Welcome to Our forum bro.

Tell us about your very first flight. Where, when, why and how old you were ..

My first ever flight was in 1994 in the age of 11. I went for a holiday trip in a L1011 on CMB - MAA UL121

I was going to Gatwick in 1984 Air Lanka L1011 from CMB. dont remeber much... on the way we had a stop over in ZRH i lost my jacket lol I was 2 yrs

Domestic - 1994, when I was 4, from Colombo to Anuradhapura on Lion Air.

International - Early October 1995. Air Lanka L1011 CMB - BKK - HKG. Dad was friends with the pilots, so they let us in for the landing at HKG. We sat in anticipation as we manoeuvred through the high rises and came in for a smooth landing on the infamous Kai Tak runway. I still remember it all so clearly! :P

1994, when I was 9 months, From CMB - DXB via SHJ on Air Lanka L1011! well, I went to see my dad! and since then I have been on this route for more than 20 times!

The first time I ever experienced a small aircraft, and the first time I ever took the controls of an aircraft, I was 14. I was just entering high school, and as a graduation/birthday present, my grandparents had purchased a scenic flight tour from the local flight centre near my house. It was only good for a half-hour of flying, but that was good enough for me. I remember one summers-day, I called the airport to see if I could use my voucher, little did I know that the man on the other end of the phone was Brandon Macdonald, the man who would Instruct me from nothing all the way to a CPL at a different flight school. The man I went flying with that day was difficult to understand, as he spoke (and still speaks) with a very distinct Iranian accent, he had told me his name was Akbar Bashiri, and that he would be my instructor. Knowing that I wanted to be a pilot one day, he let me take control of the aircraft right almost as soon as it started. In fact, the only thing I didn't do on the flight was use the radio, nor did I land. He was so overjoyed to be flying on such a nice day, that he extended our half hour flight into an hour and a half flight, no extra cost. At the end of it, he handed me a study guide for my radio-operators license, and said that even though I couldn't get my PPL until I was a bit older, I could at least get my radio-operator's license. It would be almost 4 years until my next flight at the same school, with another Instructor, Brett Frey, that I would later fly with on many occasions while in College. Although I didn't attend my local flight school, it seemed that some of these people would play a large part in my training. Brandon being my PFI for PPL, as well as being my Night Rating Instructor, and my CPL recommending instructor, and I would have many instrument and CPL training related flights with Brett. After graduating from College with my CPL and Multi-IFR in hand, I came back home, and began an Instructor Rating. My instructor for that would be non-other-than Akbar. It's funny, my first instructor ever, turned out to be my last instructor ever. Also, I didn't log my first flight until I went to College, April 14th of 2008, in a Zlin 242L (C-FCSB) with my then PFI Keith Toplis (who only flew with me twice, and very late in the semester I had worked so hard to make it into. I was told he was a great instructor, but I only knew him as the guy who'd rather fly with the 3rd years in the twin, instead of his 1st years).

My first one was from CMB-DXB-ZRH-CDG (Single flight) with a Tristar of Srilankan Airlines.

I was flying to Rome FCO with my mother and brother...
Flight: AirLanka UL581
A/C: A340-300
1995

I was 11 years.. and after the take off from CMB we had a lot of turbulances and the flight was half empty... my mother was togeather with my brother in 2 seats.. I was in the middle.. and no one was there next to me... 5 seats empty... and after the flight made a left turn I saw the wing which was going to touch the sea.. and I was terrified... asked my mother to get out from the aircraft...... But after few min it was really wonderful... the landing was amazing... right side turn, nose shaprply down.... and a nice touch down....

Alright Banu - you can do the age statistics of the forum users too....

My first flight was to Rome on UL 5XX via Dubai on L1011. It was late March 1989 and I was 29 years old at that time (Banu - do your maths now). flight was delayed from 1.00 AM to 5.30 AM. My girl friend (now my wife) and my mother came to drop us with a friend and they saw another UL taking off at 1.00 AM and my friend saw tears in both of their eyes. He wrote a nice write up on my wedding day out of this. By the way, at boarding they said it is free seating due to change of aircraft (I believe they had more than one seating configurations in L10's) and there was a mad rush to grab a seat. I saw parents/kids husbands/wives all over and cabin crew was kind of helpful to sort out mixups. It was a day time flight and the other most memorable thing was we were on hold over city of Rome for at least couple of rounds with a clear view of all the landmarks prior to landing at Fiumicino.

Poll: SriLankan Airlines' Next New Destination?

Out of the options , What city do you think SriLankan Airlines will start new service to?

How about Copenhagen?

tell me what is the total srilankan population in denmark?

i VOTED 4 options , Mel , Seoul , KTM , Nairobi .... we have enough Indian connections now lets try to bring out some crowd from the other end of the world , though many indians come to sl there is not much effect on us , these people are same as mine low budget ..... so lets try to get some more $ from other destinations , Make a Journey to China stop over at KTM . India doesnt allow us to do CMB - DEL - KTM bcz DEL - KTM is a fully packed flight and they dnt want to share the income between us , but also KTM - PEK is a fully packed destination i knw it well coz i have been there so we can try that

Ghinthaka Arambewala ( 88gee)
In love with Aviation :love: