For me it will always be the DC-10. The plane was once described by pilots as being the Cadillac Fleetwood of the skies and they were right. The plane had troubled beginnings with the cargo hatch that caused decompression, but once the problem was fixed it was a great aircraft. I remember flying in them as a kid from Detroit to San Francisco.
I don’t miss the DC-9s, which will be out of US revenue service in the coming months. The 2-3 arrangements I remember were awkward and the planes were noisy as hell. I can say the same on the last point for the 727’s I flew on with United.
I will miss the MD-80 badly. Middle seats are uncomfortable for everyone involved, reducing them down to only 20% of the coach seats: genius. I will forever resent Boeing for killing it off. As a coach passenger, that was the only plane that’s ever made much of a difference (excluding the 2-3-2 767 I guess).
From an aesthetic standpoint, though, I do miss the days when not every plane looked like some variation on the 737: the L-1011, DC-10/MD-11, the 727s, etc. And every time I see a Super Constellation in a museum I get jealous of that era when some airframes really looked different.
All those DC-9s and MD-8x planes were wonderful as long as you were sitting in the front. Sitting at the back right next to the engines for hours on end was hell. However, the airstair at the back was great!
Back in the '90s I had the opportunity to fly round in various Russian-built aircraft - Il-86, Tu154s and Tu134s. The contrast with western aircraft was striking - wood panels in an aircraft struck me as unusual. The aircraft I will not miss was the Tu-134, the only time I’ve ever been afraid of flying.
The Tu-154 was noisy as hell, as a Hungarian I flew it a lot, but the M export version was pretty much the same as the 727, it even had individual airconditioning nozzles (of course with lukewarm air). The landing was quite different though, as it landed level like a tail dragger. The huge bogeys did make for really comfortable landings though. A recent plane I will start missing is the avro/bae 146. Sure not much overhead bin space, but plenty of width and pitch for a small airliner. Beats the embraer and especially the miserably small CRJs. But yeah the DC-10, the Tristar, and the 767 were hands down the most comfortable planes, but I think that is due to cabin width design fault (it seemed like most airline couldn’t fit in the the extra seat per row or maybe they were just generous
So jealous of my dad (he flew Viscounts, Friendships, IL-18s,Po-2s, Li 2s, Il86s and real old school Panam 707s), it felt great to fly this dash 800q with the retro livery last year, I just wish the engines were louder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znsoV9s4KRM)
I will miss the 727 and 707 because they were workhorses. They were from when Boeing built their planes like Iron Ships and they were both very reliable, if a little fuel thirsty.
economy passengers that were treated as royalty, a plane you could actually recognise from other planes, the low rumble of a starting radial engine... nothing beats the DC6... the best three engine plane ever.
as for recent planes, my favourite is the RJ85. Comfortable seats and boarding/unboarding only takes 5 minutes. I also miss the DC9 and its in-built stair at the back. I remember being surprised how basic the flight deck looked for a modern plane. Sturdy, but bare metal panels and very classic looking gauges with needles and massive switches.
Jan
Edit: I should have mentioned the 30 year old Morane Rallye that gave me my first solo flight. Old but sweet. A flying airbrake but so forgiving. But I guess small four seaters don't count in this topic ;-)
I deeply miss the 747-300 at KL... my first cockpit flight (AMS-AUA) was with the PH-BUK in 1998, when i was 9 years old. I was lucky enough to almost fly all of them, and im even more happy one plane (BUK) is preserved at Aviodrome aviation museum at Lelystad.
Next year my favourite plane will be gone from pax service forever, the MD-11... Had many flights on them, mainly to the carribean and to me its still one of the best planes from pax view.