Do You Remember Your First ever Flight in a Jet Aircraft?

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

1963, or was it '64? From Stansted, the departure lounge then was a nissen hut, as an RAF airman. The aircraft was a British Airways VC10 to RAF Khormaksar, Aden. I can recall being in a window seat and on take off peering out of the window and doing the 'Wow! Look at that, terrific!' bit. I turned to the guy sitting next to me and saw the big, rufty-tufty marine, who would no doubt seen off hordes of angry tribesmen, eyes closed, gripping the arms of his seat and sweating cobs.

When we landed we all filed off the plane. When it was my turn at the door it was like stepping into an oven! What have I let myself in for?!

[nealmac 260]

Mid 80s, on an Aer Lingus 747. I was about 9 years old. It was a school trip. We left Dublin on a flight bound for New York, with a stopover at Shannon. Shannon was where we got off. We went into Limerick for the day and got the train back to Dublin. In the 80s Air Travel was a huge treat, and I think that was the idea behind the flight.

 

I'm now 38 years old, Aer Lingus have moved to Airbus and I've never been in a 747 since. Of course I didn't appreciate it back then, but I'd love to go in one again.

[odourboy 1,288]

Unfortunately, I was only one in August 1960 when our family moved from Toronto, Canada to Los Angeles, so I have no memory of the journey. Trans-Canada Air Lines (now Air Canada) flew to Chicago (likely a Viscount or a Vanguard, although they had introduced the DC-8 that year) where we'd have connected with a US carrier.Wish I knew!

 

[mabe54 17]

Circa 1962, B707 to Panama City. When people behave and service was of utmost importance. Didn't last long though before devolving into our common and familiar chimp-like ways.

 

Cheers, 

PS: Does anybody remember ever seen the instructions to put a parachute on in case of an emergency? I do. Didn't last thank goodness. Funny now but not so much then.

[Holdit 551]

I was 3, so no. I didn't fly again until 17 and I do remember that one. It was a Dan Air (or was we called them, "Dan Dare") BAC-111*. The main impression I got was that the pilot had made mess off the take-off, since we seemed to hang in the air a long time before leveling off.

 

*Obviously, the Just Flight BAC-111 was a must buy...

[mwa05 108]

25 July 1982, British Airways B747-136 G-AWNC "City of Belfast" BA0012 from Melbourne to London Heathrow, via Sydney, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Muscat.

 

I was 12.

 

http://aflyinghistory.com/photos/boeing/747/g-awnc/5855-heathrow-1981.jpg

[PilotPete99 915]

April 1976 Eastern Airlines Whisperjet from KEWR to KMCO, alhough I fell asleep enroute and don't remember landing. Supposedly we stopped at KTPA but I slept through that as well. I remember that for weeks before the flight it was all I could think about...the good old days.

 

Cheers, Pete

[VeryBumpy 272]

I was a young boy traveling with my parents and don't remember the first.

 

What I do remember very clearly is the god awful amounts of cigarette smoke that hazed the entire plane interior the whole time. There was no escape from it. Man, I hated that.

 

Unlike the slobs of today, I also remember people dressed up real nicely and were very chic.

[Chris Crawford 49]

I was an infant on my first flight, so I don't remember that.. However the earliest flight I can recall was a TWA flight on a 767 from STL to CDG. I got the bug to fly very early!

 

[greggerm 312]

How many of us can say KMCO was our first destination...

 

1985 - Ten years old or so..... Eastern Airlines B727 from PVD to MCO. I was PLASTERED to the windows.

 

Spent a few days down at Disney and on the day of our return flight, we headed out to Cape Canaveral for a tour of KSC. Saw one of the shuttles out on the launch pad getting ready for an upcoming flight. Our flight home was less crowded, and one of my memories was excitedly freaking out at the sunset, and bouncing around the cabin from row to row making enough noise for my dad to sternly ask us to stop.

 

[metalmike 34]

I had been on flights when I was too young to remember anything, but the first one I remember was age five, from Kansas City to West Palm Beach, FL. Could be mistaken, I want to say it was either a 727 or 732. 

[x-plane 123 61]

Sadly, for better or worse, I don't remember my first flight as I was only 6 weeks old. But after doing some research, I believe it was UA1880 from KORD-KPHL, flown by a 737-200. 

 

From the stories I've heard from my parents, it was a pretty interesting flight. First, our flight was delayed three hours, and we were stuck on the plane the whole time. Then, we had to taxi for over another hour, before eventually taking off. (Keep in mind, this flight is supposed to be two hours, and it's already been twice that by the time we left the ground). As we near Philly, we have to hold for a while due to the thunderstorms in the area. After holding for a while, the pilots elect to divert to KPIT because we were running low on fuel. We refuel, and head back to KPHL, where we eventually land, 5 hours and 15 minutes later than scheduled. 

 

But this story isn't all negative. As we were deboarding, we spoke to one of the pilots and he told us this was his last flight before he retired. And since this was my first flight, he decided to take his wings off his jacket and give them to me. I still have them with me, and I always get a little smile and think about this story when I see F/A's handing out the plastic wings.

[t4murphy 24]

Early 70's when I was about 8 or 9 from Baltimore Friendship Airport (KBWI now) to Buffalo NY with Piedmont airlines 737-200.

[Stephen Simpson 7]

Dan Air BAC 1-11 300 G-ATPK from Inverness (EGPE) to Heathrow (EGLL) July 1986.

 

Cheers

 

S

[VeryBumpy 272]

But this story isn't all negative. As we were deboarding, we spoke to one of the pilots and he told us this was his last flight before he retired. And since this was my first flight, he decided to take his wings off his jacket and give them to me. I still have them with me, and I always get a little smile and think about this story when I see F/A's handing out the plastic wings.

 

That's pretty cool.