long trips

[dayanandbs]

Just thought of sharing one of my long trip as a passenger. It will be great, if you all share your experiences of your most memorable flight journeys.

I travelled to IAD once, circling the world the other way. The route was Bangalore-Chennai-Singapore-Tokyo-Los Angeles-Wash D.C. I completed the journey in 34 hrs straight. Narita landing was the most memorable, where the 747 pilot executed a CAT II approach. Breaking out of the clouds, you could see the breath-taking scene of Tokyo lights.

Regards..

[rabbitcancer]

I always be fond of the A340 flight from Toronto to Hong Kong.
Mostly because I joined the mile-high club that day.

Secondly because was a beautiful plane.


RabbitCancer
Together, we can find a cure...

[FlyerJeff]

I was on a Delta 727 connecting flight from Cincinatti to Albany, and near the end of the trip when we were descending, there was just clouds and clouds, I was kinda worried that we would be landing in 0 visibility and that the runway would come suddenly, but then we broke through the clouds we came to a dark, rainy, lighted up Albany. We landed on the runway with a slight bounce, and using slightly more runway becuase of the slickness, but we got there safely.

As you see, the return flights were ok, as Im here, arent I? :-lol.

I still think nearly everyone we flew over heard us, as a 727 is old, but Im not sure how noisy they are.

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[dinger]

Hey rabbitcancer, who was it with? Was it with a flight attendant? :)

My most memorable flight was one I took with my parents in 1993, from Vancouver to Shanghai. It was a pretty hectic 11-hour affair, aboard an Air China 747SP, which made it really cool since those planes were so rare and are now almost all out of service. Needless to say, that flight gave me a bad impression of the 747SP that still lasts! Anyone who has flown Air China can testify to the fact that they are rarely on schedule. Our flight was already an hour late by the time the boarding call was made, and it takes at least an hour to get everyone boarded and settled on a plane that size. We left the terminal a couple of hours late, and as we just finished the safety presentation and began taxiing across the tarmac, the plane comes to a halt again and the pilot's voice comes onto the PA, announcing humbly that an engine had broken and needed to be repaired! It was engine #1, and as I was sitting on the left side, I saw a group of mechanics drive up in a Ford F150 and open up the lid while we all sat there for another two hours. Arg, what a delay. And now we get to take off on an 11-hour haul wondering if that darn engine is gonna go again.:) Fortunately it was pretty eventless and we touched down 11 hours later.

[Vike]

Ah, fond memories of flying from Cyprus to London Gatwick on a British Airways L1011 Tristar with way less than 100 passengers - everyone had at least 3 seats to themselves if they wanted them. As soon as we took off, I stretched out across my four seats before one the stewerdesses told me that first class was empty and to help myself!

A couple of hours into the flight, and the crew were really relaxed cos they didn't have too much to do and they gave me the full tour: first in the lift (elevator if you speak Americana) down to the galley where we sampled some fine brandy and then off to the cockpit to have a chat with the pilots and ask lots of daft questions.

Settling back into first class, the rest of the flight was soooo comfortable, relaxed and the atmosphere was just really chearful, with everyone chatting to everyone else and the crew joining in. My only complaint was the flight was too short (around 4 hours I think).

They don't do flights like that anymore :(

Adam
The FS2K2 Homepage
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[mlevy1]

Do you remember what direction you landed in? I live right under the approach for RWY 19 at KALB (Albany "International" in Albany NY). About 6 or 8 miles North of the airport, ridge of our house is about where the centerline of most aircraft are on the approach...

[junky354]

My most memoralble was a flight during the last weekend in October in 2001. I flew in a 737-300 continental from Albuquerque to Houston. As you may notice it was after 9-11 so i got to see all the security that was up. Also on the flight there was a storm in Houston from the time we had taken off. We were set up in a holding pattern above Houston for an hour and our connecting flight to Milwalkee was sceduled to deparute 57 minutes after we landed on scedule. After an hour in the pattern we finally got clearnce to land and I had a window seat. It was overcast and I kept on looking down and didn't see the runway. Then we hit some turbulence and the airplane fell quite some ways. The baby that was sitting next to me was screaming,"woohoo". As I looked out about 500 feet above the ground we broke out of the clouds luckly before we had to do a missed aprroach.

Everybody was quiet till we landed then everybody started breaking out and talking wene we were on the ground. What a reilef! As it turned out the connecting flight to Milwalkiee was delayed and was also my first flight in an ERJ-145. I was excited! The flight was uneventful to Milwalkiee and the return trip was also uneventful.

