:thumbup:
Today they look boring (especially the cockpits), and sound boring, in comparison. Nothing beats the look and sound of 1960s and 1970s jets.
Best and Worst Experience Flying on a Commercial Flight?
- Thread starter Codz
- Start date
:thumbup:
Today they look boring (especially the cockpits), and sound boring, in comparison. Nothing beats the look and sound of 1960s and 1970s jets.
ky
Director of Manned Spaceflight
The sound of an A320-200 does.
Scav
Mostly Harmless
- Joined
- May 8, 2010
- Messages
- 1,002
- Reaction score
- 35
- Points
- 48
My first two (and only) commercial flights so far were in my childhood, and one of the few things about that time I remember vividly well still. They were both in the same aircraft series: a DC-9-10. My dad and I were 18th row back (of about 24-25 rows), behind the wingroot and immediately in front of the engine intake on the port side of the aircraft.
Destination was Houston; my dad and I spent a week there for a work excursion he had to do, but we rounded out our time there at the end by visiting the Johnson Space Center. Got to tour what was then the primary Mission Control Center FCR (they didn't have a shuttle up that week), saw an Apollo command module. The Saturn-V rocket was still out on the front lawn, unprotected (like it is now by a large pole barn). Moon rocks. I got to wear a Gemini-era flight helmet.
The flight back was interesting. Thrust-reverser pushback from the gate. Over clouds for much of the way (from basically Oklahoma all the way up through to Minneapolis).
Footnote: At the time, there was apparently bad blood between Northwest Airlines' management and the mechanic's union. There was a large banner draped across a wall at the departure gate in Minneapolis, saying "At Northwest Airlines, speed is everything!" . . . Someone had taken a black marker, and vandalized the sign, saying: "...safety is nothing; mechanics are non-existent."
Furthermore, these were the only two flights I've ever taken in a commercial aircraft where I was allowed to see the flight deck and look at all of the instrumentation. It was a very vintage experience; there were gauges everywhere. This was NOT a glass cockpit by any stretch of the imagination.
Can't do that, anymore.
So really . . . not a fabulous experience, not a terrifying experience . . . but it was memorable; I'll give it that.
Destination was Houston; my dad and I spent a week there for a work excursion he had to do, but we rounded out our time there at the end by visiting the Johnson Space Center. Got to tour what was then the primary Mission Control Center FCR (they didn't have a shuttle up that week), saw an Apollo command module. The Saturn-V rocket was still out on the front lawn, unprotected (like it is now by a large pole barn). Moon rocks. I got to wear a Gemini-era flight helmet.
The flight back was interesting. Thrust-reverser pushback from the gate. Over clouds for much of the way (from basically Oklahoma all the way up through to Minneapolis).
Footnote: At the time, there was apparently bad blood between Northwest Airlines' management and the mechanic's union. There was a large banner draped across a wall at the departure gate in Minneapolis, saying "At Northwest Airlines, speed is everything!" . . . Someone had taken a black marker, and vandalized the sign, saying: "...safety is nothing; mechanics are non-existent."
Furthermore, these were the only two flights I've ever taken in a commercial aircraft where I was allowed to see the flight deck and look at all of the instrumentation. It was a very vintage experience; there were gauges everywhere. This was NOT a glass cockpit by any stretch of the imagination.
Can't do that, anymore.
So really . . . not a fabulous experience, not a terrifying experience . . . but it was memorable; I'll give it that.
Andy44
owner: Oil Creek Astronautix
No, it sounds like a modern turbofan, which is what it is. And it is exactly the kind of generic look I was talking about. Two engines on the wings, which is what they all look like now except for the new Airbus doubledecker. Jetliner design is now mature, after decades of experimentation the best configurations got filtered down to what we see on the A-320 or the 787.
The modern jets are quieter and more efficient, but they lack the "Jetsons" futuristic coolness of 60s designs. The older jet had low-bypass turbofans or striaght turbojets, so they were smokier, less efficient, and noisier, but what a beautiful noise it is (unless you live next to an airport). And the older jets had a variety of configurations; 4-engine with slender fuselage, T-tails, 3-engine, etc. The wing and pylon sweep angles were steeper, making them more sports-car looking. Sure they were gas-guzzling noise machines, so they had to go, but they had great charm for air fans.
