Originally Posted by
Seat 2A
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to board N518AS for the two stop flight from Ketchikan up to Anchorage. Lots of rain down here - on average 141 inches per year. By contrast, total precipitation in Fairbanks thus far this year is less than 7 inches.
No rain at DFW yesterday afternoon and evening....although the thermometer in our rental car registered 107 degrees F as we were driving back to the airport. I think the real air temp was actually a few degrees less....but it was a bit warm, to be sure.
The usual billion plus dollars worth of jet equipment was on view at DFW, of course, including at least four MD-80 aircraft in the old AA paint scheme but with "N" numbers ending in TW. They are probably marked for early extinction, I would imagine, and will be ferried to Roswell or some other boneyard in the not too distant future. Not too many AA B757-200s on view (I counted two but both were sporting the new AA livery and looked to be freshly painted and thus quite fetching); however, AA A321 aircraft were in rabbit-like abundance including many of the latest model with the real winglets plus one older A321 still in the US Airways livery but with American titles on the fuselage. And, of course, a fair number of AA 777 aircraft along with several 787s. Plus, a very large red and white airplane with a huge kangaroo on its tail. I'm looking forward to
Seat 2A's report concerning his future front cabin experience on QF 8.
And I noticed something else at DFW from the aerial skywalk linking the east and west terminals: vestiges of the old and original people mover system at DFW, built long before the current Skylink system was introduced. I believe the old system ran on rubber tires along concrete pathways. Several of these converging pathways can be seen from the aforementioned skywalk linking Terminal D with Terminals A and C. Anybody remember this old thing? It reminded me of the original below ground people mover system at Houston Intercontinental which also initially ran on rubber tires and was nicknamed the "Toonerville Trolley" as it was not very reliable. It was upgraded some years later and I believe is still in operation at IAH.....but not so the old system at DFW.
And so, I departed the Priority Pass lounge at DFW just before sunset, made my way to the AA Eagle gates in Terminal B, boarded and settled into my comfortable leather seat in the F cabin of a CRJ900 (3A, a very nice window/aisle seat), ordered a scotch (only to be told there was no PDB service but my drink did arrive shortly after takeoff) and we were on our way for an on time arrival at LFT.
