Earliest Memories of your Very First Flight as a child.

[bigjuicyspider]

I got into a conversation the other day, and it brought back a lot of memories.

I hope I'm not embellishing but I have a very distinct memory of my first flight:

I must have been at least 3 and the Airline must have been either Continental or United, and I'm pretty sure the plane was a 727 because I remember the three engines.

The flight hit extraordinarily gawdawful turbulence. I have this very vivid image of the front of the fuselage appearing to shift and the overhead compartments popping open. And the plane rolled back and forth half a dozen times, at least 45 degrees. I remember the Stewardesses, going blah blah blah about Air Sickness bags, and my mother saying "It's just like a roller coaster". The remark sticks in my mind, because at that young age, I'm positive I had never been on a roller coaster and had no idea what she was talking about. I was still too young to have been afraid...I thought it was fun as hell. (I haven't heard those sounds since the days of the A2A Stratocruiser, so I must relate that there was something primal invoked by it, which could explain my 'addiction' to this particular addon )

[fido]

First flight, boy does that bring back memories. I was around seven or eight years old,; and in love with the idea of flight. My father had been a bomber pilot during WWII, and when he had friends over, they sometimes talked about their flying experiences during combat missions. Then there was the 1950's TV adventure show Sky King, about a rancher who used his Cessna T-50 or Cessna 310 (both named the Song Bird ) to catch bad guys. Boy did I want to fly. One day at Brown's airport they had an event where for a penny a pound, you could fly around the area for 30 minutes or so. Well after a few rounds of "Can we go, Can we go", Dad saying yes, Mom saying no we arrived and I saw a T-50, and cried out something like "It's Sky King, It's Sky King", well I nearly died when it took off with out us, but to my surprise sitting on the ramp was a Cessna 310, so Sky King was still there.
We boarded this little beauty, my father, my mom, scared to death, and me, probably still yelling "It's Sky King". The moment the gears left the ground my Mom had to stick head in an air sick bag, but I was in heaven. Everything I knew seemed so small from the air, and I could see my house, I hoped it would never end. but of course it did. Mom finally was able to put down the air sick bag, and I had just had the most life changing experience ever.

[fido]

Sorry for the double post, and I know it is not my place, but I bet that out of the 34 people who have viewed this post already,most of you have had a first flight experience, It would only take a few minutes of your time, and your story might remind someone else of their first flight.

[pjc747]

I don't remember my first flight, I was just two weeks old in our family's Baron.

[budmorgan]

My first flight was when I was a few weeks old to go see my grandmother in Kentucky. The first flight I remember I must have been 3 or so and it was in a SWA 737... I assume we had the preboarding back then, because my parents, my little sister, and I were able to snag the "club seating in the first row! I thought that was the coolest idea ever! I remember the takeoff roll distinctly... I remember hearing the engines spool up... the rumble, the shaking, the force pushing me back in the seat, and I remember wishing I could see what the view was like out the front window.

Like 95% of the others here, my head turns skyward at when those familiar sounds are in range. I've been riddled with stories of flight since I was a child from both my grandfather and dad who were both pilots in the Navy and Air Force respectively.

Unfortunately, growing up playing sports and going to school, I never had time or money to fly in my teens so my first GA flight was when I was 26. Going to the University of Oklahoma, one of my pledge brothers had majored in aviation and was now a corporate pilot for a local car dealer. They had a Baron 58P and a Piper Cheyenne I. I convinced my pledge brother to give be my instructor. So we went to Cruise aviation at KOUN and he was going to take me up in their Archer for my intro flight... We got there, and my instructor, who hadn't instructed in that airplane in over a year was told that he'd have to be checked out in that airplane again due to insurance purposes (ironically, the check pilot was one of my instructors former students!)... Needless to say, this obstacle didn't sit well with my instructors ego... Tempers flared and we walked out, hopped in the Baron and my first GA flight was a 45 minute flight. I was quite anxious to be honest. Everything seemed to happen so fast... There was only one yolk (the kind that you could swivel over to the right side) and the next thing I new I had it in my lap! I did some climbs, turns, steep turns, descents, played with the electric trim, and I'm tellin' ya... next to my first solo, this was the happiest day of my life... 5 years later I'm blessed to be a part of my local aviation community and have had the privilege of flying Waco's to a T-28, to a King Air... On nearly no budget!

Cheers!

