Never been on a plane

Had a bad experience coming back from Bulgaria a long time ago. took a while for me and the wife to get back on a plane but this year been to New York, Greece and Spain.
Wouldn't say I love it but it's OK once we are up in the air.
 
I've been all over the place without flying (including the US of A), and can recommend trains and ferries when getting around Europe - as I said, it gives a sense of scale to travel more slowly - you get to meet the people, see the countryside, more of a grand tour........
Last time I went to Germany on business, my friend said "we'll fly", I corrected him - "you fly, I'll go slowly" - I arrived in Frankfurt having had a pleasant and leisurely ferry crossing - met some smashing people en route, eaten very well indeed, and enjoyed the railway trip - I wandered along the platform with a grin on my face to meet my friend, who was totally frazzled, having been subjected to the normal hassle attendant upon flying these days....
Far from limiting my horizons, it has broadened them as I would contend I've had the time to enjoy the trips, and really take in the countryside and the distances involved.....:cool:
 
Scared of flying? I guess its easy to presume that.. But if i was scared of flying that would mean I thought they where unsafe.. yet my wife and kids go on planes.. why would i organise that and buy the tickets if I thought it was going to crash?


As for not travelled.. thats a rather strange assumption... benidorm, Barcelona.. they are the furthest I ahve been I really wasnt too interested but whole family wanted benidorm so..) I have also been to most european countries.. I love driving abroad.

There are places i would like to see.. but really not worth getting on a plane for..

Nowerdays...flying is more accessible.. it wasnt when i was young, teenager or even young adult... once i did have the opportunities and being a bit older and in my ways... what I mean is.. had i had the oportunity when younger i would probably be a right old plane hopper now..
 
We fly quite often. Nothing to it. Just like being on a big bus except you get fed and watered.
 
millions of people fly.. i was looking for people who don't ? :)
 
I actually quite like Martin's (Organnyx) outlook on travelling, visiting various places on the way sounds interesting. Perhaps not practical for many but if you've got the time....well isn't there a saying about how it's not about the end but the journey that gets you there?
 
KIPAX said:
millions of people fly.. i was looking for people who don't ? :)
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Most of the people who have posted on this thread say they fly.
 
Flying is incredibly dull, airport regulations are ridiculous, and being 6'6" sitting in economy seats is less than enjoyable. But I still do it (getting to Australia is a complete bitch if you don't fly ;) ). Do feel like I should go out and plant some trees though to make up for it.

I have a mate who up until last year, had never been further than Dorset. Then he got married, and his Mrs made him get a passport so they could go to Italy for their honeymoon. A year later, and they've just been out to Australia. Changed his life, and he realised all he had been missing out on.

I'd much rather travel overland around Europe though. Went from France to Italy via train last time I was home, and then by car to Croatia. Much more enjoyable than the bits we had to fly.
 
I'm totally switched off to flying and I have been for the last few years and it's nothing to do with aircraft or crashing, it's just the crap you have to put up with at the airports.... queuing, stupid questions, what you can take etc...... Sometimes I have to do it for work and hate it, but it has to be the most unhealthy and boring way to travel......... Hate it! ..... arriving's okay though! :)
 
Splog said:
I'm totally switched off to flying and I have been for the last few years and it's nothing to do with aircraft or crashing, it's just the crap you have to put up with at the airports.... queuing, stupid questions, what you can take etc...... Sometimes I have to do it for work and hate it, but it has to be the most unhealthy and boring way to travel......... Hate it! ..... arriving's okay though! :)
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:plus1:

I actually like travelling, but will avoid flying as much as I can due to all of this faffing. Not to mention having to fold my tall body into a kids chair for a few hours of hard-selling by the cabin crew and crossing my fingers that someone breathing the same stale air as me doesn't have bird-flu.:shake:
 
My wife's parents didn't fly


Every year when she was a child, 2 weeks in a caravan in Wales

When she got to 18 her dad was about to book the family 2 weeks away when she said I'm not going

There was a heated discussion which ended up with her insisting they go to Spain

By this point her parents were in their mid 50s

They reluctantly went to Spain

On their return they book the next years holiday to Greece

They went abroad every year until they were in their late 70s

It's never too late to start flying
 
KIPAX said:
Scared of flying? I guess its easy to presume that.. But if i was scared of flying that would mean I thought they where unsafe.. yet my wife and kids go on planes.. why would i organise that and buy the tickets if I thought it was going to crash?
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Maybe for that very reason (y)
 
The only thing I dislike about flying is when you're that poor, unlucky sod who gets a seat next to the fattest person on the plane. More than once I've had someone large enough that their rolls rest on the armrest and of course their arms are wider than that leaving you with space half a seat wide :angry:
 
I've heard you can make travelling by aeroplane as safe as travelling by car by taking your own bomb on the plane :LOL:

I didn't get on a plane until I was about 13 and I was bricking it......... however we were delayed by 7 hours so by then I was pleased to be getting on a plane.

