My first fight on a jumbo was coming home from Bali in 1980. Garuda Airlines had just picked up 2, it was their maiden flights. We sat at the end of the runway for about an hour. We assumed they were reading the manuals.
2 Likes
I agree the 747 is one of the mast beautiful aircraft ever built, so far. Unfortunately some of the other most beautiful and awe inspiring aircraft are designed to kill and maim our fellow human. Why as a species are we so hell bent on killing each other, if only somebody with a sense of reality was in charge.
1 Like
If you could answer that youād go to the top of class, guess basically weāre greedy bunch and fear the unknown.
In the early days the closest I got to the upstairs bubble was when I got to go and visit the flight deck. Back then the bubble was usually used as a lounge area for 1st class passengers. When I climbed the spiral staircase to the cockpit I always tried to take a peek the other way, but it was always off limits.
The first time I got to actually sit up in the bubble was on the BA JFK-LHR service in the early '90s. It was on a 747-200 and basically used as a special quiet economy section, and one I used a fair bit on the friday evening JFK-LHR flights.
After that it was just on some of the very long haul flights out east, this time on 747-400s with their much enlarged bubble, usually with Malaysian Airlines as that was probably the best value Business Class at the time. I liked Malaysian Airlines, especially on a couple of flights where they were overbooked in business so I got upgraded to first class and a proper bed, which was just what you want on a flight to Auckland.
The only I got upstairs was a business trip in 1999 to NY, just about had the bubble to myself. Most of my fights were spent in cattle class downstairs at the back.
[quote=āRichard.Dane, post:45, topic:10085ā]
especially on a couple of flights where they were overbooked in business so I got upgraded to first class
[/quote].
Picture the scene ā¦ itās Saudi Arabia, itās a few days before Christmas, and thereās not a spare ticket to be had due to the tsunami of ex-pats rushing to get home.
Iāve already checked in for my KLM fight, when the p.a. system calls for me to return to the desk, where, before I can even see him, I can hear an extremely angry and raised voice shouting the odds and banging the counter about a problem with his documentation.
The charming KLM employee smiles at me and explains that there has been an error and that Mr. Angry should have my boarding card, and that they will try their best to get me aboard.
Off he stomps, with a smug grin in my direction, clutching his ticket to my cattle class seat, and once he has gone, I am handed a First Class boarding card instead.
Merry Christmas, Dave. 
16 Likes
Nice one my son.
2 Likes
I still have my Junior Jet Club log book, somewhere.
The Comet was, I think, one of the most beautiful looking commercial airliners. I flew on a few, the first time being on a flight from Singapore to Heathrow, in about 1961, with BOAC. I flew on a few since. Very small, compared with more modern aircraft, of course.
2 Likes
I came back from Tanzania to the UK in the economy section in the bubble and it was really nice. I suspect I got the seat as it was a two stop flight and the passengers from Dar Es Salam got the better seats than those getting on in Nairobi.
A couple of years later on the same flight at check -in I naively asked to go in the bubble and was told by the rather haughty BA check in operator that the bubble was for business class users only .
I shrank a few inches at the temerity of my suggestion
But thanks Richard for reminding me that once upon a time economy passengers flew in the bubble with BA (and it was very nice, a forerunner of Premium Economy)
I like that photo, the 747 looks very smart in the BOAC livery.
I have only flown on a jumbo once, I remember being quite excited at the prospect. It generally seemed to be āTri-starsā serving the London to Pittsburgh run back in the 80ās.
Yes, the BOAC livery was really smart. The BA Negus livery that followed was not so great, especially as they couldnāt stop fiddling with the airlineās name on the side! However, all was forgiven with the Landor livery, which remains one of the smartest of any airline, I reckon.
I have to admit I came close to crashing my car on the M25 a few years ago while I was approaching the Heathrow T5 junction and a BOAC jumbo flew low right over the motorway, while coming into land. For a moment I thought maybe I was in some weird timewarp, but quickly twigged that the Jumbo in question was a later 400 with the stretched upper deck. But, gosh, it did look really smart, and I delighted in spotting in after that, although sadly never got to fly in it.
For those, like me, who were of a certain age when the Jumbo arrived back at the start of the '70s, the image on this wonderful postage stamp will evoke memories of what it was like to see one up close for the first timeā¦
4 Likes
Well it wasnāt BOAC, but it was a VC10. Many years ago I used to work as a civilian engineer in the RAF and occasionally I had to go to the US for meetings. At the time the RAF had some VC10s that it used to fly across the Atlantic and so most of my flights were in their VC10s. The seats were all facing backwards as this was safer in the event of a crash or other unfortunate landing apparently. There wasnāt much legroom and there was almost no sort of service on board. No movie, nondescript food and no alcohol of course.
The first flight I made was from Brize Norton to Dulles International and because of an aircraft fault we had to fly lower and slower than planned, so had to land and refuel at Gander in Canada. The flight took 12 hours instead of 8 and so I missed the onwards connection to Florida that evening.
When we disembarked at Brize Norton on the return we were all herded into a shed and then called forward in order of rank to collect your bags and present them to the customs guys.
This all seems a long time agoā¦
Best
David
1 Like
Concorde to me had a beauty none of the others come anywhere near to matching. Whikst I fully understand the fuel/pollution aspect, it seems such a shame that no other passenger aircraft are a patch on it for speed (let alone looks!).
There was of course Concordskiā¦
2 Likes
āThere was of course Concordskiā¦ā
ā¦it didnāt last long.
I fully understand the fuel/pollution aspect: where talking beauty here. 
The VC10 had a very good reputation in commercial airlines - very airworthy (didnāt it have a short landing distance?) and nice and quiet with the engines in the back.
1 Like
I used to fly them half a dozen times a year to/from Khartoum & Nairobi, BOAC & BA. Yes a nice plane, quiet & comfortable, probably the best in the air in their day; that all changed when the 747 & other wide bodies arrived. I liked the Lockheed L-1011 āTriStarā, that was a regular on the Africa & Mideast routes after the VC10 was retired
1 Like
Yes the āTristarā was in its day very good and i used to fly it with Northwest Orient into Detroit from Gatwick. Excellent service, very quiet up front in business class. When we moved to Detroit with our then 4 year old daughter she could not believe how big and roomy the plane and seats wereā¦we were in business class and luckily for us allā¦she fell asleep.
Thanks for sharing, David. I guess that experience probably put you off the VC10!