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747, and I ain't dead yet!
Question:
>Growing up in DEN, I only saw one >747: a People Express 747SP in the winter of 1985.
PE flew 747-200’s out of Stapleton, not 747SP’s. -Erik
Response:
> Some of you might remember by "I wanna fly on a 747 before I die" > post from last February
The 747 is a nice ride…..enjoy! Unkie.com http://www.unkie.com Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.
Response:
>Wow… a 747 on a domestic flight from IAD-DEN… interesting… doubt they >could fill that all the time!
I was in DEN last week and there were _3_ UA 747s! One was to ORD; I assume at least one of the others was to IAD. Growing up in DEN, I only saw one 747: a People Express 747SP in the winter of 1985. I wish we had 12,000′ when I was growing up… Still, it’s surprising to see 747s in DEN in June. Has anyone taken off from DEN in a 747 on a hot day? That must be quite a thrill; always fun to have those "shouldn’t we be airborne by now?" feelings… The 747 out of NBO (elevation roughly the same as DIA, ~5400 feet) was certainly a trip; I was beginning to think we were driving home… Okay, so there’s an unrelated topic: what are some good high airport/heavy plane combinations that you have experienced? I’m assuming that they don’t fly -400s into LPB… – Bryan
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> To expand SFO the airport would have to landfill a portion of the bay, > which isn’t something that’s easy to get approved. So the airport was > going to buy a piece of marshland that was being used by Leslie Salt (I > think) on the other side of the bay for sea salt generation and > rehabilitate it. The argument being that there was no net loss of > the bay. Oddly enough, Leslie Salt was never asked if they wanted to > sell the land they’ve been using. They don’t and so the airport is > trying to figure out something else. >It was the Carghill (sic) salt flats, I believe. Also, because of eminent domain >laws, they don’t have to be willing to sell the land to have it be sold. Of course, >that would also be pretty controversial. In addition, it wasn’t a "no net loss" >proposal, but about 25 times more bay restoration than fill. It’s not dead yet, >just moving at glacial pace.
Are the Carghill salt flats the ones near Fremont? My wife and I just bought a house which has a view of that part of the bay and it would be nice if they are eventually "fixed". marcos — Not ready reading .signature | Marcos H. Woehrmann
Response:
> To expand SFO the airport would have to landfill a portion of the bay, > which isn’t something that’s easy to get approved. So the airport was > going to buy a piece of marshland that was being used by Leslie Salt (I > think) on the other side of the bay for sea salt generation and > rehabilitate it. The argument being that there was no net loss of > the bay. Oddly enough, Leslie Salt was never asked if they wanted to > sell the land they’ve been using. They don’t and so the airport is > trying to figure out something else.
It was the Carghill (sic) salt flats, I believe. Also, because of eminent domain laws, they don’t have to be willing to sell the land to have it be sold. Of course, that would also be pretty controversial. In addition, it wasn’t a "no net loss" proposal, but about 25 times more bay restoration than fill. It’s not dead yet, just moving at glacial pace. –Mark Rogers
Response:
Kenny, Ignore the "Get a Life" dude. Excellent report. This sorta stuff’s why I read this NG. Geoff Glave Vancouver, Canada – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 >This part was fairly uneventful. The 777 was the biggest plane I’d been on >at the time (and I’ve made a lot of trips these last 10 years, but they’ve >almost always been flights on the East Coast (I’ve only been a part-time >Californicator since January) that I’ve paid for out-of-pocket (i.e., short >hops and small planes in cattle class). We weren’t very full on departure, >and I settled into 41(?)A (and I forgot to get a tail number). >There was one small glitch, though- the seatback video screens on seats A-B >kept frizting out, so some of the people just moved over to the main part >of the cabin. I’d bought a GPS the night before (Garmin G-12, $150 from >Targe’t; it’s amazing what money buys nowadays- this is a 12-channel unit >that’s cheap, and only as big as a cellphone), so I was plotting our speed >(620 MPH indicated ground speed at times- *damn*), altitude (FL 390) and >heading. Since my little unit didn’t have a moving map display, I’d "MARK" >points of interest that I’d seen on the ground, saving their LAT/LON points >so I could feed ‘em into MapBlast later. I’ve also got the trip log at 30sec. >intervals, so as soon as I figure out how to get Linux’ GPS-plotting SW to >work, I’ll be able to see the trip path (which deviated from a "great >circle" more than I’d figured) on my computer screen. The approach path >(whoops, is a GPS a "portable electronic