Flying doesn't bother me at all now, the only time I got a little worried was when the plane we was on had 2 aborted landings. Gatwick, "standby" runway that didn't have the navigation aids, 2am, 600ft cloud base and thick fog!!!!

On approach it was deadly silent, practically gliding in and then nose up full throttle, a girl not far from me started having a panic/astma attack, luckily there was a doctor on the plane to help her out!

When we landed we were met by fire engines, ambulances the works!
 
KIPAX said:
and not likely to either... surely i cant be the only one? am over half way though my life (diplomatic) so its not a case of not had time yet..

anyone else a big wuss!
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whats the furthest abroad you have ever been then?

edit, just seen later post.
 
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pepi1967 said:
We fly quite often. Nothing to it. Just like being on a big bus except you get fed and watered.
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Depending on whom you are flying with :)

I love flying me but Mrs and Miss Z hate the experience.

My only fear with flying is the other passengers. Was once stuck next to a guy who was obviously scared of flying too and had a few drinks to calm himself down before take off.

And there is the family with the baby who will NOT go to sleep.

All part of the joys of flying and I have a very good way to make things go nice and quiet again :D
 
TriggerHappy said:
The only thing I dislike about flying is when you're that poor, unlucky sod who gets a seat next to the fattest person on the plane. More than once I've had someone large enough that their rolls rest on the armrest and of course their arms are wider than that leaving you with space half a seat wide :angry:
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lol had that on my flight back from Tunisia and I wasn't happy at all. If fuel is such a big issue hence having a luggage allowance then surely it should really apply to your entire weight allowance?
 
gman said:
lol had that on my flight back from Tunisia and I wasn't happy at all. If fuel is such a big issue hence having a luggage allowance then surely it should really apply to your entire weight allowance?
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I've often thought the same!!!!

Someone who weighs 80KG is allowed 20KG of luggage so that's 105KG for that passenger, yet someone who's 120KG pays the same and is still allowed 20KG of luggage so is effectively getting a total of 40KG extra for their money.... not to mention taking up 1.5 seats!

Wouldn't be so bad if excess baggage didn't cost £10/kg!!
 
I'm on 23 but I've never flown and don't plan to in the near future.

Finally managed to persuade other half to go to Lake District for our Honeymoon next year :) Took some persuading as he doesn't mind flying.

I just can't get my head around it.. I don't think about crashing but the lack on control I have.

Maybe if I could sit at the front and look out where we were heading it would be different, like in a car, I like to sit at the front.

All them colds harbouring on the plane to :confused:

Not for me!
 
the first time i went in a plane(1989) i had a parachute strapped to my back and jumped out at 2500 feet:wacky:
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Was reading the other day about a fat person that was refused their place on a plane.

http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/airlines_left_my_wife_to_die_nF3WDbQiw0EZLnvYr9XQmM
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i'd take that with a pinch of salt. the new york post is well known to bend the truth somewhat.

Here's one of there "less accurate headlines"

front061310.jpg
 
joescrivens said:
i'd take that with a pinch of salt. the new york post is well known to bend the truth somewhat.

Here's one of there "less accurate headlines"
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Ok it was the first link I saw. Find one that suits you better.
 
I don't mind flying but there's something unnatural about chimps flying around in great big coke cans with about 65,000 gallons of flammable / explosive fuel less than a stones throw away from the passenger and crew cabins, which in turn fuel the engines, whose parts work at high speeds to very tight thresholds, and if one of those parts were to make contact and break - the resulting debris from that part could easily shred and destroy the rest of that engine.....and in the case of catastrophic failure - could disable nearby engines too, and then it's all downhill from there with very little that can be done...

:whistle:

That reminds me, I need to check prices for flights to California and Thailand next year. (y)
 
faddius said:
if one of those parts were to make contact and break - the resulting debris from that part could easily shred and destroy the rest of that engine.....and in the case of catastrophic failure - could disable nearby engines too, and then it's all downhill from there with very little that can be done...
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Would now be a bad time to tell you that engines are actually designed to fall off the aircraft under certain circumstances? ;) :D
 
canonrebel said:
IMHO I dont think people have a fear of flying but a fear of crashing, which is funny really as you are more likely to be run over by a car than crash in a plane.
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joebh123 said:
What's to fear? Technically you're more likely to die driving!
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An oft quoted statistic, perpetuated by the airline industry, is that it's safer to travel by flying than by car. To back this up the statistics use "fatalities per passenger miles". So if a plane travels 1000 miles with 200 passengers, that's 200K passenger miles. Why should the number of passengers on a plane affect safety? Using time or number of events (take-off and landings) as the measurement and the figures look very different and driving's safer. I'll stick to the car or train for Europe and if I have to go further afield perhaps look into booking passage on a container ship :D

Also, the disdain and Ratner-like way which certain airlines treat their customers (Mr O'Leary et al), the undignified manner in which you are corralled and shepherded at airports, the semi-toxic, carcinogen and pathogen laden fug you are forced to breathe whilst enduring cramped seating conditions and personal space that would be illegal if you were livestock being transported across the UK etc etc....I'll take the car.
 
