I love flying. I have certainly done enough over the past several decades with work. But I love the thrill of excelleration as the plane ramps up its speed to liftoff and you are pressed into your seat as you climb up thru twenty, thirty and finally forty thousand feet. I love flying on different kinds of planes. I have been on a wide variety planes from a Glider to a private jet to a 747 and many styles inbetween both prop and jet. I think it started when I was a kid and we flew across country in the early 1960’s on a four prop passenger flight. Looking out the window as the massive propellers slowly coulghed sputtered and turn.
Even I was concerned about the 15 hours non stop from Los Angeles to Sydney. I have been on long flights before but this is definitely the longest. And we cross the International date line which makes it even more confusing for how to address Jet Lag. My usual tact is to set my watch when I get on board for the time at my destination and from the moment on, try to live in that time zone. It usually works. But 18 HOURS? and a Day! My hats off to you Carol Hushaw for doing this on a regular basis.
As I said, I love to fly. Airports though are another story. I do remember the days when you could just get to the airport 20 minutes before your flight, walk straight to your plane and leave. Every year that seems to get more and more difficult. During my accumulation of over 2 million actual airmails I learned to hate airports. They are WAIT factories. They are massive buildings filled with crap you don’t want to buy, not enough seats for the number of people in the waiting, constant paging, poorly regulated climate control, noisy, and full of things to frustrate the travellers
"Attention Passengers, Flight XYZ has been delayed due to potential for rain somewhere else. Your new departure time is blah. Please remain in the buiding, bored and irritated."
Even I was amazed at the rebuilt LAX International terminal. It looked like something out the movies. A cross between Blade Runner and Minority Report.
While I was exploring the incredible size and sights of the terminal……..
I love to fly. I became like my Grandson Gavin when we travelled by bus from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal and we passed by all those plans viewed from a Ground level. Small planes, big planes, and Jumbo 747 planes. I was giddy with excitement. When we turned the corner and there before my eyes were two of the biggest damn planes I had ever seen. I almost lept and tugged on Joan’s shirt. Look! Look! Look at the size of those planes! Even better they had the Quantas logo painted on their tails. Could one these possibly be our plane? I couldn’t wait to jump off the bus and discover that I was in for a thrill.
A new Airbuss A-380 800 Jumbo Jet. Mine for the next 15 hours. I was so excited taking pictures and observing that I almost missed our boarding with Joan, Steve, and Fran looking at me like “where have you been?”. I said “It’s a double decker! I wonder if we are upstairs or down? I hope we are up (my favorite section on 747). “ The gate agent said go down the corrider and then take the escalator up. My heart pounded with joy!.
OMG is this plane big…….
The upstairs is all Business Class or Premium Economy which is where we are. Starboard side.
Steve and Fran are on the other side
First of the Day! We are off to the Land Down Under.
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