106 Years of Powered Flight : a Recollection

                 For the record, the first sustained powered flight on an airplane happened at about 10:35 in the morning,  17th of December, 1903; a Thursday. Orville guided the flyer along a long wooden track, lifted to the air and flew for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.  

                 105 years after, the same date a year ago I took my seat aboard a Qatar Airways Airbus 330 aircraft on my first flight abroad.  Not the common passenger who gets aboard an airplane for the sheer convenience of air travel. I knew the significance of that particular day for I selected that particular date myself. “ Sir available dates are 15, 17 and 20. . .the rest are fully booked” so I recalled the words from the station attendant at Qatar Airways Ticketing Office in Makati, back in the Philippines. Number 17 had and always been good to me I suppose and as an aviation enthusiast who knows a bit about aviation history, why not have my departure flight during that date to celebrate the anniversary of flight by experiencing it aboard a commercial airliner? I had lived tinkering airplanes for quite sometime as an aircraft mechanic and before I resigned from my job, I was able to fly a single-engined, Cessna 150 to experience powered flight to myself. I suppose I was the only silly soul mesmerizing about history while enduring the gruelling flight from Manila to Heathrow that particular day. Having a lightly packed 25 kg carry-on baggage and a laptop, I was a passenger and not piloting the plane so I could very well sleep to my heart’s content (if you’re following my articles you will be reminded of my post “The Worst Places to Fall Asleep”).

                So for my record, my first flight abroad took off at about 06:30 in the morning, Manila Time. I had never felt so comfortable as when I found myself strapped on my seat, the leftmost near the aircraft’s window. I was on the left aisle and thankful that the two seats next to my right were unoccupied. I watched as the aircraft taxied to align at the end of runway 02-24. Runway 02 was in use so the Airbus 330 positioned herself parallel to the airport terminal. Take off had always been dreamlike as I’ve recalled the countless times I have strapped myself on a small plane, pushed the throttle to full power and release the brakes to launch myself. One could feel the mood of the wind on a Cessna 150 as she accelerates and leaves the ground but aboard an Airbus 330 there was only that shuddering vibration transmitted by two turbofan engines on maximum thrust felt against the whole fuselage that slowly dissipates as she gains altitude. I had my last (I hope not the least) glimpse of the airport vicinity as the airliner gained altitude and took her route.