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Post by doctork on Oct 12, 2009 16:55:14 GMT -5
I have this trip to Europe coming up in October-November, and one part of it involves some choices.
In Toulouse, France, we have a private tour of the Airbus factory, and I need to choose between:
1. Final Assembly Line or (do I get to build a plane?)
2. A380/A350/A320 Cabin Mockup Center (design the interior?)
In Frankfurt we tour the Lufthansa facilities on "Marketplace Day" (whatever that is). I need to choose two:
1. Flight training (ooh, I have never flown a plane, or would I just hand out pretzels; no wait this is LH, not Southwest))
2. Hangars (could be wild, those planes are large)
3. Engine repair (probably not my cup of tea)
4. Cargo (interesting possibilities of all kinds)
Any suggestions?
In Oslo we tour the SAS facilities, but no particular activity choices.
In Frankfurt before the flight to Oslo and Toulouse, there is the opportunity to watch the moderators/organizers of the trip go through flight attendant safety training. That ought to be very entertaining, as they are not professional crew members, just ordinary "Joe Blows." They will be providing all the cabin service, which should also be interesting. They have promised us it will be "extra special."
Today I got the email requesting all my personal data, as the group members have to pass a security check in order to be allowed into all the airline facilities. This is starting to be real.
I'm getting excited! I love adventures, and this is surely one. I do not know any of these people and have never done anything like this before.
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Post by jspnrvr on Oct 12, 2009 20:23:03 GMT -5
I have this trip to Europe coming up in October-November, and one part of it involves some choices. In Toulouse, France, we have a private tour of the Airbus factory, and I need to choose between: 1. Final Assembly Line or (do I get to build a plane?) 2. A380/A350/A320 Cabin Mockup Center (design the interior?) No preference here.In Frankfurt we tour the Lufthansa facilities on "Marketplace Day" (whatever that is). I need to choose two: 1. Flight training (ooh, I have never flown a plane, or would I just hand out pretzels; no wait this is LH, not Southwest)) 2. Hangars (could be wild, those planes are large) 3. Engine repair (probably not my cup of tea) 4. Cargo (interesting possibilities of all kinds) Any suggestions? Hangars! Maybe you could race the little carts, or have tug of war! And cargo, you could throw stuff around like at the Seattle Fish market!In Oslo we tour the SAS facilities, but no particular activity choices. In Frankfurt before the flight to Oslo and Toulouse, there is the opportunity to watch the moderators/organizers of the trip go through flight attendant safety training. That ought to be very entertaining, as they are not professional crew members, just ordinary "Joe Blows." They will be providing all the cabin service, which should also be interesting. They have promised us it will be "extra special." Be careful, if they come out in those little leather shorts...Today I got the email requesting all my personal data, as the group members have to pass a security check in order to be allowed into all the airline facilities. This is starting to be real. I'm getting excited! I love adventures, and this is surely one. I do not know any of these people and have never done anything like this before. What's German for "Hey y'all, watch this!" |
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Post by doctork on Oct 13, 2009 11:54:12 GMT -5
I knew I could count on you Jay for a LOL!
I'll check the German translation.
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Post by joew on Oct 13, 2009 20:12:59 GMT -5
I think the Cabin Mockup and the Cargo items give more chance of giving real insight into why things are as they are in air travel. Flight training could also give some real insight. But it all depends on why you're doing this in the first place.
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 15, 2009 8:40:48 GMT -5
They sound like cool tours. What precipitates this trip, Doc?
I'm definitely voting for flight training.
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Post by doctork on Oct 15, 2009 8:59:46 GMT -5
Suggestions appreciated. I will hand in my requests today, but after 2 pm ET as prior to that I am posting in a contest to win a free ticket for the trip!
The trip is prompted by 2 things. I chose the Andorra trip because of the opportunity to travel with both my daughters to a cool destination. Then I noticed the charter flight across Europe was two days after Andorra festivities, and I was in Europe anyway and wanted to stay the whole week...
One thing leads to another. I am interested in aviation - no doubt it's genetic since my father was a pilot in his military career, and I started in the cockpit as a baby.
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Post by doctork on Oct 15, 2009 17:39:58 GMT -5
I followed your advice and signed up for Lufthansa flight training and cargo, and the Airbus Cabin Mock Up Center.
I'm wavering on the slumber party. Oh, maybe I didn't mention the slumber party?
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Post by jspnrvr on Oct 15, 2009 17:57:31 GMT -5
I followed your advice and signed up for Lufthansa flight training and cargo, and the Airbus Cabin Mock Up Center. I'm wavering on the slumber party. Oh, maybe I didn't mention the slumber party? Don't let any of the guys paint your toenails, and stay away from the brownies. |
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Post by doctork on Oct 16, 2009 8:50:23 GMT -5
But I like brownies!
