Looong! Flight to Australia

[Bill Greenwood]

I sat next to a couple at lunch and noticed carry on bags with them, asked and found they were enroute home to Australia and their American flight to L A was delayed, the agent admitted she had no idea why. So we had a long talk, nice folks and interesting. I once had a friend who flew a 747 to Aus and said it was about a 14 hour flight and the first time he did it you sort of get nuts after 8 hours of looking at nothing but water, begin to think you are in the twilight zone and may never see land. These folks confirmed its about 13 or 14 hours, depending on headwind or downwind. Ive never been there, been to Europe and Hawaii but not that way or Asia. So they told me about their country, 25 million population, so much less dense than here, I guess a lot of the large interior is mostly empty.. She's a Dr., he's a "publican", no Re about it and the only party is that it means he owns a Pub and they like to party. She said they enjoy good wine and food, that lots of fresh seafood in Aus. They spend a lot of time at the beach, skiing is not so good there, they prefer to come to Colo or Wy. They asked me about tipping here and I explained 15 to 20% for most, and probably not the whole thing on expensive wine bottle. No direct bill for medical care, its included in their taxes, but they may have waiting period. A law requires that everyone vote, or a small fine. She wasnt familiar with Avspecs or the vintage av there,but one son is a pilot for a commuter airline, dont have the name and busy in country with it. It sure is great to meet people from other places and get a feel for their life and it reminds me often at Oshkosh one can share a table like that. Talking to folks is kind of like getting a part of the trip without paying for it.
I got to thinking of really long air trips and it seems to me someone flew non stop from London to Australia, think it was 1950 or so and in a Dehavilland , not on Google?
For really getting stir crazy, Qantas is already planning non stop service from London to Aus next within the year. That's 10,553 miles and a flying time of 19 hours. Not for me, I'd rather break that up into two legs and overnight somewhere, but Qantas says the demand is there. I wonder how good a pilot Id be after 19 hours even with sleep?!!!! That's a long hop even for a kangaroo!!