Moderators: jsumali2, richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
itisi wrote:You had to land with an airline that always screwed it up to get the true feeling... Korean, British Airways, Singapore... To name a few![]()
And nothing beat landing from the jump seat, which I was lucky enough to do four times.
just7four7 wrote:Not just the approach and the spotting.
Kai Tak was essentially like arriving in one of those old train stations in Europe: You leave the station platform and you are immediately immersed in intense and foreign city life, just outside the front door. That in itself was a thrill. Nowadays, we sit on sad airport trains with automated messages that arrive in some underground station with no sense of arrival. In Kai Tak you stepped onto the apron (as most gates were remote gates), you saw the city and surrounding mountains and harbor, as if standing at a station plaza, you smelled the moist breeze and jet fumes. And once out of the front door, under the approach line of yet another rocketing 747, you are inside the city. A matter of minutes and you are in a taxi and in city streets and the wonders of a very foreign place.
Chek Lap Kok is a brilliant terminal, and absolute Nr.1 worldwide in terms of atmosphere and bustle and views and sense of place. The magic of Kai Tak was not Nr.1, it was unique and unconcsiously a wonder for the senses.
BravoOne wrote:I flew in and out of VHH numerous times as a check pilot on the L1011 and MD11. All new Capts had to make their 1st entry with a check pilot Line Check Airman) in the right seat. .