Not to worry - the toenail painters are in Andorra not Germany.
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 25, 2009 19:55:38 GMT -5
I followed your advice and signed up for Lufthansa flight training and cargo, and the Airbus Cabin Mock Up Center. I'm wavering on the slumber party. Oh, maybe I didn't mention the slumber party? Ummmm, no, I don't remember mention of the slumber party. Do tell! |
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Post by doctork on Oct 25, 2009 20:16:39 GMT -5
I followed your advice and signed up for Lufthansa flight training and cargo, and the Airbus Cabin Mock Up Center. I'm wavering on the slumber party. Oh, maybe I didn't mention the slumber party? Ummmm, no, I don't remember mention of the slumber party. Do tell! I did sign up for the group dinner and slumber party next Friday (Nov 6 - 7), following the Lufthansa Marketplace event. Nobody is saying much about what is involved (there are some jokes about anonymity, TMI, and shared rooms in the thread discussion), but I decided what the heck, in for a penny, in for around, right? I will report more later. Or maybe not, depending. |
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 25, 2009 21:00:54 GMT -5
"but I decided what the heck, in for a penny, in for around, right?" Okay, I was following you until then. I expect full details, with pictures. "A pound," "a round" and "around" are all WAY different.  |
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Post by doctork on Oct 27, 2009 19:44:59 GMT -5
"but I decided what the heck, in for a penny, in for around, right?" Okay, I was following you until then. I expect full details, with pictures. "A pound," "a round" and "around" are all WAY different. OK, I will report back, hopefully with pictures if I just follow joew's directions. I am not allowed to take photos at the Airbus factory, but something tells me that is not your main interest. Not an aviation enthusiast, huh? I know - you want a report on the slumber party! With photos. Check. |
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Post by BoatBabe on Nov 4, 2009 22:23:20 GMT -5
"but I decided what the heck, in for a penny, in for around, right?" Okay, I was following you until then. I expect full details, with pictures. "A pound," "a round" and "around" are all WAY different. OK, I will report back, hopefully with pictures if I just follow joew's directions. I am not allowed to take photos at the Airbus factory, but something tells me that is not your main interest. Not an aviation enthusiast, huh? I know - you want a report on the slumber party! With photos. Check. I AM an aviation enthusiast. The Museum of Flight here in Seattle is renowned. However, I'm more of a bi-plane kinda gal. Like trains, you get to see the scenery and enjoy the trip, not just the destination. Hmmmm, sounds like boating, doesn't it? I'll enjoy any stories, pictures and innuendos you are willing to share!  |
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 5, 2009 14:34:45 GMT -5
I've not followed line by line on all the Mega Doo blogs, concerning our valiant doc's hops across northern Europe. There are some entertaining photos but she hasn't popped up. What's impressed me most was the resourcefulness of this band of travelers when, upon landing in Oslo, they were presented with several cases of wine, and no one had corkscrew or cork puller! This is a thirsty crowd, they were determined to get those bottles open!
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 5, 2009 18:36:13 GMT -5
Uhhh.....Corkscrews secured, wine consumed. Buzzed the tower at Toulouse.
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Post by gailkate on Nov 8, 2009 15:29:03 GMT -5
Well, darn, Jay. That was so cryptic I didn't realize you were actually reporting for DrK, till I got a note from her today saying she'd told you all about it. She was using her smartphone because of connection problems, so here's what she gave me to pass along: He is correct that we buzzed the Toulouse airport tower with a missed
approach landing, doing a "touch and go" twice in our charter Boeing 757
right in front of the Airbus factory! It was so cool, especially when
the pilot powered up the engine again and away we went for a
low-altitude tour of the city of Toulouse before our real landing. We
were all shouting "nach mal" - German for do it again - but the pilot
said we were too low on fuel. Really I think TLS ATC had had enough
"Top Gun" games. Maybe you can find a video of the Condor 757 missed
approach landing on Thursday on YouTube. There were a bunch of
planespotters there watching.
The whole trip had many great moments.Not surprisingly, she's a bit under the weather after this marathon vacation, so we might not hear from her directly till she gets online at work. Whew! What a trip!... in every sense of the word, except I think they stuck to wine instead of funny mushrooms. |
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 8, 2009 15:47:23 GMT -5
Well, darn, Jay. That was so cryptic I didn't realize you were actually reporting for DrK, till I got a note from her today saying she'd told you all about it. She was using her smartphone because of connection problems, so here's what she gave me to pass along: He is correct that we buzzed the Toulouse airport tower with a missed
approach landing, doing a "touch and go" twice in our charter Boeing 757
right in front of the Airbus factory! It was so cool, especially when
the pilot powered up the engine again and away we went for a
low-altitude tour of the city of Toulouse before our real landing. We
were all shouting "nach mal" - German for do it again - but the pilot
said we were too low on fuel. Really I think TLS ATC had had enough
"Top Gun" games. Maybe you can find a video of the Condor 757 missed
approach landing on Thursday on YouTube. There were a bunch of
planespotters there watching.
