The National Museum of the Air Force
National Museum of The Air Force
Another aviation mecca I’ve always wanted to visit is the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, OH. While looking for some mileage run fares, I happened to stumble on a $200 fare from Dallas to Dayton, Ohio. It’s certainly not mileage run material, but it’s pretty good compared to what fares on this route usually run. So, I figured why not since I had a free weekend, and visiting the museum would be a nice break from all of the studying I had been doing. I went ahead and booked it, going through Chicago to net a few extra miles and an extra segment on my outbound.
My upgrades cleared exactly at the beginning of the Executive Platinum window. Before I left my place on the day of departure, I checked to see which gate my flight was departing from. I was pleased to see it was departing from gate A9, which is in the renovated section of the Terminal A. The renovations have only been recently completed, and for some reason all of my flights have been departing out of the C Terminal since the section has reopened. As usual, I parked at the Remote North Lot and hopped on the shuttle to the A Terminal. On the ride to terminal, the friendly shuttle driver proudly regaled me with the story of the brawl of her son’s semi-pro football game. As we approached the drop off point for the low A gates, the improvements made during the renovations were immediately evident.
The check in area was much brighter and airy than before, a concept that is reflected in all of the renovated areas. There is a separated Priority Access area which is next to general check in area. A pleasant agent greeted me and quickly printed my boarding passes. We chatted for a few minutes about the how employees felt about the renovations. He indicated it was generally well received, although there are some design shortcomings in the storage compartments of the agent podiums. I then headed to priority security lane, which is only accessible through an entry way from the Priority Access check in area. Security was quick, and I was soon exploring the “new” terminal for the first time.
Overall, the renovations are a significant improvement; though, given the condition of parts of the terminal that might not be saying a whole lot. As previously mentioned the renovated portion is a lot brighter and feels more airy. Short of knocking the place down and rebuilding the terminal, it is a pretty good effort. If you want to see the how the terminal looked before the improvements, just take a stroll down to the “high” A gates. Speaking of which, it was where my flight was departing from thanks to a last minute gate change to dingy A39, the last gate in the terminal.
I got to the gate about 15 minutes prior to boarding, and found gate lice already crowding the boarding area. However, today’s gate lice were decidedly more premium as they were solely comprised of First Class passengers in the Priority Access lane. I found an empty seat and killed a little time by finishing up the book I was reading.
American Airlines 2352
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Depart: 12:35 PM
Arrive: 2:55 PM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (N581AA)
Seat: 5F (First Class)
Boarding was called exactly 30 minutes before departure, and I found myself settling in to my favorite seat on the Mad Dog, 5F. The gentleman, who was first to board the aircraft
, ended up being my seatmate. The friendly purser chatted with us as she was hanging coats. She was particularly proud of the new Samsung Galaxy Note that AA is equipping their flight attendants with. years As boarding continued, I was rather amused by the conversation of the two gentlemen seated behind me. Their conversation sounded a lot like the UA v. AA threads, as they were both former 1Ks.
The FA working First Class today was kind of cute, not something I say often about AA FAs. In fact, she resembled a slightly older Kristen Stewart, with a similar personality (i.e. lack there of). Despite her stoic persona, she was very attentive and provided excellent service, which started with an open bar pre-departure beverage service.
The Captain added his welcome aboard as we pushed back, and announced we would be arriving a few minutes early. Take off was quiet as it always is in a MD-83, at least in front of row 20, and we were soon climbing into the gorgeous clear sky. Hot towels were offered soon after we crossed 10,000 feet. Of course, this was followed by warm mixed nuts and a drink of choice. A Bloody Mary for me, please.
Ramekin of warm mixed nuts and a Bloody Mary
I know it’s essentially a can of salt, but there’s something I absolutely love about airline Bloody Marys. Of course, I like the real thing too, but it’s just so good for some reason. Today’s BM was good and strong. Another round on nuts and drinks were offered before the snack was served.
After the meal service “enhancement” late last year, shorter range flights (less than 1,000 miles in length) have a much narrower lunch service window. Thus, my flight was technically snack flight. Though, American has improved snack flight meal choices from the humus plate or a very small wrap, to a pretty decent salad or an open face sandwich, after many complaints. Today we had a choice of a steak salad with soba noodles or an open faced chicken sandwich. I had preordered the steak salad through American’s new online premium cabin ordering system. Although my preorder was not acknowledged, I still ended up getting what I wanted.
