Ben Corby

July 19, 2001
-
The long-awaited day of my triumphant return to Minnesota! Yes, it was to be a sweet day, one worth remembering, but it wouldn't be worth a **** if I couldn't get up there and back safely.

I arrived at the airport with my little twerp of a sister in tow (she becomes *very* important later on) at 5:00 AM for our 6:00 AM flight on US Airways. The line at the check in counter was short, and I was in and out within 10 minutes. Walking out to the gate, I saw my plane. It wasn't the best sight of the day...

-
Flight 3308 Op. by Piedmont JAX-GNV-CLT
Eqp. DH8 (N941HA)
Seat 8A
-
Don't get me wrong, this was my first DH8 flight ever (my first on any turboprop, actually), and I was looking forward to it. But it wasn't the best sight- that was yet to come on the flight. We were scheduled to depart at 6:15 AM, however the 6:00 AM flight to Tampa was delayed. No problem, you say? Well, not when your DH8s are parallel parked, and you can't move the one in front. ****.
We boarded after a grumpy gate agent told us to "bug off" when we inquired about 3308's status, and wound up not pulling out of the gate until 6:37 AM. The five of us on the plane, not counting the sole F/A and the cockpit crew, were treated to quite a flight to Gainseville, FL, about 75 miles south. After taxiing out to the runway (with no safety briefing- anyone know why this was left out?), and takeoff roll commenced at 6:43 AM. From 8A, I had a great view of the engine and gear, and I noticed the wheel hub sparked a lot on takeoff- normal?
About five minutes after takeoff, we flew less than five miles from downtown Jacksonville, at an alt. of about 5,000 feet. I could trace our exact route, as I know the city inside out. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, we followed 95 from the airport to about Lem Turner Road, hooked southwest towards I-10, got great views of the Bank of America Tower (formerly the NationsBank Tower, formerly the Barnett Tower), the Fuller Warren Bridges, and downtown JAX's other "landmarks", went out towards 295, crossed over, followed Blanding down to Middleburg, then went for GNV. For those of you who don't know JAX from PHL from MCO, we went southwest. While enroute, I was able to pick out my dad's house as we flew near it, and the lake my stepgrandparents live on. I never realized how truly incredible it is to get sunrise views of a place you know well from 5,000 feet. It was amazing. We landed in GNV at 7:10 AM, after 24:24 in the air and picked up 22 more pax, then at 7:20 AM, quickly high-tailed it to the runway and headed for CLT. Takeoff was at 7:24 AM. The flight was largely unremarkable. We got to 10k 8:08 into the flight, and beverages were offered enroute. There were some bumps in the air near the Georgia/South Carolina line, but otherwise nothing interesting until CLT. Landing was rough, as we seemed to hover, then slammed the left gear down, only to see it bounce up. The right gear slammed shortly afterwards, and stayed down, then the left gear hit hard again, and there was quite a bump as the nose gear hit. Flight time was 1:44:13, and arrival was at 9:09 AM, leaving precious little time for the connection...
-
Flight 444 CLT-MSP
Eqp. A319
Seat 19A
-
My sister had foolishly decided to bring one pair of shoes for each day we'd be gone. Throw in her ridiculously large surplus of clothing, and all of her bathroom stuff, and you have a bag that easily weighs fifty pounds (we weighed it at our grandparents' cabin). We got off the plane at about 9:15, and had to get from the back of the D Concourse to the back of the B concourse (B-11, to be exact) in fifteen minutes. I had two hours of sleep, and wasn't up to the run, but there was no choice. I took off full speed, leaving the twerp in the dust. She finally stopped near the C Concourse and said she wasn't running anymore unless I took her bag and tried to trade her my six pounder. Huh-uh. She wouldn't carry anything but her backpack. So I got to run at speeds that made Lynn Swann look slow, with over 60 pounds of baggage cradled in my arms and a jerk of a sister in tow. We made it- as they were closing up the gate, and they told us to get on quick, because they wanted to lock up the plane and get ready to push back.
I took my seat, and we pushed back at 9:42, 2 minutes after our scheduled departure (no, we didn't cause the delay. We were on at 9:30). While taxiing, I saw a TWA B717-200 on the tarmac, and faced the biting realization that that could easily have been the last TWA jet I'd see. I'll miss the old line...
We rolled onto the runway at 10:05 AM after winding up seventh for departure to start off, and rose to 10k in 4:00 flat. Beverages and a snack consisting of a bagel, Nutri-Grain bar, and an apple were offered. The flight was rough the whole way, as we were wedged between high and low pressure systems, and we went into a holding pattern near Eau Claire, Wisconsin for about 10 minutes. The seatbelt sign came on here, however for almost the whole time people were walking around the cabin at their leisure, and the F/As didn't seem to care. Anyone know why nothing was done?
We had a smooth landing at MSP, and arrived at 11:45 AM, ten minutes late, after a flight time of 2:38:18.

