Flying Stories
- Thread starter sglowrider
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I was in a flight from Houston to Chicago when we had to unexpectedly stop at Dallas with a brace position landing.
Then the captain when taxiing said that 'due to technical difficulties (or words to that effect) that we will need to change aircraft at DFW.
I remember thinking in my head, 'no feckin' shit Sherlock!!' 😅😅
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No need for the dark news... the one you posted about forcible fellatio was as dark as I need when talking about air travel. The horror! But I want all my AOTF brethren to know, if we ever encountered that situation in the air, I'm taking one for the team. Just how I feel about you guys!
Longest flight in the world, SG to NYC:
My sis would do this flight to come see me. The guilt I would feel would last like 4 days before I start arguing about politics, which usually lands me accusing her of being blind/ignorant or indoctrinated. I digress.
Its also the reason why i dont fly back State side any more -- it's soul crushing being stuck in a tin can for nearly 19hrs.
Best way is through Europe -- at least it breaks up the flight but I think it costs more.
I was on a flight from SG to London -- sat next to a man who came up from Sydney and I assume was going back to the UK to die. Sydney-London is also another soul crushing flight.
He could barely sit upright, couldnt fill up the UK entry forms (I had to write it all for him). All I could think for that 14hrs flight was: ''Please dont die next to me. Please dont die next to me.!!''
My sis would do this flight to come see me. The guilt I would feel would last like 4 days before I start arguing about politics, which usually lands me accusing her of being blind/ignorant or indoctrinated. I digress.
Its also the reason why i dont fly back State side any more -- it's soul crushing being stuck in a tin can for nearly 19hrs.
Best way is through Europe -- at least it breaks up the flight but I think it costs more.
I was on a flight from SG to London -- sat next to a man who came up from Sydney and I assume was going back to the UK to die. Sydney-London is also another soul crushing flight.
He could barely sit upright, couldnt fill up the UK entry forms (I had to write it all for him). All I could think for that 14hrs flight was: ''Please dont die next to me. Please dont die next to me.!!''
within a month, I flew from Indiana to Shanghai and Indiana to Hong Kong. The first was a direct flight from either Detroit or Atlanta to Shanghai and the Hong Kong trip had a stop over at Narita.
At one point on my second trip, I felt like screaming. It is one reason I left the corporate world and started working for a non profit organization for less money. I began to hate airports, airplanes, and the hassles related to security lines and the delays and missed connections. Flying somewhere on vacation wasn't as fun as it used to be and ruins 2 days of my vacation.
I would rather drive 8 hours than fly. You can drive it by the time you arrive early at the airport, get on the plane, deplane, get your rental and get to your destination. I learned to lessen the stress by skipping the car rental and using Uber. It worked for quick trips but not for an extended duration.
I happily haven't been on a plane in 3 years. That will end this year as we will fly to vacation. I'm not looking forward to it as I hear people talk about how delays and complications have risen in the past 3 years.
At one point on my second trip, I felt like screaming. It is one reason I left the corporate world and started working for a non profit organization for less money. I began to hate airports, airplanes, and the hassles related to security lines and the delays and missed connections. Flying somewhere on vacation wasn't as fun as it used to be and ruins 2 days of my vacation.
I would rather drive 8 hours than fly. You can drive it by the time you arrive early at the airport, get on the plane, deplane, get your rental and get to your destination. I learned to lessen the stress by skipping the car rental and using Uber. It worked for quick trips but not for an extended duration.
I happily haven't been on a plane in 3 years. That will end this year as we will fly to vacation. I'm not looking forward to it as I hear people talk about how delays and complications have risen in the past 3 years.
4 hours on a plane is about my limit. More than that, I hate it and start getting antsy. 18 hours? I might kill someone.
Haha... thats how I feel. Thats why I never fly back Stateside anymore. Not done it in 20yrs. You do that US-HK/SH flight and it drives you nuts .... imagine adding 4 hrs more to that flight -- to Singapore.
My max tolarance for a flight is 13hrs non-stop in that tin can. I have done the SG-UK flight more often because I can catch the red eye ie leave SG at night and arrive in the UK their morning. (I can sleep ok on planes.)
My perfect flight is getting to the flight just like an hour before take-off, no security queue and getting into the plane as the very last person -- while all the passsenger are staring daggers are me. (Luckily, Immigration lines are getting pretty short for me over here now -- almost all use bio-metrics chips. I just have to tap or scan my passport at those self-checking gates. You also apply ahead of time -- I have PR status here.)
Otherwise I just cant take it anymore. My siblings come out here once every couple of years. I just dont know how they do it.
The other thing that really bugs me is the jet lag. They have to put up with 13hrs or 16hrs time diff jet lag. You literally waste a week away dealing with falling asleep by 5pm or falling asleep in the middle of dinner.
