i miss it.

i haven't been in an airplane in several weeks, which is really not that long, but i find myself missing it. i've probably flown three or four round trip flights so far this year, which is right around average for me over the past 4 years, starting just before the time i moved to DC. before that, my average was a lot closer to 0 times per year. only slightly nonzero.

i really enjoy flying most of the time. if i get a window seat, and i'm not checking a bag, i *really* like flying. i like being at the airport, i even enjoy going through security cause i have it down to a science... put all the metal stuff in the backpack...

there are a handful of bands that i really enjoy listening to while looking out the window of an airplane, Unwound probably being my number one. a good mp3 player can really make a flight great that would have otherwise been annoying, i.e. crying baby, chatty jackass, etc

sometimes there's a pretty girl in the seat next to me for a couple few hours. on rare occasions, okay twice, i've spent an entire flight talking with the pretty girl sitting next to me. those were really nice flights.

one time, i was on a flight where after we landed, as we were taxiing to the terminal, the stewardess gave very abnormal instructions which included a very vehement "even after the plane has come to a complete stop, remain in your seats... even after the doors open, everyone must remain seated." after the doors opened, some cop-type guys got on the plane, and somebody pointed out the guy they were arresting. he had lit up a smoke in the bathroom. this experience was somewhat exciting, and made an otherwise uneventful flight especially memorable.

i really enjoy flying.

I used to love flying as a kid. realy i couldn't wait, the best part of family trips were getting to ride in a jet....and if I was lucky then I could go look in the cockpit with the pilots.

Now it just plain sucks. There is absolutly nothing enjoyable about being crammed into a space the size of a phonbooth (ok I'm 6'4"), being forced to make small talk with the asshole next too you. and being woken up just to be informed that my seat needs to be all the way forward. what the fuck?!?!?! fuck you!!!! If the plane crashes do you think its realy going to matter if my seat is reclined by 15 degrees?

dont even get me started on the pre boarding bullshit.

TMH, I hope that to offset the environmental pollution you're contributing to you're planting trees in Brazil or something.
Forget flying, I suggest walking. Sure, it's less romantic, but it's also less polluting. Unless you (like your fellow countrymen) run on 'gas'.

I guess I've done a lot of flying, so I see it mostly as a way of getting from A to B. I still get a kick from looking out the window though. When I was flying back from Italy a few weeks ago I was enjoying looking at all the geographic features, as well as the tidiness of the landscape below. I've been getting into 3-D computer modelling and I had a little epiphany about how model terrain maps.

Once though, I was on a propeller-driven plane that caught fire. I was flying between Leeds-Bradford airport and Belfast and we were meant to stop in the Isle of Man, halfway. After take-off we had been ascending for about ten minutes. I hadn't been paying attention to anything as I was reading a book. The book must've been quite good, because it took me a while to realize that everyone one on the starboard side of the plane were becoming increasingly noisy and aggitated. When I looked up could see white smoke streaming past the windows on that side of the plane. By craning my head over the seats I could see that the engine was clearly on fire. The pilot then announced that we were in fact on fire, as it was now apparent to everyone on board, and said we would have to make an emergency landing. We were now over the Irish Sea. I noticed that the stewardesses were distressed and had begun to cry. An Irish guy next to me tapped me on the arm, smiled and calmly said," This is all very exciting". This made me feel a lot less anxious, as many of passengers were now crying. I made the decision to continue reading my book, as that seemed the most appropriate thing to do. We were then asked to adopt the brace position and the plane made an unfeasibly rapid descent. All the while we were still over the sea (I didn't really fancy our chances of a sea landing, but events were somewhat out my hands, so I tried to relax). As I peeked out from the brace postion I saw the ground dramatically rush up into view. Unfortunately, the pilots had left the tannoy on and we could hear them shouting things like,"For fuck's sake", and "Fuuuuuck!", as the plane landed quite hard on the tarmac. Kind of not reassuring. As soon as the plane ground to a halt everyone piled out the exits and had to jump/be lowered the eight or so feet down onto the runway; there were no emergency crews there to help. The stewardesses had disappeared and I noticed two very shat up pilots dragging hard on cigarettes on the edge of the tarmac apron. Apparently the fire had been extinguished by internal fire extinguishers, but it had been so hot that all the moving parts of the engine had been flux-locked.

Everyone on the flight was offered a place on a jet, that had to be diverted from Paris, to continue their journey and there was only one poor young boy who was too frightened to continue on.

Yeah, flying...it's wicked!

I do not enjoy flying. I don't fear flying, but...actually maybe I do fear flying.

I don't enjoy it as a mode of transport; it's kind've the ultimate example of Pirsig's car vs bike concept of being a part of the environment as opposed to being an impotent observer of the environment. I enjoy travel immensely, but not the act of travel, rather the excitement of experiencing new environments moment by moment. Planes don't provide this experience. Planes are detached.

I also love the sea to the extent that I infinitely prefer ferry/ship travel if an expanse of water is to be crossed.

I believe that flying promotes the erroneous and environmentally dangerous idea that many miles must to travelled in order to experience change; clearly this isn't the case.

My wife's family do not live in the UK, and thus my wife and kids (and less often me) must travel by plane with a degree of regularity that makes me very uncomfortable, primarily because I am concerned for the safety of my family.

I do not like flying.

My enjoyment of flying is tempered by the guilt of knowing that it's as destructive as it is. If this makes me sound like a hippie, then so be it.
I worry that the consequences of the ease and relative affordability of travelling through Europe by air aren't being sensibly considered. Sure, I can fly to Trieste for just the cost of the airport taxes, but aren't the real costs being incurred elsewhere in terms of the damaging emmisions we're pumping the skies with?

EDIT:

For those of you that are afraid of flying, might I suggest the wonder of Valium. My g/f has a mortal fear of flying, and she reluctantly took it to try and cope with the trauma and spent the subsequent flight in a world of woozy delight!
The sex was great that night.

I like flying very much. My wife works for an airline and we get free business class seats anywhere in the world on that airline and insanely cheap flights on every other airline. I flew business-class all the way to Rio with my feet-up and a scotch and whiskey in my hand... and it cost me the price of the train to the airport.

But the best bit is when the crew ask you to put your bag under the seat in front of you and you have to get out of your seat to do it.

But now I'm just bragging...

Gramsci wrote:a scotch and whiskey in my hand

You think maybe you might need to lay-off the sauce?

Teehee!

Champion Rabbit wrote:

Gramsci wrote:a scotch and whiskey in my hand

You think maybe you might need to lay-off the sauce?

Teehee!

Seriously, I really like mixing scotch and whiskey...

or maybe I mean scotch and dry...

I shouldn't have had those mojitos at lunch, is four too many?

I absolutely love flying....but,

Cramming your ass behind a traytable with 100+ other people and a salad plate sized piece of 1/2" thick plexi to look through at 6 plus miles above the ground is NOT the way to FLY.

Airline flying is a chore, and a necessity, and a great way to get cross continent in a matter of hours, but the enjoyment is minimal.

Now...flying with my boss in his single engine Cessna at a mile up, watching the sunrise over Lake Michigan; fantastic. Taking a ride in a 1929 Travelaire biplane, putting along at 80 MPH at 500' off the ground; exhilirating. Cruising along in a Super Cub on a Sunday afternoon in western Wisconsin; paradise. That, my friends, is what flying for pleasure is all about. No crowds, no waiting, no cramming, no delays, no weather, no constant air-traffic-control - just going easy with a great view of the world below through big clear windows.

Nothing beats the feeling of the wind on your face, or the thrill of landing it yourself and taking back off into the sky again. The excitement of getting tossed around in the hot afternoon, or of getting there and getting on your way - without the fucking around with baggage and ground transport and security and crowds.

That, IS Flying.