July 23
-
Flight 267 MSP-CLT
Eqp. A319
Seat 17D
-
Our scheduled departure was 4:00 PM, and we pushed back exactly on time. We rolled at 4:11 PM, and were at 10k 4:32 into the flight. We hit some turbulence near ORD, and it was very bumpy for about 6-8 minutes. We shifted rapidly from slight negative G's to slight positive G's, and the F/As waited until after this to serve beverages and snack mix consisting of bagel chips, pretzels, and something vaguely resembling salsa cheese sticks. Once again, there was continued disregard for the seatbelt sign, and once again, the F/As either didn't notice or didn't care. We arrived in CLT, a very smooth landing, at 7:35 PM, a flight time of 2:20:36.
-
Flt. 172 CLT-JAX
Eqp. B757-200
Seat 21A
-
After arriving at the gate, only a few over from where our flight from MSP arrived, I stopped at the B Concourse TCBY and grabbed a large cup of vanilla yogurt. It held me over. Scheduled departure was 9:05 PM, and we were loaded and able to push back at 9:03. Our B757 pulled out of the gate and sat for a minute as an MD-80 of US taxiied by. We hit the runway eigth in line, and began our roll with all the exterior lights on at 9:15 PM. After reaching 10k in 3:54, we were offered beverages and the same snack mix from US267. I gladly took both, as I had failed to eat any real food that whole day (no one counts Burger King fries as real food, do they?). Instead of the 1h5m projected flight time, we were in Jacksonville in 49:09, and arrived at 10:05 PM, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Quite a ride- the B757 was running like crazy the whole time, and you could hear it. The engines were a good 10dB louder than usual, and it was a thoroughly memorable run. No unusual circumstances enroute, and everyone abided by the seat belt signs for once.

All in all, I was thoroughly satisfied with US and my flights, and plan on trying to get aboard more DH8s, as it was one of the best rides I've ever had. I look forward to future trips with US Airways, and can't begin to state how happy I am that the merger won't happen.


------------------
--
Ben Corby
"We're, uh, oh, wait, maybe we're not clear for takeoff. But we will be soon."
-Quote heard over the PA on a long-ago DL flight.

FlyBDL

Very nice trip report. I am trying to get down to JAX and conect through there to finally see the airport. I hear you guys might be getting BA? IS that true?

Eric

PHX/BDL

Ben Corby

FlyBDL, BA and JAX have flirted with each other several times, but to no avail. AFAIK, the talks stalled (again) back in March, and have yet to be restarted. In my opinion, Jacksonville itself will have to become a real city (i.e., not referred to as "that place north of Disney World") before they do. Give it five years, at least.
JAX is busy riding high on its new AC flight directly to Toronto- the first scheduled direct int'l. flight ever out of JAX.

------------------
--
Ben Corby
"We're, uh, oh, wait, maybe we're not clear for takeoff. But we will be soon."
-Quote heard over the PA on a long-ago DL flight.

FlyBDL

Both BA and KLM showed big interest into Hartford in the early 1990's but talks stalled during the ecomony crush with the war. They went as far to put the names into the terminals ect.... However, more recent, other international carriers have expressed interest into BDL for non stop service over the ocean and into the caribean but only if the State of Connecticut (who owns BDL) would pay for all the unoccupied seats. I wonder if BA gave the same agrement with the City of Jacksonville?

Eric

PHX/BDL

Ben Corby

I don't think there ever was an agreement between JAX and BA, just lots of talk. I do seem to recall JAX getting a BA ticket office, or something along those lines, though, so that seems to bode well for the future. Don't know why anyone from London would want to travel to our redneck, backwater hick town, though...

------------------
--
Ben Corby
"We're, uh, oh, wait, maybe we're not clear for takeoff. But we will be soon."
-Quote heard over the PA on a long-ago DL flight.

Seiple

JAX is certainly not a redneck backwater hick town.



------------------
Jason Seiple
OMA

Ben Corby

I don't want to take this too far off-topic, but I certainly see Jacksonville as that. I've lived here over ten years, I believe I have somewhat of a leg to stand on in that opinion.

------------------
--
Ben Corby
"We're, uh, oh, wait, maybe we're not clear for takeoff. But we will be soon."
-Quote heard over the PA on a long-ago DL flight.

Seiple

And why do you see a city of that size as a small backwater hick town? Just curious....

------------------
Jason Seiple
OMA

Ben Corby

I see it as redneck and backwater because, well, it is. There's a great amount of racism, sexism, etc., the government is owned by big businesses (even John Delaney's true goals are becoming less clear), it's a very restrictive area in terms of future potential, they are *still* talking about Elian Gonzales on the news at least twice a week, and this is the *only* city I have seen where the local news truly regards professional wrestling (WWF, WCW, etc.) as a sport and not a spectacle.

I could continue, but that would make this already off-topic post go wildly off the mark. Like I said, I've lived here ten years, and feel I do have a leg to stand on in this.

------------------
--
Ben Corby
"We're, uh, oh, wait, maybe we're not clear for takeoff. But we will be soon."
-Quote heard over the PA on a long-ago DL flight.

shep_one

I have lived here in JAX for about twelve years, and I think this city is a lot like many mid-size cities. It has its good points and bad points. The good points include the beaches, the weather, the low unemployment, and the wide availability of low cost housing (for Florida). I think the city has really improved over the past ten years with respect to quality of life, tolerance, and schools. There is quite a large influx of folks from around the country and this just adds to the diversity of life. In short, this city is like many others, it is what you make of it. Just my 2 cents.

[This message has been edited by shep_one (edited 07-29-2001).]