Twenty-something years ago, Joe and I had a friend named Tim (actually, we still do. I just spoke on the phone with him yesterday). Part of Tim’s job was traveling all around the country (still is. Well, when there isn’t a pandemic) and while we were hanging out with him one day back in the late 1990s, he would occasionally look up at a plane flying overhead, and say what airline and type of plane it was.
At the time, I thought he had magical powers. I mean sure, I could tell a Delta plane from an Air Tran from a Continental because they were close to home and I saw them a lot, but Thai Airways? Middle East Airlines? Besides that, how could he tell it was a Boeing vs. an Airbus? And there was enough of a difference between an A310 and a 747 to know the difference?
I’ll fully admit that to this very day, I’m not much of a travel geek. That’s Joe’s department and I’m very happy to reap the rewards of his travel hobby. Me? I look at planes like I do rental cars – as long as the price is right, it’s clean and safe, and they’ll support me as I go from Point A to Point B, I’m good. Leg room? Lie flat seats? The paint job? I don’t care. (And yes, I know the paint job is actually called the livery. Whatever. 😉 )
Anyway, because I write for our travel blog, I’ve learned a few things here and there. Granted, types of planes are still beyond me; I still don’t know a 787 Dreamliner from an A321 (but I know they each exist and there’s a difference. That should count for something, right?!?!). But I’ve learned how to tell the difference between an Airbus and Boeing (not that I care. But I can LOL). And because I’ve flown much more than I had 20-some odd years ago when Tim was impressing me so much with his mad skills, I can see, let’s say, a Korean Air logo and recognize it (which is more than I can say for this adorable couple that made me giggle inside).
So yeah, my skills at recognizing “plane things” are improved, but still not that great. Probably not as good as yours.
Know what though? There’s a little kid out there who is probably better at recognizing airline logos than you, me and maybe anyone else. In fact, she just won a world’s record for it.
Aarna Gupta is 6 years old. She lives in India and just got her name in the International Book of Records for naming almost 100 airlines, just by recognizing their logos, in 1 minute. Take a look:
I was impressed.
But then again, Tim’s mad skills impressed me 20 years ago, so… 😉
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
