707Flyer
Sep 22, 07, 3:14 pm
Had a great experience with UA flying over the NE corridor this past Wed.
Flew flt 860 IAD-BOS in the morning, and came back on 861 in the evening. A 75% loaded A320 on the way up, and a full 752 on the way down.
Weather was clear, which not only meant a smooth ride both ways, but some sick sightseeing during the morning flight. In addition to darkness on the return flight at night, BOS-IAD almost always flies an interior route of BOS-BAF-SAX-LRP-HYPER1 arrival, which means you're farther away from the big cities.
The morning routing was the standard IAD-SWANN-RBV-JFK-INNDY2 arrival. For those that aren't ATC geeks, this puts you on the J42 airway in NJ, just east of the turnpike, which sets you up for great views of PHL, downtown Philly, and then the J222 airway over Staten Island and Queens, which provides all the scenery of Manhattan if you're on the left side of the plane.
Being a New England native, I drive and Amtrak much of the space between BOS and DC a lot, so it was cool to look down and see so many familiar spots. Not just Central Park and downtown Philly, but even the big toll plaza at the southern tip of the Jersey turnpike, and the big rest stop to the north of DC that likes to be referred to as "Baltimore". (just kidding, we all loved Hammerjacks in its prime)
Channel 9 was the perfect audio background for the tour, knew exactly when and why we were turning our changing altitude. Also could hear where traffic was ahead of us on our frequency and could figure how soon it would be until we changed altitude or turned again. On descent got a great view of the Connecticut shoreline, downtown Providence, and downtown Boston on our approach onto runway 4R.
Without channel 9, I would have probably just booked B6 for the extra couple inches of legroom. But the UA FAs were fairly pleasant and far less grumpy than the some of the transcon crews I've had on recent flights. Just need to bring a decent camera next time.
Flew flt 860 IAD-BOS in the morning, and came back on 861 in the evening. A 75% loaded A320 on the way up, and a full 752 on the way down.
Weather was clear, which not only meant a smooth ride both ways, but some sick sightseeing during the morning flight. In addition to darkness on the return flight at night, BOS-IAD almost always flies an interior route of BOS-BAF-SAX-LRP-HYPER1 arrival, which means you're farther away from the big cities.
The morning routing was the standard IAD-SWANN-RBV-JFK-INNDY2 arrival. For those that aren't ATC geeks, this puts you on the J42 airway in NJ, just east of the turnpike, which sets you up for great views of PHL, downtown Philly, and then the J222 airway over Staten Island and Queens, which provides all the scenery of Manhattan if you're on the left side of the plane.
Being a New England native, I drive and Amtrak much of the space between BOS and DC a lot, so it was cool to look down and see so many familiar spots. Not just Central Park and downtown Philly, but even the big toll plaza at the southern tip of the Jersey turnpike, and the big rest stop to the north of DC that likes to be referred to as "Baltimore". (just kidding, we all loved Hammerjacks in its prime)
Channel 9 was the perfect audio background for the tour, knew exactly when and why we were turning our changing altitude. Also could hear where traffic was ahead of us on our frequency and could figure how soon it would be until we changed altitude or turned again. On descent got a great view of the Connecticut shoreline, downtown Providence, and downtown Boston on our approach onto runway 4R.
Without channel 9, I would have probably just booked B6 for the extra couple inches of legroom. But the UA FAs were fairly pleasant and far less grumpy than the some of the transcon crews I've had on recent flights. Just need to bring a decent camera next time.