Steak salad with soba noodles with sesame ginger dressing
The salad was pretty good, though not as good as my favorite: the chicken salad. Wine, water, or a cocktail refill was offered during the meal. Dessert was a choice of cranberry oatmeal cookie or chocolate chip cookie. I chose the former, which was good. We began to descend into O’Hare as trays were being cleared. Connecting gate info and mints offered to each First Class passenger individually, just before final descent. Touchdown was smooth and true to the Captain’s word we arrived at the gate 20 minutes early
I thanked the excellent FA on my way out of the plane. We had parked at H6, and my flight was departing out of G20, so it was a bit of a hike. On my way to the gate, I saw spotted this:
American Eagle CRJ-700 in new livery
There were actually quite a few American Eagle aircraft in the new livery at ORD that day. While the new livery is still polarizing, and admittedly I wasn’t a fan at first, it has grown on me. Aside from the tail, it’s pretty clean and modern design. Though the more I see the new livery in person, the more I don’t mind the tail.
I ended up setting up shop at nearby gate G18, as there were more open seats there. Plane spotting opportunities were abundant, as heavies from Etihad, Swiss, Cathay, and Lufthansa arrived or departed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good shot because of the pillars and jet bridge obstructing the view. But I did get this little gem:
American MD-83 with the Chi-Town skyline in the background
When I first booked this itinerary, I didn’t realize I had over a 2 hour connection. I was able to pass time quickly with the aid of a good book. About 45 minutes before departure, I found out my gate had changed to K3 via a notification from the AA app. So I made a trek to K3, only to get another gate change notification when I got there. Ugh. This time, I headed to G4, where the FIDs indicated I was at right place. So I settled down again at the gate, only to have the gate agent announce a mechanical delay of indeterminable length. This turned into a 15 minute rolling delay, and eventually they decided to pull a spare aircraft to make the flight. Of course, there was another gate change, this time to G16. We finally began boarding about 20 minutes after getting to G16, about 1.5 hours late.
American Eagle 3994
Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Dayton (DAY)
Depart: 6:58 PM
Arrive: 8:55 PM
Aircraft: Embraer ERJ-145 (N928AE)
Seat: 7A (Economy)
I dropped off my carry on at the cart, and headed into aircraft. By virtue of being the only elite on the flight, I was first to board. I was greeted by our friendly FA, who apologized for the delay, and made my way to my seat. As boarding finished up, our captain came into the cabin and spoke a couple ladies seated in 9EF. The only part of the conversation I caught was him asking the ladies to please pour something out in the lavatory before we closed the cabin door. So I’m assuming it was something to do with alcohol. The boarding door soon closed and we pushed back immediately. The captain welcomed us aboard and apologized for the delay while we taxied to runway, which was 32R for us tonight.
We were cleared for take off without needing to hold at the runway threshold, and quickly climbed into fading daylight. As soon as the landing gear thumped shut, the FA announced it was safe to use electronic devices. Perhaps it was because of the short duration of the flight, though I have never had that happen before. Since we had taken off to the north, I thought we would be making a quick turn to the east and eventually to the south toward Dayton. That way I could take full advantage of the early use of electronics, and take some nice aerial shots of the Chicago skyline in the fading light before we climbed into the overcast. Unfortunately, we flew to the north for a several minutes before making the turn so I was unable to do so. This probably the only time I’ve ever wished I chose one of the cramped “EF” seats on an ERJ. I was though able to get this shot before we entered into the high overcast.
Climbing out over Lake Michigan
There was only time for one quick drinks run, which our flight attendant completed with ease. When she got to me, my status was recognized and she offered me a choice of snacks. I chose the nut and berry mix, but I shunned alcohol in favor of a ginger ale. This would serve as my dinner as I was tired and it was getting late.
My Eagle Flight EXP dinner
I was in my rental car about 20 minutes after we touched down, and headed to the Courtyard in South Dayton for the night.
Coming up, the ultimate aviation mecca!
Last edited by dat4life; Apr 24, 2013 at 8:30 pm