Air travel!
- Thread starter ice-is-forming
- Start date
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Of course Airbus are better off. They got 3bn EUR of "repayable launch investment" from the British, French, German and Spanish taxpayers to develop the A380. None of which is ever going to be repaid as the A380 line is never going to make 1 euro of profit even if they shift all 319 contracted frames.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
ice-is-forming
let me rephrase that... Fuck off
It looks like a fat seagull
ice-is-forming
let me rephrase that... Fuck off
I don't know what make and model this is but its what i got last week
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
I think that's a Dash-8. I fucking love flying on turboprops
Same here, but don't like sitting in line with the propellers in case they come off and slice through the cabin, chopping my legs off. As has happened, never in the history of aviation...
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
It's happened quite a few times. The one I can recall is a LHS blade coming off an Aeroflot An-24 which went through the fuselage killing two or three passengers and severing all the flight controls. A turn of events which soon killed the remaining passengers and crew.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Justified in my paranoia 
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Justified in my paranoia
This is a good one. The entire #3 prop came off a USCG C-130 in flight. The crew got it back to CDB where they presumably had to put the seat cushions through a 'Heavily Soiled' washing machine program.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Fuck that
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
So it does pay off to sit right by the propeller then, as you'd be killed instantly unlike the other buggers on the plane who'd have to endure two minutes of free-falling terror first.
Yu_Gi_Oh
天天好心情
I'm not scared of flying, and if I'm in a plane which is actually in the air flying, then I can just about cope. I am unfortunately terribly claustrophobic. 
The last two flights I've taken have been split flights, which is a thing in China, I don't know about other large countries, where you stop at another city roughly half-way to your destination and get off the plane before re-boarding with a whole load of extra passengers and then continue the journey.
Our first flight was from our home city in China to Kunming, with a pick-up in Qingdao. Everything was going great until we re-boarded in Qingdao and didn't take off. Then they started handing out the food, while we were still on the runway. This is always a bad sign.
After over an hour of sitting on the runway, it turned out I was having a panic attack (I didn't notice
) and I had to be lead to the front of the plane, sweating and hyperventilating, and be made to stand in the little tunnel-bridge thing which connects the plane to the terminal. Then they sat me on a seat in the galley for an hour or so, while I sweated and hyperventilated and cried and begged to be allowed to disembark. My husband swung by occasionally, shame-faced and sympathetic, mostly towards the staff tbh. Eventually they sat me in first class, because it was empty, and I fell asleep since it was pretty late at night by then.
I woke up to see us still flying, with a massive storm on the horizon. Then we landed ... In Chengdu. We were not flying to Chengdu.
They announced that the weather was too severe to land in Kunming, so we were just going to wait. On the plane. For an unspecified amount of time. In Chengdu. 
At which point I had another panic attack. Mr Yu had less sympathy for me this time, as did the staff. A couple of hours later we did actually arrive in Kunming, more than twelve hours after we'd left our home city, and a day late.
After two weeks in Yunnan province, I'd mostly (mostly) forgotten the trauma of that journey, and yesterday we did the return flight. This time our plane would stop in Nanjing to pick-up more passengers, before we continued to our home city in China.
We boarded the plane on time, and it seemed like everything was going well, but then they announced that the flight was going to be delayed, and started handing out the food while we were still on the runway. This time, I'd chopped a sleeping tablet in half, albeit not very exactly, so one half was much bigger than the other, and I took the smaller piece, so as to not have a full breakdown on the plane again. Surprisingly, this made me fall asleep, rather than just be calm, and I woke up two hours later just as we were landing in Nanjing.
I don't know if the airline now carries some special warning about the mad foreign lady who can't handle delays, but as we were getting off the plane, one of the air stewards came up to me, lightly caressing me and holding my hand, saying "You're just going into the terminal for a little while, and then you'll get back back on the plane".
"Just relax, take a rest", she said.
We climbed down the metal stairs and got onto one of those airport transfer buses next to the plane. My sleeping tablet had completely worn off by then. After ten minutes of not moving, I looked at my husband and said, "They've locked us in this bus until they put us back on the plane, haven't they?".
"No, no. No.
" My husband said, nervously.
After another thirty minutes I had a panic attack.
Fortunately they started re-boarding us pretty quickly after that, but I wouldn't get on the plane. My husband was asking if we were going to be delayed, and the staff were saying, yes, probably, who knows how long for! Then the staff started actually full-body hugging me, and hugging my husband, and trying to enfold us into a full group hug of love and support. Then the ground staff appeared, and the air stewards started screaming at them in Chinese for locking us in a bus. Then the captain came, and they hustled me into my seat and I took my larger part of the sleeping tablet while my husband spoke to the captain. Then the plane took off and I passed out.
