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Newport News to Kansas City- the trip of a lifetime(E70)

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  • Newport News to Kansas City- the trip of a lifetime(E70)

    Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I have been really busy lately.

    Friday, June 18th, 2004. I woke up around 9 for my flight lesson at Jamestown Flight Center. It was a nice morning with temperatures on the rise. The high was 96 that day. I did my pre-flight on N4771E, a Cessna C-172. Everything looked good and I taxied out to RWY 13 and took off and turned south over the James river. Did some 45 degree turns and a simulated emergancy and then came back to the airport.

    Okay enough of my stuff let me get to the trip part of this. My mom drove me down to Newport News at 1:30pm for my 2:50 departure to PHL. This would be my first time flying alone ! I was going to visit a friend in Kansas City that I met last summer on a cruise. I checked myself in with the self-service kiosks and got my boarding passes. Similar to Patrick's situation at ORD, The US agents called out "Who is going to Kansas City?" I said I was and she tagged my bag through to MCI. I dropped it off at the screening point next to the ticket counter with some other luggage going to FRA, FCO, and DFW. My mom and I walked over to Burger King and I got a cherry limeade icee and watched all the action going on at PHF (Which was none). I said good bye to my mom and waited in line for security. There was only one person in front of me and I made it through with no problems. I went to the bathroom when I got through security and here's where the fun begins. I was blow drying my hands and all of a sudden the power goes out in the terminal . I was thinking oh sh*t, I better not be delayed. I got out of the bathroom and everything seemed normal. There were some upset passengers going to CLT because they were supposed to leave at 1:45pm, but their plane still wasn't there (yeah I know I'm mean). At 2:30, a Dash-8-300 arrived and taxied in to gate 3. I figured since it was a -300 it would be going to CLT since we were supposed to have a -200. A few minutes later, the gate agent announces "Ladies and gentlemen, the aircraft outside is going to Philadelphia as flight 4352. The plane to Charlotte will be arriving soon and everyone has been rebooked for missed connections. We will begin boarding flight 4352 as soon as we can reboot the computers and service the aircraft." That made me happy. We were called downstairs (ASA and US Airways Express board downstaris while Airtran uses the two jetways). I walked onto the tarmac and was greeted by our flight attendant Kelly. She was very nice. I walked back to my seat and got comfy in the nice leather seats.

    June 18th, 2004
    US Airways Express(Piedmont) flight 4352 PHF-PHL
    Dash-8-300 N329EN
    Depart- 2:50pm
    Actual- 2:50pm gate 3A runway 20
    Arrive- 4:00pm
    Actual- 3:50pm gate F23 runway 35
    Seat 9F

    [photoid=10591]

    I sat next to a nice guy on his way to TPA. I talk to him on and off throughout the flight. I watched the right prop start up as we taxied to runway 20. We blasted into the air and I watched the wheel retract as we climbed out over I-64 and the James river. We did a 180 degree turn back over the airport where I saw the other Dash-8 to CLT that had just arrived. The captain dodged some clouds as we rattled on up to our cruising altitude of 11000 feet. We flew along the eastern shore all the way to PHL. Kelly came around with the usual pretzels and drinks. I had a sprite. There was a group of older men going on a business trip to Scotland in the back who were having a great time. I listened to my cd player most of the time until we began our descent into PHL after 30 minutes at cruising altitude. While on finals to runway 35, I saw the LH bird from Germany glide down towards 27R. Smooth touchdown and a quick taxi to terminal F. We parked among some fellow Dash-8's and deplaned. It was a nice, short flight up to Philadelphia.

