Some memories of the good old days to lighten your day....

I have been flying since 1964 with lots and lots of business travel in the 70s and 80s. Now only the occasional business trip but lots of reward travel for vacations.

My first flight was in 1964 on an Air Rhodesia DC6 from Ndola, Zambia to Salisbury, Rhodesia. Flight was delayed a couple of hours until the temperature cooled off - air to thin (?) to take off...

We even dressed up in those days to fly....

Second flight was on a Viscount - thought I died and gone to heaven...

Remember those VC10's? I never flew on a Comet though...

Flew lots of times YYZ - LHR in 1966 and 1967. Seat selection was done at the gate from a "master seating plan". Having just turned 21 it did not take long for me to catch on to wait for a pretty woman to be assigned a seat and me asking for the seat next to her.

There were no such beasts as upgrade certificates to first class - only "sincere" charming and grovelling to the gate agents.

The washrooms on those 707's and DC8's were a ***** to get to as there were always serving carts in the isle. All that free beer....

Remember flying UA from Chi to SFO First class on a 747 with a lounge on the upper deck. I think this route was their premiere route on which you received upgraded service.

Flying those Grunman (sp) sea planes from Nassau to Miami.

In the good old days you could fly on any airline with your ticket and stopovers were allowed. I remember in 1967 flying Toronto - LaGuardia - helicopter to Idyllwild(sp) - Varig to Rio - Varig to Johannesburg, SAA to Salisbury - SAA to Johannesburg - Olympic (I think) to Athens, KLM to Amsterdam, BEA to London and BOAC to Toronto all for $680...

Up to 1968 or so you could get a student fare (under 25) to Europe for $129. The catch was they would only confirm your seat 10 days before departure on each side.

When you travelled First Class on Air Canada they would pin a little name tag on the top of your seat and you would always be addressed by name.

If you got bumped on Canadian Pacific and CPAir you received a free ticket for within Canada if in Canada or anywhere they flew if outside Canada. I always "prevolunteered" and must have received 10 free tickets over the years.

Although my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world... the Singapore Airline stewardesses came in a very close second.

I remember when half the cabin became non smoking and thinking this would never last.

I collected engraved wine glasses from all the airlines I flew.

The first officer or pilot would stand by the exit and thank passengers for flying with their airline.

They served real food in economy.

A cockpit visit was a must on long flights. Was once allowed to stay in the cockpit for a landing in Honolulu.

You could listen to the pilot chatter watch take offs/landings on TVs on American Airlines DC10s.

I survived several trips on Air North DC3s in the Yukon and Alaska.