Flying on a CRJ 700 down to LAX to catch my flight to Hawaii.
Maresa writes the blog Around Puget Sound and when she was recently taking a trip to Hawaii on United Airlines, I asked her to write up a review from a non-airline nerd perspective. This is her review in her own words:
My United Airlines Review – The Beginning
I’m on my way from SEA to LAX to ITO (Hilo, HI). It’s time for a vacation; to get away and escape from the fast paced life we all seem to live in these days. I’m hoping for good weather for hiking, biking, and snorkeling. I’ll be staying in my very favorite vacation rental: Papaya Sunrise on the East side of the Big Island during the week of my visit.
Currently, I’m traveling from Seattle to L.A. I’m riding in a CRJ700 and it’s tiny! I’ve never been in a commercial jet this small on the mainland before. As many of you know, Hawaii has many inter-island jets that are about the same size.
We took off from Sea-Tac only about 10 minutes late, but our expected arrival is still ’˜on-time’. I have about a four hour lay-over in LAX, but the way I see it is I’d much rather have way more time than necessary than be stranded somewhere I just didn’t mean to be.
It’s always exciting to fly. I love the views I get over Washington. I feel extra fortunate when I get the added bonus of flying past Mt. Rainier–talk about a spectacular view!
One of the nice parts about the smaller jet is it took hardly anytime to board the plane. Also, United was willing to check larger bags for free at the gate that were too big to fit in the narrow overhead compartments. My carry-on bag fit just fine, but it was nice to have the option to check it and to have enough space up ahead for my backpack. The folks on the flight who did check their bag will be able to pick up their bag right after getting off the plane without going to baggage claim.
Right now, the woman next to me is dozing with four radiant sunflowers clasped in her grip, undoubtedly from Pike Place Market. It’s a good reminder of Seattle, of the summer to come, and the sunshine that I’m on my way to see.
I’ll let you know about the next leg of the trip when I get that far…
From LAX to ITO, I rode on a Boeing 737-800. Not this exact one, but one like it. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Over Five Hours Later
Wow, LAX was huge! My connecting flight wasn’t too far from where I landed. I have to tell you though, this second flight is shaping up to be much stranger and unpredictable than the first part.
When my fellow passengers and I were waiting to board, many people were struck by how rude the gate agent collecting boarding passes was to fellow passengers. ’œNo, don’t go in that line! I said the right line–not the left!’ The United/Continental worker shouted to customers. ’œNo, rows 30 and higher may board, only rows 30 and
higher!’ Calm down lady–I think you’re taking this all a bit too personally.
I found out a few minutes later that she wasn’t looking or scanning at the tickets she was collecting from people either, which meant that anyone with a ticket of any sort could board the aircraft–and someone did. A man got my plane to Hilo but didn’t find out he was on the wrong plan until he found someone sitting in his seat–how could there
be two people in seat 28E? ’œIsn’t this flight going to Denver?’ The man asked. ’œNo, we’re going to Hilo as in Hawaii…’ The flight attendant responded sounding surprised. The man quickly grabbed his things and deboarded the plane. ’œIn all my six years of working as a flight attendant, I’ve never had that happen!’ The flight attendant said shaking his head.
After only 20 minutes in the air the pilot informed us that we’d be experiencing some turbulence for the next 150 miles–how long it would take to pass through, they didn’t say.
Now I’ve done a lot of traveling and encountered some pretty bad turbulence but this far surpassed it all. The flight attendants were all losing their footing and desperately trying to hold on. The SnackPacks were bouncing all over in the carts and were about ready to bounce out onto the floor. At the moment that I thought someone might
actually start to panic, one of the flight attendants actually did. He exclaimed, ’œBuckle up, buckle up! We’ll come back with the drinks and food, is everyone buckled, because I need to go buckle up.’
After a while, the turbulence settled down and the beverage service began again.The flight attendants were going right along and missed my row entirely. I called him back and wound up drinking a flat Ginger Ale. Great.
Mauamai Beach on the West side of the Big Island.
Right Now
The flight attendants have just come back with another round of beverages and somehow they missed my row and walked right passed us again. When the attendant was called back by my seat-mate the man serving the drinks said abruptly to me, ’œWhat’d you want?’ ’œCranberry juice please,’ I asked. ’œHere–’ the man says shoving the can of juice
at me.
United/Continental, I was not amused…not amused. I heard one passenger say, ’œNever have I seen passengers treated with such disrespect,’ but thank you for getting us all to paradise safely.
If you are looking for things to do around the Puget Sound region either as a resident or a visitor, be sure to check out Maresa’s blog, follow onFacebook or Twitter.
On July 2, 1966 this Lockheed Constellation (G-ALAL) had some weight issues. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
Aviation enthusist Ken Fielding shared his photos with me about a Contellation in 1966 that had some weight issues and he was lucky enough to take some photos. Below are descriptions from Ken’s Flicker Account:
Oops!!! The ramp at the old Liverpool (LPL) terminal sloped away from the terminal quite sharply. This aircraft arrived from Belfast (BFS) with around 8,000kgs of cigarettes (although it was actually over 11,000kgs… but that’s another story!).
It was 3 tonnes overweight and also out of trim. I met it on arrival and as it stopped and they cut the engines, the nosewheel lifted about 6″ off the ground before slowly settling back on the ramp. I collected the loadsheet and as I walked back to the office I was wondering what would happen when the 4 crew got off the flight deck and our 6 hulking loaders jumped on the back to start the offload. At that moment there was a sickening crunch and thud and I turned round to see it on its tail.
Ropes are an interesting idea, but probably not going to work. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
The idea here was to sling a rope over the tail with 6 loaders hanging on to it and use a rope on the nosewheel leg tied to a tractor to put it back upright… Until the flight engineer suggested that if it tipped too quickly the nosewheel leg could be pushed up through the flight deck floor!!! So on to ‘Plan B’.
The fire department comes to the rescue. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
Enter the Airport Fire Service with some inflatable bags which were used after some of the cargo had been offloaded. Very gradually the aircraft came back on it’s nosewheel.
The aircraft was back in service later the same afternoon after Ace Freighters ferried up two tail fin bottoms to replace the crushed ones, and a replacement radio aerial cable which had snapped.
When we check weighed the cigarette cartons, we found they weighed almost 15kgs each instead of the 10kgs it said on the manifest.
Some additional information that Ken shared via email about the incident:
Just as an addition to this, there was a national dock strike in the UK at the time and the aircraft had been flying backward and forward between Liverpool (LPL) and Belfast (BFS) twice a day for about 10 days bringing in the same load. Personally, I think the crews were well aware the aircraft was overweight, however, on such a short trip it wasn’t over the maximum structural take off weight although it was well over the maximum zero fuel weight.
Another point about aircraft trim. Constellations, like DC-4’s, were very nose heavy when they were empty and very tail heavy when fully loaded. I recall that this aircraft always carried 5 x 50 gallon oil drums lashed down at the back of the aircraft. These were always filled with water before an empty ferry flight and (supposedly) emptied again before the return trip.
A group from Aviation Geek Fest pose in front of a 777 GE90 engine on the Boeing factory floor. Photo by Boeing.
This weekend was the third Aviation Geek Fest and I think it was a success! We had people come from Denver, Calgary, Vancouver, Dallas and even New York City to share their passion for aviation. In all, about 70 people attended the event and were able to experience unique aviation activities.
The day started with a nice welcome by a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter taking off from Paine Field as some aviation geeks gathered to watch on the Future of Flight’s Strato Deck. Afterwards, folks had the opportunity to check out the Future of Flight’s gallery before we divided into four different tour groups: Boeing Factory Floor Tour, Boeing Dreamliner Gallery, Paine Field Fire Department Tour and How to Become an Airline Pilot with Regal Air.
The folks that took the fire department tour were given a ride in style.
Since I have been lucky enough to get a few factory floor tours and a view inside the Dreamliner Gallery, I decided to take the Paine Field’s Fire Department tour and was not disappointed.
I heard that the rest of the events went great and I am kind of hoping that some of you that were able to go on the other tours can leave your impressions in the comments.
Not only did we get to ride on a fire bus, but we also got to stop and take photos of airplanes.
I went on this tour not to write a story on the fire department (although I hope they welcome me back for one), but I was going as an aviation geek. This means I was able to fully enjoy myself, take photos, ask interesting questions, but did not having to worry about taking notes — like a true avgeek.
Although the actual fire station was very interesting, getting there was half the fun. We were picked up in a the fire department’s Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) bus and were followed by a fire truck. This was in case something were to happen at the airport, the fire personnel in the bus, could hop on the truck and take care of any situation.
There are quite a few Boeing 787s and 747s still waiting to be delivered.
As we headed towards the fire department, on the other side of Paine Field, we stopped and were given some wonderful photo opportunities of the airport. It was nice to be able to see aircraft from angles I have never seen before, while being escorted by a fire truck. The kid in me was quite pleased.
Once we arrived at the fire station, it was time for our tour. The station is still rather new and has everything needed to take care of most incidents that might occur at Paine Field. The airport actually has two fire departments; the one we toured that is operated by Snohomish County and a second that is operated by Boeing. They work together to insure proper airport operations.
The Snohomish County’s main duty is to take care of the airport and private operators, while Boeing’s department is to watch after all the new 777, 767, 787 and 747-8 aircraft.
Planes and fire trucks -- what more could you want?
Although there were so many questions that one could ask about an airport fire operation, my big question was if I could turn on the fire truck lights — and I did. A life long dream was finally accomplished.
Seth Miller, who was also on the tour, put on all the fire gear that a person would need during an emergency situation. It make me hot just thinking about sporting all the gear while fighting a fire.
At the end of the tour, one of the fire rigs pulled outside and showed off its two water cannons on the front of the engine. The largest cannon on the roof is capable of pumping out around 1500 gallons of water per minute, which is sure to help put out most fires.
Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-8F sits next to Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.
As we headed back to the Future of Flight, we had some additional opportunities to plane spot and enjoy our drive around Paine Field. Although it is a bit sad to see so many aircraft waiting to be delivered, it provides photo opportunities that will soon no longer be possible.
After everyone returned from their separate tours, we received a presentation from a team of the Boeing Moonshine group who specialize in making production lines as efficient as possible. They are a MacGyver-like team that will build tools and equipment on the spot to help the productivity of supply lines around the world. Their accomplishments has allowed Boeing and their suppliers to become more efficient and able to do more with the same or less space.
Teams of eight got a lesson in supply line management, while building souvenirs.
After their talk, we were taken to another room where the avgeeks gathered eight to a table and were given the task of building an unknown item in a short amount of time. At first it was not so clear what the items were, but after fiddling around, it started to become obvious that they were customized business card holders.
When they completed the first round, they had to take them all a part again, the Moonshine team gave them better instructions and explained that they wanted eight of them built in 1minute and 50 seconds. The first team, who celebrated their quickness, completed theirs in less than a minute. An impressive feat, but they did not end up winning the competition.
It was a lesson in how a supply chain successfully functions. You cannot be late, but you also cannot be too early. It is about delivering your product right on time and the team that was closest to the delivery schedule of 1min and 50 seconds became the actual winner.
Members of the Boeing Moonshine team give a presentation to the aviation geek fest.
Once our supply chain tasks were completed, it was time to head to the Future of Flight Cafe to enjoy pizza, soda and beer while handing out prizes that were donated by United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and the Future of Flight. Luckily there were enough that everyone received at least one thing, but I was so into the socializing and talking about airplanes that I managed not to take one photo of this part of the event — oh well.
I think overall, it was an amazing event and I always love getting around others that share my passion of aviation and airlines. A huge thanks to the Future of Flight and Boeing for working to make this event unforgettable and to United for donating gifts and for Southwest to not only donating gifts, but also having one of their bloggers attend.
You better believe there will be another in the future and I hope that you will be able to join us.
This is one livery that surely stands out. Normally Boeing 767s at Paine Field do not stand out amount the 747s and 787s, but the Uzbekistan livery forces one to take notice. The first time I saw it, I was a bit shocked, but now it has started to grow a bit on me.
So why would an airline paint their aircraft to be light blue up top, white in the middle and green on the bottom with red lines seperating them? Well, take a look at the Uzbekistan flag and you get a pretty good idea of their thought process.
This video has the same music and same concept, but quite a bit different set up. This one takes you inside a Cessna Grand Caravan with Wings of Alaska.
Wings of Alaska operates a small fleet of Cessna Grand Caravans and Cessna 207s in (can you guess it) Alaska.
The imagery is amazing and really makes me want to go flying up in Alaska.
