Air Travel

Question:

I notice that a number of people have mentioned approaches to US cities like New York, LA, and Chicago as their favorites, especially at night. Is this because, frequent flyers or not, the little kids in us still find it exciting to see familiar territory from the air? I love flying over San Francisco while approaching SFO from the north… Fred Waldman

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: OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about : which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to : see where people have landed and what they thought of it. : Opinion anyone?? Here goes (aboslutely my personal list and not in any way comprehensive) 1.      Kahului, Maui 2.      Keflavik, Iceland 3.      Geneva, Switzerland (approach along lake) 4.      LAX (at night, over city) 5.      London LHR (over city approach – heading West) I still await the chance to try Kai Tak + Innsbruck. In general, although approach and landing is always interesting, the personal experience is dependent on many factors (weather, time of day, seat on the aircraft, particular approach on a given day). Hence my choice of LAX is from a single landing there on a clear night with a drawn-out approach over much of the city and surroundings. — Michael Schofield

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>Ok,  that’s my 2p worth–who’s next?

My favorite is sitting atop a hotel in Kathmandu and watching the planes try to come and go. Once we counted one do three and a half circles around the city before it could get over the mountaintops. Coming in, they appear to skim right over the tips of peaks and drop down from the sky. Plus, I don’t have to worry about where I’m sitting for optimal views, I can get up and go to the bathroom during take-off and landing, and if it gets too scary I can just go to my room. miguel

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One I really enjoyed was Nice France. When travelling from the North, you come down and fly over PRovence. Then turn out over the water and fly in over Cannes. If you are lucky to get window on the North side, you will see all the beaches. The water gets closer and closer and then out of nowhere, there is a runway and the airport on reclaimed land. — Darren Downs Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Canada

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Rio de Janeiro, on the downtown airport (Santos Dumont).  First the view of the city itself is simply amazing.  And it’s terrific to land at the small Santos Dumon airport as you have the Sugar Loaf’s wall at one side, the ocean on the other, and the airport is nothing but a small peninsula…  It’s good also from the top of the Sugar Loaf to watch landings and take offs down below. Saba. Never been there. But seen footage and commentaries of the 1300 feet landing strip.  It requires precision as the runway is simply an inclined plateau with down walls at both ends. Chicago, take off from O’Hare at night.  Sitting on the right side of the cabin, the view of the city is beautiful.  Aircraft will still be low enough enough when passing by downtown (to the right).   C D’Agord

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I vote for Hong Kong and Cuzco, Peru .  Both Hong Kong approaches are spectacular combinations of water, mountains, and settlements.  Cuzco is in the Andes at an altitude of ca. 12,000 feet.  Not only is it spectacular and green but there’s the added thrill of landing into a circle of mountains knowing it’s difficult to regain altitude if something goes wrong. Northwestern University Library

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I’m most grateful to all for the most interesting answers to my most interesting approach question.  But don’t stop yet,  I’m sure there’s lots more where those answers came from. Just by way of adding a couple of my own favourites: Landing on the main runway at Barcelona,  Spain in either a southerly or a northerly direction can be spectacular.  Southerly you follow the Catalan coast for 60-70 miles,  coming in directly due east of the city,  literally passing overhead the harbour and in to land.  The view of the city and its distinctive grid pattern with the Collserola mountains in the background is awesome.  When landing in a northerly direction,  the nicer of the two possible approaches takes you over the western valleys for a time towards Collserola, then over the northern part of the city,  with stunning views of the Collserola communications tower (the world’s 7th or 8th largest),  a steep left 180 degree bank and then a gentle final approach with swimming pools,  mountains,  see and sand all very much in evidence. (I think that should be sea and sand!) Also of note,  believe it or not,  is a westerly landing at London Heathrow, particularly in the morning and if you’re coming in from the west.  The route can take you right over the city going east,  right the way to Docklands and the Canada Tower at Canary Wharf,  then a 180 degree turn,  crossing the river to fly over south London this time,  with a bird’s eye view of all the major sights as you slowly descend into Heathrow. Ok,  that’s my 2p worth–who’s next? Barry Hennessy.

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: Washington National Airport from the south, is spectacular and always creates a :  buzz on the plane from passengers who managed to sneak a peak out the window. :  Planes flying this approach pass over Georgetown University, the Mall, right : past the Washington monument with a view of all the major monuments :  and the Capitol building.  Then the plane takes a bath in the Potomac river, :  or seems to as it passes over the river for a hard landing in Virginia on the :   main runway at National.  Never fails to terrify some passengers, and (some :  pilots as well). :   Agreed, except that the approach that you describe is *to* the south. —                                         John Bay

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>OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about >which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to >see where people have landed and what they thought of it. >Opinion anyone??

Try a dead of winter approach to Norway’s Osle Fornebu airport.  Fantastic! You fly up the Oslo Fjord past mountains, lakes, small cottages.  It is breathtaking, as is most of the country of Norway We also dropped into Vancouver a couple of weeks ago.  That was awesome.  The snow-capped Canadian Rockies, Pacific Ocean, and Victoria Island made a gorgeous approach.

