Passenger Mark
09-13-2004, 09:38 PM
Saturday August 7th
I awoke at the hotel where I had been listening to planes landing all night :eek and got ready to go back to the airport. The shuttle left at 12:00 noon, and the flight did not open until 2:30 PM, so I was going to have some time to spend there.
Spoke with Tom, Lynda, and Kelley again. Assured them that this time I would be going. Kelley asked me how California was, and I said fine, but I would rather be in England!
Spoke with my Brother in England, they had found out from my folks that the date changed! And spoke with Jesse and my Nephews. Now being that they are teenagers and in that pain-in-the-butt age, they gave me a hard time for backing out. Said I had wigged out! Especially the 15 year old one. He has not figured out that sometimes it is best to keep your mouth shut!
With that I had not choice to go, as there was going to be some serious butt-kicking once I landed!
Typical Southern California August day. Clear, sunny, hot, etc.
Took an Ativan before leaving the hotel room, and got a muffin and banana to eat. (No repeats of the day before). Climbed on the shuttle van and back to LAX.
At LAX I went back to the Virgin check-in, and sat and waited for them to open the flight. I was first in line for check-in. As time went on, more and more passengers began showing up, and at 2:30 they opened the flight. The same folks I had seen the day prior checked me in, and they were happy to see that I was at the front of the line. They asked me how I felt, and I said ready to go!
Checked in, and got 71K... window seat upstairs on the 747! Headed for the gate. I stopped and changed money from dollars to pounds. I was committed for sure this time. Where was I going to spend British Pounds in the US!
Before going to the gate, I got a ham sandwich... again... no repeats of the day before.
Went on to the gate, and they did the same re-screening process. Found out that it was normal and Virgin does it on every flight! I then went up to the window and checked out the plane.
She was gorgeous! The 747, especially in Virgin Atlantic's new colors is something to see!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/CAtthegate.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/BAtthegate.jpg
About an hour prior to departure, I boarded the plane. I met the Flight Supervisor, who already knew about me. I guess they did not want any surprises! We went on to my seat, and I proceeded to putting my things away. I asked him if there was a way I could meet the Captain??? He told me to wait a moment, and he would be right back.
In the meantime I stowed my carry-on. Now the seat was cool! Next to the seat there was this bin where you could put items.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_GStorage.jpg
I was able to fit my DVD player, lap-top, and camera in there. The rest went in the overhead.
The Flight Supervisor came back with the Captain! We spoke for a minute, and then he asked if I would like to see the flight deck! I jumped at that. Once there I met the First Officer and the Relief Pilot. I asked if I could make photos, but that was out. :\ But just getting to see it was nice. They told me the route we would take, out of the U.S. over north of the Great Lakes, over the Hudson Bay, Greenland, and on into England. As they were busy I went back to my seat.
Before long we were all buckled in, and ready to go. Amazing, but from the upper deck on a 747 you are already up in the air! Talked with Captain Tom again, and told him I felt really good. Ready to go. He kept asking me about England, what I was going to do, etc. I think he was keeping my mind busy! ha ha. Before long it was time to hang up and go!
I could feel the plane moving as we backed out...
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_EBackingout.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_DBackingout.jpg
And about this time I snuck a call into Captain Tom to let him know I was definitely going. Real quick I said... "I am backing out, could you post it, so folks will not wonder?" He said... "YOU ARE BACKING OUT! YOU ARE NOT GOING?"..... NOOOOO "The plane is backing out, I am on it!" ha ha
He said sure thing!
We taxied out to the runway, and fairly soon we were in the air! We took off to the west out over the Pacific and made a wide turn to the right. We flew toward the San Gabriel Mountains, and I could see my town as we crossed over...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/FLeavingCalif.jpg
I bid farewell to Southern California as we headed toward Nevada.
The take-off was very smooth, as well as the climb. In about 30 minutes the seat-belt light went off and it was time for me to go explore this bird!
Sorry the photos are fuzzy, I did not want to use my flash!
The upper deck...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/JCabin.jpg
The stairs... a plane with stairs! Call me a kid, but I thought that was cool!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/KStairs.jpg
The Bar!...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/XBar.jpg
The Aft section...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/AACoach.jpg
Right wing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/YRightWing.jpg
Left wing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/ZLeftwing.jpg
The bathroom...
(No photo!) ha ha ... heck they had 11 or 14 of them!
