ice-is-forming
my heart breaks one thousand times a day..
Air travel! The day I don't get excited about flying somewhere shoot me.. That is all 
Air travel!
- Thread starter ice-is-forming
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Dr. Furface
One small step for me
Yeah it's fucking great... til you get to the airport
The real reason British holidaymakers are waiting hours in passport queues
The real reason British holidaymakers are waiting hours in passport queues
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Yes, people get blasé about it. It's a bloody miracle. Looking out at the world from six of seven miles up, above the weather, spinning along at 500 mph in warmth and comfort.Air travel! The day I don't get excited about flying somewhere shoot me.. That is all
I still get goose bumps when the acceleration starts down the runway , whether in a little four seater for a local jolly, a wide body heading to the other side of the world or just an EasyJet speeding me too somewhere that my ancestors would have taken a month to walk to, in the course of an afternoon for the price of a decent meal.
Aeroplanes rock.
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ice-is-forming
my heart breaks one thousand times a day..
They do rock! I only did a 50 minute trip to Brisbane today, in a little plane. I dunno maybe 50 seats? I love everything about it! Today (as usual) I beeped going though the seco and had to have the explosives 'wand ' thing done and you know what! I realised that the whole beep thing was just set to random!! I have no idea how I thought it worked 
like perhaps it picked up on ca bit of hidden metal or a trace element or something.. or perhaps the seco guy was like one of the midwitch cuckoo kids and could read minds or something 
I'm an idiot, it's just set to beep randomly, no science involved at all 
I've been really lucky and done lots of flying around Aus for work this year. So no passports or queue's
And one of the best bits is flying over Fraser island really low every time and you can see the sharks and whales in the ocean
I also seem to always be on the last plane home from Brisbane on Friday's, wherever I've been and the stewards have got it down pat! It's only a 50min flight but they dash up and down the aisle dishing out as much complimentaty wine and cheese as possible between take off and Landing. And I'm going home on that flight tomorrow
<<< accidental sad smily that will not delete
like perhaps it picked up on ca bit of hidden metal or a trace element or something.. or perhaps the seco guy was like one of the midwitch cuckoo kids and could read minds or something I'm an idiot, it's just set to beep randomly, no science involved at all I've been really lucky and done lots of flying around Aus for work this year. So no passports or queue's
And one of the best bits is flying over Fraser island really low every time and you can see the sharks and whales in the ocean
I also seem to always be on the last plane home from Brisbane on Friday's, wherever I've been and the stewards have got it down pat! It's only a 50min flight but they dash up and down the aisle dishing out as much complimentaty wine and cheese as possible between take off and Landing. And I'm going home on that flight tomorrow
<<< accidental sad smily that will not delete
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beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Flying is fantastic, but the powers at be seem determined to make the experience worse and worse with every passing year.
Sadly a combination of repetitiveness (18-21 flights every year) and European budget airlines has killed the magic for me. I still get excited by long haul (as long as its not BA) as its different and a bit fun, but even that feels like a chore at times.
I think being 6ft + makes a difference, its a pain having to fold yourself into the ever decreasing space you've been allocated.
I think being 6ft + makes a difference, its a pain having to fold yourself into the ever decreasing space you've been allocated.
Not sure it's the powers that be. Consumers have made it very clear that we buy on price and airlines have all got that message. The Arab airlines generally buck this trend mind.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Huge queues, taking your fucking shoes off, liquids in a small bag etc etc
Then add not so much free booze and the whole experience becomes pretty miserable.
TruXta
tired
And a number of other Asian carriers.
I'm jaded as I've flown a lot, but flying in Burma added a bit of frisson once you know their accident rates
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Taking off never gets old. Nor does gawking out of the window like an excited child as the plane comes into land. I still take photos of London from above whenever the opportunity arises.
Most of the rest of the glamour escapes me though.
Most of the rest of the glamour escapes me though.
Ah yes, that's a fair point. I was thinking more on the plane.
All the security stuff is stressful and unpleasantly intrusive.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Taking shoes off is one I don't get. Its so inconsistent between different countries.
In the US, it's practically always. Over here, if you're wearing trainers they seem not to care.
In the US, it's practically always. Over here, if you're wearing trainers they seem not to care.
klang
klang
I was always ok flying until one time I flew with a bad ear infection. Half way through the flight my ears started to hurt like never before and I completely lost my bearings. I thought the plane was upside down and spinning around and wondered why all the other passengers were so calm and casual.
After that I developed a bad fear of flying. I'd shake and sweat and fell horrible, especially during take off and turbulances. It got so bad that sometimes other passengers asked me if I was ok.....
That lasted for a couple of years, and then the fear slowly died down.
Now I'm ok again.
And that's that.
After that I developed a bad fear of flying. I'd shake and sweat and fell horrible, especially during take off and turbulances. It got so bad that sometimes other passengers asked me if I was ok.....
That lasted for a couple of years, and then the fear slowly died down.
Now I'm ok again.
And that's that.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Cabin pressure changes can be painful as heck when you have any kind of ear problem or heavy cold. I once flew 11 hours to LA with a really heavy cold. My sinuses and ears all bunged up and the pressure change made it unbearable. I thought my head would explode at one point when then plane was descending.
klang
klang
horrible.
but it was more the dis-orientation that caused the fears for a couple of years.....
Steel Icarus
e le aulelei pe mauoa ae malie
I like it tbh. I get nervous leading up to it but then once the plane accelerates excitement overtakes me. Flying a week tomorrow in fact. Only thing I don't like is descending, I too get excruciating ear pain. Its awful.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
Yeah, I used to do between 24 and 50+ flights a year and whilst the travelling itself (being away from home, wife, etc) got tiresome, the actual air bit I always enjoyed. Still do.
