Departure: Johannesburg International
Actual push back: 19:30(local GMT plus 2 hours)
Airborne:19:40
Aircraft:747SP ZS-SPC(MALUTI)
Flight: SA 288
Date:2001/12/22

I was travelling on a stand-by pass with my brother in law who worked on the flight as part of the cabin crew.The flight to Bangkok was fully booked when I bought my ticket. I arrived at the airport at 16:00 local and gave the check-in personnel my ticket. They told me to report at counter 25 at 18:30 when the flight was closed, to see if they could put me on the aircraft.
Things worked out fine, and by 19:00 I was in seat 30H.

We were pushed back and we taxied to the hold of runway 03L. The take-off roll took about 50 seconds, after which we rotated into clear skies. I have often watched aircraft fly off runway 03L, because they are usually heavy, and fly overhead at low altitude. It is a treat even at night. JNB is hot and high. (elev 5553 feet).

We climbed out while avoiding some CB activity to the south of our departure course. Our projected flight time was 10 hours and 50 minutes. We proceeded straight to FL 370. I flew in economy class, and was not very impressed with the quality of the inflight entertainment. The movie screen kept jumping all the time. Only the screen was available for movies, no monitors in the roof or seats. (At least I didn't have to pay to use a headset). As this was an overnight flight it didn't bother me too much to have an aisle seat. It was actually much nicer to have a little extra space, as the seats back in cattle class isn't exactly roomy!

The meal that was served looked fresh and tasted quite good. The meal service was brisk and friendly. Afterwards, drinks were served and yet again it was free of charge. After the meal the passengers settled down and most looked very keen to get some sleep. We experinced light turbulence for most of the night, but never severe enough for the pilots to switch on the seatbelt signs.

I remembered a tip from one other writer on this site who suggested that one take extra drinks before the crew settles down. I did just that and the fruit juices came in very handy during the early hours before sunrise. I got about two hours of sleep. During the night I called for an extra pillow, which was delivered to me before long. The crew moved between the passengers regularly to see to their needs.

As day broke I was off to my brother in law slaving away in the galley. He offered me some coffee which I gladly accepted. From the galley of the aircraft there was a great view of the two starboard engines. One could see the engines turning from the windows of the front galley.

By now we were cruising at FL 410, and the outside air temperature was indicated as -60 degrees celcius. I was glad I wasn't hanging from one of the wings like those Pratts were!! Our ground speed was an impressive 1005 km/h. The wind was giving us a nice push, but it is also a fact that the 747 SP cruises a little faster than the larger classic versions.

Soon a very welcome breakfast was served. The hot bits looked very unappetising. Ten hours in the galley will probably do that to most organic substances. The yoghurt and cereal was nice to eat though.

We started the decent earlier than expected. The cabin crew really had to hurry to get all the loose items stowed before we were on downwind for 21R.

We kissed the Thailand earth gracefully and a wonderfull clear day met us. While we were taxiing to our bay I saw a THAI MD-11, a couple of THAI 747-400'S and
some THAI A330'S. We parked next to a Singapore Airlines 747-400,(I think it was 9V-SPM).

I expected the airport to look more modern. It was clean though and not very busy at all. By the way, we landed 30 minutes early.

Return:
Departure: Bangkok International Airport
Actual push back: 13:20 (local GMT plus 7 hours)
Airborne: 13:40
Aircraft: 747-200 ZS-SAL (Tafelberg)
Flight:SA 289
Date: 2001/12/25

Christmas Day, and I get to fly home during daylight on a classic 30 year old lady, and I have A WINDOW SEAT!!!

We lined up on runway 21R and was airborne soon enough. The Captain informed us that our route would take us more south than normal, which meant that we would overfly Singapore. What a great sight it was. We climbed to FL 310 initially. On our way there I saw another aircraft, about the size of a 737-200 pass us. I thought then that is was too close to us for comfort.

We had turbulence all the way home. The seatbelt signs were turned on twice when the shaking got more severe.
The weather was good, although there were some CB cloud around which made for great sightseeing from our vantage point. Later we climbed to FL 350, but the turbulence persisted. Our ground speed was always around the 900 km/h mark. The outside air temperature was about -40 deg celcius at FL 350.

I had my best airline meal ever on this flight. Calamari with rice and fresh vegetables. Desert followed and we also had wine available if we liked.

I was seated in 45 A and had a great view of the NR.1 engine. I was amazed at how easy it was to see vessels on the sea at such great height. Again I have to say that the old lady showed her age in the inflight entertainment. This aircraft had a full screen and separate monitors, but the image jumped all the time and the monitors were not correctly tuned, which resulted in the pictures being too bright. I didn't mind much because I spent most of my time taking in the breathtaking beauty of being in flight over the Indian Ocean at height during daytime. The cabin crew was again very friendly and helpful. The aircraft only carried 168 passengers in y-class, so it was pretty easy to keep everybody happy.

I had a whale of a time, and hope that I can visit Thailand again. The people are friendly and helpful and seem to enjoy life.

We decended from FL 390 and flew over Loskop dam on our way to Witbank from where we flew the Standard Terminal Arrival Route given to our crew. There was a thunderstorm at the airport before we arrived, but all the fun and games were over by the time we touched down on runway 03R.

Two things stood out for me on this trip:

1 - I got to fly on the 747 SP and

2 - I flew back home during daytime, which was simply amazing.

Thanks for reading me
Vambridge