The Scruffy And Fidgety Flier Returns

I saw the largest bag of airplane candy ever. Unless you’re throwing a party on the plane, why? I am a major candy eater and even I went, “Whoa!”

The small white dog and I are on the sofa. We are coasting toward the end of the day.

We live in amazing times! What I did today is a true marvel of modern life. I spent the morning and early afternoon with my folks and was home in time to watch some TV with Helaine.

I flew down Bradley-Baltimore-West Palm Beach. Today John and Alyce drove me south as I returned Ft. Lauderdale-Bradley.

I saw the largest bag of airplane candy ever. Unless you’re throwing a party on the plane, why? I am a major candy eater and even I went, “Whoa!”

M&M’s you are a trailblazer!

I am the scruffy and fidgety flier today. I haven’t shaved since Friday.

I have no idea what the woman on the aisle thought? I just wouldn’t sit still. Luckily, middle seat open.

There was no WiFi. I had no printed entertainment. The only thing around was the airline magazine. That doesn’t take long to complete.

During the last hour of the trip I tried to identify where we were by looking at the darkened ground, identifying landmarks (mainly city lights and roads) and remembering maps. I probably look at maps a little more than you. (Click the map. It’s a 3D view of the flightpath from FlightAware.com)

I watched Long Beach Island, NJ go by though it’s only now I realize that’s what it was. I picked up Sandy Hook then looked up into New York Harbor. Low clouds blocked the skyline. Shame.

We headed to the Long Island shore, Brooklyn then Queens. We flew over the Rockaways then headed toward New Haven. Unusual approach to Bradley for me.

The plane flew north just east of I-91. I looked down at a steep angle to see Hartford as we flew directly over the river. Just past the Bissell Bridge we turned left and landed on Runway 33.

Uneventful. Thank you Sully.

I’m still on vacation until Sunday. Hopefully there will be more to keep me busy.

I will shave tomorrow.

9 thoughts on “The Scruffy And Fidgety Flier Returns”

  1. Welcome home!
    I always grab the window seat because I love looking out the window trying to figure out where I am.
    Last year flying Miami to Boston I had the best view up the coast – it was so beautiful!
    Another flight from Bradley to Newark we flew right over Wallingford! I think I actually saw my house.

  2. I love to “look” also sans whiskers……looked for you on my flight up from PBI yesterday…no wonder I did not spy you….no binoculars in my carry on……will look for you on Fox….will be in CT til Tues…..have a great time off!!!

  3. Geoff,

    There are two “standard and published” arrivals into Bradley and since you seem to always be jetting west and returning from there rather than from locations down south, I’m not surprised that you don’t get to experience what is called the “Deer Park Arrival”. This route is how most all arrivals from the south arrive into BDL. Most planes coming from the south head right up over JFK, take a right turn to the Deer Park VOR out on L.I., then take a left to the Madison VOR (which is actually right smack in Guilford but that’s another story) and from there they are vectored to the appropriate runway based on the current wind (all of this I know you already know). Anyway, here’s a link to the pic of the arrival. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/505189/BDL-DEERPARK_0001-ARRIVAL.gif The other arrival (named the SWEDE 1 which is the one you are probaby most familiar with) comes in from the west / northwest of BDL and is part of the conga line of east bound arrivals that are all typically sequenced way out over Ohio. A bit of trivia… the busiest Air Route Traffic Control Center is “Cleveland Center” since it has the honor of organizing all the eastbound traffic headed to the NYC area, Boston and frankly all of airports in New England as planes march this direction. Happy Flying and welcome home!

  4. I always grab a window seat, I need to concentrate on the wing, so it won’t fall off. Need I declare I do not enjoy flying.

  5. When I was younger I liked the window side for the same reason as others to see where I was as the trip went on. Some time later in life I traveled quite a bit for work and the isle seat became the standard for the extra space to stick the leg out and the ability to get up and head to the rest room with out bothering others. Frequent flying also had the benefit of upgrades to first class so when ride up front it was back to the isle seat for best of both worlds!

  6. I used to like using my Iway GPS it had marine navagation besides auto navagation. Then I could see exactly where I was. Too bad the stopped making it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *