Delighted to have started a thread that’s sparked some great recollections , here’s a wee bit more.
In the 60s , my dad was promoted & we moved to Bermuda , then Nigeria.
Like Paxboy , I was a member of BOAC’s junior jet club.
My book has long since been lost but I think I remember dad pointing out that we’d travelled on G-ASGN , the VC10 later destroyed at Dawson’s field.
My love of aviation was very much encouraged by my father , so flight deck visits were regular as a child- dad had to accompany his children when we did so!
On my last trip with my sister on the 747 ‘classic’ , I was on the jump seat at Heathrow as they started the aircraft but the last engine fired up wasn’t reading correctly on the gauge.
Grins all round & ‘looks like we aren’t going anywhere...’ from Captain & 1st Officer , until the Engineer leaned over my shoulder , tapped the gauge & the needle sprang to into line with the others!
I have been on the flight deck into San Francisco , Bangkok, Montreal , JFK , and of course, Heathrow lots of times.
Most memorable return to Heathrow was on a beautifully clear night , I don’t know the routing to the runway but we came in over the city & the city airport.
Captain said he’d never seen it so clear.
It was a trip with a relief crew & their captain appeared to give a ‘You know where we are if needed’ as we did the approach , then added ‘Aren’t these simulators great?!’ , as that’s exactly what the view looked like.
Another trip , we returned to LHR but then had to wait to cross the ‘active’
Not just us in the 747 , we had a great view of Concorde on a tug also crossing further down.
’We’re safe now , they aren’t gonna risk Corde’ said the FO!
On a personal note , as I’m here , a massive THANK YOU to any BA crew reading this.
You were always friendly , polite and made me welcome.
I continue to be grateful.