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>My favorite is the east river approach to LGA. Ideally from the south, swing >up the harbor, right past the Verrazano Narrows bridge, then a slight turn and >if you are on the left side of the plane, all of Manhatten slides by your >window. On a clear evening the city’s buildings will be lit up, and the >collection of major buildings with light painted on them keeps growing. >    - David

[1.] From either end at Washington National. (Can be harrowing at times, too!) [2.] Into Atlanta from the east…. sometimes you see another aircraft coming into the parallel runway (I think it is 8-26 R and L)… it is fun to see who gets there first… heh.. [3.] The approach into Pensacola over Escambia Bay is very unnerving. (Just ask anyone who was on that National 727 that went into the water about 17 years ago…) [4.] Any approach from any direction into O’Hare… I always hope the guys and gals in the tower are correct, especially in overcast that practically reaches the ground… heh.. My 2 cents worth. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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How about 1       Phuket – loop over Phang Na bay. 2       Corfu – spin to keep out of Albanian airspace then drop down onto strip stuck into the sea over Mouse Island. 3       Denpasar – Mount Rinjani (?) behind (erupting on one of my visits) and then Uluwatu cliffs to the south, Tanah Lot to the north (if you look hard) and no sign of anything except sea to land on until you actually touch down. 4       Mae Hong Son – a loop to the north to find enough room to get down, an approach south and a drop away to the east to finish, passing by the temples on the hills outside town. They stop playing soccer on the runway while you land. Jack

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Washington National Airport from the south, is spectacular and always creates a  buzz on the plane from passengers who managed to sneak a peak out the window.  Planes flying this approach pass over Georgetown University, the Mall, right past the Washington monument with a view of all the major monuments  and the Capitol building.  Then the plane takes a bath in the Potomac river,  or seems to as it passes over the river for a hard landing in Virginia on the   main runway at National.  Never fails to terrify some passengers, and (some  pilots as well). – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >        A really great approach is landing southbound at Newark, NJ. If >        you sit on the left side of the plane, you get an incredible view >        of New York City, day or night. >        Another great departure/flight is from Newark to Islip, LI. This >        is a 30 minute flight that flies south to the bottome of Manhattan, >        than turns North to go up the East river. It turns east and heads >        out over Long Island Sound, giving you a great view of Queens >        Connecticut, and the rest of NYC. It continues out along the sound >        and you have a wonderful view of the North Shore. It lands at Islip >        70 miles later. Islip also has very pretty approaches if you are >        familiar with Long Island. >                                                Joe >– >  Joe Ellen                   Oh Joey, they have the most wondaful vegtables >  Damn Yankee                 down at this place I go to now. They’re so fresh! >OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about >which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to >see where people have landed and what they thought of it. >Opinion anyone?? >Barry Hennessy.

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I vote for     a clear day approach to Kansai International in Osaka Bay, Osaka, Japan. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->how about talking about > which is the world’s most spectacular approach. >I vote for clear day approach to Ketchikan or Juneau Alaska >Seattle is pretty cool as well. >Hong Kong qualifies (but usually you’re tired enough just to be landing >anywhere) >. >.

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OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to see where people have landed and what they thought of it. Opinion anyone?? Barry Hennessy.

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>how about talking about > which is the world’s most spectacular approach.   >I vote for clear day approach to Ketchikan or Juneau Alaska >Seattle is pretty cool as well.

    Definitely not too shabby. I’ll nominate Managua, in the Land of Lakes and Volcanos.  The long low approach between ranks of vivid tropical-green volcanos, past the stean-plumed peak of Momotombo volcano, the emergence over Lake Managua and slow circle into the capital.  The most beautiful approach I know to anywhere. Nomination for #2: Cuzco, Peru.  Serious rocks off the wingtips!    ___  ___/   ___      - Jeff       /      ____      /      /     /     An optimist believes we live in the best of all

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> Everyone goes on about Hong Kong’s Kai Tak having such a spectacular > approach, but that’s really just the roller-coaster, white-knuckle aspect > of it. The scenery isn’t that great (laundry hanging from tenements, > although it is close enough to read the tags).

I definitely disagree.  If you fly in at night (after sunset that is) and sit in a starboard window seat, you get a spectucular night scene of Hong Kong Island.  That’s in addition to the roller coaster, white-knuckle aspect of it. — "And this is all I have to say about that…" – F. Gump                                     `o<’    __    __  __  __  __  _  _    __   U  __  _ __ _   /__  (  )(  )(  )(  )( ( )  (  )    /__( (  ) )        This message is  /(__)  )(__ () /  )(  )  (    )(__  /(__)  / /     brought to you from (__)(__)(____)__/  (__)(_)_)  (____)(__)(__)//  Cedar Creek, California

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Everyone goes on about Hong Kong’s Kai Tak having such a spectacular approach, but that’s really just the roller-coaster, white-knuckle aspect of it. The scenery isn’t that great (laundry hanging from tenements, although it is close enough to read the tags). The most spectactular approach I have ever experienced is the approach to Rio de Janeiro’s commuter airport (Santos Dumont??), which has shuttle flights to Sao Paulo. You glide into the bay past Sugarloaf and Copacabana. Wow. Sean – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about >which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to >see where people have landed and what they thought of it. >Opinion anyone?? >Barry Hennessy.

