Your first ever flight
Discussion
Those of you quoting the exact model of plane, from a flight when you were very young, did your folks work in the industry? Just curious....
Our family didn't do foreign holidays, my folks didn't go abroad until they retired. Hence my first was early 90s, I'd have been early 20s, from Aberdeen to Stavanger. It had wings, and propellers, and as soon as they started the engines I went on the hunt for the sick bag. As it happened it was a really clear day, and we had an excellent view of oil rigs in the North Sea on the way.
Our family didn't do foreign holidays, my folks didn't go abroad until they retired. Hence my first was early 90s, I'd have been early 20s, from Aberdeen to Stavanger. It had wings, and propellers, and as soon as they started the engines I went on the hunt for the sick bag. As it happened it was a really clear day, and we had an excellent view of oil rigs in the North Sea on the way.
mikeswagon said:
Those of you quoting the exact model of plane, from a flight when you were very young, did your folks work in the industry? Just curious....
It my case it was simply that I was interested in aircraft. Also back in the 70s aircraft were designed in different configurations to assist plane mad schoolboys who wanted to identify them.The one I flew on had two engines at the back, it didn't have tailplanes half way up the tail like a Caravelle, and it didn't look weirdly skinny like a DC9, so clearly a BAC111.
If it had three engines at the back then it would have been a 727 unless the nosewheel was off centre, in which case Trident, or an Eastern bloc colour scheme, in which case TU154.
Four engines at the back then either a VC10 or IL62, the cockpit area looked different but the colour scheme was sufficient to tell since only the Eastern bloc used the IL62.
Four engines hanging off the wings. then if it was huge with a hump it was a 747, otherwise a 707 or a DC8 if it looked skinny and elongated.
Four engines buried in the wings, Comet.
One engine on each wing, 737. Could have been an obscure French thing of which only 10 were made but you never saw those anyway.
Four engines in pairs at the rear and looked like a paper dart, Concorde unless it was in brief a film clip at an Air Training Corps recognition competition in which case the fact that the pairs of engines were close together showed some of us
it was a TU144.Now that practically everything has one engine on each wing, and even the 737 has engines that only stick out in front of the wing like every other twin instead of in front and behind. It's a lot more tricky.
eharding said:
1981, AEF Chipmunk at Exeter - I still remember the unmistakable smell that old aircraft have, along with the faint tang of dried vomit.
Same here, although was an 8AEF Chippie at RAF Shawbury in 1987! Nice little parallel but I got my RAF wings at Shawbury a few years after that, became an instructor there and subsequently flew Grob Tutors for 8AEF again (at Cosford) just before I left the military. Completing the circle my oldest is shortly about to go flying with 8AEF as an Air Cadet....how time flies 
One of my first memories. Southend to Jersey in '63 or '64 in a Douglas DC3.
My old Chap wore his RAF aircrew tie when he flew and one of the pilots put his cap on my head and let me sit in the left hand seat after we landed whilst he chatted to my dad about wartime flying. I still remember being fascinated by all the instruments and the smell of warm oil and petrol and engines and waving to my mum and sisters waiting on the tarmac.
My old Chap wore his RAF aircrew tie when he flew and one of the pilots put his cap on my head and let me sit in the left hand seat after we landed whilst he chatted to my dad about wartime flying. I still remember being fascinated by all the instruments and the smell of warm oil and petrol and engines and waving to my mum and sisters waiting on the tarmac.
Can't remember my first flight, but I had relatives in Guernsey so, in the 60's, we went there for our summer hols. My first recollections are BEA Viscounts flying from Manchester Ringway. I remember Heralds as well and also having to 'climb up' the cabin once - a DC3? I went back for a cousin's wedding in 1985 and flew from Cambridge in a ... Viscount. So nostalgic!
Not much flying in my 20s, but the first long haul was a PanAm 747-200 from London to San Francisco in 1989 - very exciting!
Not much flying in my 20s, but the first long haul was a PanAm 747-200 from London to San Francisco in 1989 - very exciting!
magpie215 said:
RAF Woodvale 10 AEF in a Chipmunk.
Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
Me too, in 1961!! Though I was chicken, saved aerobatics for my next flight and opted to take the controls instead.Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
One of my colleagues took the aerobatics option and brought up his breakfast over the back of the pilot's head.
Dr Jekyll said:
It my case it was simply that I was interested in aircraft. Also back in the 70s aircraft were designed in different configurations to assist plane mad schoolboys who wanted to identify them.
The one I flew on had two engines at the back, it didn't have tailplanes half way up the tail like a Caravelle, and it didn't look weirdly skinny like a DC9, so clearly a BAC111.
If it had three engines at the back then it would have been a 727 unless the nosewheel was off centre, in which case Trident, or an Eastern bloc colour scheme, in which case TU154.
Four engines at the back then either a VC10 or IL62, the cockpit area looked different but the colour scheme was sufficient to tell since only the Eastern bloc used the IL62.
Four engines hanging off the wings. then if it was huge with a hump it was a 747, otherwise a 707 or a DC8 if it looked skinny and elongated.
Four engines buried in the wings, Comet.
One engine on each wing, 737. Could have been an obscure French thing of which only 10 were made but you never saw those anyway.
Four engines in pairs at the rear and looked like a paper dart, Concorde unless it was in brief a film clip at an Air Training Corps recognition competition in which case the fact that the pairs of engines were close together showed some of us it was a TU144.
Now that practically everything has one engine on each wing, and even the 737 has engines that only stick out in front of the wing like every other twin instead of in front and behind. It's a lot more tricky.
If it had two engines at the rear, it could also have been a Fokker F-28 - but that had split air brakes in the tail cone (like a Buccaneer).The one I flew on had two engines at the back, it didn't have tailplanes half way up the tail like a Caravelle, and it didn't look weirdly skinny like a DC9, so clearly a BAC111.
If it had three engines at the back then it would have been a 727 unless the nosewheel was off centre, in which case Trident, or an Eastern bloc colour scheme, in which case TU154.
Four engines at the back then either a VC10 or IL62, the cockpit area looked different but the colour scheme was sufficient to tell since only the Eastern bloc used the IL62.
Four engines hanging off the wings. then if it was huge with a hump it was a 747, otherwise a 707 or a DC8 if it looked skinny and elongated.
Four engines buried in the wings, Comet.
One engine on each wing, 737. Could have been an obscure French thing of which only 10 were made but you never saw those anyway.
Four engines in pairs at the rear and looked like a paper dart, Concorde unless it was in brief a film clip at an Air Training Corps recognition competition in which case the fact that the pairs of engines were close together showed some of us
it was a TU144.Now that practically everything has one engine on each wing, and even the 737 has engines that only stick out in front of the wing like every other twin instead of in front and behind. It's a lot more tricky.
Four engines under the wing could also be a Convair 880 or 990. 880s were rare in Europe but 990s were used by Swissair and Spantax. Noisy, smokey things they were too.
There was also the Boeing 720 - which was related to the 707, but had some substantial differences.
CanAm said:
magpie215 said:
RAF Woodvale 10 AEF in a Chipmunk.
Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
Me too, in 1961!! Though I was chicken, saved aerobatics for my next flight and opted to take the controls instead.Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
One of my colleagues took the aerobatics option and brought up his breakfast over the back of the pilot's head.
And memories of waddling across the apron with a parachute hanging around your bum...
My first flight, I think, was in early 1962 - Lydd to Le Touquet in a car-carrying BUAF Bristol Freighter - when I was with a rally car on its way to the start of the Monte Carlo Rally.
My (new) wife and I enjoyed a 'honeymoon' flight from Manchester to Jersey in a BEA Vickers Viscount in 1962.
My first transatlantic flight was from Heathrow to the USA in a BOAC 707 in 1964.
My longest (duration) non-stop flight so far has been Los Angeles to Melbourne (Australia) by Qantas ina 747-400 in the early 2000s.
My first long-duration one-stop flight was from Heathrow to Sydney (Australia), via refuelling at Singapore, in a Qantas 747-400 in about 1996, which took 25 hours ....
All the above subject to a failing memory ....
My (new) wife and I enjoyed a 'honeymoon' flight from Manchester to Jersey in a BEA Vickers Viscount in 1962.
My first transatlantic flight was from Heathrow to the USA in a BOAC 707 in 1964.
My longest (duration) non-stop flight so far has been Los Angeles to Melbourne (Australia) by Qantas ina 747-400 in the early 2000s.
My first long-duration one-stop flight was from Heathrow to Sydney (Australia), via refuelling at Singapore, in a Qantas 747-400 in about 1996, which took 25 hours ....
All the above subject to a failing memory ....
Edited by AAGR on Monday 17th February 23:50
Mave said:
CanAm said:
magpie215 said:
RAF Woodvale 10 AEF in a Chipmunk.
Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
Me too, in 1961!! Though I was chicken, saved aerobatics for my next flight and opted to take the controls instead.Shall we do some aerobatics?......ok why not do your worst lol.
One of my colleagues took the aerobatics option and brought up his breakfast over the back of the pilot's head.
And memories of waddling across the apron with a parachute hanging around your bum...
My first international flight was on a Dan-Air 727.
We went to Tenerife on it, and the next time that aircraft did the same trip it crashed and everyone on board perished. I was eight at the time and didn’t appreciate the true horror of it. I remember to this day the colour draining from my mum’s face as she took in the news and realized it was ‘our’ plane.
We went to Tenerife on it, and the next time that aircraft did the same trip it crashed and everyone on board perished. I was eight at the time and didn’t appreciate the true horror of it. I remember to this day the colour draining from my mum’s face as she took in the news and realized it was ‘our’ plane.
AAGR said:
My first flight, I think, was in early 1962 - Lydd to Le Touquet in a car-carrying BUAF Bristol Freighter - when I was with a rally car on its way to the start of the Monte Carlo Rally.
My (new) wife and I enjoyed a 'honeymoon' flight from Manchester to Jersey in a BEA Vickers Viscount in 1962.
My first transatlantic flight was from Heathrow to the USA in a BOAC 707 in 1964.
My longest (duration) non-stop flight so far has been Los Angeles to Melbourne (Australia) by Qantas ina 747-400 in the early 2000s.
My first long-duration one-stop flight was from Heathrow to Sydney (Australia), via refuelling at Singapore, in a Qantas 747-400 in about 1996, which took 25 hours ....
All the above subject to a failing memory ....
Being (very) pedantic, if it was early 1962, it wouldn't have been British United Air Ferries - yet. BUAF was formed later in 1963 when Channel Air Bridge and Silver City Airways merged and became part of Freddie Laker's British United empire. Later, Freddie was ousted from the board of directors and went on to form his own airline.My (new) wife and I enjoyed a 'honeymoon' flight from Manchester to Jersey in a BEA Vickers Viscount in 1962.
My first transatlantic flight was from Heathrow to the USA in a BOAC 707 in 1964.
My longest (duration) non-stop flight so far has been Los Angeles to Melbourne (Australia) by Qantas ina 747-400 in the early 2000s.
My first long-duration one-stop flight was from Heathrow to Sydney (Australia), via refuelling at Singapore, in a Qantas 747-400 in about 1996, which took 25 hours ....
All the above subject to a failing memory ....
Edited by AAGR on Monday 17th February 23:50
Eric Mc said:
If it had two engines at the rear, it could also have been a Fokker F-28 - but that had split air brakes in the tail cone (like a Buccaneer).
Four engines under the wing could also be a Convair 880 or 990. 880s were rare in Europe but 990s were used by Swissair and Spantax. Noisy, smokey things they were too.
There was also the Boeing 720 - which was related to the 707, but had some substantial differences.
Must admit I'd forgotten about the F28, but I always counted a 720 (usually Monarch airlines) as a 707, just as now I don't feel guilty about mistaking an A318 or 319 for a 320. Four engines under the wing could also be a Convair 880 or 990. 880s were rare in Europe but 990s were used by Swissair and Spantax. Noisy, smokey things they were too.
There was also the Boeing 720 - which was related to the 707, but had some substantial differences.
I'm pretty sure I would have identified a Convair 990 from the things sticking out of the trailing edge of the wings, but I never saw one.
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff