The Wind beneath My Wings

“If I could just get Broom to cooperate, we could fly, Glo said. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about traffic. Harry Potter didn’t have to worry about traffic.
You realize Harry Potter isn’t real, right?
Of course, but he could be. I mean, maybe not Harry Potter, but someone like him. Who’s to say?”
― Janet Evanovich, Wicked Business

I still vividly remember going out in the backyard at a certain time during the week with a cup of tea, watching the Concorde flying over London and descending into Heathrow. It was the highlight of my week! Honestly.

If you’d asked me, I couldn’t tell you what my fascination is with aeroplanes, because I’m “pissing my pants” (am I allowed to say that publicly?) every time I’m in a plane taking off or getting ready to land – more so when only a few days earlier the rest of the family has watched this program “Air Disasters” with enormous interest.

My first flight was at a tender age of eight – flying from Frankfurt to Bucharest in Romania. My memory is that at the check in the guy said “Oh, flying Tupolev (I think!), the airline that crashes the most.” At that age I had no idea what he was talking about, I was about to fly to a different country, two weeks at the beach with my mum and sisters, that was all that mattered. It turned out to be a horrible flight, hitting one air pocket after the other, but I was amused by my sisters not keeping up with the unwrapping of their lollies to keep the ears from popping. Yes, we survived, and yes, a few years later I was in a plane again heading towards Bulgaria. Memory is blank though, it mustn’t have been eventful.

Then came a period of time hopping to and from London, but my next big “memorable” flight was going from LA to Anchorage with Alaskan Air, an airline which I believe is defunct nowadays  – we hit an air pocket just minutes after take-off, a big (in my opinion anyway) crack appeared next to my seat and I spent the rest of the flight on the toilet, too scared to go anywhere near that area. Yes, it did get me into trouble. Did I care. Uh-uh, no way!

Moving on … hmmm …. Yes, I have had the luxury of flying business class a couple of times. Divine, absolutely divine! I have had the opportunity to fly into the old Hong Kong airport, which was one of the highlight of my “flying” life. I’ve flew over Kakadu National Park and got so sick I nearly passed out. Got to meet a then-famous Australian cricket player and had no idea who he was. You should’ve seen husband-to-be when the cricket player came past us in the airport area and wished me well. LOL. AND I had my daughter throw up over a passenger, who turned out to be a very well-known singer here in Australia. It’s been an eventful life “in the air” so far, and I’m very curious what the upcoming flight in a few weeks will bring.

Anyhow … I did get carried away, but as I said, I love talking planes (and traveling, but I won’t get started on that.) It’s not just the air travel, but the actual planes as well. There’s a great airplane museum in Hermeskeil, Germany, which is well worth a visit. I love it and have visited a couple of times.

Bottom line, the reason for the post today is that we currently have the International Airshow in Geelong, which is just down the road. I’d sooooo love to go there one day, probably the day when I get a one-on-one tour …. Just a few too many people there for me. Just the noise of the jet rushing through the air gets me all excited.

Yes, we do live next to a small airport and we’re loving it. And, okay, I admit it, the first German word my girls learnt was “Flugzeug”. I don’t think I’ve got to tell you what it means in English.

And to finish off my post about planes, a little side note that I had Jeff on my blog a few months back talking about his time in Thule, Greenland. I have since  wondered how it would be to land/take off.

Anybody sharing my love for aeroplanes ?

 

PS – May I quickly add this one as well ?

I am absolutely thrilled and over-excited that “Journey to Her Dreams” and “Innocent Tears” are now available as audio books, through Audible.com and Audible.co.uk.  If you enjoy audio books as much as I do, why don’t you check them out?  There a little button where you can listen to a sample!