As a kid my dad used to take me to Heathrow for days out. Watching the take-offs and landings from the top of the Queens Building, watching the arrival and departure boards changing, trying to figure out where all the people were coming from and going to. The smell of aviation exhaust at airports still reminds me of all that. There's something magic about everything that happens at airports and that's before you even board the plane. I've often thought I'd like to work at one.
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planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Love it. Been around the world a couple of times and spent a year in SE Asia flying around on AirAsia. That included a journey from Manila to KL which flew a short way north of where AirAsia had lost it's first ever plane the week before. 3 hours of turbulence and a silent plane later you realised you would never get on an airplane if flying was always like that. But I love it.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Grew up right under the final approach to Heathrow, used to spend hours watching them come in, knew every airline from the tail-fin by the time I was 5. Still love watching them land and take off now, you see a Philippine Air coming in and you know it was 14 hours since it was last on the ground, half a planet away, fucking awesome.
And this Christmas got a deal on BA first. Special wing at terminal five with the hoi-polloi kept away, first class only security, so no queues, takes you straight to the Concorde Room with the balcony where you can look down on the lower orders from the most exclusive balcony at Heathrow (there is a more exclusive lounge next door to T5, no balcony though). Champagne bar and fine dining restaurant, then off to the plane for a glass of champers and nibbles before heading in to the sky for some more top booze and gourmet dining as we cross the Atlantic on our way to the Caribbean.
Looking forward to that. Next week we go to Majorca on Norwegian, will still get a thrill, but on a lesser level...
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T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Not that long ago one was able to upgrade to business class on BA short haul flights for as little as £60 one way, and I did it a few times just to get a whiff of the glamour that eludes us all when we fly economy short haul nowadays. There is little difference in seat pitch etc but use of the lounge at the airport is always fucking ace.
Never done business/first on long haul, though on a business trip to Hong Kong with BA my boss convinced the crew to let me have dinner with him on his first class suite. I had been reasonably content with my premium economy seat until I saw the first class cabin. Going back to my seat after dinner was a bit of a downer
Never done business/first on long haul, though on a business trip to Hong Kong with BA my boss convinced the crew to let me have dinner with him on his first class suite. I had been reasonably content with my premium economy seat until I saw the first class cabin. Going back to my seat after dinner was a bit of a downer
TruXta
tired
I feel you. Flew to Dublin with a wisdom tooth infection once. Thought my head was about to explode on take off and landing.
I get that, after living under the flight path for years I still look up as every plane passes. Something about the idea of all those people sat up there and the last time they saw land was in some far flung corner of th globe. I'm not a plane spotters but I do get where they are coming from, well the Heathrow ones, not sure why those oddballs sit in the cafe of the Holiday Inn Express in Luton watching endless Easyjet and Wizz A320s land and depart. Each to their own I guess.
Your aspirational class treachery has been noted former comrade.
As it happens I've got a worldwide lounge access pass with work, I've never used it the UK, I'd rather sit in the spoons and suffer. Fool to myself really.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Of places I've been I'd add Peru, Chile and Australia (but Qantas can fuck right off) to that list too.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Guess so, a lot of private aviation at Luton, so maybe that's where they get their thrills
Teaboy said:
Sold out years ago mate:
Teaboy said:
No full pints available in lounges, so 'Spoons has its plus points...
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
My cricket club (Dulwich/Herne Hill) is on the approaches of both LHR and LCY so there are always 2 or 3 planes above us at any one time on Saturdays and Sundays. I've been injured for 8 weeks so I've been on umpiring duty. I get constant grief for playing with the Flightrader24 app whilst I'm on the field. The first time I bet my mates that the London Air Ambulance would fly over in "about 2 minutes" was quite amusing.
I'm even pretty good at estimating altitudes by sight now.
As kids we had to settle for trying to note the numbers of aircraft through binoculars and matching them to the countries of registration. If that app was around at the time I'd never have gone to school.
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ice-is-forming
my heart breaks one thousand times a day..
Lol I'm flying home on quantas today. I grew up under the flight path for heathrow as well. Quite a way out though so you couldn't hear them, but we spent a lot of time in the garden with binoculars. I'm so jelous of Bahnhof Strasse going on Concorde! When i was a kid I saw one of its first flights (along clovelly Beach of all places ) and almost wet myself with excitement! Boom!
And my dad had done national service in the raf as a spitfire engineer biggin hill air show or just wondering around biggin hill was always happening
Where I live now is a tiny airport and I love that in such a short time im stepping into a major one. Right now it's 5.30am and I'm on the hotel bedroom balcony looking at a city that's awake with the story bridge all lit up in purple lights under me. And the river boats dashing up and down . Fking amazing
At home at this time I'd be down the beach in absolute silence with the dogs.
Sunrise soon
I'm going to my 'other ' balcony to watch the view planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
I'll tell you when I went off Qantas. It wasn't when they delayed my flight to Bangkok by 36 hours. It wasn't even when they lost my girlfriend's luggage for 36 hours before that (and only gave it back in Bangkok after we had to trust they would do that). It was when, on waiting to depart from Cairns to Sydney, they kept us on the ground for 2 hours, in sweltering heat, on the basis that "we're unable to show that we can pay for the aviation fuel right now".
True story. Weren't they bought out by BA? Perfect match.
True story. Weren't they bought out by BA? Perfect match.