About an hour into the flight, I got a little nervous thinking that I had to stay on this thing for 9 more hours, but did my exercises, and that soon went away.
We went over Nevada, Utah, and toward the Dakotas the sun began to set...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/MSunset.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/LSunset.jpg
Dinner came around fairly soon, roast beef with mash potatoes, and it was good! Imagine that. Then I started exploring Virgin's new entertainment system. They have just upgraded them over the past year, called the V10 or something like that.
Anyways, you have about 30 movies, 20 TV shows, 40 music channels, 30 games. It was great! I did not even get out my DVD player or Lap-top. It also had the sky-map, which was interactive. You could zoom in and out of your location. All this stuff was "on demand", in other words, you could start a movie when you wanted, pause it, rewind, etc. That kept me busy for hours!
When we were west of the Hudson Bay, we got into some turbulence which lasted off and on about thirty minutes. The flight attendant said the Captain was most likely trying to find the jet-stream! HUH!!!! :eek Ok, then find it, can't be that hard, there is only one! But soon enough we were back to smooth air. The odd thing is that we never climbed about 35k the entire flight. I expected it at the start until we burned off fuel, but we were always between 33K and 35K. Maybe a pilot can answer that one.
The relief pilot came and went several times, and came by and checked on me. I had taken Ray's book THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING for Lynda. I had taken it out during the flight to read some. He saw the book and asked me about it. I told him about Ray, the board, the book, etc. He asked if he could take the book up to the cockpit to share with the rest. Sure! SO RAY!!! Your book has been in the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic 747!
As we approached Greenland, the darkness gave way to morning... Short night!
And over Greenland had a spectacular, awesome sunrise!!!
I used my zoom on some of these photos.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/PGreenland.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los%20Angeles%20to%20London/th_NGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/OGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/QGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/RGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/SGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/TGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/UGreeenland.jpg
As we left Greenland I gave Lynda a call! Just to let her know I was on board! ha ha
The sky-maps were cool, would show daylight and dark, and where the sun was...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/VMap.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/WMap.jpg
It was about this time we hit some more turbulence... must have lost the jet stream! :eek AGAIN!
And we experienced some turbulence off and on for a while.
Have to go out for a while, so I will finish this leg in my next trip report... part 3
Thanks yall!
Mark
I awoke at the hotel where I had been listening to planes landing all night :eek and got ready to go back to the airport. The shuttle left at 12:00 noon, and the flight did not open until 2:30 PM, so I was going to have some time to spend there.
Spoke with Tom, Lynda, and Kelley again. Assured them that this time I would be going. Kelley asked me how California was, and I said fine, but I would rather be in England!
Spoke with my Brother in England, they had found out from my folks that the date changed! And spoke with Jesse and my Nephews. Now being that they are teenagers and in that pain-in-the-butt age, they gave me a hard time for backing out. Said I had wigged out! Especially the 15 year old one. He has not figured out that sometimes it is best to keep your mouth shut!
With that I had not choice to go, as there was going to be some serious butt-kicking once I landed!
Typical Southern California August day. Clear, sunny, hot, etc.
Took an Ativan before leaving the hotel room, and got a muffin and banana to eat. (No repeats of the day before). Climbed on the shuttle van and back to LAX.
At LAX I went back to the Virgin check-in, and sat and waited for them to open the flight. I was first in line for check-in. As time went on, more and more passengers began showing up, and at 2:30 they opened the flight. The same folks I had seen the day prior checked me in, and they were happy to see that I was at the front of the line. They asked me how I felt, and I said ready to go!
Checked in, and got 71K... window seat upstairs on the 747! Headed for the gate. I stopped and changed money from dollars to pounds. I was committed for sure this time. Where was I going to spend British Pounds in the US!
Before going to the gate, I got a ham sandwich... again... no repeats of the day before.
Went on to the gate, and they did the same re-screening process. Found out that it was normal and Virgin does it on every flight! I then went up to the window and checked out the plane.
She was gorgeous! The 747, especially in Virgin Atlantic's new colors is something to see!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/CAtthegate.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/BAtthegate.jpg
About an hour prior to departure, I boarded the plane. I met the Flight Supervisor, who already knew about me. I guess they did not want any surprises! We went on to my seat, and I proceeded to putting my things away. I asked him if there was a way I could meet the Captain??? He told me to wait a moment, and he would be right back.