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3cf43d8403c2dcc3.jpg

[rtriez]

I had a similer experiance about 8 years ago from Boston Logan to London Gatwick. It was a 747 with very few pax. My wife & I both had an entire row to ourselves. I doubt they made much profit on that flight.

And rabbitcancer: you KNEW that one was comming to you did you not ? (or was that the intent you masochistic Mr. "Bash Me Please" freak :-lol)


Best Regards,

Bob :-wave

[link:www.neumanflight.com|http://www.neumanflight.com/yabbse/YaBBImages/logo1.jpg]

[rabbitcancer]

LOL!

Hi Bob!

- Not Really, I just thought I would share one of my more interesting escapades.

Too bad they deleted that topic. There were some really good cracks from all sides.
I should have kept an eye on it though. I wasn't watching it in the evening and someone "apparently" went overboard. According to Jeff the moderator, two people starting battling it out in my absence and one of the stupid dweebs hit the Alert button. Jeff told me 'it had the potential of getting out of hand.'
So they killed it.

Ah well.

No more dwelving in my own masochistic fantasies anymore, I guess...:)

Nice to share 'mile high' stories with a fellow member. :)


RabbitCancer
Together, we can find a cure...

[rabbitcancer]

Man, those tri-stars were great as long as you weren't in the back.

I think they were designed long before anyone thought of sound-insulating the cabin from the tail engine.


RabbitCancer
Together, we can find a cure...

[Speedpig]

A tale of good fortune?
I flew on a Delta 727 from KATL to KCVG back in the days when I was interested in collecting tail numbers of aircraft I flew in, so noted the number.
2 days later I saw a news report with footage of a Delta 727 crashed at KDFW. Clearly visible was the tail number.............
eeeek!
I have flown into KJFK on only 3 occasions (don't like New York). 2 were on full emergency.

I flew on Saudia many times.....enough said.

I have flown a great many times (airline staff 18 years) but have never experienced a go round and only one aborted take off (USAir 737-400 KPIT)

I have had 2 very long flights (EGKK-KPHX and EGKK-FIMP....Mauritius) riding on crew rest seats......never again and suffered very severe clear air turbulence on several flights, but I will still very happily jump on an aircraft to go anywhere, anytime.

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3cc8f87506613f5b.jpg

[flyerBoy]

less than a week ago i flew on a qantas 767-328 into melbourne(australia) from nadi (fiji)
crosswind on approach to 27
hehe

[Detch]

Hee hee,

I too joined the mile high club on a flight to Hong Kong! Vancouver to Hong Kong. Flew Cathay Pacific ... which is just an outstanding airline. Service is outstanding and offers very good food ... even in coach. The part of the flight I will never forget was approach and landing (into the old airport ... not the new island). Was amazing to look out and see buildings mere feet away. Then the landing. The pilot hit at the wrong angle and we bounced from one set of gear to the other down the runway. After we arrived safely my seatmate (a retired major from the airforce) laughed and said: "I've flown millions of flights but that was the first time I thought I was gonna die!" Shakey and white as a ghost I patiently waited to deboard the aircraft and then proceeded to chain smoke three cigarettes in succesion after I reached the first smoking area I found!

Detch

[yokeman]

This topic seems to be limited to commercial. Anyone had good or lousy flights on military?

Yokeman

[dickwilhelm]

Hey Yokeman,

Noted you are looking for good or lousy military flights. Although I have not flown military since 1969, I seem to recall that the words "good" and "military flights" never ever occurred in the same paragraph, or on the same page for that matter.

In 1966, I and 60 others boarded an Air Force C124 in Charleston SC destined for Allbrook AFB in Panama. A fire in one of the radio bays caused our takeoff to be aborted. Fortunately they got it (the fire) under control before we would have to evacuate the plane. the emergency slide was a knotted rope hanging out the back door. Unfortunately, they were able to fix the problem in about 24 hours and we did finally depart.

Can't tell you how long it takes for a C124 to go from South Carolina to Panama as it is difficult to distinguish between the number "a really-really lot" and "infinity" but it is sufficient to say that it consumed a very significant part of my life.

A C124 is a large plane and can easily hold a lot more than 60 people plus crew. These 60 were, however, enroute to live on Easter Island for a year and had with them, a years worth of underwear changes, so the cargo load was rather impressive. Cargo down the middle and passengers in canvas web seats along the side of the plane. If you were 5 ft 6 in or more, you could use that cargo as an ottoman.