When we got off the plane in our home city the air stewards gave me some fruit and some more full body hugs, like air steward sandwiches, where I was completely enveloped in their ... I dunno? Pity?
Anyway, like Mr Yu said, it was a good experiment, but we'll go back to taking the train again next time.
TL;DR I am one of those crazy people who loses it on planes and promise never to fly short-haul in China again.
The last two flights I've taken have been split flights, which is a thing in China, I don't know about other large countries, where you stop at another city roughly half-way to your destination and get off the plane before re-boarding with a whole load of extra passengers and then continue the journey. Our first flight was from our home city in China to Kunming, with a pick-up in Qingdao. Everything was going great until we re-boarded in Qingdao and didn't take off. Then they started handing out the food, while we were still on the runway. This is always a bad sign.
After over an hour of sitting on the runway, it turned out I was having a panic attack (I didn't notice
) and I had to be lead to the front of the plane, sweating and hyperventilating, and be made to stand in the little tunnel-bridge thing which connects the plane to the terminal. Then they sat me on a seat in the galley for an hour or so, while I sweated and hyperventilated and cried and begged to be allowed to disembark. My husband swung by occasionally, shame-faced and sympathetic, mostly towards the staff tbh. Eventually they sat me in first class, because it was empty, and I fell asleep since it was pretty late at night by then. I woke up to see us still flying, with a massive storm on the horizon. Then we landed ... In Chengdu. We were not flying to Chengdu.
They announced that the weather was too severe to land in Kunming, so we were just going to wait. On the plane. For an unspecified amount of time. In Chengdu. At which point I had another panic attack. Mr Yu had less sympathy for me this time, as did the staff. A couple of hours later we did actually arrive in Kunming, more than twelve hours after we'd left our home city, and a day late. After two weeks in Yunnan province, I'd mostly (mostly) forgotten the trauma of that journey, and yesterday we did the return flight. This time our plane would stop in Nanjing to pick-up more passengers, before we continued to our home city in China.
We boarded the plane on time, and it seemed like everything was going well, but then they announced that the flight was going to be delayed, and started handing out the food while we were still on the runway.
This time, I'd chopped a sleeping tablet in half, albeit not very exactly, so one half was much bigger than the other, and I took the smaller piece, so as to not have a full breakdown on the plane again. Surprisingly, this made me fall asleep, rather than just be calm, and I woke up two hours later just as we were landing in Nanjing. I don't know if the airline now carries some special warning about the mad foreign lady who can't handle delays, but as we were getting off the plane, one of the air stewards came up to me, lightly caressing me and holding my hand, saying "You're just going into the terminal for a little while, and then you'll get back back on the plane".
"Just relax, take a rest", she said.
We climbed down the metal stairs and got onto one of those airport transfer buses next to the plane. My sleeping tablet had completely worn off by then. After ten minutes of not moving, I looked at my husband and said, "They've locked us in this bus until they put us back on the plane, haven't they?".
"No, no. No.
" My husband said, nervously. After another thirty minutes I had a panic attack.
Fortunately they started re-boarding us pretty quickly after that, but I wouldn't get on the plane.
My husband was asking if we were going to be delayed, and the staff were saying, yes, probably, who knows how long for! Then the staff started actually full-body hugging me, and hugging my husband, and trying to enfold us into a full group hug of love and support. Then the ground staff appeared, and the air stewards started screaming at them in Chinese for locking us in a bus. Then the captain came, and they hustled me into my seat and I took my larger part of the sleeping tablet while my husband spoke to the captain. Then the plane took off and I passed out. When we got off the plane in our home city the air stewards gave me some fruit and some more full body hugs, like air steward sandwiches, where I was completely enveloped in their ... I dunno? Pity?
Anyway, like Mr Yu said, it was a good experiment, but we'll go back to taking the train again next time.
TL;DR I am one of those crazy people who loses it on planes and promise never to fly short-haul in China again.
ice-is-forming
let me rephrase that... Fuck off
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
I'm not scared of flying, and if I'm in a plane which is actually in the air flying, then I can just about cope. I am unfortunately terribly claustrophobic.
Our first flight was from our home city in China to Kunming, with a pick-up in Qingdao. Everything was going great until we re-boarded in Qingdao and didn't take off. Then they started handing out the food, while we were still on the runway. This is always a bad sign.
After over an hour of sitting on the runway, it turned out I was having a panic attack (I didn't notice
I woke up to see us still flying, with a massive storm on the horizon. Then we landed ... In Chengdu. We were not flying to Chengdu.
After two weeks in Yunnan province, I'd mostly (mostly) forgotten the trauma of that journey, and yesterday we did the return flight. This time our plane would stop in Nanjing to pick-up more passengers, before we continued to our home city in China.
We boarded the plane on time, and it seemed like everything was going well, but then they announced that the flight was going to be delayed, and started handing out the food while we were still on the runway.
