# Oldest aeroplane types still in active service? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294 "2012-01-31T10:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/21 "2012-02-03T18:49:56Z")
Does NASA still fly the Blackbird? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/22 "2012-02-03T21:50:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Does NASA still fly the Blackbird? No but the U2 is still in service. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/23 "2012-02-03T23:05:03Z")
Heh, I get to check out a handful of Dakotas out by the airfreight apron whenever I fly out of SJU… growing ever fewer, though, a few of them are by now spares planes for those remaining in use. Thread makes me think of a recent [British Airways commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JdQi60an0) (long version). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/24 "2012-02-03T23:31:42Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > While the U2 is probably not the oldest in service, it must be getting up there. First flight according to Wikipedia was in [1955](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2). Why does everyone forget that the C-130 has been in production continuously since 1954? I believe there are still a few WW2-era bombers in firefighting service in the American West. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/25 "2012-02-04T00:34:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Heh…reminds me of a story I heard somewhere (possibly apocryphal) about a sport flyer in an old Aeronca Champion who could turn into a stiff headwind, throttle down to near stall speed and actually fly backward. > SS That’s relatively easy. All you need is for the wind to be stronger than the slow flight capability of your airplane. I did this once in a Cessna 152 over Vashon Island here in Puget Sound. The wind at altitude was about 55 kts or so, and the Cessna could be slowflighted at around 45 knots (IIRC). I turned it into the wind, set it up for slow flight, and watched the landscape go backwards under me. Fun! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/26 "2012-02-04T01:45:10Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > That’s relatively easy. All you need is for the wind to be stronger than the slow flight capability of your airplane. It doesn’t seem as though that would work, given the shape of the airfoil and the physics they taught me, but obviously it does. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/27 "2012-02-04T02:22:22Z")
If the wind is blowing in your face at 55 kts, and the airplane is only going 45 kts, the only thing that can happen is you go backwards (relative to the ground) at 10 kts. Air is still going across your wings at 45 kts. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/28 "2012-02-04T02:58:44Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > If the wind is blowing in your face at 55 kts, and the airplane is only going 45 kts, the only thing that can happen is you go backwards (relative to the ground) at 10 kts. Air is still going across your wings at 45 kts. But that’s on a treadmill, right? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/29 "2012-02-04T03:24:31Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > If the wind is blowing in your face at 55 kts, and the airplane is only going 45 kts, the only thing that can happen is you go backwards (relative to the ground) at 10 kts. Air is still going across your wings at 45 kts. Ah! Thanks. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/30 "2012-02-04T04:28:26Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > If the wind is blowing in your face at 55 kts, and the airplane is only going 45 kts, the only thing that can happen is you go backwards (relative to the ground) at 10 kts. Air is still going across your wings at 45 kts. This, of course, assumes that the entire mass of air containing the aircraft is moving at 55 knots, which for obvious reasons doesn’t actually happen in real life. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/31 "2012-02-04T05:02:13Z")
Where is Chronus when you need him? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/32 "2012-02-04T05:07:58Z")
I imagine the DC-3/C-47 is going to be hard to beat, but another potential contender is the [AN-2 _Colt_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An-2_Colt), which first flew in 1947. Many thousands were produced and I believe a considerable number are still in both commercial and military service. The _Colt_ apparently also held the record for longest continuous production for a single aircraft type until edged out by the C-130. On the miltary side, after the _Colt_ and aside from the C-130 (first flight 1954), there is the B-57 Canberra (1953) which squeaks in by virtue of two examples which continue to be flown by NASA as research aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![robinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/848f3c/32.png) [@robinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinson)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/33 "2012-02-04T05:10:25Z")
A similar bush plane is Noorduyn Norseman, first flown in 1935 and still in use in Canada. Used more wood than Beaver. Noorduyn had prior design service with Fokker. [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noorduyn_Norseman) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/34 "2012-02-04T08:06:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This, of course, assumes that the entire mass of air containing the aircraft is moving at 55 knots, which for obvious reasons doesn’t actually happen in real life. Sure it does, why wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/35 "2012-02-04T15:04:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This, of course, assumes that the entire mass of air containing the aircraft is moving at 55 knots, which for obvious reasons doesn’t actually happen in real life. What do you think “wind” is? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/36 "2012-02-04T17:26:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What do you think “wind” is? :dubious: I’ll throw him a bone and suggest he was thinking of a 55kt wind speed at ground level which is usually pretty turbulent. But that’s what you’d have to consider if a plane was on a treadmill… ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/37 "2012-02-04T17:46:18Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I fly regularly on a 1952 de Havilland Beaver that’s operated daily as part of scheduled service to communities around SE Alaska. At one time it was painted army green and hung from the ceiling of an museum, but in truth it was never a military plane. The bush pilot I use when in Alaska flies an Otter, I believe its a 1945. What an awesome plane. He scares the crap out of me sometimes though. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/38 "2012-02-04T19:59:42Z")
Hummmm, we had both the Beaver & the Otter in the ARMY in the 60’s… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/39 "2012-02-04T21:55:38Z")
The B-52 isn’t a current contender but it may very well win the prize in a few decades. It was envisioned in the 1940’s, designed and built in the 1950’s, and the last of the current generation were built in the early 1960’s yet it is not scheduled to be retired from the Air Force until at least 2040 when the planes themselves will be almost 80 years old and the design even older. The B-52 isn’t doing light duty either. It is still the best nuclear capable, long-range strategic bomber in the world. The Air Force has tried to come up with a way to replace it several times and no one could produce a design that is better suited for the role. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294/40 "2012-02-04T23:34:58Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It is still the best nuclear capable, long-range strategic bomber in the world. I miss the B-58. They would fly over my Grandfather’s farm with a pod and return without it. Scared the snot out of me when I was in grade school. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-aeroplane-types-still-in-active-service/611294.md?page=3)