Virgin LTN to. Maastricht

Hi,
Just thought I'd share my first ever Virgin flight because I was thinking about it today.
In 1987 I flew from, essentially, a shed in Luton to a shed in Maastricht on a Virgin liveried propeller aeroplane. i think it was a Vickers plane from my limited research.
I recall that it had two seats per 'side' but I was seated on my own. You could also smoke on the craft!! That just seems so bizarre now
I was flying solo on my second ever flight at the tender age of 16; doing quite well until it was time to descend when I got what I can only describe as 'The Fear'. The tears and panic set in and a young man unbuckled his seltbelt from a few seats away and defied orders to move seats and sit next to me. He said he was in the army and talked about the descent in a really calming, logical way as I freaked out about the propellers! He was fabulous and counted down to touch down perfectly - and from then on I have loved aeroplanes and flying
Amazing how someone can affect your life in such a simple way!
Anyway, since that first Virgin flight I've loved the carrier and have fond memories of the trip including a much more chilled return flight! Of course, visiting my at-the-time boyfriend was nice too
I think the cost of the flight was £35 which seemed a lot then as my school saturday job in Tesco paid 97p per hour! I don't recall any food being offered but I think I had a glass of lemonade. Certainly no amenity kits
Anyway, just thought I'd share as it's easy to forget where it all started and I must be one of the few who flew that route.
I guess this makes me 'vintage' now ....

I was expecting a

"Reader, I married him"

At the end! What a nice thing for him to do though, and what a door he opened! A lovely read.



My first flight was on Atlantis Airways from Belfast International to Faro with a group of other travel industry trainees.

It was delayed by about two hours which I found very exciting - flight delays! I felt like I could wade into a conversation at work when people talked about delays, which I was very happy about.

Boarding and finding my seat. Excitement out of 10? 11.

Take off - brilliant.

And then the actual inflight experience. God looking out the window was boring. That's why people bought books and magazines. Don't even think I ordered a drink.

Inflight meal was a pretty poor salad which I devoured.

Landing was amazing too.

I had no qualms or fear, although oddly now, I think I get more nervous as I fly.

i was also expecting a twist but thats a cool story and thanks for sharing.
my first "solo" flight was on VS to NYC back in '99, back when you could play super mario on the IFE, which was the main reason i chose VS, it was 3 nights for 450 GBP.

Did my first flight with virgin too - Gatwick to Maastricht. Cost was £30 each way - took about 2 hrs. Spent the first hour climbing and the second descending. In flight catering was a burger in a bun and lemonade. Plane was a Vickers Viscount pictured right.....