Best experience, that would be my first flight (out of two flights only so far).
Back in March, an A320 from Lisbon to London, Heathrow. We got moved into Business class from Economic, and I got to seat in the cockpit during both take-off and landing. And of course, for it being the first flight. And what a first flight
Delayed for half an hour though, think it was the hydraulics, not sure.
Worst experience, not that there's much to choose from, would be the flight back (This time an A319). Almost on the last row of seats, though it was noisier, I wasn't bothered at all. Until I had to fall on the cliché of having a baby crying in the seat behind... (that tends to happen to me a lot, regardless of where I am)
Still, loved both flights, looking forward to the next, whenever that might be.
Back in March, an A320 from Lisbon to London, Heathrow. We got moved into Business class from Economic, and I got to seat in the cockpit during both take-off and landing. And of course, for it being the first flight. And what a first flight
Delayed for half an hour though, think it was the hydraulics, not sure.
Worst experience, not that there's much to choose from, would be the flight back (This time an A319). Almost on the last row of seats, though it was noisier, I wasn't bothered at all. Until I had to fall on the cliché of having a baby crying in the seat behind... (that tends to happen to me a lot, regardless of where I am)
Still, loved both flights, looking forward to the next, whenever that might be.
Last edited:
Quick_Nick
Passed the Turing Test
I've only been on one commercial flight, round-trip. It was a band trip to Disneyland. We flew there on Friday 13th without a problem, very nice weather. We came back on St Patrick's Day, for some reason had to change planes and airports, had a couple oddities in flight, then a couple hours to landing the pilot announces that we maaay blow out our tires on landing since a light indicates the brakes are locked (or something similar). Cue a bit of mass panic in the several dozen teenagers aboard. Luckily we landed just fine, where everyone then lined up at the windows to take pictures of the firetrucks on the runway. :lol:
Codz
NEA Scout Wrencher
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
- Messages
- 3,586
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 61
- Location
- Huntsville, AL
- Preferred Pronouns
- He/Him
The best engine sound I've probably heard were the engines of the 747 LCF Dreamlifter as they taxied to the runway and took off. Almost deafening.
Worst: Well I was doing a flight from London Heathrow to Sydney on Friday 13th. From gate 13, leaving at 13:00. To be fair I really should have taken all those nasty 13's into account before booking the tickets. So I get on my first hop from LHR to Kuala Lumpur airport, about 3 or 4 hrs into the flight the captain anounces we would be making an emergency stop in Caracha.
We land and the poor guy who was having a heart attack is wheeled off the plane on a gurney. The captain comes back on the PA and announces we are not to move from our seats, call for a flight attendant or pretty much do anything but watch the onscreen movie. 5 minutes later, armed security with german shepherds get on the plane and patrol up and down, opening and closing random overhead lockers. For two hours the "armed escort" walked up and down the plane, and no one was allowed to go to the toilet.
Eventually, after what seemed like hours, as everyone was so tense, the "armed escort" left the plane, the doors were sealed and the captain announced that we would be taking off shortly. The rest of the flight was smooth to Kuala Lumpur.
When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (at approximately 8.30pm their time) I was advised that my connecting flight had left and that I would need to stay in the airport until 9.30am the following morning. Fortunately some gentleman who was also on my connecting flight spoke up and demanded that we all be treated to a hotel room for the night, and food and drink to be "on the house". Which they did, very swiftly and we were all shuttled to the airports hotel for the night. Whilst on the shuttle some letcherous guy kept chatting me up, and I was getting extremely uncomfortable, particularly as they were yelling out names and room numbers. When they called my name I walked to the front of the shuttle collected my key and stood right next to the doors, waiting for us to arrive.
When we got to the hotel I bolted past the front desk and straight into an elevator. Ah safe at last!
The following morning I went straight to the shuttle and then my boarding gate, with no further delays to my journey to Sydney. When I landed in Sydney it was approximately 7pm, but by the time I'd cleared customs it was 9pm. A further 2hrs by train to my home town, and a 30minute taxi ride. Only to arrive and no one was answering the door. I knocked, yelled and pounded the door. Rang my sister's mobile twice, the landline several times....and finally my sister came and answered the door.
