Jump to content

Photo

Christmas: MDW-PHX-IAH-LIR-IAH-ORD


  • Please log in to reply
21 replies to this topic

#1
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

This Christmas / Winter Break, I will be traveling from my home in Chicago to Phoenix, then continuing a number of days later onto Liberia, CR, then back to Chicago. This TR will be conducted over the course of two weeks [as long as my travels], and in my futile attempt to bring back the TR section of AE, I hope that you all enjoy this and that it "inspires" you to write your own. Follow along as I fly on my trip of 6330 miles!

 

FLIGHT 1:

December 23rd, 2014

Southwest 312 / WN312

MDW-PHX

Boeing 737-700

Status: N/A

 

FLIGHT 2:

December 28th, 2014

United 320 / UA320

PHX-IAH

Airbus A319

Status: N/A

 

FLIGHT 3:

December 28th, 2014

United 1510 / UA1510

IAH-LIR

Boeing 737-800

Status: N/A

 

FLIGHT 4:

January 4th, 2014

United 1511 / UA1511

LIR-IAH

Boeing 737-800

Status: N/A

 

FLIGHT 5:

January 4th, 2014

United 552 / UA552

IAH-ORD

Airbus A320 [but tendency to upgrade to a 763 on Sundays, lets hope I get lucky ^_^ ]

Status: N/A

 

LAST UPDATE: December 24th, 2014 [added Flight 1 TR, updated title page]


cUDPatH.jpg


#2
Boeing 707

Boeing 707

    sevenohseven

  • Member
  • 381 posts

Happy holidays, and safe travels!  ;)


VG_Olympics_sig_2021.png

DWA_10_years_sig.png


#3
SirMoo

SirMoo

    Rawr?

  • Member
  • 497 posts

Why on earth are you going to Liberia?

After further review... You're going to Costa Rica... Makes WAY more sense...



#4
eastwind

eastwind

    AE Addict

  • Member
  • 858 posts

I'll remember to track these ;)



#5
Chubby Bear

Chubby Bear

    AE's Noob

  • Member
  • 1,213 posts

User's Awards

2    5      

Seems interesting, Can't wait to read it :)


South-Africa_240-animated-flag-gifs.gifNew-Zealand_240-animated-flag-gifs.gif


9IYxwsM.png

ND7sS8w.jpg

#AspireMember  #EnvoyMember #Unknown Alien Species #WorldAllianceMember


#6
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

Why on earth are you going to Liberia?

After further review... You're going to Costa Rica... Makes WAY more sense...

 

:giggle: I love making people think "Ebola" when I say Liberia, CR ^_^


cUDPatH.jpg


#7
TJ/TeeJay

TJ/TeeJay

    The Flying Dutchman

  • Member
  • 369 posts

Have a good trip! 

 

Went to PHX myself, very nice airport.


No signature.


#8
TheMan

TheMan

    I am a person

  • Member
  • 950 posts
Have a nice trip :)

But wasnt 22 december yesterday?

Dawn│Dusk Inactive Member │ World Alliance Executive Member

 

9IYxwsM.png

jjtlac.png

33ae5gw.png

 


#9
Royen

Royen

    CEO Of Royen Airlines

  • Member
  • 1,566 posts
  • Website:http://royenairlines.tk

Safe travels and I look forward to updates.

 

And don't get Ebola Nikki :giggle: 


we%20are%20vertice%202.png?dl=0

 

Sig.png

 

 

#gogolden2015 


#10
Hake.

Hake.

    Too Old For All This Jazz

  • Member
  • 4,295 posts
  • Skype Name:billfoster123
  • Website:http://willsweg.com

User's Awards

   8      

FLIGHT 2:
December 28th, 2014
United 320 / UA320
PHX-IAH
Airbus A319

UA 320 isn't an A320, this disappoints me :hmmph:

#11
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

Time for a boring, old TR. ^_^

 

FLIGHT 1:

December 23rd, 2014

Southwest 312 / WN312

MDW-PHX

Boeing 737-700

Status: Completed

 

Arriving at the airport about 90 minutes early, expecting a huge security line, I was nicely surprised by an unexpected Christmas present: no security line at MDW. :o [I later found out that around 7am that morning, the line was in fact over an hour long. :giggle: ] As I had some time on my hands, I did a little bit of spotting, but with the s***ty windows of Midway, there was not much to see. >_>

 

Attached File  DSC08733.jpg   88.61KB   0 downloads

Cockpit Windows of a Delta 717, parked at gate A7.

