First plane ride

Another headline, another blog!

This time, I saw a headline that mentioned the impact your first plane ride has on the type of traveler you will be later on. It got me thinking about the first time I was ever on a plane.

I was 17 years old. That may have seemed old to a lot of people, but where I was from, that was pretty standard. There are probably people where I grew up who have STILL never been on a plane.

It wasn't for a lack of desire, mind you. I remember thinking that I always wanted to go somewhere on a plane. As a kid, my father would take us to the little Dutchess County airport where we would park on the side of the road right on the landing path of the "Command" commuter plane. We would sit on the hood of the car (a-la Wayne's World 20 years before that movie came out), and wait for it's approach. The plane, a huge, loud, clunky propeller plane that probably seated about 25 passengers or so, would come into sight way off in the distance. You could see it before you could hear it. As it got closer the familiar sound of the propellers got louder and louder and the plane got bigger and bigger, almost like it was growing right before your eyes. Us three kids would get all excited as thump of the propellers would begin to shake the car as it got closer. The key was to keep your eyes open the whole time. The closer it got to the runway, I would have sworn that it was going to hit our car and us along with it. I remember screaming "Daddy, daddy it's gonna land on us!!" And he would laugh and say "Keep looking up, Liss! Don't close your eyes!" My hands would finally fly up to cover my ears and I couldn't even hear myself scream with excitement (terror??) as the wheels crossed right over top of our car. We would watch the plane, cheering and clapping as the little plumes of smoke appeared as the wheels made contact with the runway. I am not sure there was ever a time when I didn't ask dad if we could go into the airport and just go for a ride in the plane. Show's how much I knew!

Fast forward to March of 1989. I am 17 years old and getting ready to move to Florida. We were leaving out of Newark, NJ on a morning flight. Dad told me that there would be a car coming to pick us up at the house at 6am. I said to him "A 'car'? Do you mean a limo"? He assured me that it was NOT a limo. Well, one quick phone call changed that. I requested a stretch limo with all the trimmings for us and paid for it myself. Needless to say it was a great trip to Newark. And it set the stage for this event that I had been waiting for my whole life. We get onto the plane and dad took the dreaded middle seat to make sure that I was able to sit by the window. My heart was beating out of my chest from the moment the plane started to back away from the gate. We were probably 4th or 5th in line for take off and as the pilot counted down our position I am not sure how I didn't come out of my skin. When the plane started to speed up I couldn't stop saying "Oh my god, oh my god! We're going SO fast!" The feeling in my stomach as the plane left the ground actually made me say "Wheee!!!!!!" My ears blocked up and the ground passed below us and as the plane banked it felt and looked like we were going to go upside down. This was by far the BEST ride I had ever been on in my life! Better than the Cyclone at Coney Island, even!

I knew going into it that I was going to love flying and that first flight didn't disappoint. I loved everything about that flight. Everything from the safety briefing, to the slight turbulence, to the peanuts, and the brilliance I saw in how they built neighborhoods as I had my face planted up against the window the whole time.

When we left Newark, it was about 30 degrees outside and there was snow on the ground. When we landed in Palm Beach, Florida, it was 76 degrees, sunny, and the palm trees were the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I felt like a rock star.

I loved that flight back then. I still love flying now. I still get excited during every takeoff and every landing. Perhaps it was late in life for a first flight, but thinking about it now, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.