Your First Flight?

[Motormouse]

First general aviation was much briefer; a Cessna 206 to about 10,000 ft AGL, took much less time to get back down (didn't use the plane) .

ttfn

Pete

[DaveB]

It must be something about 206's Now you mention it.. I've taken off loads of times in one but never landed in one

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Tomliner]

Now you mention it.. I've taken off loads of times in one but never landed in one

Are you still up there Dave? Helloooo Dave Hellooo :think: EricT

[DaveB]

You may laugh but something along those lines happened on one particular jump. I was second out and as per.. first thing you do when your chute opens is do a 360 to make sure you're clear of the bloke who jumped before. Well.. I did my 360 and saw both the bloke who jumped before and the one who jumped after me some distance below. I watched in terror as the 206 landed then thought.. HTF am I going to get out of this I'd unwittingly caught a thermal and was very nicely going up not down which I have to say, is an experience in itself ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[FlyTexas]

Ahh, it looks like this thread has taken a twist. Ok, time for an additional question - How many of you 'first flight' fellows have ever jumped out of an aircraft in flight? What aircraft type was it? Was it a military jump or a civilian jump? To get things started, my first (and only) jump was from a late 1950's model Cessna 182. She was given the nickname "duct tape" or "duck tape" due to the large strip of "duct tape" which was attached to the outside of the fuselage to keep the baggage door shut. It was a civilian 'static-line' jump from 3,500 ft. Ok, not exactly a death-defying leap but exciting for me none the less. How about you?

Brian

[markw]

Well I've never jumped out of a plane (although I did once jump off a moving Green Bus of Rugeley rear-loader all-Leyland Titan when I realised I was on the wrong bus much to the fright of the conductoress and my parents) but I do remember my first ever flight as a teenager in the 1970s. It was to Mallorca on holiday with my grandparents, and the brochure had promised a Dan Air flight, either a 727 or a Comet 4. It was also the time of the annual French ATC two fingers to everyone routine, so we were delayed by 12 hours which in the old Elmdon building at Birmingham was the nearest thing to the Black Hole of Calcutta you could imagine. I spent the time plane spotting and was overjoyed when a Comet 4 landed and came up to the gate we were supposed to be loading from. Then came a Dan-Air 727, either BAEF or BAJW. So, convinced I was about to fly off on my first ever flight in a Comet, imagine my anger when we were sent off on the 727. When the return flight turned out to be the other 727 of BAEF or BAJW, I felt cheated. So, my first flight was on an American heap of junk (sorry, classic Boeing) eating cottage pie, carrots and peas for breakfast the disappointment of which has only marginally been moderated by the fact I now know it was one of the first 727s built, and the first on the UK register. I had to wait nearly 15 years before I could get on a classic British jetliner, Maersk UK's three BAC1-11/500s they flew out of BHX in the 90s, followed in quick succession by a Sabena RJ85 which was remarkable mainly for the fact the only Belgians on board were the crew, almost everyone else being either British, Dutch or German, and the most grisly salad "meal" which looked like the contents of a vegitarian's stomach after autopsy. At least I was able to palm a Sabena teaspoon before the trays were collected...