Behing the scenes at the airport...

                                                                                                                I have gotten to have so many adventures while in London. One of the funnest adventures definately has been getting to go behind the scenes at the airport. Twice as a part of my internship I have gotten to go to the airport for a "walk a mile," which is pretty much an inside look at how an airport is run.

I was able to go into the premier passenger lounges. They showed me into the kitchen (where they were making some desert that smelled really good.) I also saw inside the "maid" workroom where they take the remove the suits from the door panel while people are showering and press them. I also went behing the checkin counters and into the security area. It was really cool to have an airside pass and be allowed into all of the different areas.

The funnest part was getting to actually go down onto the runway. I went down into the ramp workers rest area. There were lots of rough and tumble guys but they were all very sweet and friendly to me. One man took me out into the tug (one of those funny looking car things you see driving around on the tarmac).

We rode all over the airport and onto the runway. He told me all about the airport terminology and what all of the signs meant. We also listened to the control tower and called into them when we drove onto the runway. It was cool to learn the jargon and then listen to the pilots call into the tower before they took off and know what they were talking about and what they were about to do. I was even able to go inside one of the AA planes that was at the holding stall. We sat in the cockpit and the guy explained to me where the brake was, how the power worked, and what all of the controls meant. 

After that the ramp crew took me out to load the bags onto the plane. I got to put a couple of suitcases onto the ramp and joke around with the workers while they did the rest of the work. The plane was full of people and it was so weird to think that I was one of those people that you can see out of the plane window standing on the tarmac. Then I rode in the tug while we pushed the plane with all of the passengers in it away from the gate and into position to taxi to the runway. 

 

The whole thing was definately a once in a lifetime experience that I never thought I would get to have!