How air travel has changed...

[Nickbat]

...think of this next time your squashed in economy on a no-frills flight to Spain!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKqQgNZylLw&feature=player_embedded[/media]

[Nickbat]

..and how many of you were born too late to sample Southwest Airline's trolley dollies of the 1970s?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHnqnyzegfc[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7JApjgIGw[/media]

It will NEVER happen again, that's for sure. 

[Varche]

Ah , I remember

When you could smoke on a plane
When you bought a tin of tonic and broke out your own bottle of gin
When the plane came down to land all the empty tinnies from the yoths in the cool back rows rolled down to the front.
When you got served inclusive an impossibly large meal on an impossibly small tray
When there was room in the overhead lockers to actually put your own stuff up there
When there was free newspapers for everyone
When you had an allocated seat and there was no stampede for the best ones.
When you could ask and go up front and chat with the bored pilots 

[Martin_1962]

Sorry but the idea of travelling by airliner finished on 26/11/2003

[redelitev6]

  Air travel has become something to be endured rather than enjoyed , won't consider a flight longer than 5 hours these days 

[Nickbat]

Air travel has become something to be endured rather than enjoyed , won't consider a flight longer than 5 hours these days 

Long haul with Air Canada looks OK on this video. It includes cockpit footage which is something passengers can no longer experience (thanks to 9/11).

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_llyS20J0Ac[/media]

[tunnie]

I had the pleasure of flying business class on United's Boeing 777's in my student days to: Miami, San Francisco, New York (twice), Chicago (twice) on United, for about £90 return each

That was the way to travel, I was in it for the legroom personally!

They say in that clip though Nick its 'smooth' no 'noise' wonder how that can be, 777's in their day and still are regarded as one of the smoothest and quietest planes around. It was on par with the Airbus A320 I had to Tokyo, there was considerable cabin noise I thought  :-/

But the food I ate was not bad in Business Class:



But flying cattle class on Virgin was a bit of a reality check 

[Dishevelled Den]

Long forgotten are the BEA Vanguard and Trident aircraft I flew on as a kid.

The worst ever journey was by courtesy of Dan Dare (Dan-Air) with a landing in a BAC 1-11 so hard on one occasion at Gatwick that I thought we had crashed.

Most interesting flight was on a Transport Command VC10 in my salad days - full of hope and yet to be sullied by the intricacies of real-world politics and inter agency double-dealing.

[Nickbat]

I haven't had the pleasure of flying in a 777, Tunnie, but it does look smooth. I guess the smoothest and quietest I've experienced was a VC-10 - mainly because the engines are slung on the back.  It was long time ago, though. Perhaps Zulu can confirm whether my memories are correct. :-?

More recently I have flown on a 757 which I have since learned is regarded as "over-powered", meaning it has more than it needs. Certainly felt like that leaving Gatwick, talk about being pushed back in the seat. Far more noticeable than the regular A320 I am used to. 

[Nickbat]

Long forgotten are the BEA Vanguard and Trident aircraft I flew on as a kid.

The worst ever journey was by courtesy of Dan Dare (Dan-Air) with a landing in a BAC 1-11 so hard on one occasion at Gatwick that I thought we had crashed.

Most interesting flight was on a Transport Command VC10 in my salad days - full of hope and yet to be sullied by the intricacies of real-world politics and inter agency double-dealing.

Yep, I remember the Trident. Especially flying into the "old" Gothenburg airport which had a rather short runway. Felt like the pilot just dropped it on the very first foot of tarmac! 

[Nickbat]

I looked at that smoked salmon and parma ham again and it's made me feel very peckish indeed, Tunnie. 

[tunnie]

I looked at that smoked salmon and parma ham again and it's made me feel very peckish indeed, Tunnie. 

The grub was good!

Lunch?



RE: 757, I remember going to South of France on one of those, the acceleration was something else!

Most interesting take off has been in a Turbo Prop plane bound for The Isle of Man. Think it only had about 20 seats! Full throttle on the engines with the handbrake on, then let it off and whey-hey! 

[Marks DTM Calib]

I haven't had the pleasure of flying in a 777, Tunnie, but it does look smooth. I guess the smoothest and quietest I've experienced was a VC-10 - mainly because the engines are slung on the back.  It was long time ago, though. Perhaps Zulu can confirm whether my memories are correct. :-?

More recently I have flown on a 757 which I have since learned is regarded as "over-powered", meaning it has more than it needs. Certainly felt like that leaving Gatwick, talk about being pushed back in the seat. Far more noticeable than the regular A320 I am used to. 

777's are ok, traveleed on quite a few now but, they do get a bit hot when your sat on them for 2 hours in Beijing so they can dip the tanks and check for water (1 week after the crash at Heathrow).

I still prefer the Airbus's as the seats are more confortable and they seem smoother.

[Dishevelled Den]

I guess the smoothest and quietest I've experienced was a VC-10 - mainly because the engines are slung on the back.  It was long time ago, though. Perhaps Zulu can confirm whether my memories are correct. :-?

Zulu takes great pleasure in reaffirming the potency of your memories Nick.

Four engines grouped in two pairs on each side of the rear fuselage - although this configuration of the RR Conway engines was alleged to deny the use of newer more efficient engines as they became available.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

The best flight I have ever had, amongst countless ones, was in 1964 on a RAF Transport Command Comet 4B 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)   The whole experience was unique, especially with tail facing seats when taking off!  Magnificent!