Roll over to preview

I write these words having recently returned to ‘Blighty’ from a trip to Southern Asia. The long haul flight via Singapore’s Changi airport gave me ample opportunity to work on this issue of Jets Monthly and do some advanced planning for what promises to be a very exciting year. We have so many important events to mark in 2012 and we start, in this issue, with a plethora of aviation milestones including the 25th anniversary of the phenomenally successful Airbus A320 and the 50th anniversary of the Folland Gnat entering service with CFS. My flight to Changi also gave me the opportunity to sample the Airbus A380 for the first time and I have to admit I was mightily impressed. The aircraft, operated by Singapore Airlines, was very comfortable and must surely rank as the quietest airliner I have every travelled in. Natural Wonder But of course, like anyone who flies or is interested in aviation, I spent a lot of the time gazing out of the window at the cloudscapes and daydreaming. Cruising south over Burma at about 36,000ft with the sun setting to the west we were treated to a spectacular display of nature’s power and beauty as a massive electrical storm lit up the evening sky. I was transfixed. After we had landed at Changi I had a few hours to kill before my connecting flight and (as you’ll see from this month’s editorial photograph) I was fortunate to be invited up onto the A380’s flight deck as the crew finished their post-landing checks. The Captain gave me a fascinating tour of the capacious cockpit that was a revelation to somebody such as myself who is more used to ‘steam driven’ gauges than fly-by-wire and glass screens. I’ll admit I was like a wide-eyed child as I took in the view and lapped up all the information bandied about by the enthusiastic crew. Childlike It was then, as I sat with a childlike grin on my face that it occurred to me. Just over a decade ago somebody showing enthusiasm would have been invited up to the cockpit during the flight itself.