Hope he mentioned the Virgin Crews that used to be in there. The "take" there from BA and VS must have been tremendous. Good karoake as well. Sometimes you could walk into the monsoon drain outside if you werent careful!
Did not know there was a book... When at NRT, I used to go to that place with the crews... 1980-1990s. Was close to the Narita View Hotel, on side of one of the expressways. Biru kudasai... Kirin Ichiban or Sapporo...! xxx Happy contrails
A flight engineer fell in there one day when he went outside to take a leak. Dangerous place that truck. Sometimes people had to be rescued from the expressway hard shoulder as well. Much safer to go to the Red Lion in Narita!!!!!
Many a night spent at The Truck and The Western Beggar. In the early 90's it was just a truck in front of the ANA hotel then they expanded and business dropped off until they bought a coach that left Narita after the last hotel coach and then took people back to their hotels at either 1.30 or 3am. There was an incident when a BA F/O was found in the drain with a cracked skull. At first it was thought that it was an accident but it transpired that he had upset a crew in The Truck and they had been waiting for him. Some Pacific outfit. I wonder if Ken? is still running The Western Beggar and if he still has his tooth . Also I wonder if The Airline Bar (up the stairs) is still going. They continuously played a video of air crashes. Did The Barge Inn (opened by R. Branson) survive. Many many good layovers in Narita. Happy days.
Yes, spent many a night/ early morning in the TRUCK and staggered back to the hotel to carry on in the crew room. Hey Tercarley, I wonder if it is the same flight engineer that I knew fell in the storm drain with the initials S.D.
I also remember the 'Lock-ins' at the Western Beggar where, if you could put up with the family photo album, you got plied with Ken's whiskey for free!! And then onto the cage till the bus to the Truck departed.
Truck closed down as of about 6 months ago; much better times now being had in "The Cage" between McD's and the Mercure in Narita village. Ken still in WB, his tooth just about holding up!
It was horrible;the jet-lag/alcohol combo was too much.The afore- mentioned Pacific crew demonstrated the phrase projectile vomiting in graphic detail still unfortunately remembered to this day.This was a Fijian(female) flight attendant built like a prop forward.Not really happy days.
Used to be a good place to drink after return from town. Liked it better when the second truck came along. When there was just the one there it was ghastly as well. Projectile vomiting!!! Hope it didnt catch anyone.
Probably the lease with the hotel ran out. A happy little band of flyers we were when I was in the airline.
The early evening videos of aircraft, boats and cars crashing and blowing up got a bit boring at the "Flyers Lounge" after you'd seen them for the umteenth time. One of the regular captains had a friend who worked for TV outside broadcasts. While setting up the cameras from elevated masts, roofs and other vantage points the cameramen would zoom in with mega-telephoto lens viewing the antics of couples in nearby haystacks, behind hedges and the backs of cars. These were spliced together to make an interesting video. This video was given to the bar tender to substitute for the usual "crash" one and received unaccustomed attention from the assembled drinkers.
After about twenty minutes the video display was interrupted by two policemen who demanded it should be stopped..................the bar tender had forgotten there was a video monitor at the bar entrance on the outside street - which was now COMPLETELY blocked by local residents absorbed by the unexpurgated romantic overtures of spectators of horse racing, car racing, airshows and other outdoor activities.
Happy days in NRT................especially the singing bar
Happy Days... This poem by Dennis A Currie of Canadian Airlines perhaps gives a flavour of the Truck in it's Glory Days, it was behind the bar in the Trailer ( Son of Truck!)
I wish my friends could see
This roadside bar in Narita
As a black girl sings the blues
To this potentially debaucherous crowd
At the bottom of a green gully
By the airport highway
Her lungs are strong
Her voice proclaims she’s proud
Along the hilltop above
Hotels like tall barracks
Serve this fortified
Major jetport to Japan
It seems half the world fleet
Of 400’s come through here
Multi culture coloured tails
Powered progress of man
She belts out like Areatha
Patrons applauding
To be soothed
In her voice of the earth
A huge Sony machine
Plays continuous Karaoke
A couple close dances
Lost in her words
As surreal as the scene
From the space bar in Starwars
Lots of strange Jetcraft crews
Go Gear Down in here
The walls are just plywood
And there’s outdoor urinals
But the barman is friendly
Serving big bottles of beer
This party started
Next door in the trailer
Overflowing to this encampment
In the ravine by the creek
It’s gone on for years
A jet modern tradition
Resuming at eleven
Seven nights of the week
While the black girl is singing
In tight cut low spandex
The men cheer the fortune
Befalling them here
A complete representation
Of every type in the species
Laughing, they’re ordering
More Kirin beer
We’re all natural friends
‘Cause we chose this vocation
To fly world wide
Women and men
In spite of the lag
And rumours of danger
We’ve all bid Narita
To meet here again.
The Trailer (You had to be there)
Dennis A Currie ( Canadian Airlines) Oct 1995 NRT
Last edited by Peterd28; 4th Jun 2009 at 09:05.
Reason: Formatting & additional info
Western Beggar has been closed for a while now. Narita airport looks like it has half the traffic it used to have and a lot less crew seen in Narita town, I guess this is due to some airlines going to Haneda and hard financial times.
Narita is very expensive and quite congested. But it's got its own allure, it's got more personality than Haneda. Lately, I try going to the city for accommodation and the trip by train is always lovely. And to be jonest, it's beter to have a drink in the quiet, low-key, dim-lit hotel cocktail lounge overlooking Tokyo than in a wild and running drinking hole. Goes with age, I guess.
. Also I wonder if The Airline Bar (up the stairs) is still going. They continuously played a video of air crashes. Did The Barge Inn (opened by R. Branson) survive. Many many good layovers in Narita. Happy days.
