Do You Enjoy Flying? Options

[MiniTES]

I love it - but I also find it to be infinitely more enjoyable when I have a window seat. There's so much to see (and if you look for something, you're far more likely to see it). Once I even saw a sundog from ABOVE it! It always amazes me how people can just get on a plane, close the window shade, and go to sleep.

[djellison]

I've not been overseas for a few years - but in flights to holiday destinations - the highlight of the holiday was ALWAYS the flight.



Doug

[TheChemist]

I hope I don't pass as a "chauvinist" if I admit there is nothing more enjoyable than flying over the Aegean on a clear day watching the islands float in deep blue

[dvandorn]

Back in April of 1997, I flew from Chicago to London overnight. This was back when comet Hale-Bopp was reaching its brightest, with its most extensive tail.

I happened to be on the left side of the cabin, looking to the north as we traveled east towards Europe. The cabin lights were down low (it being the middle of the night), and my eyes became dark-adapted.

A glowing display of northern lights, green at the base with red and gold streamers, carpeted the planet, and Hale-Bopp hung near the top of the streamers, its tail beaconing upwards like a ghostly watchtower's lonely beam, guiding lost ships to safe harbor.

I don't think I'll ever, ever forget that view.

Oh, yes -- I love to fly. Especially with a window seat.

-the other Doug

[ElkGroveDan]

I've not been overseas for a few years -
Doug

What do you mean? You LIVE overseas don't you?

[djellison]

Well - I live in the UK But I've not been anywhere that required an airline flight to get there for a while. Possibly a Paris trip later this year ( my other half will have been to NYC, Milan, London and Paris inside of 12 months if we do ) but that will probably Eurostar (not been on that yet). My favorite holiday destination in the world is Mull in Scotland, and that's just 2 days driving and a short ferry.

Last overseas holiday was tenerife about 8 years ago, and the flight out was astonishing - Teide sticking up out the cloud deck as we approached the new airport - and on the way out, it was just gone sunset, and the top of Teide was still lit as we head out north - fabulous.

Doug

[odave]

My most memorable window seat moment was on a flight from Detroit to Tokyo, watching the sunrise over Alaska. The way the orange and gold light hit the snow covered mountain peaks, with valleys still in shadow, was just breathtaking. And not a streetlight to be seen - really drove home how sparsely inhabited that part of the world is.

[DEChengst]

I love to fly but don't really care about being flown. Passengers jets are a great way to travel long distances but it's not something I enjoy. About ten years ago I flew gliders for a year but failed the medical tests so I had to quit

After thinking a bit more: Yes there would be an airplane I would love to be flown in. It's the Beechcraft Starship. The most beautifull aircraft ever:







But still. Being on the flightdeck with the hands on the controls would be even better:

[Bob Shaw]

The Beechcraft Starship was a beautiful aircraft, and I'm glad that Mr Rutan managed to keep one when things turned to dust!

[Bill Harris]

Love to fly, I always get a window seat and sightsee as I travel. My favorite route is from the southeast USA to the Colorado Rockies; there is a wide range of geomorphologic, topographic and cultural features along the way.

Above and beyond _being flown_ as a passenger, I love to fly. No pilot's license, but one of my hobbies is radio-controlled model airplanes. Another hobby is photography. Merging the two, one of my interests is photography from an R/C aircraft. Attached is an aerial photo I made last winter-- it is of a coal waste slurry pond and is color-enhanced to show vegetation and differences in the water quality. I flew three flights that day and captured 60 images in the digital camera attached to the plane.

--Bill

[jamescanvin]

Can't get enough of looking out of the window while flying. Which does mean I'm sitting here rather tired after flying back to Australia from a two week trip back to the UK yesterday! Worth staying awake for as just in the last, err, lets say 3 days, i've seen:

The Arctic ocean in twilight at local midnight,
Snow on the Ural Mountains,
The vast wilderness of Siberia,
The worlds longest suspention bridge (Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Kobe) (landing at Kansai),
Dolphins off the Australian coast while on approch at Brisbane,
All the sights of Sydney, Harbour bridge, Opera house, etc.

Worth spending all that time squashed inside a metal cylinder!

Only problem is I now have two weeks of all your posts to catch up on! Slow down guys!

James

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

In a trip in 1994 I enjoyed flying over Turkey, the Iranian salt desert with its patchwork of white and yellow, the lower himalayas, an infinite greenery which look devoid of any human presence, and beautiful Bhutan, and after the Chomolungma (Everest) which seemed higher than the plane. Former rememberings ae about Sahara, and seeing now Meridiani planum I think both may look very similar. The best joy of flying is certainly gazing at landscapes, and I alway ask for a window seat. I think that if I were in space I would spent my time looking back the Earth.

[Ames]

Yes!

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[ilbasso]

There was a great book that came out in the late 1970's - "Science from your airplane window". It had all kinds of mental exercises and things to look for - from calculating the distance between the two panes of glass in the window based on refraction to looking for the subsolar "glory" that you can see sometimes. I'm not sure if the book is still in print, but there are copies available from amazon.com - see Science from Your Airplane Window.

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

I used to fly 'general aviation' fixed wing single engine aircraft and even started the IFR course ... but it's an expensive hobby

My favourite plane ? I like the looks of the Scaled Composites Proteus
http://air-and-space.com/19991009%20Edward...%20side%20l.jpg