CAY253- Guy
02-22-2010, 01:34 PM
Hi there!
A couple of you know that I recently took weeks skiing trip to Colorado. Here is a sort of 'trip report' of the journey. My routing was LHR-DFW-DEN-DFW-LHR all on American Airlines.
OUTBOUND
LHR-DFW
AA 51
This part of the trip was on a 777-200ER and was probably one of the best flights I have ever had in Economy! :O Unfortunately we had paid very little (about £340 for the whole trip!) so we got very poor seats: 41 D,E,F,G However since the fuselage of a T7 tapers towards the back the middle section of seats goes from 5 across to 4 across at row 41, this meant a bit of extra leg room for us but also the PTV's and tray tables had to be in the armrest.
Our Ride to DFW
http://i47.tinypic.com/2ajaljm.jpg
The flight to DFW was excellent, the crew are SO much friendlier than snooty BA cabin crew. The IFE wasn't completely 'on demand' but there was a decent selection. The food was great, we had two meals, a snack and four drinks services! The landing into DFW was incredibly smooth, you could feel each individual wheel touch down! Overall it was about 9 hours.
Arriving in Dallas you got an impression of the size of the airport, here are some pics after clearing Immigration.
http://i49.tinypic.com/21oa492.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/1zzmm1k.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2lk2y2r.jpg
I had 5 hours to kill before my flight to Denver so I took a trip in the SkyLink train around the airport, more pics!
http://i50.tinypic.com/25ph9j4.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/nlsq2o.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/kagps7.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/jt1a35.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2gtw65d.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2m7ekw8.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/ddeyvq.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2duijqu.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2m5118x.jpg
DFW-DEN
AA 2513
N7537A
Finally the time came for our flight to DEN on a MD-82 w00t. As usual with Dallas domestic we had our gate switched FOUR times! First C17, then C11, then C24 and then, right at the last minute A9! A whole terminalchange! Horrors! :O
A pic of the gate that turned out not to be ours, I only realised when a 752 pulled in!:lol:
http://i47.tinypic.com/e0hfl2.jpg
Boarding
http://i49.tinypic.com/vyw8du.jpg
I was in row 28, offering a good view of both wing and engine. The noise was incredible!(See video below)
http://i46.tinypic.com/258w8y8.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/1zzl44x.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/10ifo13.jpg
By this time we had been going for about 22 hours and with great exhaustion we arrived in Denver!
http://i50.tinypic.com/1jb5mr.jpg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RETURN
DFW-DEN
AA 1310
N472AA
After an excellent week's skiing, 5 inches of powder snow every day yikes, it was time to head back.
A quick glimpse of our plane.
http://i45.tinypic.com/25zpjqf.jpg
In the Jetbridge.
http://i48.tinypic.com/2m4994p.jpg
Our flight to DFW was in daylight this time and I was in 17A, with a great view over the wing.
http://i49.tinypic.com/9uadko.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2z3q72d.jpg
We pushed back and taxiied out, it was a very cold day and some planes were being de-iced, alas our plane had only
been on the ground for a little while so it hadn't had a cold soak.
http://i48.tinypic.com/281ftd.jpg
Iceman!
http://i46.tinypic.com/2cxgcoo.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/28lw8p2.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/9hnrr5.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/n2iqud.jpg
The crowd on domestic flights is very different to long-haul flights some classic quotes overheard included:
Referring to the safety card in true Rainman fashion:
'It's so much easier to read than the last one, I mean it has pictures, and humans!'
A kid upon being told about the de-icing:
'Is it like water with fire in it?'
and finally:
'It looks a lot like a giant SuperSoaker, I want to go out and fight him in my bathing suit!'
I digress...we taxiied onto 34L and after a very long roll unstuck ourselves from terra firma.
http://i50.tinypic.com/21ed9ab.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/168fzet.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2cpu6qa.jpg
I found this pic fascinating, the shadow on the clouds below is of a contrail we just flew over and can be seen behind the wing.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2v26tf8.jpg
Perhaps we should have de-iced? A bit of the hard stuff on the inboard L/E.
http://i48.tinypic.com/ofdmwo.jpg
Trying out macro mode on my camera - DC-9! :lol:
http://i46.tinypic.com/30swq3n.jpg
Landing in DFW
http://i45.tinypic.com/2cromxx.jpg
Back at AA-mania, DFW!
http://i45.tinypic.com/jv28nb.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/300h1n4.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/33eo4zn.jpg
Our plane
http://i50.tinypic.com/23vlxeg.jpg
DFW-LHR
AA 78
The last leg of my trip was to be on a 767-300ER, the plane I fly most often on my Speedbird school bus! A nice change however with GE CF6's instead of the RB211 and also a different cabin layout.