Upstairs (by the way the C124 was a two-story airplane) a steel deck made from the hardest metal known to man offered an attractive place to lay down, stretch out, and get tenderized (starting with the brain) by the incessant vibrations. Believe me, it wasn't long before we were begging the pilot to hang a hard left and head for the Bermuda Triangle.

We made Panama sometime that same year only to find that the same marvelous aircraft that brought us there would "help" us get to San Diego Chile in a few days. I won't bore you with the trip to San Diego but I am proud to say that I was one of the handful that cleaned out the Base Exchange stock of air mattresses which greatly tamed the upstairs deck of that so memorable airplane.

I have found a good rendition of the C124 in the Flightsim libraries and I still get the greatest pleasure from landing the dam thing wheels-up.

Cheers
Dick

[yokeman]

Hey yourself,

To say the least, that must have been an interesting flight. With Uncle Sammy any good flight is one where the plane doesn't crash. Seems to me I did a radar repair on one of those once. The interior was cavernous. I was assigned to B-47s, but managed to work on anything that was crazy enough to touch down at Lockbourne. Even a Marine Panther one time. One of these days I'll tell ya about the R&R from hell which is similar to your excursion.

Yokeman

[dickwilhelm]

I'd love to hear it.

Dick

[yokeman]

Anyone who has flown Uncle Sam Airlines knows that they don't waste money on amenities or comfort. Back in 61 I was an airborne guidance tech on the Atlas at Cheyenne. Being a well behaved airman I was selected from my squadron for a weekend R&R to Honolulu. I really didn't want to go (I had bad vibes about it), but no one in his right mind turns down such a singular honor from the squadron commander. So I went with the foolish notion that GI magots might be treated better on an R&R than the usual mission. Funny how hope springs eternal.

It was January and the temp was going down to 30 below at night. We picked up inflight rations and parachutes at base ops and boarded a C-47 (DC-3). The seats were a long metal bench on each side of the cabin. The chutes made nice back rests. Over the Rockies the plane began to immitate a roller coaster. I soon realized it had been a mistake to devour the greasy mess hall chicken provided for lunch.

Somewhere over Idaho an engine developed a hacking cough and had to be feathered. The red light over the door went on. This made people nervous. We strapped on the chutes. An overstuffed major began to stomp up and down the aisle swearing his head off while chewing on a stogie. I figured he was scared. The chances of surviving a night on the ground were nill, especially in class A uniform, so I decided to stay with the plane even if the remaining engine quit. It didn't and we made it to Fairchild in Spokane a tad late. It was raining and the base was all mud.

The following morning a KC-135 (butchered 707) refueling tanker was rolled out for us. It reeked of JP4. More metal benches to sit on. I'm surprised they bothered to remove the fuel tanks. We got the word - if you use the honey bucket you clean it. Everyone held it until we got to Hickam. I found that airmen developed humongous colons and bladders. I got into the habit of fasting. It was a loooong flight.

The cabin was uninsulated so they passed out cotton balls to stuff in our ears. Nice of them to think of that. Far above the Pacific it got so cold we wrapped our feet in our overcoats to warm them. Being packed side by side in the seats we swapped body warmth. I stood at the boom operators blister and looked a long way down to the blue Pacific.

It was warm and sunny at Hickam. I found the 35 bucks I had didn't go very far in Honolulu. I walked along Waikiki like a beach bum. The return trip was uneventful except for the usual GI crap. When we landed in Cheyenne Auntie Em and Toto were waiting. I said "there's no place like home". I was ready for a real R&R. I wondered if who ever came up with that idea had a warped sense of humor.

Yokeman

[dickwilhelm]

Yokeman

Sounds quite brutal. On most of my leaves involving travel, I managed to get standby on commercial. If you wore a uniform, you could usually get away with it. However, when traveling at the military's "pleasure," it was quite the way you pictured it. Brought back some awful memories.

You and I must be of similar vintage. I was in AF from 1963 to 1970.

Was thinking as I read your account that maybe the military was "dumb like a fox." They called it R&R but it was really just an exercise to make you feel better about your home base. Sounds like it worked.

Dick

[deaddonkey]

my most memorable?
In a fokker 50, the pilot asked me did I want to come back in for landing after seeing the cockpit. It was great!
after that, a shorts 360 at dublin EIDW in a hefty crosswind.