 

Yeah...that picture was about what I got. D: 

 

Promptly, at 11:15am, boarding began at gate B16. Having a peanut allergy really helps on Southwest: Southwest Airlines counts it as a disability, and I boarded before the A Group, with a group of old people in wheelchairs. :giggle:

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 23, 10 10 45 AM.jpg   119.69KB   0 downloads

An absolutely wonderful picture of the new electronic signs that Southwest has installed in the gate areas at Midway. Fun fact: all of the gate signs at Midway used to be manual, as recent as last year.

 

I was able to choose one of my favorite seats on Southwest's 737-700's: 2A. Its close enough to see the wing, and you are one of the first to disembark, while also not having to deal with the stowage problems of the bulkhead. Boarding went smoothly, and at 11:40, Southwest 312 pushed back from gate B16, 5 minutes early.

 

Having a window seat allowed me to do a bit of spotting on the tarmac, but alas, not a lot of it was good. One of the highlights: an Airtran 717-200, which will, along with Airtran, cease to exist on December 31st, 2014.

 

Attached File  DSC08760.JPG   139.72KB   0 downloads

Dat ass: Airtran 717 loading up for Atlanta.

 

At 11:47, we reached runway 22L and revved up for a short takeoff from Midway. Our takeoff towards the southwest took us over the rail yards and old neighborhoods that Chicago was, and still is semi-famous for.

 

Attached File  DSC08792.JPG   67.53KB   0 downloads

Positive Climb Rate from Midway ^_^

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 23, 10 58 14 AM.jpg   120.21KB   0 downloads

A square photo of the puffy clouds that were our companion on the climb from Chicago.

 

A couple minutes after takeoff, turbulence hit our 737, which would last for a good hour, which disrupted both my comfort and my hunger [as the snack and drink service was delayed, and my stomach began to churn D: ] I took the time to start editing some photos from Midway and take advantage of Southwest's IFE service. IFE on Southwest consists of you using your device to connect to the Gogo Inflight Wifi on the plane, which then you can buy time to surf the internet, or take advantage of Southwest's deals with Dish TV and Beats Music to watch specific channels live on National TV, or listen to Beats Radio. I took the option of the former, and binge-watched HGTV. ^_^

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 23.png   862.43KB   0 downloads

Binge-watching HGTV. Happie times.

 

Around an hour or so into the flight, our flight deviated from its course in order to get rid of the horrid turbulence, and the snack service finally started. One thing that separates Southwest from some legacy carriers in the United States is that they actually serve snacks on flights. On WN312, Southwest's famous pretzels were served, along with Ritz's rendition of Chex Mix. I still love Chex Mix more. :wub:

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 23, 11 54 15 AM.jpg   195.25KB   0 downloads

My NEX-5N in the upper corner, along with pretzels, "Chex Mix" and a cup of Sprite Zero.

 

The flight attendants were nice on this flight, coming around many times with the basket of snacks to satisfy everyone's hunger. The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful, although for the first time ever, I struck up a conversation with my seat mate, a nice woman from Little Rock, AR, who was traveling to Phoenix to get together with her sisters and brothers for the first time in about 5 years. I also noticed that our Memphis-based flight crew put up an ornament on the front of the cabin to make it more festive. It was a nice touch. :P

 

Attached File  DSC08756.JPG   65.96KB   0 downloads

The purple ornament, precariously hanging off of the Southwest Wings on the bulkhead.

 

Around 1:45pm local time in Phoenix, we began to descend on final approach; I was surprised to see a lot of green on the approach, as its been a while since I've actually seem Phoenix and I've, as many people, associated it as a strip of desert. 

 

Attached File  DSC08811.JPG   91.62KB   0 downloads

50 Shades of Green: Phoenix.

 

Attached File  DSC08826.JPG   235.79KB   0 downloads

Winglet while banking to make the final turn for approach into Sky Harbor.

 

Attached File  DSC08831.JPG   208.89KB   0 downloads

Downtown Phoenix on Final Approach.

 

Attached File  DSC08842.JPG   39.07KB   0 downloads

I got bored on Final Approach. 

 

At 1:59pm, almost 40 minutes ahead of schedule, SWA312 landed at Phoenix, and we taxied slowly to the gate. It was a painstaking process. D:

 

Attached File  DSC08873.JPG   166.98KB   0 downloads

A random Southwest 737-700 is parked at Concourse D, T4, Phoenix.