I dragged my bedraggled exhausted body into the house, hit the shower and fell asleep immediately.
Total travel time from LHR to SYD? 54hrs.
Age at time of travel: 17.
Best flight: Business class only from Stansted to Las Vegas...champagne, personalised meal, lots of leg room.... just brilliant!
Most intersting weather conditions: Flying from Brisbane to Sydney (and back again) during the red dust storm in 2009.
Sorry for the long posting, but to tell the story I had to go right from the start!
We land and the poor guy who was having a heart attack is wheeled off the plane on a gurney. The captain comes back on the PA and announces we are not to move from our seats, call for a flight attendant or pretty much do anything but watch the onscreen movie. 5 minutes later, armed security with german shepherds get on the plane and patrol up and down, opening and closing random overhead lockers. For two hours the "armed escort" walked up and down the plane, and no one was allowed to go to the toilet.
Eventually, after what seemed like hours, as everyone was so tense, the "armed escort" left the plane, the doors were sealed and the captain announced that we would be taking off shortly. The rest of the flight was smooth to Kuala Lumpur.
When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (at approximately 8.30pm their time) I was advised that my connecting flight had left and that I would need to stay in the airport until 9.30am the following morning. Fortunately some gentleman who was also on my connecting flight spoke up and demanded that we all be treated to a hotel room for the night, and food and drink to be "on the house". Which they did, very swiftly and we were all shuttled to the airports hotel for the night. Whilst on the shuttle some letcherous guy kept chatting me up, and I was getting extremely uncomfortable, particularly as they were yelling out names and room numbers. When they called my name I walked to the front of the shuttle collected my key and stood right next to the doors, waiting for us to arrive.
When we got to the hotel I bolted past the front desk and straight into an elevator. Ah safe at last!
The following morning I went straight to the shuttle and then my boarding gate, with no further delays to my journey to Sydney. When I landed in Sydney it was approximately 7pm, but by the time I'd cleared customs it was 9pm. A further 2hrs by train to my home town, and a 30minute taxi ride. Only to arrive and no one was answering the door. I knocked, yelled and pounded the door. Rang my sister's mobile twice, the landline several times....and finally my sister came and answered the door.
I dragged my bedraggled exhausted body into the house, hit the shower and fell asleep immediately.
Total travel time from LHR to SYD? 54hrs.
Age at time of travel: 17.
Best flight: Business class only from Stansted to Las Vegas...champagne, personalised meal, lots of leg room.... just brilliant!
Most intersting weather conditions: Flying from Brisbane to Sydney (and back again) during the red dust storm in 2009.
Sorry for the long posting, but to tell the story I had to go right from the start!
80mileshigh
Addon Developer
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2008
- Messages
- 365
- Reaction score
- 258
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Melbourne
- Website
- eightymileshigh.wordpress.com
Just survived my worst. 27 hours in transit, 32 hours without sleep. Felt like I was going to breakdown at the end. I had 'sea legs' walking around my hotel room. I've never had that from flying before.
The upshot was that as I arrived at my final destination at midnight I managed to go to sleep at the right time and wake up adjusted to the time zone, like Artlav did.
The upshot was that as I arrived at my final destination at midnight I managed to go to sleep at the right time and wake up adjusted to the time zone, like Artlav did.
Thunder Chicken
Fine Threads since 2008
Best experience - Lufthansa flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt. Overnight flight, smooth as could be. Could see the aurora borealis from my window. Only flight where I was able to sleep on the plane.
Worst experience - Continental flight from Boston to Houston for a convention. A line of thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through Houston/Dallas area, so we had to divert to Tulsa Oklahoma. The terminal was closed, so we were stuck on the tarmac for several hours until someone got the keys. They finally let us off. Then we loaded us up to fly to Houston, but weather went bad and we had to divert into Dallas. I remember the lightning in some rather close-looking cells just east of the airport, and we were shaken to pieces.
They put us up in a cheap hotel for a few hours, then we boarded a plane to Houston. What should have been a 30-40 minute hop turned into 2.5 hours as we had to fly out over the Gulf of Mexico to get around a line of thunderstorms. As we got in close to Houston the weather was still rocky, and we heard "Hold On!" from the PA as the engines throttled up as we penetrated the clouds. Got a nice good shaking and landed in a downpour.
