October 1976, HAM-LTN in a DanAir BAC 1-11.

I was 18, and quite a seasoned traveller - but (as was common for us Europeans in those days) all my travel so far had been by road or train.

Although I quite enjoyed the flight itself, I didn't really enjoy the experience of travelling by air - my journal entry for the day said something like "It gets you from A to B far too quickly, with no time to prepare yourself for the place you're going to".

Apart from one more flight the following summer (Blackpool to the Isle of Man) I didn't fly again until I was 26 - which was the cut-off point for youth fares on trains and ferries. I travelled a lot in the intervening years, covering quite some distances (including a memorable rail journey to Athens), but none of it was by air.

I now fly several times each month as a fare-paying passenger, and also have a Private Pilot's Licence. I like being in the air and looking down on the world, especially in light aircraft... yet I know that if I had the time I would probably still choose to use trains instead of short-haul flights.