In the mid 1950s travel by air was still a new experience for many people. This was especially the case on a long haul flight such as between London and Hong Kong. B.O.A.C. were acutely aware that for some it was perhaps even a frightening experience - the bumpy runways, the vibration, the ear ache due to changing air pressure, the frrequent turbulence as planes flew relatively low, and above all the horrendous noise of the engines, so loud that you could hardly hear what somebody sitting next to you was saying. The Argonauts were apparently particularly noisy and on arrival at Little Sai Wan we were excused duties as wirless operators for several days until our hearing had settled down.
On this and the following eleven pages you will see how B.O.A.C. hoped to reassure and calm its nervous passengers. That being said, when you're nineteen and on a big adventure, nothing worries you! On one occasion, when the pilot had banked the plane for us to see something down below we in the front cabin all moved to that side to get an even better view. And then we went to the other side. Knowing what his mainly young passengers were up to, the pilot calmly and pleasantly asked us not to keep 'rocking the boat' as it was making his life difficult. He got a resounding cheer! Perhaps his 'normal' passengers were less exuberant.