I made it to the convention with about 2 hours to spare for my presentation (I was to arrive the night before). I gave my presentation, then turned around and went to the airport to fly home, which mercifully was somewhat more direct and less turbulent. I had two glasses of Scotch and slept for about 18 hrs when I finally got home.
Worst experience - Continental flight from Boston to Houston for a convention. A line of thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through Houston/Dallas area, so we had to divert to Tulsa Oklahoma. The terminal was closed, so we were stuck on the tarmac for several hours until someone got the keys. They finally let us off. Then we loaded us up to fly to Houston, but weather went bad and we had to divert into Dallas. I remember the lightning in some rather close-looking cells just east of the airport, and we were shaken to pieces.
They put us up in a cheap hotel for a few hours, then we boarded a plane to Houston. What should have been a 30-40 minute hop turned into 2.5 hours as we had to fly out over the Gulf of Mexico to get around a line of thunderstorms. As we got in close to Houston the weather was still rocky, and we heard "Hold On!" from the PA as the engines throttled up as we penetrated the clouds. Got a nice good shaking and landed in a downpour.
I made it to the convention with about 2 hours to spare for my presentation (I was to arrive the night before). I gave my presentation, then turned around and went to the airport to fly home, which mercifully was somewhat more direct and less turbulent. I had two glasses of Scotch and slept for about 18 hrs when I finally got home.
80mileshigh
Addon Developer
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2008
- Messages
- 365
- Reaction score
- 258
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Melbourne
- Website
- eightymileshigh.wordpress.com
Found a space connection
Long-haul sufferers will appreciate these NASA findings:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/travel/a-battle-plan-for-jet-lag.html
Long-haul sufferers will appreciate these NASA findings:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/travel/a-battle-plan-for-jet-lag.html
Since only commercial flights:
My first flight in 1997 domestic from Warsaw to Szczecin (Stettin). The plane was [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATR_72"]ATR72 [/ame] operated by Eurolot
It was my first flight and at a time I didn't know much about flying in general. In the middle of flight 2 parts of upholstery (that fabric on the inside) moved around 1cm (1 up and 1 down). I was terrified and I thought the plane experiences some real problems. Later I found out it was normal (inflight stress on fuselage).
---------- Post added at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
As for not commercial my worst experience was flying Antonov AN-2 on sightseeing flight in 2000. Everyting shook, made very sttrange noises and I found after landing that lines supporting wings were loose.
My first flight in 1997 domestic from Warsaw to Szczecin (Stettin). The plane was [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATR_72"]ATR72 [/ame] operated by Eurolot
It was my first flight and at a time I didn't know much about flying in general. In the middle of flight 2 parts of upholstery (that fabric on the inside) moved around 1cm (1 up and 1 down). I was terrified and I thought the plane experiences some real problems. Later I found out it was normal (inflight stress on fuselage).
---------- Post added at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
As for not commercial my worst experience was flying Antonov AN-2 on sightseeing flight in 2000. Everyting shook, made very sttrange noises and I found after landing that lines supporting wings were loose.
Last edited:
insanity
Blastronaut
I've been lucky and have been treated to some wonderful flights in my life. From riding on a flawless River Visual approach to DCA on a picture-perfect evening on a lightly loaded 737-800 where new friends and whiskey were flowing the entire journey to a full-moon flight over the Cascade Mountains where the lakes would reflect the moon as we flew past in a DH-8.
However, the single best flight of my life was from San Fransisco to London on a 777. I was on my way to start my internship in Scotland and to travel the world by myself for the first time. A really smooth flight on an amazing aircraft. I talked up a really interesting Scotsman sitting next to me and learned about all the great things to see/do in Edinburgh. Just an all-around memorable experience.
The worst flight of my life was from LAX-London one year later. The plane was packed, my (then) girlfriend and I were tired from an already full day of traveling (PDX-LAX is a bit of a flight). There were delays in the terminal and on the runway. I couldn't get anything that would pass as decent food. When we finally landed, we had a 6 hour layover to our flight in Edinburgh. Sleeping in Heathrow after a long flight is one of the worst experiences a human being can suffer through.
