Danny,
Your tale about that flight from Ostende to Southend bought back some very happy memories as this was my very first time in any type of aircraft.
WQhen I was a young child my father had booked a summer holiday for the family at Blankenberge, Belgium. To get there we were going to fly from Southend to Ostende and yes, this was going to be in a car tansporter even though we were not travelling by car.
On our arrival at Southend my parents were told there had been a mistake regarding the number of passengers allocated to the aircraft. There were only three available seats!!!! My father suggested they could strap me out on the roof but the Sabena staff stated that if my parents did not object I could sit in the spare seat on the flight deck!!!
What a result, there I was strapped into what I believe was the navigator's seat, water dripping into my lap from the leaking plastic like astro dome and me holding the seat belts together as I could not figure out how to fasten them!!
Once we were airborne, I was really looking forward to watching my pilots carry out their acts of daring do as we headed off toward Ostende, but what a disappointment!!! They engaged the autopilot and got stuck into a crossword and that was it until we got close to our destination, but what an experience for a young schoolchild.
Thank you for fetching back those happy days.
Best wishes
John