device"?) down to touchdown was >interesting as well. >UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 >Heh. My ‘47. >I’ve never seen *so many* people standing around to board one plane ever. >We were fairly full in all three (4?) classes, based on my walkaround >after departure- and *departure* it was! I’m about, um, 10 rows behind the >4 huge ‘47 engines, and when that sucker spooled up for the takeoff roll, >man oh man, what a sound! >Seat 57G wasn’t so bad, I was on the starboard side inner aisle, and 57F was >empty. However, there was a high-school trip to DC back there in far coach, >and Lawd, they wuz noisy. I wasn’t at a window, so no GPS track for much of >this flight ’till I put the unit near the exit door window at the far rear >door of the jet. On our approach into DEN, we’d hit a little air, which >scared the high-schoolers (which had the nice effect of shutting some of >’em up 
, and on "touch"down El Capi’tan decided to leave a few tire >tracks in the numbers (which had the effect of making those now quiet yell >out again) 
. >Afterwards, I got a chance to see the aft upstairs crew quarters, and even >got a cockpit tour. It was a 747-400, so it was all glass cockpit, but what >surprised me was there was no FE console. There was plenty of room for the >jumpseat, so my next "before I die" trip will be riding a foreign carrier’s >’47 out of the country and hopefully "please please please"ing a ride up >front. Hell, the SillyCon Valley’s bin berry berry good to me, so WTF- >having seen the accomodations in 1st upper (hell, 1st lower, and business >classes) I think I’ll just spring the $$ for an upstairs ride. I have to >do this again. Man, what a *big* plane. >UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777 >Well, no trip would be complete w/o a little drama. We board uneventfully >to a nice mile-high sunset in Denver, with no major weather in sight. >We pull out to taxi, and stop suddenly, and the Captain comes on with >"Hey- they’ve dropped the number of landings to SFO in 1/2 due to ><mumblesomething- but I think it was weather-related>, so guess what- >we get to sit here on the taxiway for 2 hours!" <grumble>. The Captain >invites us to listen to ATC on Channel 9 (why oh why didn’t I know about >*this* before!?!), shuts down both engines, and starts the APU back up. >Needless to say, we natives were getting restless, so I grabbed up my laptop, >and found an outlet near the portside rear exit door so I could get some >work done (BTW, the Transmonde Vivante’s AC adaptor just loves 400Hz AC >current!). I made a few phone calls (they’d given us clearance, but some >of us^H^Hthem had already started prior to that) and having seen people >come back to the Airphone to call relatives, I handed maybe 6 people my >phone (I have Sprint PCS, so I have free airtime after 1900 and free LD) >so they wouldn’t get shafted on Airphone’s ripoff rates- we were all >"suffering" (the stews were hooking me up with Becks’ and sandwiches >while I sat in the rear near the aft galley- I dunno ’bout everybody else) >together, so why not. >About 1:45 into the delay, we get word from the Captain we’re on our way >up again. After settling back into 36A, I plug back into the ATC on Ch. 9 >and listen to the ground banter. Some of it was kinda funny- there was this >one point where the cockpit, after hearing of a plane clearing the >runway we were told to hold short on, said "United 1529 cleared for takeoff >on <runway>", ambiguously as a question, and the tower came back with >"Ya know, it’s supposed to be you ask the questions, we give the answers, >but go ahead". There were numerous reports of "light" and "medium" chop >at FLs that we were in, but we felt nothing. On the approach, we were told >to slow to 270(?) kts , and the cockpit goes "We can *go* faster" and the >tower came back sarcastically "Oh, no you *can’t*." I guess stuff like >that happens all the time. Wake turbulence from us was a big deal, >as everybody around was told to watch out for us. >We had an unventful landing, and despite my CA GF being pissed at the 2hr >delay, no real problems. Nice flight. UA has a lot of these weekend air >specials SFO-IAD (I paid $330 total for this trip, last minute, and they’re >doing it again this weekend for $276), so I’ll probably be a regular on these >flights, which should make my DC GF happy, since I’m not home very often >anymore. > -Kenny >– >Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting >Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 >Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 >Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
>> That’s what the captain said during his impromptu 777 cockpit tour (also > mentioned something about runway construction, I think). >There are plans for new runway construction (essentially, the same runways, but >moved farther apart). None of these plans has been approved nor passed through >all the environmental hoops, etc.
To expand SFO the airport would have to landfill a portion of the bay, which isn’t something that’s easy to get approved. So the airport was going to buy a piece of marshland that was being used by Leslie Salt (I think) on the other side of the bay for sea salt generation and rehabilitate it. The argument being that there was no net loss of the bay. Oddly enough, Leslie Salt was never asked if they wanted to sell the land they’ve been using. They don’t and so the airport is trying to figure out something else. marcos p.s. This information is several months old and is probably no longer current, I haven’t been paying attention to the news lately. — Not ready reading .signature | Marcos H. Woehrmann
Response:
> >I have sat next to passenger pilots on UA and they or the FA’s don’t say >anything. > You were somewhat lucky, then, ’cause Mark is right. It should be off at <10K > ft, but you can get permission from the Captain.
Some know that GPS’s are allowed, others don’t care. Most don’t know that only _aviation_ GPS’s are allowed. None of this changes the fact that the rules are clear on the subject. Also, the Captain cannot legally give you permission to operate the GPS below 10,000 feet. –Mark Rogers
Response:
>I have sat next to passenger pilots on UA and they or the FA’s don’t say >anything.
You were somewhat lucky, then, ’cause Mark is right. It should be off at <10K ft, but you can get permission from the Captain. >Also the pilots give me all the way points for the flight if I ask (on a 777).
Again, now y’all tell me. >The GPS is passive anyway, no?
Mostly, but every decently-made radio reciever nowadays uses a technique called "superheterodyne" which means the incoming signal is mixed with another signal that is generated from the reciever itself, and can radiate outside the unit in question. Also, anything digital (like the user interface on a GPS) tends to use square waves when switching, and these put out lots of "EMI (electro-magnetic interference) not only in their main frequency, but many frequencies above the main ("harmonics"). While my background tells me that such emissions are slight, you have the airlines who haven’t had any real data to conclude (i.e., "on paper") that nothing’s wrong, and then there’s the paranoiacs. -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
Not according to UA. I have sat next to passenger pilots on UA and they or the FA’s don’t say anything. Also the pilots give me all the way points for the flight if I ask (on a 777). The GPS is passive anyway, no? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Not every airline allows the use of GPS devices inflight. Those that do, >generally allow only aviation GPS’s. In any event, no U.S. airline allows the use >of a GPS receiver below 10,000 feet (portable electronic devices).
Response:
> That’s what the captain said during his impromptu 777 cockpit tour (also > mentioned something about runway construction, I think).
There are plans for new runway construction (essentially, the same runways, but moved farther apart). None of these plans has been approved nor passed through all the environmental hoops, etc. > IIRC, you’re operating out of SFO, right?
I fly domestically in the U.S., and have flown into and out of SFO many times. –Mark Rogers
Response:
>> (whoops, is a GPS a "portable electronic device"?)
>In any event, no U.S. airline allows the use of a GPS receiver below 10,000 >feet (portable electronic devices).
Yeah, I know, I know- I was being bad. >Basically the runways are too close together [at SFO] to allow parallel >approaches in any kind of cloudy weather.
That’s what the captain said during his impromptu 777 cockpit tour (also mentioned something about runway construction, I think). IIRC, you’re operating out of SFO, right? -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
> The approach path > (whoops, is a GPS a "portable electronic device"?) down to touchdown was > interesting as well.
