Kai Tak nostalgia

Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is long gone, but I recently had the chance to land there in a 737-800 flight simulator. The graphics weren't too hot, but I got a great feel for that hard right turn immediately before landing. Luckily I wasn't flying a real jet. Though I've flown a Cessna 172 and a Grumman Traveller, I was not quite ready for the 737's responsive, powerful handling. As a result we nearly ended up in Hong Kong Harbour. When I lived in Hong Kong in the early nineties I used to go to the airport three or four hours before a flight. There was a multi-storey car park at the end of the runway, and it was great fun to stand there with the other avgeeks watching 747s, MD-11s, L-1011s, A300s and (super noisy) 737-200s fly by beneath me. Incredible.