View from Delta Air Lines flight into Seattle I took last year. That is Bellevue, WA in the distance.
A lot of people wish we could go back to a time where flying was magical again. I tell those people it still is! It is cheaper and more people fly more often, so it might not seem as special.
Passengers complain about the lack of food and service, but that has little to with the fact you are flying at 30,000 feet in a cylinder, almost at the speed of sound, across the world in a matter of hours. That magic (ok, ok yea there is a lot of science behind it) has never gone away.
Whenever I have the choice, I always pick the window. Why? Because the window is still where you can see the magic of every flight happen.
Airline pilot, freelance writer and Airline Reporter reader, Mark Vanhoenacker recently wrote a wonderful piece for the New York Times about the beauty of the window seat, make sure to check it out!
If you have your own window seat photos, you can share them via the New York Times.
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Agreed.
Some General Aviation pilots I know become grumpy when they have to fly on airlines. I’m also a pilot – but I enjoy the big jets and the views from higher altitudes. It probably helps that I was around airlines a lot as a kid and learned to like them early. I always get a window seat. If clouds don’t obstruct the view, I’m usually trying to figure out where we are while enroute. There have been times that this has rewarded me being able to tell people around me something like, “We should be able to see Niagara Falls on the left side soon” and beat the captain to the same announcement.
Some photos I’ve taken…
sunset over Monterey, California: http://ian.kluft.com/pics/flying/ca-coast-20100101/img_1843.jpg
New Mexico desert and the curvature of the Earth: http://ian.kluft.com/pics/xprizecup2006/20061019/img_6884.jpg
Hollywood sign: http://ian.kluft.com/pics/san-jose/plane-20060604/img_5898.jpg
I love the window seat, in fact, when I was flying ATL-EWR, I got to see Washington National Airport, the Washington Monument, the Capital, Reflection Pond, White House. All the things one really cares about when visiting DC