First Flight

[Mad Doug Biker]

Regardless of language (Dutch I presume), this is beautiful, I now have a smile on my face after seeing this, and that woman's laugh just makes it, even when she falls into the sea at the end!! :

http://sun-gazing.com/watch-what-ha...s-go-on-a-plane-for-the-first-time-ever-haha/



So..... When and where was your first flight??

 

[slowmotion]

It might be a Dutch dialect but it's not mainstream. Not German either, IMVVHO.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

It might be a Dutch dialect but it's not mainstream. Not German either, IMVVHO.

I was wondering, I initially thought one was Dutch and the other German.

Flemmish??


Paging....... Who is the guy in Vlaanderen again?? Mort? @Delftse Post, @Speicher, @Andy in Sig, et al!

 

[slowmotion]

Sorry, I can't help. I was slightly thinking it was a bit more "Skandiwegien" but not so far north. Just a guess.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Sorry, I can't help. I was slightly thinking it was a bit more "Skandiwegien" but not so far north. Just a guess.

They mentioned Guilders, the ground equipment as well as some of the planes at the airport were KLM, I didn't fully see the reg of the private aircraft, but the first bit seemed to have two letters, suggesting it said 'PH', and also they seemed to be writing what looked like Dutch.

That said, one of them appeared to say 'Danke Schon' at one point (although the plane might have had a German crew for all I know).

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

ANYWAY, so, what was your first flight?

 

[RWright]

My first flight was when I was pretty young, maybe six or seven years old. My parents had divorced and were living in different states at the time. I would fly from Ohio to NC after the school year and back at the end of summer break. I would fly alone, I did it for a couple of years. I am pretty sure it took a little encouragement to get me to do it but everyone told me it would be fine, even fun, so I did it without much fuss. This was on prop passenger planes back in the mid 60s. Not big jets but nothing really small either, pretty big planes.

I sat in the back near the stewardess area but they let me walk around and sit wherever there was an empty seat so I checked the plane out pretty well. The pilot talked to me and even gave me a set of wings to pin on my shirt. I brought a toy or two with me to help pass the time, I even remember one of them was my etch a sketch. The stewardesses gave me any snacks I wanted and even let me pass out chewing gum to the other passengers.

So my first flight left a pretty good impression on me. I almost forgot about complaining about how bumpy one of the landings were to one of the stewardesses. She reported my complaint to the captain and it didn't happen again. He even asked me if the next landing was ok.

 

[slowmotion]

ANYWAY, so, what was your first flight?

Eastleigh Airport (Southampton) to Alderney in the Channel Islands, aged about ten. It had about twenty seats and we eventually landed on a grass runway on top of a cliff having been diverted to Guernsey for a couple of hours.

It was a wonderful adventure. Michael O'Leary had not yet developed his "business model" for air travel, Nobody came round to hawk charity scratch cards, thank God. I think I got an orange squash.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Eastleigh Airport (Southampton) to Alderney in the Channel Islands, aged about ten. It had about twenty seats and we eventually landed on a grass runway on top of a cliff having been diverted to Guernsey for a couple of hours.

Something like a Dove or Herron or even something like a Shorts 360?

It was a wonderful adventure. Michael O'Leary had not yet developed his "business model" for air travel, Nobody came round to hawk charity scratch cards, thank God. I think I got an orange squash.

I bet Freddie Laker and a few others were about at the time though....

..... And yes, that is a cat (it appears somewhere in every cartoon and is the pet):

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I'll need to fish out the picture of mine in 1987. A light aircraft in Brittany at the age of 5!!



My first trip in an airliner wasn't until I was 17, and was a BA 757. I had just come out of hospital with no hair after getting Chemo, and it was pre 9/11, so one could still get into the cockpit. I so wish I had had my camera with me, but, that's another story!!

