As a kid, I dreamed of flying this as the ultimate indulgence

[nagrar]

Not quite flying, but you can sit in a Concorde. There is one at Brooklands and they run a simulated flight up to mach 2.5.
They also have the Concorde flight simulator there and you can book in to "fly" with a Concorde pilot. One for my bucket list.

 

[Dougo]

My ultimate flight would be a child free / drunk free / obnoxious person free / non smelly neighbour free flight ... anywhere would be fine. ... oh an no reclining seats so I can see the passengers dandruff in my lap ...

 

[Grandma's Wings "]

A Captain's Smile... You when your little n you see pictures of " Angels on the clouds" in books and paintings... Many years ago whilst flying on Qantas to HNL friends we were travelling with knew the "Captain" and we were invited into the coughpit...I looked around and saw all of the clouds surrounding the aircraft and I told the Captain that as a kid I always thought Angels were sitting on the clouds, but now I see none... well he roared laughing and spilt his coffee, whilst the aircraft was on auto...Funny how when as a kid you imagine all sorts of things only to find out when your older reality changes everything.... But have wonderful memories of the Captain and seeing the coughpit first hand... LOL... Happy Flying everyone...

 

[Damien00]

Well I always wanted to become a pilot myself as a kid and while I have had a few lessons over the years I never did quite do a solo flight. I was also lucky enough to visit the coughpit of a QF 747 one day on the way to HNL as a 17 year old which was really cool and something that I remember seeing on TV as a kid and thought would be amazing - it was!

But the thing that stood out the most for me... I always remember associating the 747 as the plane you flew on for big overseas trips. This was back in the 80's. If you were lucky enough to fly around the world to some far flung place, you were going to be on one of these. And they were so iconic and so unique with the big hump on top and the nose cabin that extends out under the pilots feet! I remember being surprised when my brother told me that First Class was usually downstairs as there was no foot traffic to the coughpit to bother the rich customers... but despite this I always wanted to climb the stairs and sit up top... I mean how crazy that there was a stair case flying through the sky right, and wouldn't you want to be at the top of it!!!

Well anyway despite having now flown a bit at the pointy end over the last couple of years I've still not managed to do it in a 747... I had a flight to LA on a QF 747 booked for just a couple of weeks back where I was going to sit up top, but alas our plans changed and we never went. Its still a goal of mine to do an out and back trip where I can sit both upstairs and in the nose before they finally disappear from the sky. I'm sure I'll get to do it sooner rather than later!

 

[Musongman]

I always prefer the upper-deck on the B747, because in the J downstairs, there is the annoying stomping, back and forward, from the rear cabin, by the FA's throughout the flight! What's that all about? :-(

 

[Milboo]

My dream flight was a result of being a small boy living on an air force base in NZ when the military version Sunderland Flying Boats were just nearing the end of their service. We used to climb all,over them ( unless we were caught by security guards). These planes seemed enormous to us (we were 7 year old boys) and we knew that the civilian version was more luxurious, as one was in temporary storage at the time, an old "Teal" boat, which is now at MOTAT in AKL. They were slow and noisy, but that was their charm. My father got to fly in and as a civilian pilot was also allowed to sit in as co-pilot on some of his flights, one of which was to Fiji . I never got to experience a flight in one, so maybe my "romantic" ideal is better than the reality.

My first ever flight at 8 weeks old was on a NZ defence force Hercules as my father was a State employee and we were relocating from Central North Island to the Deep South.

I also spent my childhood in helicopters and also travelling to my grandparents on Air NZ regional flights as an UAM, which usually got you a coughpit visit.

Like others here I'd love to spend a flight in the jump seat in the coughpit. I'd also love to travel on one of those boutique tours on the converted 757 (or like) that take you across the work by private jet!

 

[DrT33th]

I have been really lucky. I have managed to get almost all my dreams.... The big dream was always the upper deck of the Jumbo... I managed that in 2009, and then the upper deck of the A380 that I got in 2012. I got my PPL (twice, once in Australia, once in NZ... ...Long story)...and got to fly solo in a few different single engine planes, and dual in a few more ..and while on holiday back home in Scotland got to fly over my old home town ... As a student pilot and before coughpits were locked down, I had the joy of sitting in the Jump Seat of a Qantas BAe 146 landing at Cocos Islands ...but. ..and the latest dream... I had a 47 hour Christmas day flying AKL-HKG-LHR-LAX-HNL... Wheels up AKL at 2 minutes past midnight on Christmas morning in Auckland ...wheels down in Honolulu at 22 minutes to midnight on Christmas evening.. There are always people who love the stats ...so here they are:Christmas Day 2016: 47 Hours long. In the air on Christmas Day: 39 Hrs 35 Minutes. Actual Distance Traveled on commercial airlines on Christmas Day 2016: 33, 029 km (20, 523 miles). What a hoot!

Next dream...still working on that!

 

[tgh]

One of the few joys of geriatricity .. is that I have had a ride in a few sets of wings that almost certainly no longer exist.
So we just sit in the J bus these days , don't see the value in paying for F, and it's almost boring.

Otoh.. I have never had a ride in a chopper, so that's on the bucket list, just need to do it somewhere spectacular

 

[DrT33th]

...

Otoh.. I have never had a ride in a chopper, so that's on the bucket list, just need to do it somewhere spectacular

I can heartily recommend either the Great Barrier Reef or The Remarkables in Sth Island NZ. I have only been in a chopper twice...and that was those...Amazing!

