TAFF - pg 10 we started the run down the runway with a sinking back into our seats from the acceleration. With only a short run we were up and off & bank- ing in a left turn over Long Island heading East. The surge of power forces you back into your seat like a small scale version if the accel- eration couch & is quite re-assuring. I got my camera going and came up with some nice shots taken during take off & over Long Island. The p.a. system announced that our esti- mated flight time would be 5 hours and 40 minutes, with London now hav- ing rain. Scheduled time from New York to London is 6 hrs and 25 min. We climbed steadily to 29,000' and the stewardesses served tea. Travel companions can often times be a pest. I'd decided many months ago that I was not going to be someone's chaplain and be subjected to hearing all about their troubles. Nowhere in my 3 week Journey did this ever occur: & all of my traveling companions were quite pleasant. On the 707 in the economy section you sit 3 abreast on each side of the aisle. Next to me was a girl about 7 or 6, whose parents were across the aisle. She was a perfect little lady & amused herself by drawing pictures for her mother. I loaned her my ball pens which have different colored inks & she made some drawings which I thought were excellent for her age. Later on, an engineer from Toronto traded seats with her so she could sit with her parents & we two had a nice chat for the rest of the trip. Lunch was served & the pilot announced we were at 33,000' and with the aid of a 125 mph tail wind, were now traveling at a ground speed of 750 mph. The cabin was quiet and you could talk in a normal tone of voice; there was practically no vibration; and they played nice background music over the P.A. system. The idea of traveling at that speed so easily was incomprehensible to all. When I was a boy, the Columbus Dispatch had a Sunday Supplement feature saying that man would travel at the speed of sound (700 mph at sea level) in 20 years. This was in 1930 or so and I recalled, now, the violent argument I had with a neighbor friend who claimed man would never travel that fast. It was impossible. Funny how little things like that stick in your memory. We clipped another 15 minutes off the schedule & set down at London Airport in 5 hrs and 25 min for a new record, by 2 minutes, and an ave- rage speed of 670 mph for the trip. The view of London at night from the air was truly a beautiful sight to behold. I rate it as a highlight in my lifetime. There are various colored lights, in addition to the usual neon signs, which delight the eye. The mercury vapor lights, the sodium lghts & the pedestrian zebra crosswalks with their flashing orange globes all go together to make London quite different from U.S. cities, colorwise. We went directly from the plane to a special bus which would take us to customs. The driver must have been a frustrated pilot. With only a 1500' run he managed to give us all the feeling of the race at Le Mans. The through passengers were let off at one area & then the rest of us were herded into the customs receiving room. The British subjects were separated from us foreigners and sent off through another door, which allowed them to flash brief smiles of superiority at us.