My ride to London.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2ni8ebr.jpg
My seat was 37J, right above the rear cargo door.
http://i45.tinypic.com/28grpdx.jpg
We boarded on time and sat in our seats, to my horror there were no PTV's!helpsmilie During the whole flight two films were played on the overhead screens, just as well I slept! We took off from DFW and the Captain said our routing would take us over Texarkana huh, Memphis, Washington DC and New York. I thought nothing of it and settled in to the flight. The meal was a pile of sloppy junk nonoand the first film, 'Fame' sucked. I decided to look out of the window to see if the layer of thick cloud had shifted, the sight that met my eyes was breathtaking yikes. I warn you at this point that I have no photos of the views I got because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to take pictures through a plane window, at night, moving at 600mph! You will just have to take my word for it.
A sea of lights looked up at us and I saw an airport I thought I recognised, I reaslised that it was KIAD and that we were flying directly over Washington D.C! The Mall was lit up like a Christmas tree and I spotted KDCA and perhaps Pierre's house too!hiya The cloud was completely gone and you could see for hundreds of miles. We passed over Baltimore and soon NYC approached. In order to see Manhattan and KJFK I had to go to the rear door on the other side and peek through the little window. It was brilliant!
After that excitement we climbed from FL260 up to FL330 and the cabin fell asleep. I woke up over Ireland and had this view of the Cork area:
http://i47.tinypic.com/15391yv.jpg
We then descended below the clouds...
http://i45.tinypic.com/jtbd6q.jpg
...and were greeted by a typical British morning!:lol:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2w2kkg9.jpg
The landing is on video and was SO much smoother that BA's pitiful efforts! I took a few more pics during our taxi to Terminal 3.
http://i50.tinypic.com/23rokyd.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/312jktc.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/f51xrr.jpg
Unfortunately the docking system at some of T3's gates isn't very good, the jetbridge has limited movement do the pilot has to park his plane perfectly - ours didn't. doh we had to sit in our seats for a further half hour before a Tug could pull us forward 5 inches!ROFL
And finally my trip was over. If you are still reading by now, congratulations! Apologies if I have bored anyone senseless!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video!
Download (http://www.2shared.com/file/11583526/94b1f99f/DFW-DEN-DFW-LHR.html)
1, T/O from DFW on the Super 80, it is dark so there is not a lot to look at, however crank up the volume, the sound is amazing!
2, Landing in DEN, notice the burst of throttle instead of a big flare. hmmm
3, T/O from DEN, daylight this time, ignore Dad rambling on to his cousin (also called Guy!):lol:
4, Landing in DFW, there was an AA 763 landing parallel to us, very difficult to make out on film. Smooth landing but a bit of a bounce.
5, Landing in LHR, very smooth landing, much better than British Airways!
A couple of you know that I recently took weeks skiing trip to Colorado. Here is a sort of 'trip report' of the journey. My routing was LHR-DFW-DEN-DFW-LHR all on American Airlines.
OUTBOUND
LHR-DFW
AA 51
This part of the trip was on a 777-200ER and was probably one of the best flights I have ever had in Economy! :O Unfortunately we had paid very little (about £340 for the whole trip!) so we got very poor seats: 41 D,E,F,G However since the fuselage of a T7 tapers towards the back the middle section of seats goes from 5 across to 4 across at row 41, this meant a bit of extra leg room for us but also the PTV's and tray tables had to be in the armrest.
Our Ride to DFW
http://i47.tinypic.com/2ajaljm.jpg
The flight to DFW was excellent, the crew are SO much friendlier than snooty BA cabin crew. The IFE wasn't completely 'on demand' but there was a decent selection. The food was great, we had two meals, a snack and four drinks services! The landing into DFW was incredibly smooth, you could feel each individual wheel touch down! Overall it was about 9 hours.
Arriving in Dallas you got an impression of the size of the airport, here are some pics after clearing Immigration.
http://i49.tinypic.com/21oa492.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/1zzmm1k.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2lk2y2r.jpg
I had 5 hours to kill before my flight to Denver so I took a trip in the SkyLink train around the airport, more pics!
http://i50.tinypic.com/25ph9j4.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/nlsq2o.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/kagps7.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/jt1a35.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2gtw65d.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2m7ekw8.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/ddeyvq.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2duijqu.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2m5118x.jpg
DFW-DEN
AA 2513
N7537A
Finally the time came for our flight to DEN on a MD-82 w00t. As usual with Dallas domestic we had our gate switched FOUR times! First C17, then C11, then C24 and then, right at the last minute A9! A whole terminalchange! Horrors! :O
A pic of the gate that turned out not to be ours, I only realised when a 752 pulled in!:lol:
http://i47.tinypic.com/e0hfl2.jpg
Boarding
http://i49.tinypic.com/vyw8du.jpg
I was in row 28, offering a good view of both wing and engine. The noise was incredible!(See video below)
http://i46.tinypic.com/258w8y8.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/1zzl44x.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/10ifo13.jpg
By this time we had been going for about 22 hours and with great exhaustion we arrived in Denver!
http://i50.tinypic.com/1jb5mr.jpg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RETURN
DFW-DEN
AA 1310
N472AA
After an excellent week's skiing, 5 inches of powder snow every day yikes, it was time to head back.
