gordon s Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 The LGB train ran around the bar, but I agree with you that looks different. Maybe my mind is playing tracks with me re the dates. According to the Virgin timeline, the first Clubhouse opened in 1993. I was in electronics in those days and did travel back and forth to the States, but not as much in my new job which was in 2000. I'll do some more digging as I seem to recall it moved to a new location within Heathrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Remember it well, Pete as I used it to go back and forth to the States with Virgin Atlantic, but once I took on a real International job with travel to Europe and Asia, I changed to BA to rack up my Gold Card and Air Miles. Had Virgin covered all the European destinations, then I may well have stayed with them. I used Virgin a lot between LA and London. Once I moved to Greensboro I used US Airways between Gatwick and Charlotte so much that all my travel within the ‘States was both 1st Class and Free for a period of about 7 years. I flew to Manhattan every other weekend (NC is a bit quiet). Now, that is odd because in my mind the LGB ran along the length of the Windows....Must be early onset Alzeimers. Best, Pete. Edited July 24, 2014 by trisonic 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) "The new Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow opened in March 2006". I was well into BA by 2006, so perhaps a revamp of the original one from 1993. Edited July 24, 2014 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Another pic about a third of the way down this article... Looking at the pics of the new lounge from 2006, I haven't been there, so it must have been the original one, as I first thought. Are we off topic?…:-) http://www.aircraftinteriorsinternational.com/articles.php?ArticleID=480 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 .........along with the free massage and fags.......... So, there`s even an airline perk for fag-roasting rotters like Harry Flashman! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted July 24, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2014 Those pics of Leigh on Sea took me back. I lived in Marine Avenue in 67-68. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted July 24, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 24, 2014 I've been on Concorde quite a few times. Didn't go anywhere though, it was the one at Duxford. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted July 24, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2014 I've been on Concorde quite a few times. Didn't go anywhere though, it was the one at Duxford. I've done the Yeovilton Fleet Air Arm museum one . I was surprised at how small it was inside . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Evening all, Very short post tonight - been partying with Ella, the 16 year old GD aka the 'blonde bombshell' - apparently we now celebrate 13, 16, 18 and 21 as well as a very expensive prom! Fingers struggling to find right buttons on the iPad so more in the morning when the head clears, Kind regards, Jock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I've been on Concorde quite a few times. Didn't go anywhere though, it was the one at Duxford. Been on -once dont do small spaces Laurence Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Been on -once dont do small spaces Laurence Lawrence, you don’t commute on the Central Line then? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Another pic about a third of the way down this article... Looking at the pics of the new lounge from 2006, I haven't been there, so it must have been the original one, as I first thought. Are we off topic?…:-) http://www.aircraftinteriorsinternational.com/articles.php?ArticleID=480 We have topics? Strangely enough the LA lounge was the most boring, I think they only had two flights per day......... Because everyone in there was catching the same flight at any one time (I found this really embarrassing) they would call everyone together, line us up and escort us to the airplane in double file like schoolkids on an outing. What was worse was that they then divided the rest of the crowd at the gate and stopped all other transactions until we had all trooped through - you could feel the animosity radiating off the other passengers. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) Morning All Not a good start to the day with son and fiancée having to have their oldest dog put down. She was about 15/16 and had been rescued by Yvonne pregnant and abandoned in a locked up house. The owners had moved. Naturally it has hit them very hard. The dog has been having fits for the last couple of years but, with the help of our excellent vets, had managed to pull through, until last night. It doesn't help that we're 250 miles away, but they'll manage. They now have two dogs, one was a pup from the pregnancy, one adopted when the original owner fell ill, and two adopted cats, the most recent one given to them by a ten year old neighbour who's mother had told him to go out with a 12 week old kitten and lose it. That was at Christmas. Instead he went round to them. They also have a tankful of tropical fish, and these seem to be breeding. Lucky (the Christmas kitten) seems to think that they're lunch - or at least an aperitif. I am sorry to hear about the dog, but 15 or so is good age and she has had a lot of luck in her life. What ####### asswipe MORON abandons a pregnant dog in a locked up house? They could at least