Not every airline allows the use of GPS devices inflight. Those that do, generally allow only aviation GPS’s. In any event, no U.S. airline allows the use of a GPS receiver below 10,000 feet (portable electronic devices). > Well, no trip would be complete w/o a little drama. We board uneventfully > to a nice mile-high sunset in Denver, with no major weather in sight. > We pull out to taxi, and stop suddenly, and the Captain comes on with > "Hey- they’ve dropped the number of landings to SFO in 1/2 due to > <mumblesomething- but I think it was weather-related>, so guess what- > we get to sit here on the taxiway for 2 hours!" <grumble>. The Captain > invites us to listen to ATC on Channel 9 (why oh why didn’t I know about > *this* before!?!), shuts down both engines, and starts the APU back up.
Yep, flow delays into SFO. They’ve been written about a bit here recently if you want some more background info. Basically the runways are too close together to allow parallel approaches in any kind of cloudy weather. –Mark Rogers
Response:
Kenny, you really need to get a life! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 >This part was fairly uneventful. The 777 was the biggest plane I’d been on >at the time (and I’ve made a lot of trips these last 10 years, but they’ve >almost always been flights on the East Coast (I’ve only been a part-time >Californicator since January) that I’ve paid for out-of-pocket (i.e., short >hops and small planes in cattle class). We weren’t very full on departure, >and I settled into 41(?)A (and I forgot to get a tail number). >There was one small glitch, though- the seatback video screens on seats A-B >kept frizting out, so some of the people just moved over to the main part >of the cabin. I’d bought a GPS the night before (Garmin G-12, $150 from >Targe’t; it’s amazing what money buys nowadays- this is a 12-channel unit >that’s cheap, and only as big as a cellphone), so I was plotting our speed >(620 MPH indicated ground speed at times- *damn*), altitude (FL 390) and >heading. Since my little unit didn’t have a moving map display, I’d "MARK" >points of interest that I’d seen on the ground, saving their LAT/LON points >so I could feed ‘em into MapBlast later. I’ve also got the trip log at 30sec. >intervals, so as soon as I figure out how to get Linux’ GPS-plotting SW to >work, I’ll be able to see the trip path (which deviated from a "great >circle" more than I’d figured) on my computer screen. The approach path >(whoops, is a GPS a "portable electronic device"?) down to touchdown was >interesting as well. >UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 >Heh. My ‘47. >I’ve never seen *so many* people standing around to board one plane ever. >We were fairly full in all three (4?) classes, based on my walkaround >after departure- and *departure* it was! I’m about, um, 10 rows behind the >4 huge ‘47 engines, and when that sucker spooled up for the takeoff roll, >man oh man, what a sound! >Seat 57G wasn’t so bad, I was on the starboard side inner aisle, and 57F was >empty. However, there was a high-school trip to DC back there in far coach, >and Lawd, they wuz noisy. I wasn’t at a window, so no GPS track for much of >this flight ’till I put the unit near the exit door window at the far rear >door of the jet. On our approach into DEN, we’d hit a little air, which >scared the high-schoolers (which had the nice effect of shutting some of >’em up , and on "touch"down El Capi’tan decided to leave a few tire >tracks in the numbers (which had the effect of making those now quiet yell >out again) . >Afterwards, I got a chance to see the aft upstairs crew quarters, and even >got a cockpit tour. It was a 747-400, so it was all glass cockpit, but what >surprised me was there was no FE console. There was plenty of room for the >jumpseat, so my next "before I die" trip will be riding a foreign carrier’s >’47 out of the country and hopefully "please please please"ing a ride up >front. Hell, the SillyCon Valley’s bin berry berry good to me, so WTF- >having seen the accomodations in 1st upper (hell, 1st lower, and business >classes) I think I’ll just spring the $$ for an upstairs ride. I have to >do this again. Man, what a *big* plane. >UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777 >Well, no trip would be complete w/o a little drama. We board uneventfully >to a nice mile-high sunset in Denver, with no major weather in sight. >We pull out to taxi, and stop suddenly, and the Captain comes on with >"Hey- they’ve dropped the number of landings to SFO in 1/2 due to ><mumblesomething- but I think it was weather-related>, so guess what- >we get to sit here on the taxiway for 2 hours!" <grumble>. The Captain >invites us to listen to ATC on Channel 9 (why oh why didn’t I know about >*this* before!?!), shuts down both engines, and starts the APU back up. >Needless to say, we natives were getting restless, so I grabbed up my laptop, >and found an outlet near the portside rear exit door so I could get some >work done (BTW, the Transmonde Vivante’s AC adaptor just loves 400Hz AC >current!). I made a few phone calls (they’d given us clearance, but some >of us^H^Hthem had already started prior to that) and having seen people >come back to the Airphone to call relatives, I handed maybe 6 people my >phone (I have Sprint PCS, so I have free airtime after 1900 and free LD) >so they wouldn’t get shafted on Airphone’s ripoff rates- we were all >"suffering" (the stews were hooking me up with Becks’ and sandwiches >while I sat in the rear near the aft galley- I dunno ’bout everybody else) >together, so why not. >About 1:45 into the delay, we get word from the Captain we’re on our way >up again. After settling back into 36A, I plug back into the ATC on Ch. 9 >and listen to the ground banter. Some of it was kinda funny- there was this >one point where the cockpit, after hearing of a plane clearing the >runway we were told to hold short on, said "United 1529 cleared for takeoff >on <runway>", ambiguously as a question, and the tower came back with >"Ya know, it’s supposed to be you ask the questions, we give the answers, >but go ahead". There were numerous reports of "light" and "medium" chop >at FLs that we were in, but we felt nothing. On the approach, we were told >to slow to 270(?) kts , and the cockpit goes "We can *go* faster" and the >tower came back sarcastically "Oh, no you *can’t*." I guess stuff like >that happens all the time. Wake turbulence from us was a big deal, >as everybody around was told to watch out for us. >We had an unventful landing, and despite my CA GF being pissed at the 2hr >delay, no real problems. Nice flight. UA has a lot of these weekend air >specials SFO-IAD (I paid $330 total for this trip, last minute, and they’re >doing it again this weekend for $276), so I’ll probably be a regular on these >flights, which should make my DC GF happy, since I’m not home very often >anymore. > -Kenny >– >Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting >Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 >Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 >Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
>Kenny, you really need to get a life!
<snicker> This, from an A-hOLe. -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
>I hope you actually get the flight you want. SFO has been experiencing some >major delays lately, due to weather and a damaged radar system (so says >CNN), and my recent trips were both very late and not on the equipment >listed on the ticket.
Thanks for the warning- in fact, even the UAL website lists my outbound on-time percentage as only about 60% or so. >Best Regards and GOOD LUCK!
Thanks, and I hope I don’t need the good luck! -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
>UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777
This part was fairly uneventful. The 777 was the biggest plane I’d been on at the time (and I’ve made a lot of trips these last 10 years, but they’ve almost always been flights on the East Coast (I’ve only been a part-time Californicator since January) that I’ve paid for out-of-pocket (i.e., short hops and small planes in cattle class). We weren’t very full on departure, and I settled into 41(?)A (and I forgot to get a tail number). There was one small glitch, though- the seatback video screens on seats A-B kept frizting out, so some of the people just moved over to the main part of the cabin. I’d bought a GPS the night before (Garmin G-12, $150 from Targe’t; it’s amazing what money buys nowadays- this is a 12-channel unit that’s cheap, and only as big as a cellphone), so I was plotting our speed (620 MPH indicated ground speed at times- *damn*), altitude (FL 390) and heading. Since my little unit didn’t have a moving map display, I’d "MARK" points of interest that I’d seen on the ground, saving their LAT/LON points so I could feed ‘em into MapBlast later. I’ve also got the trip log at 30sec. intervals, so as soon as I figure out how to get Linux’ GPS-plotting SW to work, I’ll be able to see the trip path (which deviated from a "great circle" more than I’d figured) on my computer screen. The approach path (whoops, is a GPS a "portable electronic device"?) down to touchdown was interesting as well. >UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747
