Notes from the second part of my flight overseas. You might want to read Part One first.
Didn't have time to explore Heathrow due to Newcastle flight being late. Heathrow is really big. Found boarding gate with five minutes to spare.
Didn't get a good look at the plane. Don't know what it is. The last one felt like a bus. This one feels more like a train. Bigger than the last one. Got a centre seat this time. Windows are bigger so I have a better view. Over the wing again. Bigger wing.
Waiting.
Taxiing.
Aircraft is Boeing 757.
Safety announcements are more old fashioned. On an Airbus you get a video film of what to do. On a 757 you get a stewardess miming.
Acceleration. Gee whiz, Airbus acceleration has nothing on a 757. And it seems to leave the ground so fast. I thought runways were long!
Towards the clouds. Darker, greyer than in Newcastle. I want to reach them now. Faster.
The wing cuts into them. White mist pours over it. The grey was an illusion. When you are in them, they are white. From above, clouds don't look real. It's like cotton wool. Just like in the movies. They look solid. I feel they will spring in if I poke them.
Higher. Heading towards another band of cloud. Thinner, grey. Through it. Looking down through layers. Grey, white, ground. 37,000 feet. Seven miles. Lunch over the North Sea. Can't see the sea. Grey layer has gone but white layer is thicker. Beautiful.
Add one hour to my watch. Neat. Jet lag.
Lunch is . . . complicated. More stressful than breakfast. I have crumbs everywhere. I'm a complete embarrassment.
There's something odd in my fruit bowl. There's a piece of grapefruit, a piece of orange, a slice of kiwi fruit, and then . . . this. It looks like a slice of cauliflower. Who slices cauliflower and puts it in a fruit bowl? Maybe it's a Swedish thing? I'll try it.
Hmm. I know what it is. I've had it before. Duh . . . What?
Oh. Pineapple. Duh. LOL.
Funny thing: on the Newcastle—Heathrow flight, everybody chose tea not coffee. On the Heathrow—Stockholm flight, everybody prefers coffee. Heh. Tea. . . . it's an English thing.
Hours to go . . .
Landing
Sitting over the wings, I can see the control surfaces operate. The whine of the motors is audible. Flaps don't just flap up and down. They extend. Telescope out and downwards. Out to increase the surface area of the wing. Down to disrupt the airflow over it. I understand the mechanics of it but I've never seen it like this before. Story of my life, really.
In cloud for an awful long time. Pilot tells us it's down to 500 feet.
Then we're through it and EEK there are trees about six feet below us.
Landings are still scary.
Touch the runway. You can feel when it happens. Speed breaks open up. The wing splits open like a seed pod. It's an engineering miracle just to make a wing work.
That was so cool. It's raining. Everything is English. This is too easy.
I don't know where to go!!!!!
I want to fly again. And again and never land.
Flying is cool.
Acceleration is cool. Clouds are cool. Turbulence is cool. Landing is the worst part. Clouds are the best part.
I love flying.
© 2000 by David Meadows. All rights reserved. 14 October 2000