Flying Commercial Passenger Jets!

Laverda SF

Laverda SF

Hero member
Back in a 72 winter, I was in route from Toronto boarding a DC9 to Saint Paul Minneapolis with a stop over in Chicago, grabbed a 707 dead head crew to continue which was weathered in at St Paul and I ended up in Denver then few with that crew the rest of the way to St Paul in a 727.

I was the only passenger on that 707 and 727 sitting with that stewardess and crew.

Don't care much about a DC8 or DC9 but that 707 was at 39,000 ft buy the time we reached the end of the runway going straight up with wings flapping with nothing on board - Amazing power a 707 has.

But that 727 was a DREAM - Flew like a dart and best passenger comfort I've ever experienced with a stewardess downing martinis with me.

Yah! I was 24 hours late but what a memorable ride ;o)

FUCK ME if I was to board a 737 !
737's where a new plane back then and tended to fall outta the air - They still do with the MAX 9.

I was a Photographer for Chromalloy at the time and 24 years old .

Really haven't flown much passenger jets since.

PS: Can tell you stories about hopping all over Canada on DC9's, DC8's and Stretch 8's for a few years.
DC8's and Stretch 8's fly like a boat with the bow up that never gets on plane - LOL
 
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I was in a Dash8 circling the runway in fog in PNG.

When the pilot said he was going to have a go at landing, because fuel was low, I was relieved.

When a stream of green leaves went past my window, I figured we were pretty close to the ground already 😳
 
I was watching a video about the 10 most dangerous Airports around the world, no mention of PNG. Some of those Highland strips there were way crazier than the video I watched. Size of a Cricket Pitch ending in a massive cliff.
 
I flew back to London on an air Nigeria 707, from Kano (Nigeria) because a flight on the then British Caledonian was not available, I hope I never have to do that again!
CLEM
 
My first commercial flight was on a Dan Air ‘Vomet’ (yes a version of those early jet liners with squarish windows that also fell out of the sky a lot). I wouldn’t want to repeat that either. Flapped its wings like an ornithopter all the way to Venice airport.
 
Flying commercial passenger jets is such an exciting topic! It’s not something everyone gets to experience firsthand. What’s fascinating about it is the level of responsibility that pilots have. You're in charge of getting hundreds of people safely to their destination, which is exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. I've always wondered how pilots manage the long hours, especially on those lengthy international flights. It must be a mix of adrenaline and a lot of training.
As a passenger, especially when flying long-haul, I can’t help but appreciate the comfort of travel business class flights. The extra space and amenities make a difference, especially when you're stuck in the air for hours.
 
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I'm lucky enough to have spent more than a year of my life (9500 Hrs.) not in contact with the planet's surface.
Expense is the principal reason they didn't give the passengers in the back, Gulfstreams excepted, decent sized windows, like they had in the unpressurised days.
The views I had, sitting up front, were fantastic.
A couple of the more interesting aiports I used to fly in and out of:




 (from 6:45)
 
The Sock said:
I'm lucky enough to have spent more than a year of my life (9500 Hrs.) not in contact with the planet's surface.
Expense is the principal reason they didn't give the passengers in the back, Gulfstreams excepted, decent sized windows, like they had in the unpressurised days.
The views I had, sitting up front, were fantastic.
A couple of the more interesting aiports I used to fly in and out of:




 (from 6:45)
Click to expand...

.........Hamish , are you aware of a YouTube channel called Pilot Debrief , presented by an American bloke called Hoover ............... He details mainly private light aircraft accidents , which do not usually end well .....

He can be quite critical of FAA findings , and aviation company practices and failings , and so on .......

Not quite as morbid as it sounds ( well it is a bit ) , but he analyses and presents each incident thoughtfully .... sort of thing which may interest you ......
 
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Bob Hoover was an amazing pilot! I was privileged to meet him once when his P-51 was sponsored by Evergreen Aviation and was painted yellow with green trim. Truly a real gentleman.
 
Yes but the current/new one is also surrounded by water being built on reclaimed land attached to Lantau Island. The old Kai tak involved a sharp r/h turn and dropping down through high rise buildings before landing.
If you were on the r/h side of the plane you could look into people's living rooms. Was once in a helicopter hovering waiting for clearance to cross the airport. There is a big cross on the mountain range crossing the new territories that the pilot aimed for before making that right hand turn.
Interesting perspective watching planes approach from that helicopter.
 
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I remember the plane landing, scary as hell. Thought the plane wouldn't stop before the runway ended.....
 
I was ok when flying with Cathey, Singapore or Thai,
It was worried when flying with some of the Chinese airlines. Once flying China Eastern air the door was missing on the cockpit and I had to fix my seatbelt buckle so it would clamp. Lucky I had my model making toolbox with me. The good old days when you could take a knife on board.
Business trips to China were always a worry.
 
back in the 80s I was a passenger on an internal flight in West Africa, some local airline never heard of before, dodgy looking jet plane that looked like it had been built from a box of bits the like of which appear at autojumbles. They allowed a few standing passengers in the isle, including a goat on a lead.
 
Having been diverted from Banjul to Dakar in Senegal my wife and i were waiting in the terminal when she spotted an old wreck by the side of the runway. I recognised it as an old rear engined Caravelle. I told my wife it was probably used for fire drills or towing practice. Of course it then taxied out took off.
 
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