Daniel, this is probably the funniest sentence I've read in this forum for years! :( No matter if you are "technically" (lol) Jewish but you indeed have a jewish sense of humour.

Thanks Dave! I feel I have Jewish blood somewhere!Anyhow thanks for the compliment!!! Glad I am humoring someone here!!! That is a positive for me!!!Made me laugh too!Daniel

Thanks Jeff. I believe Australian Eucalypt trees populate the North?Very, very interesting. I read something recently, a huge contrast in Jerusalem, A jewish man giving a Muslim woman learner driver tuition.Yes Israel is similar to Australia-progessive, but maintains a large military (required). I find Israelis who have served are very responsible people. Yes Tel Aviv is a huge party town, Israelis know how to have fun!Funny story about the booze flight!!!! Which airline was that, sounds like you got great service! What variety of beer did they have? In Australia we have a huge variety now, a lot of Boutique breweries started up. James Squires, Little Creatures etcWhy El Al the first time?Also thanks for the info about the spotters. I view a lot of LLBG photos on Airliners. I went on a BA 757 back in 1996 to Zurich and found that aircraft legendary. Better than a 737.I'm not Jewish technically, but I consider myself Jewish. (I'm half Irish)Daniel

As a bynote QANTAS is serving one of my favourites as their 'landmark' beer, James Squires Golden Ale. If you guys want to try some I'll send it!I'm trying to find a link to the beers QANTAS have but on their web site I am having a hard time.Daniel

Yarden has done the most awesome repaints I have ever seen for various high quality FS addons. Downloads them ASAP if you are interested in flying El Al in FS. He has done some work for the PMDG 747 and LDS767, for example. It rivals McPhat, maybe it's even better.As for Ben Gurion X: I got it as a review copy and will review it for Avsim. Installed it, and it's looking very nice. Doing this review actually got me looking at holiday pioctures, and photographs I made at the old LLBG... brings back so many good memories. I'd love to go back soon. You know, Israel has this atmos[here to it. You'll notice it instantly when you arrive. The warmth, the dust, the sun, the palms, the blue sky, the language and the people... They all contribute in their own way to this "feeling". Now take that to the cities, like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa... The hills in Haifa offer a stunning view over the harbour and the Meditteranean. You can walk around the gardens of the Bab (a religious cult, for as far as I understood), or walk around the forests. Go to Tel Aviv and party all night (though I never actually did that, I was too young and haven't been to Israel in the last few years due to the fact that they might push me into the army. They probably won't, but you never know. Officialy, I have an israeli citizenship). Eilat is the sort of resort town. I have never actually been there, but I hear it's very nice. Ber Sheva is a modern city in a desert sea (maybe a bit like Las Vegas, minus the casinos).But, to me, Israel is the following:- The approach over the Tel Aviv beaches (which really are very nice. my aunt works at the King David hotel in Tel Aviv and she managed to get us in there for a discount. The beaches are nice and warm, and oh so blue (at least they were ten years ago, not sure how they look now). However, I have no idea how it would compare to Australia's beaches...).- The (somewhat chaotic) drive to Zofit (close to Kfar Sava), the moshav where the family lives (chaotic because of the way they drive there. The temparement of the Israelis sure is noticeable on the road...). It's especially the slight desolation, warmth and dust that makes me go all nostalgic. I asbolutely love that. Oh, and the dusty smell! That's great.- The house of my aunt, with all the cats and trees.- The Israeli mornings in summer. Seriously. The warmth and clodness in the night bring forth a refreshing morning that's cool but is already warming up. Combioned with the smell of trees and sand, it's the best smell I have smelt in my entire life. I'm not kidding.- The trips to the mega supermarkets, where everybody walks and eats. Go to a big, typical israeli supermarket. It's an experience! Everywhere you can taste stuff, and people are not afraid to taste fruit before they buy it. I remember my aunt just eating an antire plum before filling the plastic bag she carried to the top. It must have been very good... Remember: israel = food. Eat it. Lots of it. Otherwise you shouldn't come at all...- And of course the family. The outings over the entire country. The good part is that Israel is small, so it doesn't take long to get from place to place.All in all, yeah, Israel is a great place to be. I wouldn't want to live there at all, but for a vacation it's great. Just don't be surprised of the great security and military presence...Jeff: then you probably did the ILS26 approach, which takes you over the mountains. That, or runway 30, but that seems highly unlikely to me. ILS12 is the neatest approach, because you fly straight into the airport without any turn. Try it in FS! Just don't listen to ATC because for some reason they always direct you to a visual 30 approach, but for as far as I remember, this apporach is rarely, if ever used. If the wind is not good, they'll tend to use ILS26 (Incidentally, I remember taking off from 26 lots of times. Makes for a very nice departure).

Am using Yarden's 767 Level D package. Daniel