The first time you flew in a plane..Was it stressful?

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Airline Revenge

Last year I went to Vegas. Comming back, the fat fellow next to me who had hair places I didn't rightly know you could have hair (the face of his nose for one), decided to take up my space as well. Fortunately I had the window seat and could retreat into the cavity created by the curve of the aeroplane body. Anyway I got my revenge on him when they served lunch durring severe turbulance (about six feet to a transition); he began getting somewhat airsick, but I was not troubled, so I began greedily eating my sandwich. The fat guy took one look at his and put it in his seat pocket. He took one look at me, turned green, and I swear I could hear him thinking "He's not eatin' that sammich, he's not eatin' that sammich..." HAHAHA
 
The best post-60's air travel I've ever had was Virgin Atlantic from SFO to Heathrow, and back. They were truly amazing. It didn't hurt that I was flying business class and had requested the upper deck where there were only about five passengers total. Yeah, I know, upstairs it's probably a death trap in a crash but I don't dwell on such things.

Flew United to Japan a couple of times. It was OK, except for once when I really had to get there that day and they cancelled the flight due to mechanical problems before takeoff, and there was no other flight until the next morning. They wanted to put me up in some hotel at the airport. I had to wheedle with them to get them to give me a ride back home (I had been picked up by a company limo to get to the airport in the first place). It was amazing considering the ride home was probably a lot cheaper for them than the hotel stay. What really burned me is that my coworkers got my phone message wrong and started saying I'd missed my flight. LOL. But we did get there and back in one piece.

I remember flying inter-island in Hawaii in the mid 80's and experiencing very weird cabin wall behavior. The outer walls were flexing so much they would pinch my fingers if I left them on the window-side armrest. A couple years later the roof blew off one of those jets in flight. I wasn't surprised.
 
Let's see, I'm terrified of heights, I hate travelin

Yeah, I'd say my first time was stressful. And the time after that. And all of those other times since then.

My sister loves flying. I just can't figure that out. Even if it weren't for all of my personal quirks, it's still uncomfortable and annoying.

The first time I was in an airplane, I was headed to Florida for a cruise. Rather than pack my suit for the Captain's Dinner, I wore it (it was winter anyway, so I needed something warm). It was a short commuter hop, and I was wedged in a tiny 3-seat row between two men who each weighed over 300lbs, and wearing a three-piece suit.

To try and calm myself as much as possible, I decided to read the Safety Instruction Card in the seat pocket. I was mildly amused (enough to keep me from freaking out anyway, and that was the purpose of reading) to see that, according to the card, the plane I was on was comfortable, spacious, and quiet. 0 out of 3 ain't good, to coin a phrase.

It was a VERY short flight, but it was still a time when the arilines thought they should try to appear to provide service, so there were snacks and beverages.

When the amusement of the comfortable, quiet, spacious cabin in which I was being nearly crushed by my seatmates and deafened by the roar of the engines and air-conditioning had nearly worn off, I found myself laughing openly at the beverage/snack service. The entirety of the 20-minute flight was occupied by the flight attendants rushing down the aisle, doling out coffee or soda and pretzels as fast as they could, running back with the cart so that they could secure it, and then demanding the empty cups and bags so they could get them in the trash before we began descent. Hilarious.

The Chicago-Florida leg wasn't nearly as funny or memorable.

My last flight, to Las Vegas for training, was a nightmare. For a two-day work training session, I spent just about exactly 24 hours in airports and planes. My flights were delayed and canceled, and I arrived in a strange place at 1AM (scheduled at 8PM), with no way to get to my hotel, 40 miles out in the desert. Of course, all of the airport's usual Customer Service facilities had closed many hours prevoius. I'll never fly United/TED again, no matter what. I met dozens of people in various Ticket lines in three cities who said the same thing.

I would have taken the train, but they were sold out.

-kevin
 
Alan, one time I was flying with my dad, and we hit a really bad air pocket and the poor stew was thrown up to the roof, and then landed across a row of (thankfully) empty seats. She was really bruised up badly, and dislocated her shoulder.

To add insult to injury, it was in the days when the stewardesses had to wear those really short skirts, so the whole cabin got a show. The gal was a trooper though, and even got a laugh out of it.

With air pockets and turbulence being a reality, I never figured how they could have things like the first class lounge on the 747 or the "friendship rooms" in coach (as in this ad from United) Not that they lasted very long.

 
With all due respect to Whirlcool-----

American actually did operate Constellations.

Anxious to join the "Big League" of PA(and TW)at the close of WWII, AA was allowed to merge (absorb) American Export Airlines (approved by the CAB in June 1945. By November AA was offering international service between New York and London using C-54's converted to DC-4 configuration.
New York,Boston London was soon added. And of course, especially westbound in the winter (due to strong headwinds) fuel stops were often if not always made at either Shannon, Gander or both. Eventually service began between Chicago-London, New York-Shannon-Amsterdam,New York-Copenhagen-Stockholm,and Washington-Philadelphia-Shannon-London.