have had the decency to have taken her to the RSPCA or Battersea Dog's Home or a shelter... It really makes me angry how some people treat animals (not just pets, but food animals as well). On to another topic, interesting to learn that some ERs are extensive travellers. Thanks to my profession, I've been able to visit every continent bar Antartica and in comfort as well (unfortunately I didn't manage to fly on Concorde as I had to cancel the Concorde flight i had booked when the builders bu99ered up the bathroom renovations and I had to stay in Basel to sort things out). But otherwise I've had a charmed (travel) life, enjoying all those things people perceive as luxurious (J and F Class intercontinental travel, limo and helicopter transfers, 4/5 star hotels...) Mind you, this was NOT provided by my company out of the goodness and generosity of their hearts. It was so they could squeeze every ounce of effective work out of me as possible. Doing a 2 Day San Francisco business trip (leave Basel 07:00 Sunday, arrive SFO Sunday afternoon, meetings Monday, fly back Monday evening) isn't feasible going economy and staying in an Econolodge (well, not if the company wants to avoid a knackered and jet lagged employee making expensive errors of judgment). I agree with Pete about L.A. - LAX is one of America's worst airports (Miami is another airport I loathe), Chicago, I've always found OK but JFK is well past it's sell-by date (and don't get me started on Newark). However, very few (if any?) European and US airports can compare with the new Mid-East and Asian airports. Changi is amazing, the old Hong Kong airport was fun and the new one impressive and I liked Narita. Dubai is huge and modern, but arrivals and departures to Switzerland are scheduled at the most god-awful hours. Back in Blighty, I like LCY, tolerate LHR and I was pleasantly surprised by both Birmingham and Manchester airports. I (so far) have not yet flown with Virgin Atlantic (but I once flew LGW - Maastricht on a Virgin Airlines 4 engine turboprop with 2 nuns, a handful of hippies and a rugby team! A story for another time), otherwise I've flown most of the European carriers, either within Europe (Alitalia, Air Berlin, British Midland, Easy Jet, SAS, SABENA, LOT, MALEV, Iberia, Air Littoral, Air Malta, Crossair, Caledonian) or Europe and Intercontinental (BA, SWISS, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France). Despite trying to avoid them, I've also flown Delta, Continental, PanAm (many years ago) and United. Further afield, I've flown ELAL, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Singapore Airlines (A380 J Class NICE!), QUANTAS, Philipines Airlines and Malaysian Airlines. As I said, I've been very fortunate thanks to my career and I thank the gods I have never needed (or wanted) to fly Ryanair! Alas, my current job doesn't give me ANY business travel beyond the occasional DB ICE to Frankfurt. Wow! That was a trip down memory lane...... Apologies for being boring. But I do love travelling and for me, getting there is half the fun. Well have a good day, everyone. I'll finish my coffee and then have my yellow limo (BLT tram) ride into town. Edited July 25, 2014 by iL Dottore 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted July 25, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2014 Morning all Off soon to another county and thence to another country (and then another one). Weather looks OK, the heavy rain forecast for Belgium this weekend now seems to be showers! Tony 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Not a good start to the day with son and fiancée having to have their oldest dog put down. She was about 15/16 and had been rescued by Yvonne pregnant and abandoned in a locked up house. The owners had moved. Naturally it has hit them very hard. The dog has been having fits for the last couple of years but, with the help of our excellent vets, had managed to pull through, until last night. I`m so sorry, John.........they`re going to be feeling gutted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) Morning All, It is a nice morning here, and the good news is that the local police have caught the murderer. Despite working in the industry, I am not a big flier. I used to do more flying, but to be honest these days I find it too much hassle. I would much rather travel by train or by car. I never got to fly on Concorde - I always wanted to, but baulked at the price. I have had some fairly interesting flying experiences. Such as flying into Bern Airport in a HS748 when it was little more than an airstrip in a cabbage field, landing at Frankfurt Hahn in its very early days as a civil airport, when the terminal was in the former officers mess, and flying on a British World BAC 1-11 to a job interview when the aircraft I was due to fly on went tech. Anyway, lots to do today - so I had better get on. Of course, what I meant to say yesterday was it is good to see that Debs is back Have a good day everyone... Edited July 25, 2014 by Robert 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Good morning all & TTFIF! But Monday & Tuesday are public holidays here! Ah I have fond(?) memories of Mariana vans... killed a couple of them (well wore them out )60 -70,000 miles they were knackered. Round trip Bristol - West Cornwall = 2 Gallons of oil...Service Manager didnt believe me until he came to do a job in Truro, just past Exeter yellow oil warning lights on! Laptop is on it's last legs - blue-screened three times last night. I did spend a productive evening though making some taps for my de-winton alike. What ever you're up to day - make the best of it you can, Trev. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted July 25, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2014 Morning all. Dreich outside - didn't have to say that in a while... Aside from that, nothing new to report. Have a good'un... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted July 25, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2014 Hey up everyone! Hope poets day goes well for you all! I flew allover while working for Vickers... Best flight? 17:35 British Midland lhr to LBA on a Friday. I knew one of the pilots very well and on one memorable occasion we did the trip in 32 minutes wheels off to wheels on via Cardiff.... Strangely enough don't like Dubai airport but that's just me. Today is shopping day plus sorting out more couplings.... Baz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted July 25, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) Morning all So many jet-setters! Hardly ever flown anywhere, really, probably been on a plane about 10 times. Boring as hell, and only worse since 9/11. Gimme a train every time. Second dinner served north of Preston, going to Glasgow on a Summer's evening, now that's travelling! Rather a lot of thunder rattling about yesterday evening, and a few heavy showers. More of the same this afternoon, we're told, but the weekend will be nicer. Sheena here for coffee this morning. We will have to keep off the subject of warring Alison and Ben, as Sheena is acting as his advisor. I'm afraid his burning all the store of firewood for Winter, and chopping down fruit trees and burning them, too, smacks of a spoilt brat, whatever the provocation, rather than an aggrieved father still caring for his 3 young children. Hope your week ends on a high note. Edited July 25, 2014 by Oldddudders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Lawrence, you don’t commute on the Central Line then? Best, Pete. No me a simple country boy,dont really do people either. Have a good time Tony Laurence 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I remember my first flight. A DanAir Comet to Crete on my birthday in '76. I was amazed to find a pre-prepared meal already stowed in the back of the seat. Of course, I'd eaten that before we'd even pushed back from the gate. I've only really flown to Spain/Canaries over the last 6 years or so. My first ever long-haul was LGW - Phoenix Arizona with Virgin just 2 weeks after 9/11. Mum was getting older and didn't want to do long flights anymore so the whole family went along as we guessed it would be our last chance. I'd heard about the long queue for Immigration but three hours??? I guess being so soon after 9/11 might have had something to do with it. I remember National Guard everywhere at the airport. After 8 or 9 hours on the plane and then a further 3 in a queue, we were desperate to get out of the airport. As we left the air conditioned terminal, the heat outside was incredible. Amused to see tumbleweeds actually blowing along the taxi rank! Flew back with BA and found the service to be slightly more British. The Virgin crew on the way out were, I think, mostly American. I definitely prefer "Good morning sir" to "Hi honey"... Edit: Thinking about it, even "Hi honey" is way preferable to the "Sit down and shut up" attitude of Ryanair on bucket & spade flights... Edited July 25, 2014 by Pete 75C 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Morning all. Long-haul? Ugh. Seats are too small! (Except some American airlines...) Looks decent today, not too hot. We've got GD all day, so she's helping Julie sort some craft stuff (she's big into craftwork) then shopping, then I'm doing a nature study lesson with her, based on the leafcutter bees in the garden. Lesson objective is to make an A4 poster with 3 pictures, 2 she's taken herself and one from a Google search, and some brief text explaining the life cycle of the bee. Could be a couple of hours! I'm looking forward to it, at least. I expect that at some point loom bands will be deployed. Good news about GS's helmet (to help correct skull malformation). Has to be private as the NHS doesn't do this. They took him to Harley Street (really) yesterday and he was measured up, using a sort of stocking mask with dots on as used in the movies for 'live' animation. Then the data is sent to Germany, who make the helmet, presumably by 3D printing, and it arrives in England for collection tomorrow. Amazing! £2k. He has to wear it 23 hours a day for a year, and there's a 'very good chance' it will make a significant difference. I do hope so, because the lad will have enough to deal with without an obvious malformation. We've had several miracles this year already, so perhaps our good fortune hasn't run out yet. So good day wishes to all, the weekend beckons and soon it will be gin o'clock! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 That is a seriously impressive use for 3D printing if that is how they do it Dick. I sincerely hope everything works out well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted July 25, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2014 I've only flown once (well twice really if you count the fact that I braved the return journey too). It made travelling on a class 142 seem an absolute pleasure and a 142 is the second worst experience known to man. Never again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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