 

[pellbay]

Once upon a time QF advertised a $100 add-on to fly Concord JFK to Heathrow if you bought a First round world ticket. I was gunna do that anyway so of course I did it. Amazing, saw the Earth was REALLY round - best champers I have ever tasted - AND - after about 30 mins of supersonic they threw open the coughpit doors for anybody to visit. Will never forget the sight of the skipper relaxing back in his seat smoking a fa_.
A lasting memory - in a cab in the pre dawn gloom on Broadway driving past a theater with the show Cats. A little over 5 hours later, in a cab in the gloom just after sunset driving past a theater in Londons West End showing Cats. I'm a silly old phart just turned 70 but God I hope I never forget that experience.

 

[aussiejohn]

Other than a flight in first class on a decent airline, I don't think there is anything more for me to aspire to.

I flew Qantas First Class a few times back in the days when it was a proper airline, before Dixon and Joyce destroyed it. Admittedly, it was still only seats back then, long before the beds came along. But the service was impeccable, and it was a very enjoyable experience. However, standards started to decline after the first couple of times.

There are two highlights of my flying which I think I have mentioned before in other threads.

I flew on Concorde from New York to London back in the 1980's. That was something I never ever expected to do in my life, and came completely out of the blue. My partner at the time used to travel a lot for his business, and I occasionally went with him. We were booked on a BA flight to London, and on arrival at the terminal, there were people everywhere. Something had happened. We went to check in, and while waiting in line, I heard the agent ask the guy in front of us if he wanted an upgrade to Concorde. When I mentioned it to my partner he said no way will we get it as he/we had no status. When our turn came we got asked, and we took it before she could change her mind! Turns out TWA had to cancel their flight to London, and BA was trying to accommodate some of their passengers, by upgrading F passengers to Concorde to free up space on their 747 service.

It was a wonderful experience, and got us to London four hours earlier than planned! I remember the plane being quite cramped inside, and not a lot of leg or head room. But at least I did it once. Didn't run into anyone famous in the Lounge prior to boarding, and no paparazzi meeting the flight when we landed in London!

The second experience came when I had used all my points to book a bed seat in F from Bangkok to London. Bed seats were still fairly new then, so I was looking forward to trying it. On boarding the plane and turning left, I was confronted with the old style seats. It was the time when Sydney was struck by a massive hail storm, and several of their planes were damaged. Sadly, we got an old plane, as the scheduled upgraded plane had been damaged.

When I was chatting with the FSD, I mentioned my disappointment at the turn of events, and although sympathetic, there was nothing he could do about it. Fair enough it wasn't his fault. However, he came back later on, and told me that the captain had invited me to sit in the coughpit for the landing into London. After breakfast and about an hour and a half out, the FSD came to escort me to the coughpit.

This I think was my most magical flying experience. The captain explaining what was going on, listening to the conversation with the control tower in London, and we could see other planes around us. Then seeing the runway ahead of us as we lined up for the approach, and started the descent. It was fantastic. Once we taxied to the gate, I left the coughpit, and some of the passengers on the upper deck congratulated me on landing the plane safely!! Always remember that. On leaving the plane, the FSD gave me a bottle of Veuve Cliqot champagne.

 

[juddles]

Altough I obviously would have liked to do Concorde, any glance at the seating would reveal that the seats were far less than current J offerings.

My huge regret is that on the best flights of my life ( F on Qantas LHR-SYD and return MEL-LHR) I was so bloody tired i just slept!

 

[Jacksond]

Still plenty og 747s at Bangkok. The airport was full of them in late 2015. Probably still around.

 

[QF WP]

Years ago I would have said the ultimate flight would have been British Airways, First Class, Concorde, Heathrow to New York

Yes, that was top of my bucket list and achieved it in on 15 August 2002 (birthday present to myself) BA1 LHR/JFK. Just found this You Tube video which closely mirrored my experience, except I was in 8D.

So what is the dream flight indulgence today?

Now, either SQ or EK F on an A380, or maybe a Gulfstream G650 would do it.

 

[Jacksond]

Yes, that was top of my bucket list and achieved it in on 15 August 2002 (birthday present to myself) BA1 LHR/JFK. Just found this You Tube video which closely mirrored my experience, except I was in 8D.
Now, either SQ or EK F on an A380, or maybe a Gulfstream G650 would do it.

Thanks for the You Tube clip. I used to see the Concord fly over my sister in law's house in London every night at about 6:30.

 

[RooFlyer]

Yes, that was top of my bucket list and achieved it in on 15 August 2002 (birthday present to myself) BA1 LHR/JFK. Just found this You Tube video which closely mirrored my experience, except I was in 8D.

Splutter ! .... plastic cutlery! Oh, the ignominy!

Now, either SQ or EK F on an A380, or maybe a Gulfstream G650 would do it.

EY Apartment

 

[mannej]

This is probably more of a nostalgia thing over any indulgence, but would love to get one last flight on a 747 before they get shipped off to Mojave.

Having done Row 32 on the 380, it doesn't quite have the same luxurious feel as the Upper deck of the Jumbo does it?

 

[RooFlyer]

I wonder if QF might offer a 'Last ride on our 747 SYD-LAX' promotion for a charity?

Oh, the scratching and clawing amongst AFFers to get into the J cabin on that one would be an ugly sight!

 

[harvyk]

I wonder if QF might offer a 'Last ride on our 747 SYD-LAX' promotion for a charity?

Oh, the scratching and clawing amongst AFFers to get into the J cabin on that one would be an ugly sight!

I'm almost certain that they will, I will be on it, I'll will be both happy and sad at the same time. There is something bittersweet about flying on the last flight of it's kind.

 

[Pushka]

I’m going against the grain but I feel claustrophobic up top!