Since the DC-4 aircraft were neither pressurized nor speedy (for the day), by Fall 1946 Lockheed 049 Constellations, eventually totalling seven, were introduced to the fleet, to the great relief of pax and crew alike I'm sure.

The international division being known as AOA or American Overseas Airlines, eventually grew to operate eight Boeing 377 Stratocruisers as well. By 1947 AOA had introduced service to Helsinki, Glasgow,Rekjavik, Frankfurt, and Berlin.

It was a noble effort, but not a money-making one. The trans-Atlantic traffic was just not enough to sustain PA,TW and AA in the post-WWII world. Talks were quietly begun with PA about a take-over. After the usual haggling and sabre-rattling, the CAB finally approved the merger on Sepetember 25th, 1950.

And so it went, another of the great chapters in the "golden age" of commercial aviation.

My earliest memories of flying were one of my parents pulling me up the aisle of a DC-3 toward the favored front row of seats. The DC-3 being quite the tail-wagger in bad weather, it was better to brave the roar of the engines and propellers up front than have your face in a barf- bag for hours on end in the rear. (Whirlcool---did you fly "threes" at NC or 580's? Would love to hear the stories sometime. BTW, anytime you want to pick my mind for "red-tail" history feel free to let 'er rip!)

I have flown on many different types of airliners now, piston, propeller-turbine, pure-jet, fan-jet,etc. and many different airlines as well. Throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies I flew often and loved every minute of it. I am so glad I was able to experience the "golden age".
That all changed at the close of the 1970's with "de-regulation" and its been down-hill ever since.

At this point I would tend to agree with Sudsmaster's assesment. I know----- cynical of me isn't it.

My two-shekels.
 
Ah, if only I had the space to let you know half the stuff I've seen happen in the cabin.......

Where is Airway Charlie? He's an F/A. I am positive he could add some input to this thread.

Back in the early 70's the 747 and DC-10 had those lounges at the back of the plane. Most even included a stand up bar manned by a flight atendant. I know AA, CO, UA had them. On Continental, they even had a small electric piano back there, bolted down of course. The seats and sofas had seatbelts installed, but if turbulent weather was expected passengers were moved back to their assigned seats.
It wasn't too long before the airlines discovered that you could rip out those lounges and put many more seats in. The thinking is seats=dollars!
I had the opportunity to non-rev on a few flights with lounges. What fun. It sure made the travel time fly by!
 
Whirlcool-

Those old "piano-bars" were fun. Just an indicator of how lame the traffic was during the intro of the wide-bodies.

I can remember my favorite was flying DL's 747's between ATL-LAX (with a stop at DFW) or SFO. The "Early-Bird" flights were so cheap I always went first-class. The up-stairs cabin on DL's (6AM or so) departure was almost always totally empty and there were many a flight spent in solitary splendor (or with something equally young and pretty as I) in that cabin enjoying DL's then (very) "Royal Service". Fit for a queen. (Ya'll hush 'ya 'heah.)

Those were the days!
 
In the late 70's I flew on a classic DC-3 from Tikal to Guatemala City. The only modern thing about the plane was the avionics and the turbo prop engines. The passenger compartment must have been original - down to tubular chromed seat frames and green leatherette upholstery (reminded me of an old streetcar). It was a very pleasant flight, however, and because we were only flying a few thousand feet up, we got great views of the jungle trees. It was over too soon, in about an hour, but it certainly beat the all-day bus trip.
 
Sudsmaster----

I'm sure that was fun and scenic. I know my favorite view of ANY jungle is from above. A thousand feet sounds just right!

The Flights I remember so fondly on the "3's" out of ATL were usually to either MIAQ or LGA, and back in the early to mid-fifties those flights made numerous stops. It was a half-a-day affair to get there, but I loved it.

In the summer months especially in Florida, the late afternoon hours brought those severe thunderstorms a "3" could not out-climb, and without the weather-radar we now take for granted the cockpit crew usually just tried to run through and under the clouds with the lightest colors. Wow could that get rough, and most of the pax got sick. I saw plenty of sick F/A's also!

Funny thing, with the pressurized, and much heavier four-engined piston aircraft such as the DC-7's that were so popular by the mid to late fifties, I still remember wallowing and riding the up and down-draughts, along in the thick of it, when the weather would not co-operate.

