In February 1988, my family took a trip to Walt Disney World. We had been there a few times prior, but this was the first time that my brother Jason would be with us, since he was born in 1986. Anyway, I was looking forward to the flights almost as much as the stay at Disney itself. I was an eight year old commericial aviation addict. My friends used to tease me all the time because when we were outside playing in the yard (our house was under the approach path to runway 19) I would stop the game and say "Look, that's Delta 793 from Atlanta and it's a Boeing 767-200." I'd always get weird looks for doing that but what the hell, that what who I was. Anyway, for this trip, we chose DL. My family had flown DL several times previously to MCO, and the airline never disappointed us. Instead of taking one of the nonstops, we were booked on a connection via ATL on the way there, and then we took a nonstop on the return.

Delta Air Lines
MSY-ATL
February, 1988
Last departure of the day (between 8:00 - 8:30pm)
Boeing 727-200

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Photo © Felix Goetting

All I can really remember was that this was a pretty typical, run of the mill, 727 flight. It's a shame that I took the great 727 for granted during those years. I guess it was because virtually all of my flights when I was a kid involved at least one 727 segment. You don't know what you have until it's gone. I miss that plane.

*** Connection in ATL ***

A couple of things stick out in my mind regarding the ATL layover:

1) We only had like 20 min to make the connecting flt, so we were running like racehorses through the terminal
2) I saw a JAL 747 at one of the gates

So we finally make it to the MCO gate, and we were basically the last people to board the a/c. We were all tired and exhausted from running at that point. I had no idea what kind of plane we were going to be on. I guess I should have noticed the jetway being higher up than the one on the last flight, but I didn't. I did, however, see the tail engine of the plane as we were stepping on board through the window of the jetway, and I swear to god I remember saying "Great another 727!". I guess a tired eight year old thought all #2 engines looked the same from a distance...or maybe I was just too tired to notice. Anyway, I knew it wasn't a 727 as soon as I stepped on board the plane, and I remember yanking on my dad's shirt saying "We're on a Lockheed Tristar!"

Delta Air Lines
ATL-MCO
February, 1988
Lockheed L-1011-1
Last flight of the day (around 11:00pm)


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Photo © Alain Rioux


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Photo © Justin Cederholm


The flight was empty. We were seated in the main (forward) coach cabin, basically right over the wing. I had the window seat with my mom and brother next to me. My dad had the aisle seat in the center section. I still remember how...I guess "awestruck"...I was to be on this plane. It was my first wide-body flight. I had become very fond of the L1011 after seeing them on a daily basis at MSY, so I was pretty freaking excited to finally be on one. My dad actually videotaped the takeoff and some in flight footage on his old, huge VHS camera. I can still remember the roar of those RR engines on takeoff! It's amazing what your brain remembers....all the little details from so long ago. It was a flight to remember. That flight basically solidified my admiration for that airplane.

On the way home...about a week later...we took the 2:00pm-ish 727 nonstop. I remember it was a packed flight and I think we ended up either in the smoking section or right next to it, because the cabin was just one huge cloud of smoke. We landed in a thunderstorm in MSY, coming in real low over the river. But of course, the captain greased the landing on runway 1.

I salute you, L-1011. Thanks for several great flights over the years, and a heck of a lot of great memories.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me.