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HENNESSY) writes: > Path:

wiggins.demon.co.uk!news.demon.co.uk!demon!news.sprintlink.net!cs.utexas.ed u !not-for-mail – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Newsgroups: rec.travel.air > Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway > Lines: 7 > NNTP-Posting-Host: news.cs.utexas.edu > OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about > which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to > see where people have landed and what they thought of it. > Opinion anyone?? > Barry Hennessy.

Spectacular?  Well I’m not quite sure I’d call it THAT!  But landing a 747 in Bangui, Republic of Central Africa, was……well, lets say an EXPERIENCE! From the time we started the descent, to about TEN SECONDS before landing, I saw no sign of civilation.  Nothing but tree-tops.  The wheels touched the runway about "two seconds" over the edge.  Full reverse all the way to the end.  And I’m no expert on airplanes, but if that thing has wheel brakes, I believe they were being used as well.  We stopped, on the runway, and when we turned around, the wing went WELL over the end of the runway. Only did that once, and that was enough. Now as far as "pretty", mid-January, absolutely clear skies, just about "sundown", crossing the Swiss Alps on a descent into Zurich.  The sun was positioned so that the snow-covered mountain tops were still bright, but the valleys were dark, with only the lights of the small villages visible.   "Picture postcard perfect"! I’ve had a few "spectacular" DEPARTURES, too!  The LAST being a US Air Force C-130 gettin’ my butt out of Sana’a, Yemen in the middle of their LAST war! — HOME: 44-(0)1734-50-2610

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How about the airstrip used for the Everest View Hotel in Nepal? I remember as a young child boarding a Royal Nepal Airways 8 seat Pilatus-Porter for the flight from Katmandu. After flying through the Himalayan peaks, we landed on a strip carved out of the hillside. On one end of the strip the mountain loomed – on the other, a direct drop of over 12,000 feet! — Rick Gutlon AIR CRUISE AMERICA "Rediscover America & the legendary DC-3!" <URL:http://www.webcom.com/~aca>

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>How about the airstrip used for the Everest View Hotel in Nepal?

Yep, that’s it!!! No question whatsoever!!! > I >remember as a young child boarding a Royal Nepal Airways 8 seat >Pilatus-Porter for the flight from Katmandu. After flying through the >Himalayan peaks, we landed on a strip carved out of the hillside. On one >end of the strip the mountain loomed – on the other, a direct drop of >over 12,000 feet!

However, right do the river the Lukla airport probably causes more heart attacks. The strip is 1/4 mile long, tilted upwards as one lands … AND ENDS IN A VERTICAL STONE WALL. I walked there and only took off. I would not want to land there. Oh yes …. I once landed on a scheduled commuter flight on an unpaved sand bar in the middle of a river. This in the normally civilized country Canada. They actually had a small shack filled with the paraphenalia of air travel (i.e. boarding passes, luggage tags). Doug McDonald

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        A really great approach is landing southbound at Newark, NJ. If         you sit on the left side of the plane, you get an incredible view         of New York City, day or night.         Another great departure/flight is from Newark to Islip, LI. This         is a 30 minute flight that flies south to the bottome of Manhattan,         than turns North to go up the East river. It turns east and heads         out over Long Island Sound, giving you a great view of Queens         Connecticut, and the rest of NYC. It continues out along the sound         and you have a wonderful view of the North Shore. It lands at Islip         70 miles later. Islip also has very pretty approaches if you are         familiar with Long Island.                                                 Joe —   Joe Ellen                   Oh Joey, they have the most wondaful vegtables       Damn Yankee                 down at this place I go to now. They’re so fresh!

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My favorite is the east river approach to LGA. Ideally from the south, swing up the harbor, right past the Verrazano Narrows bridge, then a slight turn and if you are on the left side of the plane, all of Manhatten slides by your window. On a clear evening the city’s buildings will be lit up, and the collection of major buildings with light painted on them keeps growing.         – David

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>…..now how about talking about which is the world’s most spectacular > approach.

Barry, Although it’s probably passe,  I still think that there is nothing as spectacular as the approach to Kennedy Airport at night. Hong Kong’s approach is also great as well as some of the approaches to some carribean islands. Thornton

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> OK we’ve had an excellent debate on liveries,  now how about talking about > which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  It would be interesting to > see where people have landed and what they thought of it.

The approach into La Paz, Bolivia (field elevation is 14,000 feet!) is just awesome. Canyons and deep valleys everywhere, with a long runway on the top of a mountain. As seen from the cockpit of a 727, it’s simply breathtaking, not only because of the scenery, but also because of the really steep angle of descent on final… it gives the "short field landing" term a new meaning. — Javier Henderson – VMS Product Support

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how about talking about > which is the world’s most spectacular approach.  

I vote for clear day approach to Ketchikan or Juneau Alaska Seattle is pretty cool as well. Hong Kong qualifies (but usually you’re tired enough just to be landing anywhere)

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