Concorde
Today, Concorde make its last flight to New York and I saw it as it flew over Reading, banking away back towards London, not its usual route but presumably taking the scenic route.
I wish I had a camera with me, it was the perfect moment. A bright clear sky, Concorde was turning so it’s wings were on full display. I think what makes it the best plane for me is that it looks like a paper aeroplane. Not a fancy, origami plane, but your standard arrow plane that any child can make.
I had the chance to stand on Concorde, but turned it done. I must have been around six or seven and we met my uncle, who was a steward on Concorde at the time, at Heathrow. We all stood on some platform looking down on the plane and he asked if I’d like to have a look inside. I refused. No amount of coaxing would change my mind. Of course I regret it now, I’d have to have become very rich, or eaten a “lot of biscuits”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3204699.stm to have gotten on board later on. I think I was afraid it would take off with me on board. Why I was scared of this, I don’t know. Maybe because I thought New York was so far away.
My uncle got me a model concorde and a certificate to say I’d flown across to New York. I have neither now; the model broke after I decided to see if it flew as well as a paper aeroplane, and threw the certificate because it was a lie. I hadn’t flown on Concorde.