AS a TV journalist, I have travelled the world but this was by far the best flight ever.
More leg room than I could ask for, free-flowing champagne even before take-off, seatbelts optional, zero turbulence, “cigarette, Sir? No problem”.
The remarkable trip on the positively roomy 747 began in Los Angeles. And the destination? 1973.
In a world of budget airlines with their rip-off charges, delays and cancellations, the Pan Am Experience revels in everything that was once great about flying in the Golden Age of travel.
The four-hour “flight” never actually leaves the ground but takes place in a cavernous warehouse in LA.
In an exact replica of a Pan Am jumbo, actors with dazzling Hollywood smiles in authentic Seventies uniforms carry out a “safety demonstration”.
They hand out old magazines with Ronald Reagan on the cover and offer hot towels and cigarettes (fake, of course).
Then they serve the five-course meal passengers would have enjoyed at the time — prawn cocktail followed by beef, carved at our seats and served on authentic Pan Am crockery.
It is a first-class dining experience like no other, held twice a month at Air Hollywood, where directors go if they need to shoot a scene on a plane.
Anthony Toth began collecting Pan Am memorabilia decades ago and describes himself as “the world’s number one aviation geek” who loves the glamour and excitement the airline brought to flying.
Over the years he rebuilt the entire business-class section of a 747-200 jumbo in a huge garage, complete with fuselage, spiral staircase to the upper deck, overhead storage bins, even napkins embroidered with the Pan Am logo.
Then he partnered up with Talaat Captan of Air Hollywood who moved the “plane” to his studios.
When it’s not entertaining “passengers” it is rented out to movie makers.
Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt will soon be on board filming Once Upon A Time In Hollywood which is set in 1969.
As we relaxed at a cruising altitude (about 3ft) I got a flavour of what flying in a bygone age must have been like.
The sound of laughter and clinking champagne glasses rippled down from the upper deck where the really posh seats are.
The cabin crew put on a fashion show of airline uniforms and on this flight of fancy my fellow passengers and I shared modern-day travel horror stories.
It’s so popular the dining experience quickly sells out — even at up to $875 (£660) for a pair of tickets.
Actor and pilot John Travolta has had his birthday party on board — twice. It has been so successful Talaat told me about his plans to open a “new route”.
He says: “It’s got to be Vegas, hasn’t it? We are planning to move a decommissioned plane to Vegas and want to entertain 100 passengers a night. The plane may well even be on hydraulics to make it more authentic.”
It’s not just Hollywood and Las Vegas where you can relive the romance of air travel as it once was. You can book a stay at the retro TWA Hotel.
When TWA airlines folded in 2001, its 1960s terminal at JFK airport in New York became derelict. Now, it houses the groovy TWA-themed hotel, due to open in spring 2019.
Here you will be greeted at reception by staff in the airline’s signature red uniforms, above them an old-school clickety-clack departures board.
You can stroll to the terminal through the tunnels used in the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can. And how about a dry martini in the bar, which is a converted Lockheed Constellation jet in the hotel grounds?
Walk into one of the 500-plus guest rooms and you’ll feel like an extra on Mad Men, with dial phones, funky furniture and beds overlooking the runway.
MOST READ IN TRAVEL
Today’s travel industry realises that recapturing some of the fun of the jet age can be good for business.
Qantas has two of its 737 planes painted in retro livery, and Virgin Atlantic is offering different levels of service and space in its economy cabin.
For the rest of us though, get set for another summer of: “Bing Bong: Due to unforeseen circumstances on this delayed flight we won’t be able to sell you any hot food or beverages”.
I suggest you check in soon for a bit of nostalgic time travel.
GO: LA AND NEW YORK
GETTING THERE/STAYING THERE: Virgin Atlantic flies direct from Heathrow to Los Angeles (from £371pp return) and New York (from £321pp return).
Rooms at the TWA Hotel are not yet bookable – keep an eye out at twahotel.com.
For a suitably jet-set stay, check out the swanky 1Hotel in Brooklyn. Rooms from £133pp, per night.
OUT & ABOUT: PanAm Experience takes off twice a month.
Tickets from $475 (£358) a pair, see panamexperience.com/tickets.
Link
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/take-a-flight-of-fancy-back-to-1973-with-the-pan-am-experience-in-los-angeles/
News Pictures Take a flight of fancy back to 1973 with the Pan Am Experience in Los Angeles
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NINTCHDBPICT000434951101.jpg?strip=all&w=572
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