John

[yokeman]

Hi Dick,

Yeh, we seem to be about the same vintage. My hitch was up in March of 62, but since the Atlas ICBM was super critical at that time and we were having some sort of political crisis somewhere in the world they tagged an extra year on me. I had enrolled in a college and was all set to go, but all that went down the drain. Things eventually quieted down and they reluctantly turned me loose. The best R&R ever began the day I drove out the main gate a free man.

Yokeman

[jhender501]

Nothing horrible happened, but my most memorable flight
was probably the one from COS-DEN (Stapleton)-ATL-MIA-SJU.
Left COS at 10PM one evening on a twin otter to DEN..boarded
a 727 to ATL. Had to hang around ATL for several hours before
boarding an L1011 to MIA and SJU. By the time I got to SJU,
I was a zombie (I don't sleep on planes) and still had to
rent a car to drive to Mayaguez. By the time I got there,
I was out of it. The trip back was ATL-MIA-DEN-COS..L10/727/
Twin otter..however, I missed the connecting flight to DEN
and had to wait around ATL for several hours. By the time I
got to DEN, there were no flights to COS..I rented a car at
1AM to drive to COS..I got about 15 miles from DEN when the
rental car died. I called the rental company..they sent a
cab to get me. The cab driver took a "short cut" to the airport
and got lost. I finally got home to Colorado Springs about 5AM.
A 3 day business trip to Puerto Rico and I think I got about 8
hours sleep the whole trip.


Jim

[FL280]

I've got one for you. Departed SFO on the famous Singapore Airlines flight 1 to Hong Kong and on to Singapore one July morning in 2001 at about 1:30 AM. After boarding the plane, the British fellow next to me in the exit row of the 747-400 said, "I hope that typhoon doesn't mess up our arrival." I had not heard of this typhoon, so I didn't pay it any more mind.

About 11 hours later (!!!) and still about two hours from touchdown at Chek Lap Kok, I was gazing at the "airshow" display on my LCD screen at my seat (I cannot sleep on airplanes) when I noticed suddenly that the destination listed had changed from "Hong Kong" to "Manila." After about 10 minutes of confusion-filled discussion with my adjacent passengers, a flight crewmember came on the PA and announced that the typhoon had indeed struck the Hong Kong area with sustained winds of nearly 100 MPH. Not that it mattered after hearing the windspeed, but the winds were apparently also a direct crosswind to the parallel runways at HKG. Needless to say, 100 at 90 degrees exceeds the crosswind component of the -400!

So, on we went on the diversion to the Phillipines. After a left turn due south toward Manila, nearly 30 minutes passed as I sat on the Airfone with SIA representatives trying to figure out how I was going to make my connection to Singapore. I was nearly ready to hop on Phillipine Air, I was so desperate to get to my destination.

Soon the Airshow display stopped showing "Manila" and instead flashed "Lombok." The British guy next to me thankfully knew Lombok as a city in the northeastern part of Indonesia. So at least we were heading in the right direction, I figured! But it was not to be.

The captain again came on the PA and announced that upwards of 100 airplanes originally bound for Hong Kong had found themselves having to divert to other locations around Asia. Manila's gate and ramp space had quickly swelled to capacity, and though we could land the -400 there, we would have nowhere to park or refuel (let alone deplane!). So we made a sweeping 180 degree turn and headed north for ... Tokyo!

Two hours later, we commenced our final approach for Narita after having been in the air for close to 16 hours straight. We were later to learn that the pilots received the "all clear" as far as Hong Kong's weather situation just as they commenced their ILS approach at Narita. However, we neither had the fuel or the reserves to reroute again and head for our original destination, Hong Kong.

So there we were, in Narita at 8 AM at a gate which hadn't been expecting us, with a flight crew and cabin crew which weren't legally allowed to work anymore.

Seven hours (and three boarding-disembarking episodes) later, SIA cobbled together a cabin and flight crew and sent us on our way to Hong Kong and eventually to Singapore. I arrived at Changi a mere 14 hours late, and my friends who left San Francisco 12 hours after me on United's afternoon departure through Hong Kong actually arrived at Changi 45 minutes ahead of me.

This was the long flight to end all long flights, and I wouldn't have rather been on any other airline in the world. SIA's staff on the ground and especially in the plane were unfailingly helpful, composed and polite, even after having been on duty for nearly 20 hours. If a 14-hour delay and diversion can be a pleasure, this was, thanks entirely to Singapore Airlines.

I just don't want to repeat it anytime soon!

[FlyerJeff]

If 19 was the active at all times, then yes.

It was June.. 20 something, at about 9. Looks like the airport is really low on traffic then, we were practically the only plane there, so It should be easy to isolate out of other plane noises.

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