Planes, Trains & Automobiles - Lufthansa 747-400 Upper Deck & A Drive around Scotland

[yflyer]

The World Cup was underway while we were in London, and we caught glimpses of matches being played live as we wandered the streets.





That evening, Miss yflyer no.2 went to watch a play, "The Play that Goes Wrong"...



We walked with her to the theatre, then headed off to Dukes Bar...



...to sample their legendary martinis.



We had to wait quite a while for a table to become available...



...but the martinis, prepared tableside from the trolley, were worth the wait!



Icy cold and very, very dry. Delicious.



If martinis were not to your taste, there were other options too.



My martini was so good, I could not resist ordering another, this time a Vesper.



After we drank our fill, we hailed a London Black Cab for the short journey back to the theatre to meet Miss yflyer no.2 before proceeding back to the hotel by tube.



An eventful first day in London!

[yflyer]

The next morning, I took a one hour train ride from London to Duxford, near Cambridge, to visit the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.



This was not just a museum, but an operating airfield where vintage aircraft, including many iconic planes from WW2, such as the Supermaine Spitfire, and P-51 Mustang, were regularly flown.

I spent a full day here, viewing the exhibits and watching some of these legendary warbirds take to the air.

[yflyer]

IWM Duxford was both a huge aviation museaum and an operating airfield, complete with control tower and hangers full of antique warbirds being restored or maintained in airworthy condition.



A fiend of mine had visited the previous year, and had advised me to budget a whole day for this attraction. This was great advice. There was a lot to see and experience. The place was like Disney for aviation buffs.

One of the first exhibits I saw was this B-17 Flying Fortress.



There was a reason why this aircraft was parked on the tarmac: it was the only airworthy B-17 in the UK.



While I had seen B-17's on screen, on movies and TV series' such as "Memphis Belle" or "Masters of the Air", it was quite different to see these aircraft in real life, to actually experience the size and scale of these remarkable engineering achievements.



There were many volunteer staff manning the various halls that made up the museum. They were very eager to share more about the exhibits on display. I chatted with one of them and he mentioned that there would be a P-51D Mustang flying in a few minutes time. When I heard that, I headed outside the hall I was in and went outside, to the airstrip.

There was a small crowd already gathered by the airstrip, and we watched as the P-51D taxied from where it was parked, next to a pair of Spitfires, out onto the apron, in preparation for take-off.



What an impressive aircraft this was, even today.

The deep-throated roar of the Mustang's Merlin V12 piston engine was unforgettable as it took off down the runway.

There were always aircraft taking off and landing at Duxford.



The staff weren't always told what time the aircraft would be flying, so one had to be alert and keep a lookout for aircraft being prepared for flight.


That day alone, apart from the Mustang, a Spitifre and a Grumman F8F Bearcat had also flown that day.



The Grumman F8F Bearcat was an aircraft which was first delivered in early 1945 but never saw combat during WW2, although it played a small minor in later conflicts such as the French Indochina war.



Modern types, both civilian and military, were also found at Duxford.

At one point, an RAF Chinook made a low pass over the runway.



There were also biplanes being flown. There were replicas of WW1 era biplanes, as well as newer ones, such as this CASA 1.131 Jungmann, which was a training biplane that continued to be manufactured into the 1960's, with this example, registration G-BSAJ, manufactured in 1954 and still in flying condition today.



It was quite a novelty seeing these aircraft taking off directly from the grass -- no runway required!

[yflyer]

There was a company at Duxford that offered joyrides in a range of different classic aircraft types.



You could fly in a 2-seater Spitfire...



...though these rides did not come cheap. A 30 min joy ride in a Spitfire would cost thousands of pounds.

[yflyer]

This was a working airfield. There were hangers full of classic warbirds being lovingly maintained and restored.



There were several Spitfires in excellent condition.



What a labour of love.



There were also replicas of WW1 biplanes and triplanes, including this Fokker Triplane, in the red colours of the famous "Red Baron", ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen..