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I remember a red eye from San Francisco through Chicago to Evansville. I took the red eye to get back home for my son's basketball game. We left SF at 11 ish with a temperature in the 60's. As we were getting set to leave the pilot informed us of the confitions at O hare. Temp was -18! We landed at dark thirty. and I looked for a place to get an early breakfast. I sat down just as a place opened. There were a lot of empty tables and it was a little strange for someone to sit next to me. After a minute, the guy started talking that he didn't care how much his company pays him, he would NEVER take another red eye flight again. I looked around to make sure he wasn't talking to someone else.
I laughed to myself that someone should shoot me if I ever get in that condition. I thought about that man years later and started to become that guy.
I was able to take the company plane a few times. It was a twin turbo prop that could seat 12. It made daily flights between our headquarters and our busier plants. That is the way to fly. You show up a few minutes before the flight at a private aviation terminal and walk onto the plane. No security required.
Another trip, a vendor provided a small jet to take a few of us to Holland, Michigan. A limo picked us up plane side and drove us to their technical center. We conducted our business and returned home on the jet before 5 p.m.
I could those trips every day!
I did a trip from Bali to Chicago and back to Singapore for a February wedding within a week. Body surfing one day and then Chicago winter within 24hrs.
I think I actually felt my skin crack!!!
The flights over the Pacific is the killer. (18hrs non-stop.)
Flying to the States (from Singapore) via Europe isn't as bad but its still a long ass flight. I've done it a couple of times: the Ex wanted to go see the Grand Canyons, and another to New Orleans.
But I have had my fill of these flights, like you. I aint doing anymore unless it's an emergency.
My uncle worked for Lockheed Martin and then Northwest Airlines after retiring from the Air Force. A perk of working at Northwest was free flights for my aunt and uncle and anyone traveling with them on stabdby.
My aunt was used to warm weather assignments in the AF and could not handle the cold of Minneapolis. My aunt would fly out of Minneapolis and head to Hawaii on standby. She would get to Hawaii, walk around, go to the beach or whatever and head back to the airport to return to Minneapolis. She would sleep on the plane and rarely spend the night in a hotel. She is nuts!
I used my uncle once to get a free hotel and food voucher in Muskegon, MI. Small airport with those turboprop planes. The plane developed a mechanical issue and I would have to leave the next day. No hotel, no dinner, not even a bus or shuttle to a hotel.I went to the counter and asked them to place a call to my uncle in Minneapolis. I told them his name would be in their directory as the Director of Safety and Maintenance and gave them his name. I told them to let him know his nephew was stranded in Muskegon and they weren't treating me well. She looked his name up and verified I wasn't bullshitting her. I said if she didn't call him, I would call my aunt and that wouldn't be pretty. She made a call to the Holiday Inn instead and I got me ride to the hotel.
VanPastorMan
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Back in 2000 I did the Mt Everest base camp trek and we flew into the Lukla Nepal airport at 9k feet...at that time the runway was still gravel, I think they paved it a couple of years later...definitely got the juices flowing lol...
Tough flight. Tokyo to SG is another 8hrs.
If you are planning on another trip to SE Asia, try flying via London or Amsterdam.
My cousin has many stories as a retired 777 pilot for DHL. For a while, he spent a time flying into SE Asia. The story I remember most was many years before when he would fly hunters into remote areas for hunting trips.
Background. My cousin went from cutting grass at a small airport for free flying lessons to the captain of a 777. Some of you may have been on one of his flights out of Cincy when he worked for the carrier flying the regional service for Delta.
Before all of that, he was flying for a company in Wisconsin and was flying a group into a remote area in Canada. The plane developed trouble and wasn't going to make the small airstrip they flew into. He knew the route and had mentally noted areas along the way that could possibly be used to land a plane. The area was mostly forest, but he was able to land in a remote field. His passengers were picked up and my cousin waited for a mechanic to be dispatched to repair the plane. A recovery team would have to come in and fly the plane out. He was relieved because he had to set the plane down very low over the trees and at a steeper angle of approach than he would have liked. The grass field that had helped slow the plane would not be helpful for take off. He didn't get to see the take off but met the pilot as he returned it to the airport to hand the plane over.
Other than white knuckle landings in bad weather, this was the only emergency landing he said he made in his career.
Background. My cousin went from cutting grass at a small airport for free flying lessons to the captain of a 777. Some of you may have been on one of his flights out of Cincy when he worked for the carrier flying the regional service for Delta.
Before all of that, he was flying for a company in Wisconsin and was flying a group into a remote area in Canada. The plane developed trouble and wasn't going to make the small airstrip they flew into. He knew the route and had mentally noted areas along the way that could possibly be used to land a plane. The area was mostly forest, but he was able to land in a remote field. His passengers were picked up and my cousin waited for a mechanic to be dispatched to repair the plane. A recovery team would have to come in and fly the plane out. He was relieved because he had to set the plane down very low over the trees and at a steeper angle of approach than he would have liked. The grass field that had helped slow the plane would not be helpful for take off. He didn't get to see the take off but met the pilot as he returned it to the airport to hand the plane over.
Other than white knuckle landings in bad weather, this was the only emergency landing he said he made in his career.
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