the flight I flew in a C-5A Galaxy which cost me $10.00 and I had to wait two days in order to get a seat. I went to Norton to pick up the flight since, at the time, I could not afford to fly commercial, and I was told to wait until a spot would open up. I was a low priority, so I had to wait. The seats are in the top of the fuselage, and they face back since that seating position is actually safer than the forward seating used in commercial flights. They did give us a sandwich for inflight meal. Below the seating area there was the main cargo area and I remember seeing several automobiles and pallets and I was told that the Officers on the flight were bringing their private automobiles from California to Hawaii. Unlike the C-141 airlifter which I had used to go from Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego (Remember Top Gun, the 1986 movie?) to Norton, which was near San Bernandino, we didn't need to wear ear protection for the aircraft noise. This is a photo of the C-5A. They now fly the C-5M because it is similar, but it is much modernized.

That's a beautiful bird!

[TheZookie007]

I'm currently studying for a private pilot's license after years of putting it off, so I'm getting obsessed about planes and other aircraft. One day I even hope to own a couple.

Ah nice - best wishes with your endeavor.  I guess instruments rating is when it gets really hard.

Thank you! But for me the hardest part is of learning to fly is...I'm a teensy tiny bit afraid of heights! Ironic, no?

[MaxBigfoot]

I'm currently studying for a private pilot's license after years of putting it off, so I'm getting obsessed about planes and other aircraft. One day I even hope to own a couple.

Ah nice - best wishes with your endeavor.  I guess instruments rating is when it gets really hard.

Thank you! But for me the hardest part is of learning to fly is...I'm a teensy tiny bit afraid of heights! Ironic, no?

I'm a bit afraid of heights too, Zookie, but I've never had a problem on airplanes.  Looking out and down is no problems.  It seems, once I pass a certain height, the fear is gone.
Still have it when I'm on roof or such, or in high buildings.  So, if you have the same problem, your main problem may be coming in on landings.

[Hiram]

I'm a teensy tiny bit afraid of heights! Ironic, no?

Know how you feel - that time when the plane banks and you look out of the window! 

[solvegas]

One of the loudest aircraft I've ever flown in was a US Navy owned Lockheed C-130 Hercules which was used as a taxi from Guam to Tinian to transport personnel. Back in August 6, 1985, I was on the USS Puffer (SSN-651) and we had stopped at Guam a few days before and then they asked for volunteers to go to Tinian to represent our ship for a ceremony at Tinian. Most guys onboard were unaware of the significance of August 6 but on that day, on August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress of the 509th bombardment group called Enola Gay dropped the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and it had taken off the island of Tinian on the US Territory of the Northern Marianas. By the way, the world's deepest ocean canyon, The Mariana Trench, is nearby. This version of the aircraft is the newest, the C-130J version. I flew in a C-130B version. The C-130 was first produced in 1953 and 70 years later, it is still in production. That is the longest in world history and the Hercules is so versatile that they simply haven't come up with a better replacement.

[Jack59]

^ I've flown aboard her and you're right, Sol. She is LOUD! Even with the earplugs the crew **89**. That was back in 1978. A trip to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB organized for my ROTC detachment when I was in college.

[solvegas]

If you ever go to San Diego, California, I recommend that you spend time at Balboa Park, named after the first Spanish explorer, to be in the area back in the 16th century even though San Diego itself was not established until July 16, 1769, as a Catholic mission by the Spaniards. Balboa Park has multiple museums and the world-famous San Diego Zoo but my favorite when I was stationed there was the Air and Space Museum which is considered one of the best and largest in the USA. There are bigger and better in other parts of the USA but this one is still worth the entranc3 fee. Anyways, as you approach the entranc3, you will notice a SR-71 Blackbird spy plane outdoors. The pilots wore spacesuits when flying that aircraft since she flew at over 80,000 feet.

[solvegas]

In the time I was in the US Navy, the premier naval fighter of the time I was in was the F-14 Tomcat built By Grumman, a company based in Long Island at the time which was the US Navy favorite aircraft manufacturer having built aircraft in World War 2 such as the F6F Hellcat and which it made about 10,000 of them or so. Today Grumman is part of Northrop-Grumman, and the Long Island factory was closed years ago after the merger. I remember seeing them taking off from North Island naval air station in San Diego when I was stationed at the Point Loma submarine base in San Diego. Also, if you took Interstate 15 northbound toward Los Angeles, as you drove by Miramar Naval Air Station, you'd see them take off from there. That is where the Naval Air Combat, aka Top Gun, was located at the time. Miramar is now a US Marine Corps Air Station. The F-14 was replaced by the F-18 Hornet which a bunch of naval aviators considered to be a downgrade and not as capable, but the Cold War was over by then and so the Navy was forced by Congress to buy cheaper aircraft. Along with Tom Cruise, the F-14 was the main star of the movie Top Gun. 

[solvegas]

One of the LOUDESTS aircrafts ever was the A-6 Intruder built by Grumman from 1962 to 1992 and retired from the Navy in 1997 and replaced by the F/A-18 Super hornet. When stationed in San Diego, wherever they took off from North Island naval air station, it shook everything nearby with its racket. Used as an attack aircraft, it was very good at its job. As a matter of fact, there is a book and a movie about it called "Flight of the Intruder" based on its Vietnam War actions. Attack pilots would tell Fighter pilots that Fighters make Hollywood movies while Attack pilots make history. Yes, it was an ugly plane. 

[solvegas]

Another Super loud aircraft, the F-4 phantom II was the greatest produced fighter jet in US history with over 6,000 produced from 1958 to 1976. Originally a Navy/Marine Corps aircraft, the biggest buyer ended up being the US Air Force. It was also exported to US Allies. I remember how great it was when I was in The Navy. It was replaced by the F-14 Tomcat.

[solvegas]

Another loud aircraft I flew on once from Miramar Naval station in San Diego to Norton Air Force base in San Bernadino was the C-141 Starlifter which was introduced in 1965 and replace by the C-17 Globemaster III in the late 80's and 90's. That flight was only about 20 minutes but I remember that we were seated on canvas and given earplugs for the noise, and it was uncomfortable. It then took off to Travis Air Force Base near the San Francisco Bay area, but I took a C-5 to Hawaii.

[solvegas]

F-22 Raptor. The world's first fifth generation fighter aircraft, developed during the 80's and deployed in the late 90's, she remains the stealthiest and most maneuverable aircraft. Here in Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base is home of the U.S. Force Demonstration Squadron, The Thunderbirds, home of the Red Flag fighter training exercise where multiple NATO nations practice air combat since it is a gigantic military facility which also has the Nuclear weapons testing range and Area 51 and a F-22 Squadron is based here. Every so often I see one fly by.