[yflyer]

There were vast hangars full of aircraft on display.



The Avro Lancaster 4 engined bomber was awe-inspiring up close.



The types on display told the history of military aviation from the propeller era through the jet age.

There was a Hawker Hunter, a type which the RSAF used to operate years ago.



IWM Duxford has the only Victor bomber that still exists.





De-Haviland Vampire...



Sea Harrier (with a huge Short Sunderland flying boat in the background).



Harrier GR.3 and English Electric Lightning...



Panavia Tornado...

[yflyer]

There was a Concorde...



What a sleek and beautiful aircraft...



I never got to fly in a Concorde. This was a rare opportunity to get a look inside one.



You entered the exhibit from the rear.



This was a test aircraft, configured for flight testing.



The cabin interior was fairly small, even smaller than a 737 or A320 cabin. The windows were tiny as well.



Of course with the Concorde, it was never about spaciousness -- it was all about speed! Besides, with the Champagne and caviar flowing freely, I bet no-one complained too much about the seat pitch.

A look into the all-analog cockpit. What a far cry from the glass cockpits of today.



While I never got to fly on Concorde, a friend of mine based in London once did. He was on a regular BA flight that went tech and got cancelled. The business class pax on that flight were all rebooked on other flights. He was given an new boarding pass for a different flight. He looked at the boarding pass and thought the flight number, BA001, was quite unusual. It was only when he was onboard that he realised he was on Concorde. Needless to say, he really enjoyed the flight, and even arrived in New York earlier than his originally scheduled BA flight.

[yflyer]

There was a hall dedicated to the Battle of Britain.



A look into the cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane...



A Gloster Meteor, one of the first jet fighters of the war.



I never realised V1 flying bombs were so gigantic.



The only "enemy" aircraft on display was a Messerschmitt BF109 displayed in a crash-landing diorama. The aircraft had, in fact, crash-landed in Sussex after being shot down by an RAF Hurricane in 1940.



Elsewhere at IWM Duxford, there was a wrecked cockpit section of a Mitsubish Zero. Did I detect a bit of a trend here when it came to displaying opposing aircraft types?



Visitors to the Battle of Britain exhibit could sit in on an audio-visual presentation of a pilot's briefing.



There was a recreation of the 1940 Operations Room at Duxford, complete with plotting board with physical markers showing the locations of all aircraft .

[yflyer]

There were static outdoor displays of classic commercial airliners as well.



A rare De Havilland Comet 4...



...with its distinctive engines mounted flush with the wings...



A Vickers Super VC-10...



...with high T-tail and 4 rear mounted engines...




It was possible to head inside the VC-10...



Economy was 3-3, while First was 2-2.



No lie-flat seats in those days...



BOAC menus and memorabilia...



Lunch in First Class began with chilled Iranian caviar...



More memorabilia...



A very different era of travel...

[yflyer]

At the far end of the museum was a massive hall dedicated to US aircraft types.



This hall housed the only SR-71 Blackbird on display outside the USA.



A B-25 Mitchell, the medium bomber flown during the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and also the type flown by Singapore's very own Flying Tiger, the late Captain Ho Weng Toh.



B-29 Superfortress...



A massive B-52...



...flanked on each side by an A-10 Warthog and F-4 Phantom.



It was just amazing to see so many aircraft crammed into the cavernous hall.



I had an incredible day at IWM Duxford.

I would highly recommend a day trip there if you are an aviation enthusiast. The easiest way to get there from London is by train to the closest station, then an Uber from the station to the airfield/museum. My train was from London Liverpool Street to Whittlesford Parkway.

I eventually tore myself away from IWM Duxford in the late afternoon and took the train back to London Liverpool Street.

[yflyer]

I was back in London by 6.30pm. It was a lovely, sunny, Thursday evening. The Pub outside the station was completely packed.



I was wondering if there was an event on or something, but no, this was just the regular evening crowd having an after work pint.