However, the single best flight of my life was from San Fransisco to London on a 777. I was on my way to start my internship in Scotland and to travel the world by myself for the first time. A really smooth flight on an amazing aircraft. I talked up a really interesting Scotsman sitting next to me and learned about all the great things to see/do in Edinburgh. Just an all-around memorable experience.
The worst flight of my life was from LAX-London one year later. The plane was packed, my (then) girlfriend and I were tired from an already full day of traveling (PDX-LAX is a bit of a flight). There were delays in the terminal and on the runway. I couldn't get anything that would pass as decent food. When we finally landed, we had a 6 hour layover to our flight in Edinburgh. Sleeping in Heathrow after a long flight is one of the worst experiences a human being can suffer through.
Screamer7
Member
My first ever flight was also my worse one.
I was in the South African Defense Force.
We was due to go to Grootfontein via Bloemfontein.
The plane was a Hercules C- 130.
I was thrilled when we take off, but the C-130 was not the fastest plane you get.
The trip was originally planned for 4 hours.
But we flown straight into a thunder storm.
Up and down we went until I had to find a bag for I was getting really sick.
The pilot then decided to bypass the storm. We take off at 5 p.m. from Bloemfontein.
The alternate route take us to Rundo six hours later.
At 11:15 p.m we landed at Rundu and waited for the storm to calm down.
At 12:30 a.m we take off again and landed at Grootfontein at 1:30 a.m.
I was dead tired and our trip was far from over.
We reach the base camp at 4:20.
My best flight experience was with a B 737.
We take of at Grootfontein, fly to Cape Town, Port Elisabeth, Durban and then to my destination at Bloemfontein.
It went fast and without any hick ups.
I was in the South African Defense Force.
We was due to go to Grootfontein via Bloemfontein.
The plane was a Hercules C- 130.
I was thrilled when we take off, but the C-130 was not the fastest plane you get.
The trip was originally planned for 4 hours.
But we flown straight into a thunder storm.
Up and down we went until I had to find a bag for I was getting really sick.
The pilot then decided to bypass the storm. We take off at 5 p.m. from Bloemfontein.
The alternate route take us to Rundo six hours later.
At 11:15 p.m we landed at Rundu and waited for the storm to calm down.
At 12:30 a.m we take off again and landed at Grootfontein at 1:30 a.m.
I was dead tired and our trip was far from over.
We reach the base camp at 4:20.
My best flight experience was with a B 737.
We take of at Grootfontein, fly to Cape Town, Port Elisabeth, Durban and then to my destination at Bloemfontein.
It went fast and without any hick ups.
I've often heard that. And I would like to agree. Lufthansa is amongst the best airlines in the world if you ask me. And I'm not saying this because it's a German airline and because I am German. I'm saying this because they really offer high quality in all areas; technology, maintenance, personnel, training, comfort, service, etc. It's premium. That's what I like to expect when I buy a ticket. Flying as safe and as comfortable as possible.
And I like their support for public relations in particular. The following video shows the retirement of Juergen Raps, a known Lufthansa chief pilot, who retired recently (but it's sadly not (yet) with subtitles). He appeared in some great documentaries in the past. He got a motorcycle from Lufthansa as a going-away present...
Eli13
Fish Dreamer
I've always wanted to fly on a Lufthansa flight. Too bad I don't fly often.
Codz
NEA Scout Wrencher
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
- Messages
- 3,586
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 61
- Location
- Huntsville, AL
- Preferred Pronouns
- He/Him
I've always wanted to fly on a Lufthansa flight. Too bad I don't fly often.
Back when I was in Seattle at the Boeing Field, I saw several brand new Lufthansa 747-800i's. Beautiful birds.
astrosammy
Dash!
I don't know what can be bad about the greatest way to travel .
The best thing of course was seeing my hometown from above (EDDK-ENGM last month):
ENSG-ENGM in a Dash 8-100 (I love turboprops!) would be number two after that one, and a flight in a Cessna 172 around EDWL number three.
(BTW, you can see all my flights if you click on my signature)
.The best thing of course was seeing my hometown from above (EDDK-ENGM last month):
ENSG-ENGM in a Dash 8-100 (I love turboprops!) would be number two after that one, and a flight in a Cessna 172 around EDWL number three.
(BTW, you can see all my flights if you click on my signature)
