Originally Posted by
edcho
Aren these the same planes that fly from MRY-SFO? I had an elderly couple who never flown on a plane before. They were telling this to the FA while my face turned into horror. The couple screamed their guts out when they heard the engines start (they are very loud I guess). The wife started to cry while they were taking off ... and then about 10 minutes into the air, the wife started barfing!
Thank goodness the flight was short!!! It kinda ruined my taste for these props and drove the next time I had to go to MRY.
No, those are the EMB-120s (far superior IMHO to SF3s). The saving grace of the EMB-120 is row 9 (well, 9B & 9C), which has massive legroom.
If that couple thought the EMB-120 was small, noisy, etc., then they're lucky to not have ever flown on a Beechcraft 1900--which several United Express carriers previously used on EAS routes where they now employ SF3s, and which some partner airlines (and for all I know, some UA Express carriers) still use. The B1900 has two columns of seats, no FA, typically doesn't fly with a closed cockpit door, and has a weird hump halfway down the plane. I'd actually like them better if the pilots didn't so often move you to the very back for weight & balance--sitting near the front, you can watch out the cockpit window and watch the pilots at work.
I recall flying a DH8 on ORF-LGA (a US Air route), and as we walked out to the tarmac, there was our DH8 parked next to a US SF3 making it look puny, and next to that, a US B1900 which really made both the other turboprops look like widebody jets.
The GA said she had had several pax walk out, see the B1900, and turn around and refuse to get onboard.