A quick glimpse of our plane.
http://i45.tinypic.com/25zpjqf.jpg
In the Jetbridge.
http://i48.tinypic.com/2m4994p.jpg
Our flight to DFW was in daylight this time and I was in 17A, with a great view over the wing.
http://i49.tinypic.com/9uadko.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2z3q72d.jpg
We pushed back and taxiied out, it was a very cold day and some planes were being de-iced, alas our plane had only
been on the ground for a little while so it hadn't had a cold soak.
http://i48.tinypic.com/281ftd.jpg
Iceman!
http://i46.tinypic.com/2cxgcoo.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/28lw8p2.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/9hnrr5.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/n2iqud.jpg
The crowd on domestic flights is very different to long-haul flights some classic quotes overheard included:
Referring to the safety card in true Rainman fashion:
'It's so much easier to read than the last one, I mean it has pictures, and humans!'
A kid upon being told about the de-icing:
'Is it like water with fire in it?'
and finally:
'It looks a lot like a giant SuperSoaker, I want to go out and fight him in my bathing suit!'
I digress...we taxiied onto 34L and after a very long roll unstuck ourselves from terra firma.
http://i50.tinypic.com/21ed9ab.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/168fzet.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2cpu6qa.jpg
I found this pic fascinating, the shadow on the clouds below is of a contrail we just flew over and can be seen behind the wing.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2v26tf8.jpg
Perhaps we should have de-iced? A bit of the hard stuff on the inboard L/E.
http://i48.tinypic.com/ofdmwo.jpg
Trying out macro mode on my camera - DC-9! :lol:
http://i46.tinypic.com/30swq3n.jpg
Landing in DFW
http://i45.tinypic.com/2cromxx.jpg
Back at AA-mania, DFW!
http://i45.tinypic.com/jv28nb.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/300h1n4.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/33eo4zn.jpg
Our plane
http://i50.tinypic.com/23vlxeg.jpg
DFW-LHR
AA 78
The last leg of my trip was to be on a 767-300ER, the plane I fly most often on my Speedbird school bus! A nice change however with GE CF6's instead of the RB211 and also a different cabin layout.
My ride to London.
http://i46.tinypic.com/2ni8ebr.jpg
My seat was 37J, right above the rear cargo door.
http://i45.tinypic.com/28grpdx.jpg
We boarded on time and sat in our seats, to my horror there were no PTV's!helpsmilie During the whole flight two films were played on the overhead screens, just as well I slept! We took off from DFW and the Captain said our routing would take us over Texarkana huh, Memphis, Washington DC and New York. I thought nothing of it and settled in to the flight. The meal was a pile of sloppy junk nonoand the first film, 'Fame' sucked. I decided to look out of the window to see if the layer of thick cloud had shifted, the sight that met my eyes was breathtaking yikes. I warn you at this point that I have no photos of the views I got because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to take pictures through a plane window, at night, moving at 600mph! You will just have to take my word for it.
A sea of lights looked up at us and I saw an airport I thought I recognised, I reaslised that it was KIAD and that we were flying directly over Washington D.C! The Mall was lit up like a Christmas tree and I spotted KDCA and perhaps Pierre's house too!hiya The cloud was completely gone and you could see for hundreds of miles. We passed over Baltimore and soon NYC approached. In order to see Manhattan and KJFK I had to go to the rear door on the other side and peek through the little window. It was brilliant!
After that excitement we climbed from FL260 up to FL330 and the cabin fell asleep. I woke up over Ireland and had this view of the Cork area:
http://i47.tinypic.com/15391yv.jpg
We then descended below the clouds...
http://i45.tinypic.com/jtbd6q.jpg
...and were greeted by a typical British morning!:lol:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2w2kkg9.jpg
The landing is on video and was SO much smoother that BA's pitiful efforts! I took a few more pics during our taxi to Terminal 3.
http://i50.tinypic.com/23rokyd.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/312jktc.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/f51xrr.jpg
Unfortunately the docking system at some of T3's gates isn't very good, the jetbridge has limited movement do the pilot has to park his plane perfectly - ours didn't. doh we had to sit in our seats for a further half hour before a Tug could pull us forward 5 inches!ROFL
And finally my trip was over. If you are still reading by now, congratulations! Apologies if I have bored anyone senseless!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video!
Download (http://www.2shared.com/file/11583526/94b1f99f/DFW-DEN-DFW-LHR.html)
1, T/O from DFW on the Super 80, it is dark so there is not a lot to look at, however crank up the volume, the sound is amazing!
2, Landing in DEN, notice the burst of throttle instead of a big flare. hmmm
3, T/O from DEN, daylight this time, ignore Dad rambling on to his cousin (also called Guy!):lol:
4, Landing in DFW, there was an AA 763 landing parallel to us, very difficult to make out on film. Smooth landing but a bit of a bounce.
5, Landing in LHR, very smooth landing, much better than British Airways!