Flying - Pleasure or Pain

I love flying. Have friends and family that fly their own small aircraft and I'm able to take the controls quite often...:devil:...control is good.

Anyway, I don't even mind commercial flights, though I recently had one on the way back to the states from London Gatwick that was a bit unnerving. A trans-continental flight on a triple 7 shouldn't be frightening, but when your coke floats and there's not a drop of ice cream to be seen...you know it's some serious turbulence. The pilot actually required the entire flight crew to stop all service for over an hour until things stabilized.

It was the one and only time I've ever seen a flight attendant look nervous about nearly falling in the aisle and that didn't bode well for the rest of us. But it smoothed out and they got on with the drink cart and had I not been flying alone with a 20 month old child, I'd have been wasted within the hour. :D

~lucky
 
Morning Lucky

Bouncy is good, I've always admired the way the wings flap, seeking the extra altitude!

727 was the worst for me in turbulence, the shortened version always seemed to want to do a tail flip when things got hairy up front. Playing head ping-pong with the underside of the overhead locker is just one way to pass the time.:D

NL
 
The only real bad memory from flight I've ever had was when trying to land in Keflavik, Iceland during the worst north atlantic snow blizzerd in five years. When the pilot announced that we were going to wait it out by circling above the clouds for an hour or two, and told us "not to worry, because we would not repeat not run out of fuel", I almost heard how he wanted to say "I hope" before turning off the intercome.

Oh yeah, and the kid in the seat behind me puked. Joy.

#L
 
It's been so long since I've been in the air, I can hardly remember what it was like.

I do remember being bored out of my gourd though.
 
Liar

They need at lot of fuel reserve when flying to Iceland because it is two hours from anywhere.

On the other hand, TAP (Take Another Plane) recently flew my daughter back to London Heathrow, well that was the original destination. They confounded everyone by leaving on schedule. They confounded flight control at Heathrow by arriving on time and were told there was a landing slot in thirty minutes.

The pilot, an honest and diligent soul, announced to the passengers that they did NOT have enough fuel to hang around over London, so he was diverting to -



Brussels. OK it's still Europe, another country and a small matter of a sea between us but hey, it's democratic, Belgians can't be all bad.

She phoned me from the tarmac, 'Daddy, (sweet isn't she) we're supposed to be in Brussels, but I think this is London Gatwick' - this after she recounted the fuel saga.


The pilot asked if anyone had an Amex card so he could buy some fuel and it was an hour before passangers who wanted to leave the flight at London Gatwick were allowed to do so. But they couldn't have their baggage, that could be collected from Heathrow on the following day.

Now excuse me for being ignorant, but can someone please explain why a plane cannot fly with bags not matching passengers on departure but can do so after it runs out of fuel.

By the time she got off the plane, all public transport had stopped, it does in the UK after ten pm more or less.

The boyfriend, ever anxious to make ammends for the Christmas fiasco, drove two hours to collect her, two hours to home and two hours back to his place (don't ask why), kids are so different these days.

If you are thinking of booking with TAP, incidently their web site doesn't work, not on Netscape, DON'T. It's great where I live but they make getting in and out fucking difficult.

NL
 
lucky-E-leven said:
I love flying. Have friends and family that fly their own small aircraft and I'm able to take the controls quite often...:devil:...control is good.

It's a rush, isn't it Lucky? One of the few things I've ever done that makes me feel proud to the point of smugness, even though it's been years - and even though I can't imagine having the courage to fly solo again. I hardly remember who that woman was. She can't have been me, because I'm not that confident. She must have felt trapped in a sexless marriage and had nothing to lose.

:D

Flying is easy. Landing is hard. Every time I landed our little ultralight without bending any part of myself or the plane, I felt bulletproof for the rest of the week. When you're flying a plane that you've pre-flight inspected, nothing can happen to you that isn't your own fault, short of a meteor strike. It's a scary feeling to be entirely in control of your own life or death for a little while. But surviving it makes facing a lousy day at work seem so easy.
 
shereads said:
It's a scary feeling to be entirely in control of your own life or death for a little while.
I wish more people felt that way driving cars.

Perdita (Nice to see you, Sher :) )
 
rgraham666 said:
It's been so long since I've been in the air, I can hardly remember what it was like.

I do remember being bored out of my gourd though.

Oh, rg, it's wonderful now on commercial aircraft! Since 9/ll, the airlines have dedicated themselves to passenger comfort, and are bending over backwards to make us all feel comfortable flying again. Remember those narrow little seats and the teensy space between your knees and the seat in front of you? They ripped those out, and replaced them with lounge-style seating. For an extra $10, you get a massage-chair.

Meals still aren't so great, in my opinion, although they're vastly improved. Stay away from airline sushi and airline steak tartar!
 
Flying sucks. I'm 6'1, 220# and those damn seats are not built for someone of my size to sit comfortably for too long.

That and I hate traveling. Mom's been agitating for me to come back to New York for a visit. Someday, I'm sure.
 
Pornofan420 said:
Flying sucks. I'm 6'1, 220# and those damn seats are not built for someone of my size to sit comfortably for too long.
I know that feeling. Already at 5'9, I get the same problem on some flights. But you know, there is bad, and then there is bad. You should come visit here. The newest city buses in Stockholm are built for japanese people, I think. Two thirds of the population here can't use the seats.

#L
 
Pierce, that story made me laugh. I'm gonna send it to my sister, the airline pilot. ;)

I don't mind flying, though getting bounced around in a puddle-jumper tends to make me very dizzy. (Yeah, not stomach-sick, dizzy. Go figure.) I think I know too much about airplanes and their multiple redundant systems to be afraid of flying.

I'm much more frightened of all those idiots who drive around while talking on their cell phones.
 
Much enjoyed the report on the "767 dead stick." I've been through a similar situation with the added excitement of live ordinance aboard. Makes you appreciate life.

Oh, dr_mabeuse, you would not be as relaxed on todays rail amenities. The higher, narrow passenger cars on Amtrack are NOT comfortable, you get slapped around much worse than in the old Pulman cars.
 
My flying tale...

We were on the way back from the Canaries, to the UK. Clearly they were still cleaning the plane when we boarded - this sloppy guy in a cardigan was still on the flight deck as we took our seats. Anyway, we eventually took off; usual safety broadcasts and such like guff. Half way back there was this announcement that due to a head-wind, we'd have to land in Bilbao to refuel.

Dunno how many of you have flown into Bilbao, but basically, from the south, the idea seems to be that you fly over the mountains, then put the plain into a kamikazee dive to get down to sea level, then level out and plonk the thing on the runway.

Which we did - and having done the pilot thing (if only in gliders), I was impressed: it wasn't the usual 'stick it on the auto pilot and go to sleep' bit, but real flying.

So we re-fueled (I suppose - you can't see shit out of those tiny little windows), took off again and flew to the UK.

While we waited at the terminal for permission to leave, the flight-deck door opened again and that 'cleaner' came out, still dressed in his cardy.

That was the pilot.

Shit!  I drive trucks in a cardigan - and I'm proud of it!

f5
 
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