The last "3" I flew on was one I hopped aboard down at the Griffin,Ga. airport one summers afternoon when we were in the grips of some minor tropical disturbance. It did have pretty good winds (gusts to 30 or so) with low-level clouds and intermitant imbedded precip. (Just my kind of day for flying on a "3"!). There were about eight of us as we boarded the aircraft----as I rememberd from my childhood years I went right to the front. We had a pretty rough sightseeing trip around the ATL area, but I was fine. I loved it. The same could not be said of those seated towards the rear. The stench told the story and when we got back to Griggin not a few of them deplanned and sat right down on the ramp to try to re-gain some composure.
I'm glad I did not have to clean up the cabin.

Ach! I could write a book!
 
Jungle

In 1970 I flew in a helicoper from Cam Ranh Bay to Saigon. Awesome. Then I flew in a C-141 Starlifter (empty hearse) to Okinawa. That was a wierd trip too. But daily's up Vietnam coast (South China Sea, dawn breaking over the ocean) then over the jungle was the best. Lots of jungle, some flak, occaisional downed F-4. Busy. Busy. Busy.
 
RocketWarrior----

The "empty hearse" must have performed like a "rocket" with almost no load on-board. Speaking of which, at least during the conflict in Vietnam, we Americans could see the grisly scenes on the evening news of the 141's and C-5's unloading the caskets of those who had died.

Unlike our current administration who has "sanitized" the reality of the returning dead troops so as to keep from upsetting those of us looking forward to the evenings talent shows or a trip to the mall. Oh, and don't forget the constant news up-dates on Paris Hiltons horrid plight.

Anyway, I"m glad you lived to tell about it.
 
Whirlcool, I'm here................

reading all the threads and enjoying them. I can't add much because I was living everything, (weekly), the posters are writing about.

A few things aren't quite right, but memories blur and we like to remember the good times.

Now, according to a co-worker, I'm just a cranky old Flight Attendant that, "slam clicks", on layovers and pisses off the passengers that are too stupid...........whoops, I mean inexperienced to know the drill of what flying is like in 2007.

So, for a prederegulated Flight Attendant, who is trying to live in the current world of a trailer with wings, keep those stories coming!

7-14-2007-20-55-8--Air-WayCharlie.jpg
 
Back in the late '80s when there were a ton of regionals flying turboprops, I recall some interesting flights. ASA used to have a big fleet of Brasilias that they flew to feed traffic to ATL. They had a flight that left HSV at 0530. I took that flight several times so I could be in HOU by 1000 for a mid-day meeting.

That flight was never full and sometimes everyone got a little silly on account of the early hour. Those Brasilias were way, way overpowered for their size (had to be to guarantee that they could fly on one engine). Got on the 0530 one morning and there were only about eight pax. FA told jokes over the PA as we taxiied out. At the threshold, the captain applied brakes and then firewalled the throttles. When the brakes were released, that Brasilia shot off the runway like it had been fired out of a cannon! We were turning for ATL before we'd traversed half the length of the runway.

The only really scary moment I've ever had on a flight was on a DL MD80 landing at DFW a long time ago, circa 1990. We came in just ahead of a front. On landing, just as the main gear touched, we suddenly got a huge cross wind. The aircraft went way over to the right edge of the runway, and then the left wing lifted and I watched out the window as the right wing tip came to within about two feet of the dirt next to the runway. Fortunately the flight crew was on the ball and they recovered it. Last year, during an approach to ATL in an MD80 (Delta, when are you finally going to get rid of those things?), we hit some wake turbulence. I've never experienced that before. It wasn't really scary, more of a "hmm, that was different" moment. The A/C rolled left pretty sharply for a moment, nosed down, bobbed around for a moment, and then recovered. I knew it wasn't plain old air turbulence, but I didn't know what it was until the captain announced that we'd had a wake encounter. Other than the weird sensation, the main thing I recall was the toilet seat in the head banging around...
 
Refueling

Part of my 1969-70 aircrew experience was in an RC-135. The missions were 18.5 hours long so we had to refuel. Two tankers would meet us in the Gulf of Tonkin. Refueling was uncomfortable because we had to sit there with our Steven Canyon helmet and parachute on and the motion of the plane, to keep joined with the tanker, could make you sick. Some guys would throw up in their helmet bags.
We had a box of dry ice in the "frig" for the TV dinners. I would bring Freeze-Pops. They hit the spot for the flight back to base after the mission.
 
My first time...and beyond. A white-knuckled flier

My FIRST time flying was stressful. It was a 1980s TWA flight. One of the engines failed and we were left waiting for "a part".
Well, after I fix anything, I usually TEST it for a few days. Yet, TWA wants to jam a part in an engine and let us just rip?
It bothered me and I was flying alone. A replacement EASTERN flight was arranged and TWA paid for it. It was a perfect flight, smooth and included a full hot meal including soup! In spite of this TWA event, flying didn't bother me - but then things changed as I aged.
As I got older I developed a HORRID fear of flying. It really started to get bad in my 30s. I fly for work so filling my water bottle with Gin and Tonics was no longer acceptable (YES, I did that...a lot). I now am on XANAX only for flying and have NO regrets for going on "the pill".
One of my friends is an American pilot - and my clients include BOEING and LOCKHEED. I spoke to pilot Dave and learned a lot about plane safety and felt better... but only XANAX fixed the problem.
 
