Visceral flight memories

[bigjuicyspider]

Man do I feel like an idiot. Go to edit a typo, highlighted most of the text and dumped it because I was working in another window at the same time. Oh well, instead of retypeing, it was just a rambling thread about flying in the airliners as a kid and the pretty stewardesses back then. Disregard I guess... oops

[A-26Invader]

Turns out it was two young hot blonde stewardesses being cute, sitting in the very very back row. They no doubt mistook me for a child traveling alone, and I must have appealed to their maternal instincts. Too bad I was only 7.

Aww dang! I'd have loved to had been on that flight with the stewardesses, yea to bad you were only seven buddy!
The first flight I had was maybe around the age of 6 or possibly 7 in a regular Boeing 737 to Hawaii. Then there and there a couple airline flights (nothing real big). I hated the rising and sinking feeling of the plane during rotation and landing, remember clenching the arm rest's on the seats and slowly sinking into my seat.
Then Collings Foundation came into Long Beach when I was 8 and my Dad took me on a B-17G flight in 'Nine O Nine'. I sat behind the Pilot's seat on the floor with my Dad across from me behind the Co-pilots seat, taxing was fine just bumping along. Then the power came up and things got loud/started to shake. Moments later it was smooth as glass, you could hear the gear motor going and stopping along with the hydraulics pump building pressure. The top turret had a round plate where you could step on with 2 metal beams supporting the turret. I was stuck to on of those 2 beams, my Dad tried to pry me off of it with no luck. So he ended up going up to the nose section and I didn't want him to leave. About 10 to 15 minutes into the flight I then gained enough courage to unbuckle the lap belt and slowly slinked up to the nose section where my Dad and another guy were at. I remember the other guy laughing as well as my Dad when I slid up to the bombardier's seat on my stomach. I got up to the seat but didn't sit in it, just peered out the plexiglass nose dome and seeing the ground disappearing beneath us and the clear blue sky above. I had a fear of falling out of things and being in a plane worsened that fear, thus sitting in the seat would have made me feel like I could have fallen out. And the rest of the flight I stayed up there with my Dad.

[bigjuicyspider]

Turns out it was two young hot blonde stewardesses being cute, sitting in the very very back row. They no doubt mistook me for a child traveling alone, and I must have appealed to their maternal instincts. Too bad I was only 7.

Aww dang! I'd have loved to had been on that flight with the stewardesses, yea to bad you were only seven buddy!
The first flight I had was maybe around the age of 6 or possibly 7 in a regular Boeing 737 to Hawaii. Then there and there a couple airline flights (nothing real big). I hated the rising and sinking feeling of the plane during rotation and landing, remember clenching the arm rest's on the seats and slowly sinking into my seat.
Then Collings Foundation came into Long Beach when I was 8 and my Dad took me on a B-17G flight in 'Nine O Nine'. I sat behind the Pilot's seat on the floor with my Dad across from me behind the Co-pilots seat, taxing was fine just bumping along. Then the power came up and things got loud/started to shake. Moments later it was smooth as glass, you could hear the gear motor going and stopping along with the hydraulics pump building pressure. The top turret had a round plate where you could step on with 2 metal beams supporting the turret. I was stuck to on of those 2 beams, my Dad tried to pry me off of it with no luck. So he ended up going up to the nose section and I didn't want him to leave. About 10 to 15 minutes into the flight I then gained enough courage to unbuckle the lap belt and slowly slinked up to the nose section where my Dad and another guy were at. I remember the other guy laughing as well as my Dad when I slid up to the bombardier's seat on my stomach. I got up to the seat but didn't sit in it, just peered out the plexiglass nose dome and seeing the ground disappearing beneath us and the clear blue sky above. I had a fear of falling out of things and being in a plane worsened that fear, thus sitting in the seat would have made me feel like I could have fallen out. And the rest of the flight I stayed up there with my Dad.

Great story!

The only time I've ever been in a WW2 era plane was decades ago when FIFI came to town. I toured it on the ground and took out-of-focus pictures with some brand new camera that I had gotten for my birthday. Nowadays, occasionally Aluminum Overcast is to be seen in the skies doing flights and I've considered getting a ride, but I saw it was like 400 bucks or something for an hour, or something outrageous! I guess I'll have to settle for Flight Sim!

The first flight I had was maybe around the age of 6 or possibly 7 in a regular Boeing 737 to Hawaii.

I was on one of those short hops once, so I can picture your experience well. Maui to Oahu for a day to do the obligatory Pearl Harbor part of every family Hawaii vacation, and then back to the hotel. "Commuting" on a 732 made me feel like I was some real jet-setter, but of course, I wasn't paying for the vacation!!

[flyboy4612]

I got to read it all before it disappeared. I got a good kick out of the stories. Thanks for sharing while it lasted!