 

At 2:11pm, now 29 minutes ahead of schedule, and after waiting for a while for a gate operator to move the jet bridges the ****ing 5 feet between the aircraft and the bridge, the door was opened, the first passengers filed out, and the first 1444 miles of my 6500 mile trip were travelled.

 

NEXT: A Surprising Spotting Opportunity at Phoenix


cUDPatH.jpg


#12
Chubby Bear

Chubby Bear

    AE's Noob

  • Member
  • 1,213 posts

User's Awards

2    5      

nice and informative. Keep them coming :P


South-Africa_240-animated-flag-gifs.gifNew-Zealand_240-animated-flag-gifs.gif


9IYxwsM.png

ND7sS8w.jpg

#AspireMember  #EnvoyMember #Unknown Alien Species #WorldAllianceMember


#13
eastwind

eastwind

    AE Addict

  • Member
  • 858 posts

Airtran will cease to exist *December 28, 2014



#14
Royen

Royen

    CEO Of Royen Airlines

  • Member
  • 1,566 posts
  • Website:http://royenairlines.tk

Awesome update Nick! ^_^ Your peanut allergy meaning you could board first absolutely cracked me up! XD 


we%20are%20vertice%202.png?dl=0

 

Sig.png

 

 

#gogolden2015 


#15
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

A Surprise Spotting Opportunity

 

So my aunt lost her car keys in the T4 garage for an hour. So of course, I spotted. ^_^ [note: all pictures are edited, if you couldn't see that already]

 

Attached File  DSC09081.jpg   159.03KB   0 downloads

An American Airlines 737-800, loading up for Chicago O'Hare

 

Attached File  DSC09092.jpg   151.64KB   0 downloads

An American Airlines A321-200, heading out for San Francisco

 

Attached File  DSC09105.jpg   209.29KB   0 downloads

An American Airlines / US Airways A320, deplaning from San Diego

 

Attached File  DSC09146.jpg   149.93KB   0 downloads

A Southwest 737-800 with Scimitar Winglets ( :wub: ), heading out to Dallas Love

 

Attached File  DSC08920.jpg   123.31KB   0 downloads

An US Airways A321-200, pushing back for Los Angeles

 

Attached File  DSC09258.jpg   172.97KB   0 downloads

Lineup of US Airways A320s and A321s

 

Attached File  DSC09199.jpg   87.31KB   0 downloads

An Alaska Airlines B737-800 with Scimitar Winglets ( :wub: ), heading out to Seattle

 

Attached File  DSC09254.jpg   139.52KB   0 downloads

An Air Canada Rouge A319 taxiing in from Vancouver, in the first week of the route's service.

 

Comments, reviews? How do you guys like these photos? Do you want more?

 

NEXT: To Liberia, and Beyond: UA320 / UA 1510 (PHX-IAH-LIR)

 

(note: photos may not seem sharp due to AE's tendency to de-sharpen photos, and the fact that I cropped these photos to fit nicely into AE)


cUDPatH.jpg


#16
eastwind

eastwind

    AE Addict

  • Member
  • 858 posts

All those scimitars :awesome: 



#17
Hake.

Hake.

    Too Old For All This Jazz

  • Member
  • 4,295 posts
  • Skype Name:billfoster123
  • Website:http://willsweg.com

User's Awards

   8      
Lovely pictures :P . I must say though the AA 738 looks so much worse than the A321 IMO, the colour scheme doesn't age well.

#18
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

FLIGHT 2:

December 28th, 2014

United 320 / UA320

PHX-IAH

Airbus A319

Status: COMPLETED

 

Unexpectedly, I arrived at the airport almost two hours early, after dropping off the rental car with my family then checking bags. When we walked into Terminal 2 at Phoenix Sky Harbor, we were greeted by, what basically seemed like, an abandoned building, even though it was almost 9am. With no line, we went to a kiosk, checked in, and went through security.

 

Again, I had some time on my hands, but this time, I could use it. The United Club by gate 11 seemed like a perfect place to spend it. ^_^ grabbing a bit of breakfast, I sat down and used the complimentary Wi-fi to work on some S1914. :sly:

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 10 46 12 AM.jpg   161.87KB   0 downloads

Breakfast: Yogurt and Cereal

 

I managed to get a bit of spotting between my time at the United Club, and my flight, which was at 10:55. The windows near the Alaska Airlines gates at the end of T2 are perfect for spotting departures and arrivals on 07L/25R and 07R/25L, so I enjoyed it. ^_^ Spotting photos to come soon in a different post.

 

Soon, the A319, arriving late from Denver, pulled up to Gate 5, and with professional precision, as if they were used to United delays [funny thing: all of the flights, even at 9am, were scheduled to arrive late into PHX, all 20 or so of them for the day :giggle: ]. At 10:35, about 10 minutes after scheduled boarding, boarding commenced.

 

Sitting next to two strangers again, as the flight was full and of course, I booked these flights sort-of last minute for International [as in one month in advance], I settled into the cramped, Economy Plus seat of 12F, with a view of the wing. The A319 is an absolute s***hole for legroom, compared to the 737-800 I completed my journey with.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 11 32 14 AM.jpg   161.52KB   0 downloads

View over the Wing

 

At 11:01, only 6 minutes behind schedule now, we proceeded to push back from Gate 5, and joined a long line of US Airways / American planes, preparing for departure from runway 07L. Finally, at 11:15am [not that long, now that I think about it], we revved the engines, and departed to Houston.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 11 58 51 AM.jpg   178.25KB   0 downloads

I got bored, so I started editing takeoff photos with my iPhone :P

 

Our flightpath took us over Central Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Central Texas, before arriving in Houston. The scheduled flight time was approximately 2 1/2 hours, but thanks to a tailwind, we were able to complete it in 2 hours, and arrive 10 minutes early.

 

Noticing that the A319 that I was on had Wifi on it, and hearing about United's new Domestic IFE service [which was exactly like Southwest: open the app or go on unitedwifi.com, and you could stream recorded TV and movies], I was willing to try it out. Opening unitedwifi.com, and selecting a movie in Chinese that I wanted to watch, I encountered this.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 1 08 35 PM.png   104.65KB   0 downloads

 

And that message persisted over the next two hours. ****. >_>

 

So now with this stuck, I decided to use the other features of the app, like Sudoku and the Flight Tracker, and MileagePlus shopping, and also binge-listen to Christina Perri on my iPhone.

 

Lets say, that when I got to the flight tracker, I was happy with some things, and not happy with others.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 1 21 09 PM.png   77.71KB   0 downloads

Weather in Houston - D:

 

Around 1:50pm local time, we began our descent into Houston George Bush something something something Airport. [Please note: I would not fly into anything with George Bush 43's name on it, so thank god this was named after 41.] Unfortunetly, all I got to see until we were about 500 feet of the ground consisted of...well...clouds.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 1 45 15 PM.jpg   61.4KB   0 downloads

Fluffy. ^_^

 

Guess what happened next? Missed approach, and a go-around, without us seeing anything on the ground. Thanks. >_> we climbed back and joined the approach pattern, before descending once more, and making it to the ground. [all of my photos of IAH are on my camera, will upload later.]

 

[Insert some random shots of Atlas Air 747's here]

 

So yeah. We taxied to gate C21, parked next to a beautiful Tulip E170, and disembarked happily, partially because we were 10 minutes early, partially because we were glad to be rid of that A319.

 

NEXT: To Ebola Liberia, and beyond!


cUDPatH.jpg


#19
eastwind

eastwind

    AE Addict

  • Member
  • 858 posts

Didn't know United didn't paint all of their E170's yet 



#20
n.x.w.m

n.x.w.m

    taiwanball

  • Data Collector
  • 2,061 posts

FLIGHT 3:

December 28th, 2014

United 1510 / UA1510

IAH-LIR

Boeing 737-800

Status: COMPLETED

 

After disembarking from UA320, on a A319 ( >_> ), I got the gate information for the next flight, which involved transferring terminals, to United's Terminal E. Now that I think about it, basically every terminal at IAH is United's. >_>

 

I hopped onto IAH's people mover system, which shuttles passengers between Terminals A, B, C and D/E/International Arrivals, and it was quick, 45 second trip to the next station.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 2 28 41 PM.jpg   142.87KB   0 downloads

Behind some weird lady going to the people mover :S

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 2 31 35 PM.jpg   240.5KB   0 downloads

Rainy IAH.

 

After discovering that E16, the gate for UA1510, was one of the farthest away from the station, and after a few grumbles about Houston and its Republican-named airports and its largeness like Republican egos, I proceeded to the nearest Food Court to grab something to eat. Seeing that the Panda Express-esque thing was staffed by Middle Easterners, therefore not Asian, I grabbed a Ham and Swiss sandwish from the nearest Fresh Express store, and went off to E16.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 2 43 28 PM.jpg   189.43KB   0 downloads

Travelling through IAH involved a lot of standing. >_>

 

When I got to E16, it was full of people, yet empty of staff, and a plane. Since the weather was so crappy, and too many people in the terminal, I decided not to spot and save that for my return trip, and instead eat. While eating, I observed that 95% of the people at the gate were fat tourists. Great, now I had to sit next to a fat tourist. >_>

 

Finally, with 40 minutes left, our plane arrived from Baltimore, and as in Phoenix, people rush off to make connections, and the cleaning crew rushes on to remove any trash, lest the plane be found in Liberia with agriculture on board. 15 minutes later, we begin boarding, first with Group 1, then Group 2, then 3, 4, 5. Arriving at my seat, 15A, I was pleased to find that the plane had seat-back screens, with DirecTV being featured. Settling down into the seat, which was about 1000000000 times more better than the A319, I watched an episode of Blue Bloods with the plane on the ground. Wait, an hour episode?

 

We were delayed for quite a while due to people missing connections and missing baggage, which would impact our already late arrival into Liberia. With people mumbling and grumbling, the last stragglers from Denver climbed aboard, and we pushed back from E16, an hour or so late.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 3 31 57 PM.jpg   190.03KB   0 downloads

Blue Bloods ^_^

 

I was happy to see that the middle seat between my dad and I in Economy Plus was empty, so the legroom itself felt like First Class, just not the seat. :wub:

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 3 46 43 PM.jpg   341.99KB   0 downloads

Legroom Bliss.

 

We taxied for a while, stuck behind a multitude of Jungle Jets [E145's], and eventually made our way to some runway in the middle of nowhere, where we began our takeoff roll.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 4 39 23 PM.jpg   139.54KB   0 downloads

Still raining in Houston D:

 

Our turbulent departure from Houston concluded with reaching our crusing altitude at FL330, with nothing but blue to be seen for miles, and then of course a layer of white, which ruined the scene.

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 4 41 16 PM.jpg   90.89KB   0 downloads

Departure through clouds.

 

A little while later, my DirecTV preview ran out, and I needed to buy it in order to finish. Annoyed, I shut off the screen and started doing what I do on most flights: reading magazines, binge-listening to some artists [this flight, Carrie Underwood, Christina Perri, and the Vamps], and deciding what I want to do in life. And of course, all of this was complemented by two cans of Seagram's Ginger Ale, muh fave <3

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 6 20 45 PM.jpg   99.53KB   0 downloads

My setup.

 

Nothing really interesting happened on this flight, it was mostly just watching out the window at what I could see of the sunset. I tried some long exposures of the beacon reflection on the engine, and of the winglet, and they sorta worked, but I'll post later.

 

The flight seemed to be going OK, which annoyed me, because there's usually something wrong with United. Finally, they announced it. The bag of forms that they had been given, which was a tote bag with a big-ass label on it called "COSTA RICA" had only 25 immigration forms for the 150 or so of us on the flight. The rest would be given to us at the gate. Customs forms were handed out, and I slowly filled one out, not wanting to mess up anything, since I did not feel like being interrogated tonight in Spanish [as I barely speak any in the first place].

 

Attached File  Photo Dec 28, 7 07 15 PM.jpg   91.88KB   0 downloads

Customs Form

 

Our descent into Liberia happened around 7:45pm, and we were instructed to turn off everything, everything, like in the olden days, including my camera. Therefore, I didn't take any photos of this phase of the flight or then on. Our approach took us over a river and a forest, before coming to land on runway . It was a short taxi to the gate, but when we were taxiing in, I saw something that made me jump a bit: a mob of teenagers were to be the Ground Service employees serving our flight tonight. There were three of them with the light thingies directing us in, and another 15 or so standing at the end of the stand, some with baggage trucks ready, others ready to plug random stuff into the plane.

 

We disembarked without further worry, and proceeded to Immigration, where walls and floors were full of people from our flight filling out Immigration forms. The border guards were peering over their computer stations, with expressions just shouting, "dafak".

 

So that's all. I hope that you all enjoyed the second part of my trip, and I will be posting sometime next week with the conclusion: back to Chicago.

 

NEXT: PHOENIX SPOTTINGZ


cUDPatH.jpg





0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users