Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Quite excited overflying Newfoundland, looking out for Gander International (for which there is 60s Scenery!), but never saw it (I have an irrational fear of birdstrike from Canada geese there, it must be the name). We hear Gander Centre talking to other Speedbirds, and KLM and even Air India, but only saw one 707 over the long Atlantic stretch.
I strained my eyes for the first sight of Europe...
And there it is!
Ireland of course, roughly over Galway Bay (which has its own song. Aran Islands to the left, where the best knitwear comes from). We had had Shannon Centre since 15.10, but didn't see their country till around 17.30. Between 13.00 and 15.10 it was the mysterious Shanwick Centre (which may require googling).
This map shows our position as we cross Ireland which stretches from roughly 6 - 10 degrees West:
Saint Exupery had that nice joke about how the study of geography as a child meant that he could always tell at a glance if he was flying over South America or China. Greenland seems pretty obvious on this particular map.
Then you cross the St George's Channel (NOT the Irish Sea, that's a bit further north) and come to this coastline...
Wales! Which also enjoys the best flag:
(nobody else has a dragon, not even China). To our left now is the Lleyn Peninsula - oddly enough where Lt Roberts, whose grave we saw in Varanasi, India, came from:
Cardigan Bay below. This map puts the British Isles into a European context:
It's incredibly complicated because we're dealing with 10,000 years of history, BUT: Great Britain is the biggest island (that's why it's 'great' - it's a geographical term, not a description of how marvellous the place is) with 3 different countries/nation states: Scotland to the north, Wales to the west and England in the south & east. Ireland is also geographically one of the British Isles, but Irish people (including my dear wife!) don't like you to say that because the Republic of Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and, er, Northern Ireland... Anyway, people from England, Scotland & Wales (AND Northern Ireland aka Ulster (though part of Ulster is actually in the Republic...) have the Queen & British passports, but Southern Ireland is a separate, independent country. Needless to say, they have also all been fighting over all this for at least five of those 10,000 years, while getting conquered & colonised by various Celts, Romans, Vikings & Normans (and even one Dutchman in the form of William of Orange) along the way.
I was handed over from Shannon to Manchester, and finally London Centre. Here's the 2-D screen clearance to land at LHR:
Still a bit high, should really have been down to 2,000 feet by that stage. England is a very small country, big passenger aircraft spend all their time over it just climbing away from or descending down towards London! (Well, OK, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stanstead, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or wherever).
I strained my eyes for the first sight of Europe...
And there it is!
Ireland of course, roughly over Galway Bay (which has its own song. Aran Islands to the left, where the best knitwear comes from). We had had Shannon Centre since 15.10, but didn't see their country till around 17.30. Between 13.00 and 15.10 it was the mysterious Shanwick Centre (which may require googling).This map shows our position as we cross Ireland which stretches from roughly 6 - 10 degrees West:
Saint Exupery had that nice joke about how the study of geography as a child meant that he could always tell at a glance if he was flying over South America or China. Greenland seems pretty obvious on this particular map.
Then you cross the St George's Channel (NOT the Irish Sea, that's a bit further north) and come to this coastline...
Wales! Which also enjoys the best flag:
(nobody else has a dragon, not even China). To our left now is the Lleyn Peninsula - oddly enough where Lt Roberts, whose grave we saw in Varanasi, India, came from:
Cardigan Bay below. This map puts the British Isles into a European context:
It's incredibly complicated because we're dealing with 10,000 years of history, BUT: Great Britain is the biggest island (that's why it's 'great' - it's a geographical term, not a description of how marvellous the place is) with 3 different countries/nation states: Scotland to the north, Wales to the west and England in the south & east. Ireland is also geographically one of the British Isles, but Irish people (including my dear wife!) don't like you to say that because the Republic of Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and, er, Northern Ireland... Anyway, people from England, Scotland & Wales (AND Northern Ireland aka Ulster (though part of Ulster is actually in the Republic...) have the Queen & British passports, but Southern Ireland is a separate, independent country. Needless to say, they have also all been fighting over all this for at least five of those 10,000 years, while getting conquered & colonised by various Celts, Romans, Vikings & Normans (and even one Dutchman in the form of William of Orange) along the way.
I was handed over from Shannon to Manchester, and finally London Centre. Here's the 2-D screen clearance to land at LHR:
Still a bit high, should really have been down to 2,000 feet by that stage. England is a very small country, big passenger aircraft spend all their time over it just climbing away from or descending down towards London! (Well, OK, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stanstead, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or wherever).
The all-too-rare BASIC SMILEY.