[Jigsaw]

I don't quite remember my first flight but I do remember my second one. I think I was 12. My family and I flew to Jugoslavia, as it was still called back then, in a McDonnell Douglas DC-9. It wasn't the roomiest of aircraft but it had cool ventral stairs that could be lowered from the tail onto the tarmac. I especially remember the quite steep descent into Tivat, because the pilot dodged big fluffy clouds left and right while my ears hurt. And on top of that, sitting on the right, I saw the surface of the ocean coming closer and closer and the boats getting bigger and bigger until I saw land and the airport only just before touchdown. I also vividly remember seeing the wing tips wiggle a bit every so often during cruise.

Google Maps Link to Tivat:
http://tiny.cc/1k1d8

[Skycat]

The first flight or airplane ride I can remember, I was five or maybe six years old and the family flew on a commercial jetliner from Pennsylvania to California, possibly for Christmas 1975. I'm pretty sure the carrier was American Airlines. My memories of the experience are limited to:
- Free tin 'pilot's wings,' and we were allowed to visit the pilot in the cockpit during the flight.
- My mother's ears were causing her a lot of pain.
- The stewardess gave me crayons and a coloring book.
- I was very curious about the barf bags.
- I think there was a storm and lightning at some point.

[pjc747]

Like 95% of the others here, my head turns skyward at when those familiar sounds are in range. I've been riddled with stories of flight since I was a child from both my grandfather and dad who were both pilots in the Navy and Air Force respectively.


Cheers!

Except for me, I make sure I'm not looking at a Southwest plane when I gaze skyward (many airline pilots for other big airlines don't care for southwest much...so I'm accustomed to look away from that airline)

[VulcanB2]

My first flight was in an Auster, aged 3.

Best regards,
Robin.

[Scott - A2A]

Mine actually wasn't a good one. All I remember is being with my father in a twin engined prop and going WAY out over the ocean. After about 15 minutes of just going further and further out to sea, I pretty much said, "Uh Dad, I want to go back to land."

Funny how the instincts of a tiny squirt can be spot on. Even today I always like to see landable places below me when flying a small aircraft in the event of a failure.

Scott.

[1SgtMajor]

Ahhh.....the first flight!!

In Kansas where I grew up, the local airport used to have a "penny a pound day" ............. my how times have changed. Aviation fuel was probably about 10-15 cents back then. (Cheapest I remember was 15 cents.....Automotive fuel......many years later.)

Anyway..... I was probably about 4 (1958 'ish) and the aircraft was a Cessna 150. My Dad sat up front and I actually sat in a "kiddie" seat in the luggage area as there was no "real" back seat.

I remember it being loud........ my dad pointing our house out as we flew over......however, I couldn't begin to make anything out.

From then on...... I always been hooked on Aviation!!

Cheers,

[MAGGIEMAE]

Apparently I was just about born on a plane my mother went into labour just after she arrived back in Montreal from England where my father was a BOAC pilot. (Connie). The first flight I remember was actually in a Stratocruiser when I was 3 or 4 and was returning to Canada with my parents. I remember going up and down to the lower lounge and sleeping in one of the berths. I guess having my dad as the Captain had some priviliges as I am sure I was a little monster running up and down the aisles

[pjc747]

Very lucky!

[budmorgan]

Like 95% of the others here, my head turns skyward at when those familiar sounds are in range. I've been riddled with stories of flight since I was a child from both my grandfather and dad who were both pilots in the Navy and Air Force respectively.


Cheers!

(many airline pilots for other big airlines don't care for southwest much...so I'm accustomed to look away from that airline)

And I'm sure the sentiment towards the "other big airlines" is shared by the SWA pilots.

I happen to love SWA as a passenger. Perhaps I've just had bad luck with the other majors. I've NEVER had any issue with SWA with the exception of one trip to NOLA. I had to sit on the apron at DAL while a micro-burst passed... Captain came over the PA and said something to the effect of "Ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna sit here on the tarmac while this storm moves through... Should only be about 15 minutes or so...". Naturally, I pull out my iphone and fire up my LiveATC.net app... and much to my chagrin, I hear a panicked/stressed Ft Worth center, saying it's gonna be AT LEAST an hour before anyone was getting out of Love Field!

At the end of the day, a plane is a plane to me. Regardless of operator... Regardless of color scheme... If it leaves the earth's surface I'm interested in it. That includes helos, space shuttles, ultralights, any machine that allows us to break the surly bonds...

Cheers!

[fido]

At the end of the day, a plane is a plane to me. Regardless of operator... Regardless of color scheme... If it leaves the earth's surface I'm interested in it. That includes helos, space shuttles, ultralights, any machine that allows us to break the surly bonds...

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