Wednesday, September 4, 2013

So.Cal

I spent the long labor day weekend in California. Four firsts for me! 

1. Flew on Alaska Airlines (737-400),
2. Flew in and out of LAX, 
3. Visited the Space Shuttle Endeavour and
4. Saw 16R at Van Nuys.

Right now, KLAX is my new fav. #avgeek airport. The flight from PDX was amazing. Flight time was 1hr59min. We flew the SADDE SIX arrival and then after SOM we joined a right base for a visual approach to runway 24R. Amazing views over the entire LA basin.

SADDE SIX STAR KLAX
The flight back was more evenful. We were delayed an hour due a late change of aircraft. We flew back in 1hr41min thanks to a 50kt tailwind. The Captain (PF) flew a high speed decent and visual approach onto 28L at KPDX. This happened at night and was one of the coolest approaches I have had for a while. Overall, I was very impressed with Alaska Airlines. 

The ATC feeds on liveatc.net offer a mix of heavy and GA traffic. I haven't stopped listening to the LAX Final (North/South) feed since I arrived back in Oregon on Sunday evening. 

Both Phoenix and Portland have lacked a steady stream of heavy jets. At LAX, they arrived and departed throughout the whole day. I only wish I had a decent camera to capture some cool shots.

On Saturday afternoon I was surfing on Trip Advisor and discovered that the Space Shuttle Endeavour was in LA and open to the public. Spent a couple of hours touring the California ScienCenter where Endeavour was housed. I never managed to see the Shuttle fly but this almost made up for that!

My trip to Van Nuys was unplanned therefore I didn't research it very well. Couldn't find any decent places to take photos, but I can say I have seen 16R.

Endeavour
Tiles!


KLAX
16R Van Nuys!


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