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

My first flight was when I was pretty young, maybe six or seven years old. My parents had divorced and were living in different states at the time. I would fly from Ohio to NC after the school year and back at the end of summer break. I would fly alone, I did it for a couple of years. I am pretty sure it took a little encouragement to get me to do it but everyone told me it would be fine, even fun, so I did it without much fuss. This was on prop passenger planes back in the mid 60s. Not big jets but nothing really small either, pretty big planes.

I sat in the back near the stewardess area but they let me walk around and sit wherever there was an empty seat so I checked the plane out pretty well. The pilot talked to me and even gave me a set of wings to pin on my shirt. I brought a toy or two with me to help pass the time, I even remember one of them was my etch a sketch. The stewardesses gave me any snacks I wanted and even let me pass out chewing gum to the other passengers.

So my first flight left a pretty good impression on me. I almost forgot about complaining about how bumpy one of the landings were to one of the stewardesses. She reported my complaint to the captain and it didn't happen again. He even asked me if the next landing was ok.

I hear that Trans American air travel used to be horrendous way back in the day as you needed to change at various airports due to the planes not having the range to go all the way and or the fact that routes were all made up by umpteen companies, so unless you were to pay enough to fly with a company that didn't operate like a bus, you had to ride the different routes until you go to where you wanted to be!! (That said, until the '747 came along, having to change was commonplace anyway).

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I just wish I had been about in these days with Comets, Tridents, Caravelles, Convairs, DC-8s, 707s and all the old prop planes as well!!

A brand new VC-10 in the titles too (although they actually feature a '707 for the flights)!!.

By the way, just listen to that announcement at 3:11, talk about stops and what I was saying about the routes of old.

2 Baby Elephants too at 4.20 and 5.10@Arch

What the heck was Fishmuff though??:


View: http://youtu.be/J-iG9Cd4IV0

For me the best part, especially from 2.35.

Just look at how empty Heathrow was!!:


View: http://youtu.be/x9pN591cF1Y

That is one fantastic quote at the very beginning of this part, and a sign of the times!!

Kai Tak too!!:


View: http://youtu.be/u3QE5jozhEs

 

[RWright]

I hear that Trans American air travel used to be horrendous way back in the day as you needed to change at various airports due to the planes not having the range to go all the way and or the fact that routes were all made up by umpteen companies, so unless you were to pay enough to fly with a company that didn't operate like a bus, you had to ride the different routes until you go to where you wanted to be!! (That said, until the '747 came along, having to change was commonplace anyway).

My flights were booked so I didn't have to change planes but it was not nonstop. There was some pretty weird routing if I recall correctly, it seems like I had to come from Columbus Ohio to Greensboro NC via Atlanta Georgia or either Charleston SC, I don't remember exactly it was so long ago. It was back far enough that I did not fly in or out of Raleigh Durham Airport (my nearest airport) because of such limited flights at that time. Now RDU is international and you can get about anywhere nonstop from there it seems like. I don't do a lot of flying now though. My niece is working on getting her pilots license. I may get her to take me up with her....after she gets a little more practice.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

My flights were booked so I didn't have to change planes but it was not nonstop. There was some pretty weird routing if I recall correctly, it seems like I had to come from Columbus Ohio to Greensboro NC via Atlanta Georgia or either Charleston SC, I don't remember exactly it was so long ago. It was back far enough that I did not fly in or out of Raleigh Durham Airport (my nearest airport) because of such limited flights at that time. Now RDU is international and you can get about anywhere nonstop from there it seems like. I don't do a lot of flying now though. My niece is working on getting her pilots license. I may get her to take me up with her....after she gets a little more practice.

Good luck to her!!

Well as I was saying, listen to the announcement at 3:11 in the first part of that BOAC film, Ohio to N.C. must have been something, but London to Tokyo via all those other places?? Wow!!

 

[Spinney]

London to Singapore at the age of 5. Can't remember what kind of plane it was. Might have been a Constellation?
We stopped in India (must have stopped somewhere else as well). I remember mum had told me India was a poor country, so I was very impressed that they gave us food and drink during the stop. (The innocence/naivety of youth!)