Heh. My ‘47. I’ve never seen *so many* people standing around to board one plane ever. We were fairly full in all three (4?) classes, based on my walkaround after departure- and *departure* it was! I’m about, um, 10 rows behind the 4 huge ‘47 engines, and when that sucker spooled up for the takeoff roll, man oh man, what a sound! Seat 57G wasn’t so bad, I was on the starboard side inner aisle, and 57F was empty. However, there was a high-school trip to DC back there in far coach, and Lawd, they wuz noisy. I wasn’t at a window, so no GPS track for much of this flight ’till I put the unit near the exit door window at the far rear door of the jet. On our approach into DEN, we’d hit a little air, which scared the high-schoolers (which had the nice effect of shutting some of ‘em up , and on "touch"down El Capi’tan decided to leave a few tire tracks in the numbers (which had the effect of making those now quiet yell out again) . Afterwards, I got a chance to see the aft upstairs crew quarters, and even got a cockpit tour. It was a 747-400, so it was all glass cockpit, but what surprised me was there was no FE console. There was plenty of room for the jumpseat, so my next "before I die" trip will be riding a foreign carrier’s ‘47 out of the country and hopefully "please please please"ing a ride up front. Hell, the SillyCon Valley’s bin berry berry good to me, so WTF- having seen the accomodations in 1st upper (hell, 1st lower, and business classes) I think I’ll just spring the $$ for an upstairs ride. I have to do this again. Man, what a *big* plane. >UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777
Well, no trip would be complete w/o a little drama. We board uneventfully to a nice mile-high sunset in Denver, with no major weather in sight. We pull out to taxi, and stop suddenly, and the Captain comes on with "Hey- they’ve dropped the number of landings to SFO in 1/2 due to <mumblesomething- but I think it was weather-related>, so guess what- we get to sit here on the taxiway for 2 hours!" <grumble>. The Captain invites us to listen to ATC on Channel 9 (why oh why didn’t I know about *this* before!?!), shuts down both engines, and starts the APU back up. Needless to say, we natives were getting restless, so I grabbed up my laptop, and found an outlet near the portside rear exit door so I could get some work done (BTW, the Transmonde Vivante’s AC adaptor just loves 400Hz AC current!). I made a few phone calls (they’d given us clearance, but some of us^H^Hthem had already started prior to that) and having seen people come back to the Airphone to call relatives, I handed maybe 6 people my phone (I have Sprint PCS, so I have free airtime after 1900 and free LD) so they wouldn’t get shafted on Airphone’s ripoff rates- we were all "suffering" (the stews were hooking me up with Becks’ and sandwiches while I sat in the rear near the aft galley- I dunno ’bout everybody else) together, so why not. About 1:45 into the delay, we get word from the Captain we’re on our way up again. After settling back into 36A, I plug back into the ATC on Ch. 9 and listen to the ground banter. Some of it was kinda funny- there was this one point where the cockpit, after hearing of a plane clearing the runway we were told to hold short on, said "United 1529 cleared for takeoff on <runway>", ambiguously as a question, and the tower came back with "Ya know, it’s supposed to be you ask the questions, we give the answers, but go ahead". There were numerous reports of "light" and "medium" chop at FLs that we were in, but we felt nothing. On the approach, we were told to slow to 270(?) kts , and the cockpit goes "We can *go* faster" and the tower came back sarcastically "Oh, no you *can’t*." I guess stuff like that happens all the time. Wake turbulence from us was a big deal, as everybody around was told to watch out for us. We had an unventful landing, and despite my CA GF being pissed at the 2hr delay, no real problems. Nice flight. UA has a lot of these weekend air specials SFO-IAD (I paid $330 total for this trip, last minute, and they’re doing it again this weekend for $276), so I’ll probably be a regular on these flights, which should make my DC GF happy, since I’m not home very often anymore. -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
>Enjoy!! And just maybe that outbound will have some stretching room. >Early morning Saturday of a holiday weekend and all.
