Hullo all - this is my first trip report - so bear with me. I'm still jetlagged and haven't read the board for three weeks while I've been travelling. Anyway, enough with the mundanities and onto the trip.

Date: January 7th, 2001.
Depart: Newark International 9:25 pm
Arrive: London Heathrow, 9:05 am local time.
Time: 6 hrs, 40 mins.
Aircraft: 747 - 200 " Spirit of New York "
Seat: 40a

Ok, well, after navigating my way from Penn station to Newark on the NJ Transit - the first thing that struck me was the sheer size of Newark. It took about ten minutes to shuttle to Terminal B on the " Air Train ".

Arrived at the Virgin Atlantic check in at about 5 pm - by which time the ques for economy were snaking towards the airport doors. Check in was due to open at 5:15 pm; but didn't actually make it until 5:35 pm. Meanwhile I got talking to an American who was making her first visit to London and gave her a few tips on where to go and what to do.

When the que did get moving - the asian guy in front of us was stopped as it seemed the name on his ticket didn't match that of his passport - security came sweeping in and that was the last I seen of it. Check in was smooth and I was assigned seat 40A. The departure gate was 55.

Proceed to security: Now, I've made 12 domestic flights the last three weeks ( deciding on whether to post seperate trip reports as most were on different airlines ) and the security at Lax, Atlanta Hartsfield, FLL, JFK was light compared to this. Every passenger had to remove their shoes to be x rayed and the armed guards were present with sniffer dogs. I had no complaints - I would rather have the inconvenience of waiting around while everyone does their job and know I'm flying safe.

The security personnel removed my tweezers from my bag ( duh me, I knew these weren't allowed but somehow forgot ) and I was allowed to go to the lounge to wait for my flight. I noticed an El Al 747 which was the flight that left before us - and a Continental 737 being de iced further down the runway.

Now, on my ticket it said the plane was an Airbus 340 - 300 - so imagine my joy when a 747 - 200 taxied up to the gate. I'd never been on one before even though I've made numerous trans atlantic trips. The plane was " The Spirit of New York " and we were informed the delay was owing to it being late from LHR previous.

At 9:15pm we began boarding and I quickly located my seat - right over the wing. Settled down, and my seat mate turned out to be a first time flyer who kept talking and I had to explain that the slight jolt was just pushback and why it was necessary to de ice the wings. I think he eventually calmed down thankgoodness.

We sat on the runway for about half hour while the plane was de iced - and then clearance was given for take off. I barely noticed it - it didn't seem much different from the 777 I flew; but one thing I did notice was there was some clunking noises as we sped down the runway - not surprised with all that machinery. I was suitably impressed with the size and scale of the plane.

After take off - I took advantage of the Virgin goody bag and used their eye mask to try and sleep and drone out the Italian guy who seemed to be holding onto his seat rest - I showed him how the Odysessy system worked and he seemed to stop panicking once he had a movie to occupy himself with.

I fell asleep for an hour or so, to be woken up for dinner - where I mumbled a " no thanks " and went right back to sleep. Two hours later drama stuck in the row behind - a middle aged woman had passed out and was requiring medical attention.

The Virgin Crew came round very quickly - moved the three of us out of our row, and the passengers sitting next to the casualty - where I was escorted to the galley and sat in the jump seat trading small talk with the crew for an hour whilst medical care was given to the woman. I'm not sure what happened; but after she had oxygen and water she seemed ok and we were allowed to return to our seats.

We made landfall over Shannon, Ireland where breakfast was served - I couldn't tell you what it was as I only opted for coffee as did my seatmate. Half hour later the crew come round and did their usual clearing up, checking our seats were in position as we began our descent to LHR.

This was my favourite part of the flight I think - as we began our descent through the clouds I realised this was going to be bumpy. It was foggy, raining and generally typical British Weather. I thought it was pretty damn cool to be looking out of the window and just seeing the lights on the wing flashing now and then with not much else visible - the Italian guy however refused to look and was gripping his arm rests and staring straight ahead.

Landing was smooth, and we had a 20 minute delay on the runway as the passengers on the flight in front of us had to deplane. We taxied up to gate 18 ( I think - wish I'd payed more attention ) where I thanked the crew and made my way home through the London fog.

Would I fly Virgin again ? A resounding yes - even though I had a metal box ( presume it housed the entertainment system ) on the leg to Lax a few weeks ago under my seat, thus compromising my leg room. The leg room is no better or worse than on United and BA I thought. The decor I thought was more funky than any other airline I've been on - and the cabin crew were exemplary in their handling of the passenger requiring medical treatment.

So, I'm now home and jetlagged - will be posting trip reports from my Frontier, Jetblue, Southwest and AirTran flights soon.

Hope this first trip report was sufficient. Anything else I should have included - or you want to know then just ask.

Cheers.

- Barcode