In the cockpit with my feet up

Location Hotel room in Mumbai | Mood Annoyed with self | Date 21 October 2005
Filed in:
Author (full name): 
Franny Armstrong
Location: 
Hotel room in Mumbai
Mood: 
Annoyed with self
Soundtrack: 
KT Tunstall on laptop (just downloaded from iTunes)
Ailments: 
First gurgles of Delhi belly (Mumbai belly)
Date: 
21 October 2005
Current crisis: 
Camera lens has dust deep inside spoiling every shot. Didn't bring battery for spare camera.
Current silver lining: 
Broadband internet working in room
Next job: 
Cabin crew practising putting out fires

Flying in a big jumbo is pretty damn good fun. Especially with the giggliest pilots ever. (I asked them if they were always so hysterical, or whether there was some impending doom they were reacting to that I should know about, but they said they were just happy to be working together, cos normally their shifts don't coincide. They've signed up for 6 months in India, gawd bless 'em. Never been before. Don't speak Hindi. Bringing babies. Are already getting confused at all the forms.) Taking off and landing are of course the most exciting bits - although I have to admit to getting a certain thrill doing my stewardess bit with the trolleys and all the rest of it - though the giant windscreen has a bit of a plasma telly feel to it. Not exactly real.

Almost as fun was waltzing through backstage at lots of different airports. One flash of the crew badge and I was surrounded by helpful people offering me cokes and wondering where my uniform was.

Jeh, Jeh's dad, Jeh's brother (going out with Hindi popstar, you know) and all the rest of the airline were at the airport to welcome the plane. I felt a bit of a cheat to be in the cockpit with my feet up when they've all been working for months to get as far as they have. They had a 7-Up to celebrate and talked on their mobiles to each other.

Having been (mainly) awake for 28 hours, I failed to wake the following morning in time to film the tickets going on sale on the website, which is pretty annoying as Jeh bought the first one and apparently there were lots of tech problems which would've been a good dramatic scene of them battling to get the airline up and running. But also I had to finish writing a funding application in order to get it in London by the deadline. At least that got done. And now we have a Spanner Films mission statement, should we ever need one.