Things I really wanted to do

One of the things I really wanted to do was fly Concorde, but before I could get the money together, it was forced out of the sky. Watching it, which I did whenever I got the opportunity, used to bring a lump to my throat. There are machines that just seem both beautiful and right, and for me, Concorde epitomised beauty and power. It was the most graceful aircraft. Coming in to land, it looked like a giant white bird of prey. It was also one of the few planes that did what it was designed to do, according to John Taylor, Editor of Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft. It crossed the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound almost every day and in spite of vast sums of money and years of trying, no country has ever produced a larger, faster competitor. I’ve flown the Airbus A380, and it is a lovely plane, but I couldn't call it beautiful and it doesn’t bring a lump to my throat.  I sat in it as it sped down the runway, and wondered if such a huge machine would ever become airborne. I was quite surprised when, very quietly, it did. People who’ve flown Concorde say it was very small and not all that luxurious, but hey! when you’re flying at twice the speed of sound, who needs luxury? I’ll always be sorry I never got to do it.

New Zealand

Thursday saw us in Sydney airport First Class lounge as guests of the younger generation of the family, who travel the globe on a fairly regular basis as part of their jobs. I now have an insane longing to travel everywhere First Class, for the lounge is huge, quiet, and a world away from the rowdy, crowded airport realms I’ve been used to. A small piece of card marked Express allows the holder to magically by-pass the monster queues and I didn’t feel in the least guilty in doing so. Staff treat first-class passengers with deference – I’ve never been called ‘Ma’am’ – pronounced correctly to rhyme with ‘ham’ – so often since I left the Singapore Airlines flight at the end of October. Which reminds me that we travelled Heathrow to Singapore on the new A380 double decker (Economy Class, naturally!) the day before one such plane limped back to Singapore with a cracked engine casing. We are due to fly back to Singapore via the same aeroplane, but since they’re all still grounded, we may well be on a 747. A pity, because the new plane is beautifully smooth and quiet.