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Slight thread drift here...my one and only trip in a 747-200 Combi was experienced as SLF and it was a nightmare! Supposed to a direct flight from Singapore to Heathrow, but turned out to be somewhat different to what was planned. The passenger number was somewhat lower than what I had expected so there were quite a few empty seats...cabin crew (if you could call them that, seemed to be made up of office staff going on vacation). I was seated just forward of the dividing bulkhead for a while and the sweet smell of that green stuff made my eyes water...I moved as far forward as I could, just to catch some sleep. About 4 hours into the flight, the plumbing system pooped itself, so no toilets were usable! Arriving over Europe, the captain came on the PA and announced that due to a fuel problem we would be landing in Frankfurt for a short stop...that didn't happen and we ended up landing in Brussels instead and were parked on a hardstand, miles from anywhere Obviously, the pax were not allowed off the aircraft, but the purser had the good sense to open a side door and the queue for a pee was something to behold...albeit 20 odd feet above the ground...the poor females had to use a plastic bucket in the blocked restrooms.
I watched from the open door as the Captain made the refueling arrangements with the Belgian fuel tanker driver, I saw him pay with a credit card and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We arrived at Heathrow about 4 hours later.
I realise that most of you will think this is a BS tale...but you would be wrong!!
The airline? I'm not going to denounce anyone directly, but most of their aircraft have a dark red leaf somewhere in their livery.
The year?...1989.
I've flown countless hundreds of times since then, in probably every version of the 747 and the experiences have been pretty positive overall...I've sat at the pointy end and every class of seat in between, all the way to the blunt end and my last comment would have to be this...freighters carry freight, airliners carry people...stuff the combi!
Last edited by bgbazz; 28th Feb 2017 at 18:31.
Reason: Grammar.