Favorite Flight Memory
 

What flying experience always brings a smile to your face and you will always remember?

For me, it was a short flight from Paris to Venice in 1985 on Alitalia. (We were supposed to take the train but one of those random strikes cancelled our train trip). I was 13 at the time and fell in love with the stewardess and was thrilled that I got a bottle of wine in my meal which I promptly consumed.

I have three:

On a flight to LHR - got to see a rainbow from up above in crystal clear skies (absolutely unforgettable)

On way to AMS - got to see the sunrise

On way to DCA - got to see the sunset. I must admit that the sunset was more overwhelming than the sunrise. Maybe 'caus the intensity of sun's light decreases during a sunset and you're able to look at it longer than you would for a sunrise?

Either way, all of 'em unforgettable experiences :)

flying Backwards on an RAF VC-10 from RAF Brize Norton - RAF Akrotiri (cypus) when i was about 10 years old..

that was a hell of an experience flying backwards :)

an experience still available on Czech Airlines in first row ;)

Favorite Flight Memories...
 

...seeing Mt. Rainier while approaching SEA. Incredibly beautiful site!

...after leading a tour group all over France and getting them all safely on their respective planes, my husband and I were at CDG, where the GA could not seem to find our reservations. He noticed my business card, which had been laminated in to a luggage tag and asked if I was "the director" of the university I was representing. I said yes, the GA picked up the phone, mumbled something in French about director, the university, and we were handed two first class tickets home....it was great fun telling the university president I had taken his job to get home on time....

My grandpa used to own a private jet, I think it was a Gulf Stream. Anyhow, he'd fly it out to LA for us when we went to visit him and the pilots would always let me come up and hang out in the cockpit for the whole flight. I talked to the air traffic controllers, got into the copilot seat during the flight, I remember how much I loved being able to do that.

Second best would be flying United Airlines JFK-LAX on business class. Superb service, best I've ever had on a flight, and an excellent in flight meal to boot, the only good meal I've ever had a good meal on a plane. Too bad thats the only time I've flown anything other than coach.

... Flying into Anchorage for the first time

... Watching my first thunderstorm from FC

... Everytime I fly over the Sandias and I'm HOME!

My best memories are always the view coming home, whether it is into PBI now, or LAX, SNA, or HNL in the past.

Watching rocket launches in flight from Patrick AFB or Kennedy Space Center rank right up there.

My Father was a Type-A business man. He travelled a lot for business, and family vacations were never really that....he mixed work and vacation. And numerous times, vacation was cancelled due to work getting in the way.

There was only one time when my Father and I took a vacation together.....just the two of us.....and just vacation. It was only 10 days. We flew Concorde to London, spent about a 5-6 days there, then flew over to Germany to see some friends, and flew Concorde home again.

I have a picture of the two of us, sitting next to one another on board. It is my favorite picture of the two of us; in fact, one of the few pictures I have of just the two of us.

I've flown a lot, but that trip -- and that flight -- brings back great memories!

ORD to ARN and seeing the Northern lights somewhere in between. The green glow is something I will never forget.

1. Flying on Concorde

2. Flying LHR-LAX in VS Upper - best flight crew on any flight I've taken

3. (bittersweet memory) - Flying SFO-EWR on a red-eye, landing on 10 September 2001 - I woke up just in time to see dawn breaking over the Lower Manhattan skyline

My very first business trip was on a company jet. Flying home in the evening I looked out the window just as the wing was below cloud level and the winglet still poking up...with a sunset in the background. Amazing.

What a great thread topic!

A most recent (last month) favorite flight memory: sitting in FC during a two-hour ground hold on the taxiway with drinks free-flowing and snacks abounding up front.

My all-time favorite flight memory (last year): being the sole FC passenger on a 12+ hour JNB-HKG Cathay Pacific flight. With an amazing crew and 747 cabin to myself, I don't think I'll ever experience better service on another flight!

-FlyerBeek

Maybe too cynical
 

Mine are about ... survival and perseverance

1. The sound of an explosion followed by rushing air in a NW DC-10 1:30 out of AMS. The escape slide exploded in from the door and inflated inside the forward galley. Flight continued to DTW without further explosions, and I did't get sucked out of the door.

2. I had sketeched in a flight on an ATR that went dow due to wing icing near ORD back in the mid-90's. I changed plans (obviously) and never made the trip - another dodge.

3. On a commuter flight (J-31) from ISP to IAD, I did not realize until after take-off that there was no lavatory ... after poudning 4 beers just before boarding. The flight was 1:40 long, and my bladder did not explode and I didn't wet my pants.

Before I was married, there was this unbelievably hot f/a working my section. We got friendly, and before I knew it I was meeting her in her hotel ;-)

Taking a helicopter tour of Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon.