My first experience of flying was by far my best experience! In 1957 travelled back from Singapore to UK (my father incidentally was a Flt Eng on Sunderlands at RAF Seletar). Our flight was in an Airwork Hermes (civilian equivalent of the Hastings, I think) we also took off from Paya Lebar and our route was Bankok (refuel) - Calcutta (refuel) - Karachi (nightstop, crew and pax) - Bahrain (refuel) - Beirut (refuel) - Brindisi (nightstop, crew and pax) - Blackbushe! The journey was like a modern day cruise experience, everyone got to know everyone else, the crew seemed like normal human beings,and of course in those days flight deck visits were not only welcomed but were positively encouraged! wonderful for a lad of 10!! You may wonder why coming back from Singapore was my first flying experience, we actually went out by troopship the Empire Fowey, 22 days but thats another story! Yes its true we do tend to remember the "good" times but I've often thought, after years of flying, how nice it would be to relive that journey.