Love flying HATE the restriction on luggage and weight etc especially when you can buy bottles galour after security checks.
Dave
 
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PMN said:
Would now be a bad time to tell you that engines are actually designed to fall off the aircraft under certain circumstances? ;) :D
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I suppose under other circumstances the damage could be caused before the engines fall off. Even so, I'm not sure I would feel any better if they did fall off, the end result is the same, less engines than how ever many you started off with :puke:
 
faddius said:
I suppose under other circumstances the damage could be caused before the engines fall off. Even so, I'm not sure I would feel any better if they did fall off, the end result is the same, less engines than how ever many you started off with :puke:
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They're designed to fall off under certain circumstances (like if a fault causes excessive vibration) because having the engine on the aircraft can be more dangerous than it falling away. It's very much an extreme circumstance, but it is part of how they're designed.

Incidentally, and i know this won't change anyone's view if it's really set, but worrying about an engine failure really makes no sense. We're not in the 1950's anymore and every modern turbofan engine is designed to contain fan blades if they shed. It will destroy the engine, there's no doubt about that, but it's extremely unlikely to be in any way dangerous to the safety of the flight. Every twin engine commercial aircraft flying is perfectly capable of operating safely on one engine, losing one isn't actually a massive problem if it decides to take a little rest mid-flight, you'll just generally divert to the nearest sensible airport and land perfectly safely. :p
 
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Ricardodaforce said:
Ok it was the first link I saw.
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exactly, it's never the right approach to take the first link you see. Always do a little due diligence (y)

We were at alton towers a few months back when a really large woman wasn't allowed on the runaway mine train. She sat down in it and they couldn't put the bar down so she was told she had to get off. Felt bad for her, but I couldn't help thinking, what could they do? If she didn't fit then she didn't fit. There isn't really much else to it.

The people at the gates should have told her though that she was likely not able to go on most rides. But how do you do that?
 
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Ricardodaforce said:
Congrats. After this message you're going on ignore. Not felt the need to do that with anyone else. (y)
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:shrug:

no idea why you feel that way, or why you felt the need to actually tell me that.

Sorry if I upset you, was just giving some advice with regard to the new york post. I think you might be being a little bit oversensitive.
 
rol up roll up , ring side seats for another exciting episode of the joe and ricardo show
 
big soft moose said:
rol up roll up , ring side seats for another exciting episode of the joe and ricardo show
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:LOL:

tonights episode features the straw that broke the camels back when ricardo finally decided he'd had enough of ....... ummm ..... an innocent piece of advice to ignore the new york post :shrug:
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Was reading the other day about a fat person that was refused their place on a plane.

http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/airlines_left_my_wife_to_die_nF3WDbQiw0EZLnvYr9XQmM
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What's wrong with that in the airline industry it called a POS Passenger Of Size and speaking as someone who is very fat, I have no issues what so ever with paying for a second seat, and being offloaded if a second seat is not available, why should I take up some of the seat that someone else has paid for not only that it cost extra in fuel to carry someone of my size over a skinny person why shouldn't I foot that bill?
 
Commercial flying bores the pants off me!!! Travelling to airports, checking in, waiting, all those people, the massive person sat next to me all the way from Singapore to London, the massive person sat next to me from all the way from London to JFK (just last month). It really is a means to an end. Commercial flying long haul is like sitting on a bus for 8 hours! There is nothing exciting about it.

I do however have lots of great memories of flight.

1. The first time I flew over my parent's farm. I still recall my dad waving from the garden.

2. Flying a light aircraft on a Summer's evening, with one wing tip touching a cloud.

3. I flew in Concorde twice. The last flight was the 4th from last flight ever. That was very very special indeed. I saw the curviture of the earth.

4. Surprising a girlfriend with a flight. I though it was a good idea. After 2 minutes in the air, she screamed, demanded that we land and then threw up.

5. My first loop

6. Flying to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in a chopper.

The not so good memories -

1. Whilst assisting a mate fly (right had seat), we suddenly lost power on final approach to the runway. The pylons between us and a safe landing looked very large all of a sudden. Luckily the engine picked up and we were fine.

2. Having a tail strike whilst landing a Grumman AA5. Yikes!

3. Taking my x-father in law for a flight and having to force his frozen hands off the controls.

4. The 3 people I knew that were not so lucky (seperate incidents) :(


So, for me, flight is amazing. It is something I think all of us should try just once. Seeing the world from altitude is indeed a special special thing to do.


Flying on commercial flights - another story.

One last thing. For those people that sit there cursing the pilot during a 'go around' (2nd attempt at landing), do think of the pilot. He/she now has 5+ minutes to think "Bugger - I better get it right this time!"

Cheers.

Dav
 
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