The whole trip had many great moments.Not surprisingly, she's a bit under the weather after this marathon vacation, so we might not hear from her directly till she gets online at work. Whew! What a trip!... in every sense of the word, except I think they stuck to wine instead of funny mushrooms. Lots. And lots. Of wine. It's the plane that was too low on fuel, certainly not the passengers. And there were guys in little leather shorts. OomPah! |
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Post by BoatBabe on Nov 8, 2009 17:14:08 GMT -5
In the REAL adventures, there are Always guys in little leather shorts. |
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Post by doctork on Nov 9, 2009 8:31:04 GMT -5
In the REAL adventures, there are Always guys in little leather shorts. Well, there were guys in lederhosen (those little leather shorts) serving as "cabin crew" on the flight. Really they were FT moderators, but there were also "real flight attendants" on board. Trip was great, and you are right, I stuck with wine and beer (yes lots - it was a vacation after all, and I didn't have to drive anywhere thanks to the charter pilot), and didn't see any funny mushrooms. Now back in WSS safe and sound in the office, recovering from my bronchitis/laryngitis or whatever it is I acquired along the way. |
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Post by BoatBabe on Nov 9, 2009 10:44:22 GMT -5
Welcome home, Doc! It's a good thing that your bronchitis doesn't affect your fingers. Whiskey is what you need for that throat. ;D
Glad you had a good time. Any pictures posted elsewhere we need to view?
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Post by doctork on Nov 9, 2009 12:04:43 GMT -5
Welcome home, Doc! It's a good thing that your bronchitis doesn't affect your fingers. Whiskey is what you need for that throat. ;D Glad you had a good time. Any pictures posted elsewhere we need to view? I've had limited internet access until I returned to WV, so I have heard there are lots of photos posted, but haven't had a chance to look yet. I took a few myself, and my daughters took lots, although those were in Andorra and Spain, not in Frankfurt/Oslo/Toulouse. Airbus didn't allow any photos in their factory anyway, although those great big Airbus 380s undergoing final assembly were way cool! There were 6 of them in the factory, in various stages of completion. Their was an "official photographer" for the MegaDO and I am sure he got photos of the factory and all the rest of the events, but I don't know if they are up yet. The Star MegaDO website will probably get them first. I think the BooDoo thread also has links to photos - I'll have to go check. I will say that LH, SAS and Airbus really outdid themselves with hospitality. Especially Lufthansa as they even sent their CEO to talk with us at lunch (very nice spread and LH provided it for free). SAS in OSLO had a singing flight attendant who strolled out on the wing of a 737 singing "Fly Me to the Moon!" SAS also had a demo of their air evac plane, which was really well equipped. I was envious - I have never had equipment like that when I am called for a medical emergency. And by the way, there was a medical emergency on the outbound CLT-FRA leg, and I did respond to the call. The gentleman was actually OK and we did not have to take the plane down (not sure there was any feasible "down" 4 hours into the trip). He went to sleep after the incident and did well. Me I was kind of worried and did not sleep so well. UA and CO also had big events at their hubs in Chicago and Newark respectively, with lavish refreshments and lots of execs present, but I missed those since I started in Frankfurt. It was a big marketing opportunity as almost all the attendees are heavy travelers. |
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Post by doctork on Nov 9, 2009 16:57:12 GMT -5
This is way cool! Here is the YouTube of our "missed approach" or "low level flyby" at TLS last Thrusday. Watch closely, I felt only 2 touchdowns but I think there were 3 or 4. You can hear everyone applauding our "Top Gun" pilot. We broke only a few FAA and TSA regs, but guess what - it was in Europe and they weren't in control. TLS ATC said it was OK, so we did it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY5raCf88zc |
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Post by gailkate on Nov 10, 2009 10:12:47 GMT -5
So all of this was just for fun? The pilot was entertaining the revellers? I'd have had to be well-juiced to laugh like that.
Could you re-post the links to pictures?
And how's the throat this morning?
