Cool things pointed out in flight
 

Is there a thread about Cool things pointed out by the pilot during flight?

Was on AUS-ORD yesterday (UAX), and midway throughout the flight, pilot comes on and says "In about 10 seconds and 1000 feet below, you will see a B2 Bomber passing us on the left side."

How cool was that!

Would love to hear other cool things seen by passengers.

Definitely neat sighting. Have many times have had crew to point out we wwould be landing parallel with another aircraft or point out interesting landmarks -- but a B2 is a steo above. There was a recent report of a pilot pointing out a space shuttle launch.

Appears yours was a PA announcement and not CH9 -- but you might want to check this out -- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ad-merged.html

That is cool! Did you see it?

When I was a child returning home to BDA on DL, after having visited the cockpit, the pilot requested a low approach to the south of the island and being seated on the left side of the aircraft meant I could see our house. Asked me after the flight if I liked the view.

AC pilot once did the same, only this time I was allowed to stay in the cockpit for landing.

Last year as we approached SFO the captain came on to point out 2 blue Angels making a low speed pass over the Bay parallel to our approach, about 1000 feet below us, skimming the water. It was fleet week time for us. He identified the Tomcat fighters by their call signs, very cool.

That's why I always carry my DSLR and telephoto lens :)

So much for stealth!

i flew TXL-ZRH on LX once. it was a great clear day, and we were able to see the black forest at cruising altitude.

then i realized we were taking a steep turn...

TURNED OUT THE PILOT WAS CIRCLING THE BLACK FOREST FOR A NICE VIEW.

(i woke up in the middle of it so was not sure if there were any announcements)

I had a pilot that came on to make an announcement that that Air Force One had checked into the same controller that we were on so that people could listen on Ch9. You could not see it from the airplane however.

One year, we flew a red eyes flight from LAX to EWR. Right when we were over LAS, the count down begin. Our captain was able to request for a 10000 ft circling the strip for a good view of the fireworks. Man...that is one of the lifetime. However, there was one man in UF complained that we were taking a side tour. We arrived early in EWR so I guess that made up for it.:):)

Landing at night in PHL following a Phillies win...saw fireworks at "eye level" over the ballpark.

Coming back from Hong Kong a few years ago.... the CX pilot was very good at pointing things out while we were being gently woken up.....

He pointed out that those on the right hand side had a perfect view of the sunrise over Giza (and the Sphinx and pyramids)....

Then he drew our attention to the first snow of the season over the Alps.....

And finally told us to look out the windows while we were flying over Paris for the Eiffel tower and Arc de Triomphe...

He was great!

I love the 'up the thames' approach to Heathrow I occasionally get - sometimes the pilots or FA will point things out, the rest of the time I happily play tourguide to the Canadians sitting next to me - I always like my first views of England from the plane, pretty coast, green fields, if you throw in central London I am a very happy bunny indeed!

Years ago we were flying from PIT to TPA and the pilot came on and announced that we would be able to see the eye of a hurricane in the distance. He had received permission to circle so both sides of the plane could see it... To this day, that is one of my favorites...

A couple of weeks ago, we took a different approach into SFO and circled around the bay... The FA walked through first and announced that we would be doing this approach and pointed out most of the sites. We were low enough to get some great shots

Once had a pilot point out an "A320" while in a holding pattern over NY. Turned out to be a 757.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/...550bd279d4.jpg

Also, on my only flight that has ever diverted, I saw a VC-25 (apparently, the President was not on board). Ask the pilot after a safe landing and he said that it was probably the first time ever a commercial jet got clearance over the Presidential plane.

Not a good photo but I doubt I'll ever get the chance again to fly overhead of Air Force One.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...56_97627_n.jpg

Airline doing safety presentation, and the life vest had a child safety mechanism on it, that for the life of me can't remember, even if I need to find it.

Not anything special but cool just as well.....

Flying TW (back in the day) STL-HNL and flying over Los Angeles where it was so amazingly clear that the Captain made the announcement "for those sitting on the right side of the aircraft, if you look down, you can see Dodger Stadium but look closely and you will see the base lines. Not something you see everyday given all the smog Los Angeles has". Took a look down and he was right!

On one of my flights up and down the west coast, the space shuttle had landed the day before at Edwards. The pilot pointed out the shuttle to us. It was pretty cool......

Also, the Northern Lights on a flight actually coming back from Denver to Seattle, many, many moons ago. :)

Seeing a plane being refueled while in flight was pretty neat.

Flying south from PDX to LAX an Alaska pilot pointed out a B1 bomber refueling from a KC-10 tanker, flying northbound at 1000 feet below us. Amazing :D

Flying out of Vegas last month the pilot talked everyone through the views of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, detailed what could be seen and where in relation to the wings etc. It was a great flight and a first for me. I have seem great things from planes, but I have only noticed them mysefl.

This was Westjet from YUL, great airline.

Interesting thread. I've noticed that when I was growing up in the late 60's, early 70's, pilots were almost like tour guides, frequently making announcements about sites out the windows of the plane. I don't find it all that common anymore and I wish it was. I liked it. The last announcemment I heard was a few years ago, we were flying by Three Mile Island, it was intersting that I could make out those infamous cooling towers from so high up. I then had the opportunity to tell my son what Three Mile Island was. A good education.

Hey pilots, tell me when we're passing by the Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam, or whatever. Keep making those announcements.

The coolest things pointed out by the pilot (when returning to the US from England ) are the icebergs off the coast of Greenland. :)