Apparently when the weather was good, a popular thing to do was to have a drink along the street outside the pub...

[scooby5]

There was a Concorde...


While I never got to fly on Concorde, a friend of mine based in London once did. He was on a regular BA flight that went tech and got cancelled. The business class pax on that flight were all rebooked on other flights. He was given an new boarding pass for a different flight. He looked at the boarding pass and thought the flight number, BA001, was quite unusual. It was only when he was onboard that he realised he was on Concorde. Needless to say, he really enjoyed the flight, and even arrived in New York earlier than his originally scheduled BA flight.

The Scottish Museum of Flight south of Edinburgh has one, with full interior - a quite tight 2-2 layout. I walked up to the cockpit door and looking at the switch panels blew my mind.

I remember being on a TG flight from LHR, Concorde patiently waiting it's turn in the queue a few slots behind as I literally looked down over it but up at it at the same time, if you get my meaning.

With regards pub goers after work and standing on the street, now you can remember why our Boat Quay used to be so busy as it was..... hitting those halcyon days only occasionally now.

[yflyer]

The Scottish Museum of Flight south of Edinburgh has one, with full interior - a quite tight 2-2 layout. I walked up to the cockpit door and looking at the switch panels blew my mind.

I remember being on a TG flight from LHR, Concorde patiently waiting it's turn in the queue a few slots behind as I literally looked down over it but up at it at the same time, if you get my meaning.

Thanks for sharing, scooby5! I wish I had known that there was a Concorde at the Scottish Museum of Flight while I was in Edinburgh! I would have tried to make a trip there to visit!

Many years ago in the late 70's when I was a kid, I remember being in a car travelling along Geyland Road on the way to school in the early morning, when I saw a Concorde coming in to land at Paya Lebar Airport. Those were the days when SQ and BA briefly operated a joint Concorde service to London, with a refuelling stop in Bahrain. There's a recent MainlyMiles article on the SQ/BA Concorde service here.

With regards pub goers after work and standing on the street, now you can remember why our Boat Quay used to be so busy as it was..... hitting those halcyon days only occasionally now.

I wonder why Singapore nightlife cannot be as buzzing as other major cities. Are the rule and regulations here too stifling? Bars and restaurants here tend to close quite early. I also wish they would keep buses and MRT operating later at night, and even into the early morning. After a night out, if one is drinking, the only way to get home is by taxi or Grab, which has become really expensive.

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

Back in London after the day's excursion to IWM Duxton, I headed to The Jugged Hare for dinner.



The Jugged Hare first opened in 2012, and was now in its 14th year of operation.



This was a gastropub that specialised in game meat. I had dined there on a previous work trip to London several years back, and liked it so much that I wanted to bring Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2.



We dined on Suffolk roe deer tartare, pigeon and Haggis Scotch eggs...



...and then a Torbay sole with capers and brown butter.



The sole was super fresh, and perfectly prepared.



Although the restaurant prided itself in game meats, there were excellent vegetarian options on the menu as well, including this dish of broad beans and peas, feta, pearl barley and lovage pesto.



A memorable meal, and a restaurant well worth visiting when in London.

[yflyer]

The next evening, we headed to Wigmore Hall in London for a piano recital by the great pianist, Sir Andras Schiff.



First built in 1901, the Wigmore Hall was one of the worlds most well known concert halls for chamber, instrumental and vocal performances.

The hall itself was intimate, with just 550 seats, with wonderful acoustics.



Over the years, many famous musicians had performed there.





Sir Andras Schiff is one of a select few living pianists who can sell out a concert hall without even announcing the programme.



We had bought tickets for the concert many months in advance. We only knew what he was going to play when he appeared on stage to introduce the programme.

That evening, we were treated to an all Bach programme comprising his Capriccio in B flat (Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother), BWV 992, and 4 Keyboard Partitas, nos. 1,2,4 and 6, as well as a Mozart Gigue in G major, K. 574 as an encore.



This was an excellent performance which held the listener's attention from first note to last.