RocketWarrior----

The -135's must have tended to a bit of "dutch roll" during re-fueling. The 707 made a yaw damper a necessity because of it. Yeah, that sure would want to make one sick. 18.5 hr missions must have been grueling. What position did you work on the aircraft? Must have been interesting.
 
What position?

Steve,
I was a 20351MB (Voice Intercept Processing Specialist). From Briefing through debriefing it was about a 23 hour day. I remember the briefings, just after synchronizing our watches, always ended with the instruction: "Safety of flight is paramount." It gave me much comfort (smile).

One of the sources of discomfort would be sitting on the flight line on hot days waiting for equipment, etc. to get straightened out and we would sweat through so our flightsuits and underwear were soaked. Then we would take off and climb to 35,000 feet where it would be cold as heck and gradually we would dry out. Uff da.

But sometimes, after the mission, we would go down and get a massage where the young Asian masseuse would walk on your back. We would sip on a beer and acknowledge 'war is hell' (smile).

..and sometimes we would celebrate getting back with Kobe beef. Yes, we all sacrificed.
 
I had forgotten about

the AOA subsidary. I was referring to American Airlines of the 50's and 60's domestic that didn't fly Constellations.

By the time I got to North Central, the DC-3's were gone and I started out right seat on the CV-580. BTW, the CV-580 was a great plane. North Central was the airline who put the turboprop engines on them. The result exceeded all expectations for speed and economy. Since it's inception as the CV-240, most airlines at one time or another used them in their fleets. I found them to be most stable during approaches in some of the most inclement weather you will ever find (the upper midwest in winter time!).

Of all the times I have flown as a passenger, the grossest things that ever happened to me were:

Some old hippie type with long hair and a beard sat in an aisle seat on a Southern DC-9 I was on. I was in the window seat. The breakfast they served was Eggs Benedict. Since I had attended a rather wild party the night before, I was a little bit hung over. Well, by the time this guy next to me was half way through with his Eggs Benedict, it was all in his beard, dribbling down the front of his shirt. I think he was slobbering too. I almost lost it. I really thought I was going to barf. But didn't.

Just last summer, I was on one of our own A320's and since I got one of the last available seats I was stuck in a middle seat between two huge football player types. These guys must have weighed 300 lbs each. And they were dressing in shorts and flip flops. One of the air conditioning packs on the plane was inop, so the plane wasn't really cool. Maybe 85 F inside. Well those guys not only had me scrunched between them, but they started to stink. BO, and stink, and stink. Three days later I could still smell them! Yuk.
Charlie: I loved the trailer park with wings! Sometimes it's so true!
 
I worked for Lufthansa German Airlines for 26 years. I worked on the ground in the office. It is 15 years now that I have had
a terrible fear of flying, especially if there is turbulence.
I do not fly very often anymore, but when I do, I take plenty
of xanax. I take off before the plane does and when the plane
lands, I am still flying. I hope to get over my fear of
flying one of these days.
In addition, flying has lost its fun anyway with all the
security and screaming kids on planes.

Ross
 
Ah, the days of having a very nice and pretty flight attendant bringing you the drink of your choice as often an you want. Steak and Lobster dinners in First Class. As mentioned earlier, people dressing up to the 9's just to fly. Enough seat pitch to contain your legs. Those days are long gone.

Just remember that whatever aircraft you fly on you are in the hands of a highly experienced crew. We train for just about any emergency you can think of, and then some that you could never imagine happening. But 90% of the time, everything goes smoothly and we get our passengers to their destinations on time.

Just remember that if there is a weather event in one part of the country, it delays flights. And those airplanes will be late getting to their other destinations later in the day. It can screw up an entire schedule. If you absolutely, positively have to be at your destination at a certain time, try to take a very early morning flight. Those are the ones the least likely to be delayed.
 
The sad thing is that the stuff which would be really useful (like supersonic planes and efficient ground tranport) isn't happening, while the stuff that's obnoxious (like "computers that know more about you than you do") is happening. Maybe the target year for the video should have been 1984, not 1975.
 
My first flight was on a DC10 from Chicago to LA, flight 191, no kidding, about two months before the crash of flight 191 in Chicago. What was strange was the feeling when I flew that the plane was so huge, that nothing could happen to it, or us. It was almost as wide as a movie theater to me, and you could watch the cockpit operations on takeoff.

I still fly, and love it, and feel no place is safer and more serene than in the sky. Now a days it it just a bitch to get to your plane, but still beats the hell out of driving from NY to Miami.
 

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