Non-Military Aviation

[shafnutz05]

Have any of yinz flight nuts ever driven up the Jersey turnpike past Newark airport? I always thought that was a cool view of the multiple planes on approach. The runway is parallel (obviously ) to the highway.

[RonnieFranchise]

3 hour layover in DFW yesterday so I hopped on the Skylink and did like 4 trips around the airport.

Only really interesting thing there was a Qantas A380. Couple AA Dreamliners and a TACA E-170. It was early afternoon so it was between the international departures and arrivals.

The supply of ubiquitous AA MD-80s is really dwindling. A few years back the C terminal was full of them. Now there were maybe 5 or 6 total. End of an era.

[Freddy Rumsen]

I love that skylink.

[NTP66]

Source of the post Now there were maybe 5 or 6 total. End of an era

GOOD.

[Shyster]

IIRC, American is down to only a couple dozen Mad Dogs, and those are supposed to be retired by the end of the year. Allegiant retired the rest of its MD aircraft by the end of 2018 and is now an all-Airbus airline of A319s and A320s. Delta is the only major global airline that operates any significant number of MDs, and they will probably stick with them for a while yet longer because their MDs are newer than others. Delta owns the entire fleet of existing MD-90s and holds the majority of the world's Boeing 717 (originally the MD-95) fleet. Those variants came with glass cockpits and newer/upgraded engines that are more fuel-efficient than the Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds that were on the earlier models in the DC-9 series, so Delta is in less of a hurry to retire them than the older variants.

[tifosi77]

Speaking of eras ending..................

I'm down to seeing just a few 747 (passenger) flights a week out of SFO. Just two years ago when we moved here that was a slow afternoon for United.

Granted, we only normally have eyes on the departures to Asia and parts of Europe. But still, big jet is going away.

[shafnutz05]

This is a great video.

[Shyster]

As a study in contrasts, here's another great approach to JFK:



I know there's plenty more runway left, but I always get a little puckery when they proceed onto the part of the runway with no tire marks.

[Shyster]

Granted, we only normally have eyes on the departures to Asia and parts of Europe. But still, big jet is going away.

Looking at the carriers that operate flights to SFO, I'm trying to think—other than cargo carriers—who would fly 747s. British Airways and KLM, almost certainly. Probably also Qantas. Maybe Lufthansa or Virgin Atlantic.

[tifosi77]

The ones I see most are KLM, Qantas, and I think Air China (which might be a cargo route).

[Shyster]

Huh, Google Flights says Air China does fly 747s on that route to Beijing. Not only 747s, but the 747-8I. If Air China keeps them on that route, you should see those for a long time, since they would at most only be about four years old.

[tifosi77]

Ten years on, just go to YouTube and search "Miracle On The Hudson" and start binge watching.

Remains one of the most remarkable feats of aviation imo. Literally everything had to have gone right, and that includes everything from critical decision making, to positioning of flight controls, to the goddamn tidal chart and wind direction.

[DigitalGypsy66]

They pulled that plane out of the Hudson and is now in Charlotte in an aviation museum. Unfortunately, they will need to move to a new home, as the current building (located on CLT) is reverting back to an active hangar or some such. I wonder if any of our Charlotte compatriots have visited the museum... @Freddy Rumsen @meow @MWB

[tifosi77]

Huh.... why Charlotte?

[meow]

That hanger is less than a mile away from me right now

[NTP66]

The TSA line in Atlanta this morning... OOOF: https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/ ... curity_at/

[DigitalGypsy66]

Huh.... why Charlotte?

US Airways hub back then? The flight was scheduled to make a stop there on the way to Seattle as well.

[NTP66]

Source of the post US Airways hub back then?

That would be my guess.

[dodint]

The TSA line in Atlanta this morning... OOOF: https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/ ... curity_at/

Yeah, was yesterday, but still, crazy. I have a flight on Feb 3rd so I'm dangerously close to be affected by this shut down...

[willeyeam]

i fly out sunday morning so super stoked to deal with some long lines and a foot of snow

[Shyster]

Charlotte is still a major hub for American today. Only DFW is bigger in terms of passengers carried.

[NTP66]

Yes, but we're talking about a US Airways flight before the merger. That the plane was headed to Charlotte is reason enough for me, but Charlotte has history there with US Airways way back with the Piedmont acquisition.

[Shyster]

They should have put it in Pittsburgh. Heck, they could have mounted the fuselage inside Concourse B. Plenty of room for it.

[MWB]

Huh.... why Charlotte?

US Airways hub back then? The flight was scheduled to make a stop there on the way to Seattle as well.

Yeah, that makes sense. Haven’t been there though.

[Shyster]

I haven't been to Charlotte, but I haven't seen many complimentary statements about it. I want to say the airport is pretty close to capacity, if not over it. CLT has four runways, but one is an intersecting crosswind that has limited use. It's terminal layout is nothing special, either. The decision of USAir to focus on CLT over PIT certainly wasn't based on CLT being a better site for hub growth. PIT's terminal layout was not only designed with the capability to extend the train and add a second midfield terminal building, but back in the day PIT was capable of easily adding up to four more runways (three more parallel and one more crosswind). The authority has since leased off some of that land, so it couldn't do that now.