I tried to book a seat in the back, along one of the "5" aisles (the plane is 2-5-2). They said they couldn’t book any further back than row 34 (out of I believe, 43). I figure since everyone wants a front seat, that I can get a rear seat and have some of that 5 seats across for myself to strech out. -Kenny p.s. – I’ve seen some of the posts attacking you, Sheryl, as well as seen some of your so-called "abrasive" posts. Illegitium non carborundum, baby. — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
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> Some of you might remember by "I wanna fly on a 747 before I die" post from > last February. Well, it looks like that’s finally going to come true, and > then some: > UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 > UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 > UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777
Kenny, I hope you actually get the flight you want. SFO has been experiencing some major delays lately, due to weather and a damaged radar system (so says CNN), and my recent trips were both very late and not on the equipment listed on the ticket. My DEN – SFO flight was supposed to be a 777, but it was a 737, and my return from SFO – DEN was supposed to be a 747, but it was a 757 instead. I have had a 777 and a 747 from DEN – SFO though, so there is hope. Best Regards and GOOD LUCK! Bill Mattocks
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Wow… a 747 on a domestic flight from IAD-DEN… interesting… doubt they could fill that all the time! Robert HAKUNA MATATA! Have a Disney Day!
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> Wow… a 747 on a domestic flight from IAD-DEN… interesting… doubt they > could fill that all the time!
I was recently involved in an e-mail discussion with a regular poster to this group about UA’s loads on specific routes. It directly addresses what you’ve posted. Here’s what he said: On the SFO-IAD route UA uses a variety of aircraft, 320’s, 757’s, 767’s, 777’s, and 747’s. I’ve flown just about all of them, and pretty much they were at least 90% full every time. This is regardless of day of the week and/or time of the day. The same seems to go for the IAD-DEN and IAD-ORD routes. Doesn’t matter what size plane it is they fill em up. Rarely is there an empty seat in FC or BC. The last time I flew a 747 SFO-IAD was in December of last year, supposedly the slow time of the year. It was a two class (42F/408Y) and we left people standing at the gate to wait for the next flight.
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Going along those lines, I am very excited about a leisure STL(-ORD-)SFO trip I’m taking this weekend on UA. ORD-SFO is on a 777 (my first time on one of those– I believe the equipment is doing Buenos Aires-ORD-SFO) and the return red-eye SFO-ORD is on a 747. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a 747 for a domestic flight. Dewen Tarn
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Wow… a 747 on a domestic flight from IAD-DEN… interesting… doubt they > could fill that all the time! > Robert > HAKUNA MATATA! > Have a Disney Day!
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Actually the aircraft is to be changed to a 737 effective tomorrow morning at 0600.. Just kidding! I’m hoping to be able to go on a 747/777 before I die too. Enjoy the trip. It just occurred to me once when I was making telephone reservations (SFO-ORD) with UA, the reservations sales agent began to laugh hysterically after I told her I wanted to go on a 747, hmmmmm.. Erik R. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Some of you might remember by "I wanna fly on a 747 before I die" post from >last February. Well, it looks like that’s finally going to come true, and >then some: >UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 >UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 >UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777 > -Kenny
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Some of you might remember by "I wanna fly on a 747 before I die" post from last February. Well, it looks like that’s finally going to come true, and then some: UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777 -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup, Unix Software Consultant, Scott County Consulting Home1: 8051 Newell St. #914 Silver Spring, MD 20910-0914 (301) 562-1922 Home2: 5355 Farwell Pl. #242 Fremont, CA 94536-7222 (510) 794-8040 Work : 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose’, CA 95134-2017 (408) 456-7845
Response:
Enjoy!! And just maybe that outbound will have some stretching room. Early morning Saturday of a holiday weekend and all. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Some of you might remember by "I wanna fly on a 747 before I die" post from > last February. Well, it looks like that’s finally going to come true, and > then some: > UA 223 SFO-IAD 0730-1519 05/29 B777 > UA 343 IAD-DEN 1715-1859 06/01 B747 > UA 1529 DEN-SFO 1945-2113 06/01 B777 > -Kenny