I don't know if the airline now carries some special warning about the mad foreign lady who can't handle delays, but as we were getting off the plane, one of the air stewards came up to me, lightly caressing me and holding my hand, saying "You're just going into the terminal for a little while, and then you'll get back back on the plane".
"Just relax, take a rest", she said.
We climbed down the metal stairs and got onto one of those airport transfer buses next to the plane. My sleeping tablet had completely worn off by then. After ten minutes of not moving, I looked at my husband and said, "They've locked us in this bus until they put us back on the plane, haven't they?".
"No, no. No.
After another thirty minutes I had a panic attack.
Fortunately they started re-boarding us pretty quickly after that, but I wouldn't get on the plane.
When we got off the plane in our home city the air stewards gave me some fruit and some more full body hugs, like air steward sandwiches, where I was completely enveloped in their ... I dunno? Pity?
Anyway, like Mr Yu said, it was a good experiment, but we'll go back to taking the train again next time.
TL;DR I am one of those crazy people who loses it on planes and promise never to fly short-haul in China again.
It must have been the storms around Beijing yesterday. Ms A320 was flying from Chengdu to Beijing last night; first they cancelled her flight, they all got put in a queue for buses to a hotel. Then they reinstated the flight. She ended up just 4 hours late.
No fruit or steward hugs though.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Goodbye Toulouse was a Stranglers song wasn't it?
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
Pah!
There are loads of people here who'd dearly love to see more posts from you. I don't think I'm breaking any confidences by posting this:
Lancman flew Shack's too!
not-bono-ever
meh
Omg
Shacks
Shacks
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Are you taking a tour of the Airbus plant while in there?
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
It is quite amazing how what is basically a miraculous activity has been turned into the biggest pain in the arse imaginable. I particularly like coming back to the UK and finding that the train ticket back home costs as much as all of the train tickets I've paid for on holiday put together. Also I defy anyone not to go full open borders when confronted with fucking immigration at Heathrow. (I particularly like all the signs they have up about how "Border Bastards" or whatever they're called are protecting us all by making you stand in a weird spiral queue for half an hour to wait to walk through a machine that says no.)
not-bono-ever
meh
3 flights today, 6 in the past fortnight, 4 more in the next month.would sooner drive or train but not possible
I forgot how good Lufthansa are - not had much need for them recently --Bottled German beer!
I forgot how good Lufthansa are - not had much need for them recently --Bottled German beer!
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Oh yes. And Cite de Space.
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Lancman
Well-Known Member
A flight from the UK to Australia at 8,000 feet could be the best geography lesson of your lifetime.
Once you’ve left behind the greenery of Europe down the Rhone-Saone corridor you begin to realise how much of the Earth’s surface is arid. Thousands of miles of yellow and brown across the North African deserts, the weirdly torn montain-tops of the Horn of Africa, and the barren coasts of Arabia and Iran. The green gradually returns as you fly south and east across the Sub-continent until you reach the lushness of the tropics. And then you get to Darwin. The route from there south to Adelaide takes you over over one of the strangest deserts in the world. Huge contorted sand dunes that stretch for miles and miles.
If on the other hand you fly westwards from the UK you’ll find out how much of eastern Canada is just lake and forest, and how flat and boring are the carefully ruled-out Mid-Western States. “Fly-over country”.
High-flying aircraft with pressurised cabins have made “fly-over country” of the whole world.
Once you’ve left behind the greenery of Europe down the Rhone-Saone corridor you begin to realise how much of the Earth’s surface is arid. Thousands of miles of yellow and brown across the North African deserts, the weirdly torn montain-tops of the Horn of Africa, and the barren coasts of Arabia and Iran. The green gradually returns as you fly south and east across the Sub-continent until you reach the lushness of the tropics. And then you get to Darwin. The route from there south to Adelaide takes you over over one of the strangest deserts in the world. Huge contorted sand dunes that stretch for miles and miles.
If on the other hand you fly westwards from the UK you’ll find out how much of eastern Canada is just lake and forest, and how flat and boring are the carefully ruled-out Mid-Western States. “Fly-over country”.
High-flying aircraft with pressurised cabins have made “fly-over country” of the whole world.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
As we don’t have an aviation news thread, this one seems the most appropriate.... I was very pleased to see today that Emirates has placed a programme-saving order for up to 36 A380s
Airbus finally secures lifeline for A380 with Emirates deal
This aircraft is too magnificent to suffer the ignominy of an early production termination. This deal might even open the door for orders from other airlines and, five years down the line, the launch of an NEO model.
Airbus finally secures lifeline for A380 with Emirates deal
This aircraft is too magnificent to suffer the ignominy of an early production termination. This deal might even open the door for orders from other airlines and, five years down the line, the launch of an NEO model.
