Changes in Travel

[Wyandot Jim]

This just doesn't seem possible. Since I'm 82 I could have seen this happen.
Yes I did see the moon landing. I was at the airport and went to watch it on the FBO's TV

 

[WAYNO]

Not quite as drastic, but in 1960, DC-6's and Connies were still flying into Portland. A mere 10 years later, 747's were visiting.

I think of this stuff a lot. In my Grandparent's first generation, they'd never seen an airplane or a car.

I cannot imagine any century where progress escalated so dramatically.

 

[contender]

Yes,, so much happened here,, by Americans,, in such a short time that it's just amazing. Nowadays,, we outsource so much,, that we've lost a lot of the ingenuity our country used to display!

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Not quite as drastic, but in 1960, DC-6's and Connies were still flying into Portland. A mere 10 years later, 747's were visiting.

I think of this stuff a lot. In my Grandparent's first generation, they'd never seen an airplane or a car.

I cannot imagine any century where progress escalated so dramatically.

WAYNO,
I worked at Houston Hobby Airport in 1962-64. I saw the jet age come into being. There would be DC-3s parked next to 707s. AA was flying DC-7 and Continental was flying Vicounts, "The Proud Bird With The Golden Tail" and Eastern was using Electras. When the first Eastern Boing 727 "The Whisper Jet" came to Houston they were giving free rides in it.
At that time when the airlines got a jet they would announce the speed and record setting time it took to get from point A to Hobby.
It was a big speed competition between 707s, DC-8s and Convair 880s
What a great time to be working at the airport seeing the aircraft advancement along with famous people ( I have the Dukes autograph) and special planes like the B-17 from movie"The War Lover".

 

[WAYNO]

I was also very lucky. My high school had a tremendous aviation program, and that was my major. We could take impromptu field trips to the Portland airport, and have carte blanche of the flight lines. And then in college, my major was A&P, and just so happens that campus was on the Portland Air Force Base, which is physically connected to PDX. Security was not an issue, and we had free run of all of it. Whenever a special airplane would land, we were right there to visit it.

 

[turd]

All we have around here is Joe Foss. Not too many "new" aircraft or "big" ones out here on the prairie......

 

[nvbirdman]

My grandmother was 22 years when the Wright Brothers first flew. Later on, she was flying to Hawaii and we saw her off at LA International. We were able to walk out to the plane with her, and we were allowed to go as far as the bottom of the steps.

 

[Johnnu2]

My father and grandfathers were used to seeing more horses than cars in the 5 boroughs of NYC.....

J.

 

[tazbigdog]

Yeah, but I always wanted a "Jetsons-type" vehicle.

Getting closer…

 

[Kevin]

66 years ago was 1959. A quick Google Search says Ben Hur was the hit movie that year.

The hit movie of 2025? "Minecraft" which people here probably haven't heard of. It's animated. Minecraft is a video game

 

[epags]

I remember as a youth watching as it flew over California: Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Sputnik program. It was a polished metal sphere that transmitted radio signals for three weeks before falling back into the atmosphere in January 1958
Forthy nine years later my spouse and I were flying on Turkish Airlines, drinking champagne as we transit non-stop from Los Angeles to Turkey. My, how the times have changed. For a measily 1/4 (or is it 1/2) million you can be a tourist into space.

 

[Rock185]

My Dad was a Nebraska farm boy, and remembered the first time he saw an airplane. When my family moved from Illinois to Arizona in the late 40s, my grandmother and I flew out in a DC-3. Pilots let me come up in the cockpit. I remember lying in the grass when I was a kid in Arizona, and watching B-36 contrails. I even remember when people used to dress up when traveling on an airliner, or going to court. Today, either can be a freak show; think bar scene from Star Wars. Many decades later, I became a GA pilot and had a small airplane. My dad wouldn't get in it with me. He knew me too well

Yes, How times have changed...

 

[Wyandot Jim]

My Dad was a Nebraska farm boy, and remembered the first time he saw an airplane. When my family moved from Illinois to Arizona in the late 40s, my grandmother and I flew out in a DC-3. Pilots let me come up in the cockpit. I remember lying in the grass when I was a kid in Arizona, and watching B-36 contrails. I even remember when people used to dress up when traveling on an airliner, or going to court. Today, either can be a freak show; think bar scene from Star Wars. Many decades later, I became a GA pilot and had a small airplane. My dad wouldn't get in it with me. He knew me too well

Yes, How times have changed...

My Dad could have been in one of those B-36s.
I was in the 9th grade when Sputnik was launched