In the meantime I stowed my carry-on. Now the seat was cool! Next to the seat there was this bin where you could put items.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_GStorage.jpg
I was able to fit my DVD player, lap-top, and camera in there. The rest went in the overhead.
The Flight Supervisor came back with the Captain! We spoke for a minute, and then he asked if I would like to see the flight deck! I jumped at that. Once there I met the First Officer and the Relief Pilot. I asked if I could make photos, but that was out. :\ But just getting to see it was nice. They told me the route we would take, out of the U.S. over north of the Great Lakes, over the Hudson Bay, Greenland, and on into England. As they were busy I went back to my seat.
Before long we were all buckled in, and ready to go. Amazing, but from the upper deck on a 747 you are already up in the air! Talked with Captain Tom again, and told him I felt really good. Ready to go. He kept asking me about England, what I was going to do, etc. I think he was keeping my mind busy! ha ha. Before long it was time to hang up and go!
I could feel the plane moving as we backed out...
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_EBackingout.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/th_DBackingout.jpg
And about this time I snuck a call into Captain Tom to let him know I was definitely going. Real quick I said... "I am backing out, could you post it, so folks will not wonder?" He said... "YOU ARE BACKING OUT! YOU ARE NOT GOING?"..... NOOOOO "The plane is backing out, I am on it!" ha ha
He said sure thing!
We taxied out to the runway, and fairly soon we were in the air! We took off to the west out over the Pacific and made a wide turn to the right. We flew toward the San Gabriel Mountains, and I could see my town as we crossed over...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/FLeavingCalif.jpg
I bid farewell to Southern California as we headed toward Nevada.
The take-off was very smooth, as well as the climb. In about 30 minutes the seat-belt light went off and it was time for me to go explore this bird!
Sorry the photos are fuzzy, I did not want to use my flash!
The upper deck...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/JCabin.jpg
The stairs... a plane with stairs! Call me a kid, but I thought that was cool!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/KStairs.jpg
The Bar!...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/XBar.jpg
The Aft section...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/AACoach.jpg
Right wing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/YRightWing.jpg
Left wing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/ZLeftwing.jpg
The bathroom...
(No photo!) ha ha ... heck they had 11 or 14 of them!
About an hour into the flight, I got a little nervous thinking that I had to stay on this thing for 9 more hours, but did my exercises, and that soon went away.
We went over Nevada, Utah, and toward the Dakotas the sun began to set...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/MSunset.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/LSunset.jpg
Dinner came around fairly soon, roast beef with mash potatoes, and it was good! Imagine that. Then I started exploring Virgin's new entertainment system. They have just upgraded them over the past year, called the V10 or something like that.
Anyways, you have about 30 movies, 20 TV shows, 40 music channels, 30 games. It was great! I did not even get out my DVD player or Lap-top. It also had the sky-map, which was interactive. You could zoom in and out of your location. All this stuff was "on demand", in other words, you could start a movie when you wanted, pause it, rewind, etc. That kept me busy for hours!
When we were west of the Hudson Bay, we got into some turbulence which lasted off and on about thirty minutes. The flight attendant said the Captain was most likely trying to find the jet-stream! HUH!!!! :eek Ok, then find it, can't be that hard, there is only one! But soon enough we were back to smooth air. The odd thing is that we never climbed about 35k the entire flight. I expected it at the start until we burned off fuel, but we were always between 33K and 35K. Maybe a pilot can answer that one.
The relief pilot came and went several times, and came by and checked on me. I had taken Ray's book THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING for Lynda. I had taken it out during the flight to read some. He saw the book and asked me about it. I told him about Ray, the board, the book, etc. He asked if he could take the book up to the cockpit to share with the rest. Sure! SO RAY!!! Your book has been in the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic 747!
As we approached Greenland, the darkness gave way to morning... Short night!
And over Greenland had a spectacular, awesome sunrise!!!
I used my zoom on some of these photos.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/PGreenland.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los%20Angeles%20to%20London/th_NGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/OGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/QGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/RGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/SGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/TGreenland.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/UGreeenland.jpg
As we left Greenland I gave Lynda a call! Just to let her know I was on board! ha ha
The sky-maps were cool, would show daylight and dark, and where the sun was...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/VMap.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los Angeles to London/WMap.jpg
It was about this time we hit some more turbulence... must have lost the jet stream! :eek AGAIN!
And we experienced some turbulence off and on for a while.
Have to go out for a while, so I will finish this leg in my next trip report... part 3
Thanks yall!
Mark