[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of my earliest memories was flying to the territory of Hawaii, before statehood in 1959 in a USAF C-54.

It flew at 10,000 feet as it was unpressurized. We were seated in seats facing the tail of the airplane. Cruise speed 190 MPH, going from LA to Honolulu, 2556 miles.

That means travel time as 13 hours, 45 minutes. No in flight movies, no music. Not one electrical gadget, and looking out the windows in either direction was "oh look, more waves" as far as the eye can see. Mom was dressed up like going to a formal ball, and dad was in his dress uniform. My brother and I were bored to death.

The one point I most remember was looking at mom and asking "mommy, is this where we live now" Sitting and doing nothing for 13:45 as a 5 year old was near impossible. I have little doubt mom and dad hated it more than I did.

My first flight was as an 8yo in '78 from FL to Japan. It was several hops but at least one of the flights was a super long one. We were fortunate to be on commercial jets, I think DC10 and 747. We landed in southern Japan and then I'm pretty sure we flew in a C130 to northern Japan. Yep, seats facing the cargo in the back of the plane, no sound deadening (free ear plugs), no heat in the winter (heavy coats). Fortunately, my flight was only about 2 hours, IIRC. And when we landed, the little boy from FL saw snow and ice for the first time in his life. It was pretty darn exciting.