Hi folks, At last, I managed to plan a 'true' trip out of Italy! I'm going to England, near London. I'll fly with a liner for the first time, and I'm rather excited about that! The biggest plane I've flown in till now was a three-seater...! I'm flying with the charter carrier "Ryanair", and the ticket price (a return ticket) is 18 Euro! (No, they don't use toy planes, they have B737s! :) )But here are two questions for those of you living in UK: 1) What should I visit when I'm there, that is related to aviation? I mean, are there any nice aviation museums, or intresting sighting-spots, or such, in London?2) I'm landing at Stansted and have to go to Portsmouth, and they told me the coach ticket is

Cristian,Stansted is to the north of London, so you would require some other means of transport to get to the centre. As far as aviation goes, you should probably visit Heathrow ! The main viewing location is the Queen's Building, but I'm not exactly sure how you get to it. It overlooks the parking areas near runway 9R/27L. A fair amount of footage seen on airport videos of Heathrow is taken from the Queen's Building, so if you have any of these, you will probably be familiar with the view.As for the coach trip to Portsmouth, it's very likely that it WILL cost more than the plane ticket. Quite how Ryanair survive charging such ridiculously low fares is beyond me. As for the aircraft itself, you will either be flying on an old 737-200 (the one with the slim turbojets), or else a nice Next Generation 737-800.Anyway, enjoy yourself.And WELCOME TO ENGLAND !!!Chris Low,ENGLAND.

We missed you in the chat yesterday, Cristian! Daniel Lindstr

It certainly was busy early on Bob. Were there a handful of your racing lot in there ? If so, I now understand why you are all called RACING FOOLS !!!By the way, how long did that strange conversation about Cognac last after I left ?Chris Low,ENGLAND.

As Chris says,the trip to Portsmouth will probably cost that much,but you won't find cheaper!As for what to see,well,I think we're a bit spoiled for choice, if you have the time a visit to the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in North London is worth a visit,or if you are just staying in London City, see as well The Science Museum, or the Imperial War Museum,both of which have 'aviation galleries'.Further afield there is the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton in Somerset,where you will also see Concorde 002,the first Concorde completed and flown in UK.And at Middle Wallop in Hampshire, there is the museum of Army Flying.For 'civilian' aviation, the Brooklands Museum at Weybridge in Surreycharts the history of flying from the perspective of the former Brooklands Aerodrome,with exhibits from the De Havilland,Vickers,and Hawker companies,whilst at Old Warden,near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire,north of London,there is an extensive collection of airworthy 'oldtimers'.:-wavePete

A visit to Duxford Air Museum (formerly RAF Duxford, a mainstay airfield for the Battle of Britain) might interest you. It is not far from Stansted, about 20 miles north (the wrong way in your case!).Chris Ehttp://website.lineone.net/~flightsimuk

Ahh Duxford...forgot about that one....an operational airfield too, home to 'The Fighter Collection', B17 Sally-B, the 'Old Flying Machine Company',and a gaggle of other interesting types.For the benefit of Cristian, it is officially an outstation of the Imperial War museum,situated near the intersection of the A505/M11near Royston.Its @ 8nm south of Cambridge.:-wavePete

Thanks Chris! I checked again, and the coach ticket price is really that much! Oh well, it doesn't matter.I'll try to make a stop at Heathrow, and look for the Queen's building... Who knows, maybe I can see (and take a photo of) a Concorde!!!As for Ryanair, they don't actually sell all the tickets at that price. For each flight, they sell some (say 10-20) tickets at 9

Hi Bob! I'm sorry I couldn't attend at the chat... I hoped to read the transcript, but I see there won't be one :-(!I'll try to make it to the next one, I promise!Cristian

I remember travelling on the M11 after leaving Cambridge in the summer of 1997 (no, not the University !!). I didn't know that I was anywhere near Duxford, but I remember seeing what I thought was a large, radio controlled aircraft doing all kinds of incredible aerobatics in the sky (it seemed to be turning and diving far too swiftly for a real aircraft). However, when I came a bit closer, this aircraft turned onto final approach, and I realised that it was a Bae Hawk trainer ! I must admit that I was VERY impressed at how manouevrable this aircraft was. If the Eurofighter (or any other air superiority fighter for that matter) can turn, climb and dive as quickly as this Hawk did, then nothing would be able to stop it !Chris Low,ENGLAND.

"Daniel Lindstr