Flight Historian tracks all my airline flights since 1996. However, I’ve taken a few flights which are not logged in Flight Historian.
Flights before 1996
I grew up as part of a military family and moved around the world, so I took a number of international flights as a child. However, I’m unable to recall enough information about these flights (in some cases, I don’t even know the specific dates) to enter them into my flight log.
Move to West Berlin
In late 1987, we moved from Denver, Colorado to West Berlin, West Germany.
We drove to New Orleans to ship our car. We then flew from New Orleans (MSY) to New York (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) to Stuttgart (STR) to Berlin–Tegel (TXL). Based on this itinerary, my most likely flights were:
| Departure | Flight | Route | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1987 | TWA 880 | MSY–JFK | 727‑200 |
| Dec 1987 | Pan Am 90 | JFK–ZRH | 747‑100 |
| Dec 1987 | Pan Am 90 | ZRH–STR | 727‑200 |
| Dec 1987 | Pan Am 90 | STR–TXL | 727-200 |
Move to Illinois
On 14 May 1988, we moved from West Berlin to Chanute AFB near Rantoul, Illinois. We flew from Berlin to St. Louis (STL), but I don’t know where our layovers were.
Move to England
In the summer of 1991, we moved from Chanute AFB to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. I currently have no info about which flights we took.
Chicago Family Visit
In the summer of 1994, we flew to Chicago for a month to visit family.
We flew to Chicago on 8 July 1984, and we took a Northwest airlines 747 (as I specifically remember using the Nintendo Gateway System built into the seatback). My most likely flights were:
| Departure | Flight | Route | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jul 1994 | Northwest 49 | LGW–BOS | 747-100 |
| 8 Jul 1994 | Northwest 387 | BOS–ORD | A320 |
The flight back to England was around 13 Aug 1994, but I’m not sure what route we took.
Move to Ohio
On approximately 4 Sep 1994, we moved from England to Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. My most likely flights were:
| Departure | Flight | Route | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1994 | TWA 721 | LGW–STL | 747-100 |
| 4 Sep 1994 | TWA 132 | STL–DAY | DC-9-50 |
Non-Airline Flights
I’ve had a few flights not operated by an airline which were therefore not logged. This includes a number of general aviation flights, several helicopters, and a biplane ride.
My (now) wife and I riding in a Travel Air 4000 biplane on 9 Jun 2014.
Flights Not Leaving the Ground
I’ve boarded a few flights where we ended up deplaning before we even left the gate (usually due to a maintenance issue), or taxied around but never left the ground before returning to the gate (usually due to weather). Since the wheels never left the ground, I didn’t count those as flights in my flight log.
On one particular trip, I was trying to fly from Wichita Falls, Texas (SPS) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and then on to Dayton (DAY), but the SPS–DFW flight was cancelled. Since it was only a small 50-seat regional jet and SPS was less than a 2-hour drive from DFW, American Airlines hired a number of vans from a taxi company to drive us to DFW, but still issued us a flight number, boarding passes, and seats for that “flight.” Even though American counted it as a flight for all intents and purposes, I did not include it in my flight log, as the van’s wheels never left the ground.
Screenshot from the American Airlines app, showing our “Flight” 9289 operated by “A Bus.”