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Post by doctork on Nov 10, 2009 12:15:41 GMT -5
Jay was following the websites, which is how he stayed so well informed; sometimes he knew more than I did about what was going on! And yes the low level fly-by or touch-and-go was just for us revelers/enthusiasts. We thought it was great - pilot was very skilled and it was just for fun, not due to another plane on the runway or some other problem. And my throat and cough are better this morning, though still not optimal. But I'm getting there. Here's the Star Alliance MegaDO thread on FlyerTalk. The first page talks about the planned activities in detail, and the photo links are in the last pages, where people posted the links as they returned home and got the photos/videos up. www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/975877-new-thread-now-confirmed-first-annual-star-alliance-mega-do-november-3rd-thru-6-a.htmlThere is a separate StarMegaDO website also with more details and "official" photos, though I haven't checked it out much yet. www.starmegado.com/And the BooDoo thread is also at FlyerTalk, again with the plans in the first pages, the photo links at the end. There are particularly good photos of my daughters Amber and Gen from the Saturday dinner at Buddha Bar (hauteboy's pix). If you can't pick them out (20-something young women in black dresses, very short), they are seated next to me at the Naturlandia lunch (the_happiness_store pix), so you can see what they look like, then find them at Buddha Bar! www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/908945-boo-doo-six-party-out-bounds.htmlIt was lots of fun as you will be able to tell from the photos! And FYI - Star MegaDO is definitely happening again next year; BooDoo probably will but no commitment yet. Both are an incredible amount of work for the organizers, who all have day jobs in addition to their FT activities! Tommy777 and Oliver2002 both signed on the bottom line personally for the 90,000 euro charter (about $140,000) and no doubt had a few sleepless nights until the flight sold out. |
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Post by doctork on Nov 10, 2009 17:18:08 GMT -5
Here's a bit more info on the Toulouse "flyby." It seems we really were low on fuel, which was indeed the reason we couldn't do an encore. But our pilot was Condor's chief pilot and he loved flying with FlyerTalk! He's ready for next year!
//Now for some color commentary: 1) can you picture the grin on the co-pilot’s face as we did this while landing at the Airbus factory in a Boeing? 2) We had the chief pilot for Condor as our pilot and immediately upon landing he pulled his business card out and thrust it into the hands of one of our hosts, Tommy777, and said if we ever do anything like this again to please call him, he loves the way FlyerTalk flys! 3) We were told you need 3.3 tons of fuel to land as the bare minimum and after the fly by we only had 3.4 tons left so there was no chance for an ‘encore.’
You had to be there.
//
And here's another interesting comment about Scandanavian unisex toilets. I do not recall GK ever mentioning this about Norwegians. But I have to say that when I went down to the basement and saw only one toilet door, I asked the guy coming out "Are these unisex?" He said yes, so problem solved. (I have watched "Ally McBeal" which helped)
//The curious case of the commode!
November 6th, 2009 by randy
I’m the observer. I’m the one that noticed the confusion and a little uncomfortableness in the bathrooms in the basement of the SAS hangar. You see, in many of the Scandinavian countries, there is no mens or women’s bathroom. There are just bathrooms and of course for the uninitiated, you wander in and think it may be men’s and notice a lady coming from one of the stalls (all stalls). Or, you are done and washing your hands and go to grab a towel and notice the other person doing the same is of the other gender. It does cause a moment of panic and at times, some embarrasement as you attempt to apologize … for nothing wrong. There were several curious moments at the commode in Oslo.
//
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Post by BoatBabe on Nov 11, 2009 1:35:02 GMT -5
Cool, Doc. Glad you had a good time!
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Post by doctork on Nov 12, 2009 8:31:55 GMT -5
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Post by doctork on Dec 3, 2009 16:43:27 GMT -5
I don't recall if I mentioned that on the charter flight we had a charity raffle to raise funds for the Jason Dahl Fund (he was the Captain of United 93 on 9/11; those heroes likely saved many lives in the US Capitol that day, the presumed destination of the hijackers) to be used as scholarships for aspiring pilots. About half the funds went to the Dahl Fund and half to FlyerTalk/Kiva. On Tuesday, a check was presented to Captain Dahl's widow by Tommy777 (organizer of the MegaDO and charter flight) and Randy Peterson (founder of FlyerTalk). Here's a photo of the event with, from left to right, UA Captains David Dosch and Tom Bush, Sandy Dahl (widow of Captain Dahl), Captain Denny Flanagan (UA Captain and friend of FT), tommy777 and Randy Peterson - i533.photobucket.com/albums/ee335/mordi777/IMG_0920.jpg |
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Post by sailor on Dec 3, 2009 20:54:10 GMT -5
I wouldn't call myself an aviation enthusiast, but I did watch the John Wayne movie "The High and the Mighty" a couple days ago. I'd never seen it before and I was surprised at how good a movie it is. It was also like opening a time capsule; passenger flight in 1954 was very, very, different then it is now: e.g. one passenger brought a hand gun onboard with him, shot it once in the main cabin, and it was another passenger that took it away from him remarking that he'd keep it and wouldn't return it until after they landed. Hint: for those who haven't seen this movie, it is not a typical John Wayne movie.  Best regards, Mike |
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