    I went to the bathroom and then got on the shuttle bus over to the mainline gates. On the bus, I saw two WN 737's along with New Mexico One. I also saw N394DA, a Delta 737-800 that I have a herpa model of with the exact registration . We went under concourse D and then right in my face was N801MA, the first ever EMB-170 I have ever seen. They look great. I noticed that they look slightly slanted upwards and later on I could feel it when I boarded. I had a 2 and a half hour layover so I decided to go look around and get some food. I had some baked ziti and a bottle of water and then looked around in some of the stores. I bought a deck of cards and then walked down concourse B and saw the BA 747 that I will be on next month(JUL24) parked at concourse A. I went back to concourse D and at gate D2, flight 1622 that was supposed to leave for MCI at 3:45 was still there at 5:30. It looked like they couldn't shut the cargo door. About 10 minutes later, one of the gate agents announced that our flight was in an oversold situation and that anyone willing to give up their seat would recieve dinner, a night in Philly, a flight in the morning, and a ticket to anywhere in the US or Canada. I usually give up my seat but since I was by myself and someone was waiting on me in Kansas City and the morning flight was a CRJ and not a 170, I decided to keep my seat. Boarding began ontime and I was excited about my first 170 ride.

    US Airways (Mid Atlantic Airways) flight 1636 PHL-MCI
    EMB-170 N805MD (Yeah that one on the cover of Airways July '04)
    Depart- 6:25pm
    Actual- 6:35pm gate D4 runawy 27L
    Arrive- 8:32pm
    Actual- 8:40pm gate 7 runway 19R
    Seat 9F

    [photoid=291475]

    I stepped in and got hit with the smell of a new plane. The cabin was really bright because of the large windows. I sat next to a nice guy who was on my flight from PHF who was going to visit his girlfriend in KC. He had a broken ankle so he was pre-boarded. At 6:25, the captain annouced that the rear lavatory wasn't working and they were going to try to have it fixed. At 6:35, they just gave up and we went on with one lav . We pushed back before the 3:45 flight did (flight 1622) and crossed 27R to join the line for 27L.Captain announced we were about number 8 or 9 in line for takeoff. I watched A bunch of US Airbus's take off and a BA 777 land then began to dose off until I heard a loud noise. I had no idea what it was until I saw a NW DC-9 blasting down 27L. Finally at about 7:15 we taxied into position on 27L and tookoff. Smooth climb out around some clouds and we soon leveled off at 35000. The 170 has a very quiet cabin. I like how they took out the no smoking sign and replaced it with a "please turn off electronics" sign. I talked with the guy next to me for a while until the drink service began. He bought a snackbox for $5 that contained a little sandwich, goldfish, raisins, chips, and oreos while I settled for pretzels and sprite. Bill (the guy next to me) didn't want his oreos so he gave them to me. The captain came on from time to time announcing our position. During the first hour of the flight, I clearly made out a UA 737 and a DL 757. I went to the bathroom about midway through the flight and I found that it wasn't much bigger than the lav's on CRJ's . I went back to my seat and played 500 rummie with Bill with the new cards I just bought in PHL. We played for about an hour and he beat me. About 20 minutes before we began our descent, the air nozzles above us began blasting out warm air. The first 2 and a half hours of the flight were very cold until now. The cabin temp must've been somewhere in the 90's . Everyone took off their blankets and sweatshirts. No announcement from the crew on the heat wave. After about 10 minutes, we began our descent and things began to cool down again. It was a very quick descent into an overcast Kansas City and we had a smooth touchdown on 1R. We had a long taxi over to gate 7. On the way we passed some Midwest and Northwest jets. We pulled up to gate 7 and deplaned. I met up with my friend Tyler and his dad who were waiting for me at the gate. In MCI, there's a big glass wall separating the gates and the non secure area. I don't really like it. We went over to the baggage claim and waited for my bag. And waited. And waited until finally the belt stopped and about half of the passengers on my flight didn't have their bags and there was a huge line forming at the bag claim office . Eventually word got out that our bags would be arriving on flight 1622 (the 3:45 flight). I remember I saw the plane pushing back in PHL while we were waiting for take off so I knew it couldn't be to long. About 20 minutes later, N804MD pulled up to gate 6 and about 15 minutes later my bag arrived. I was out of the airport about 2 hours after I arrived.


    After a lot of fun in Platte City, it was time to go home. My friend Tyler flew back with me to visit Virginia. We both woke up at 9:30 and began to pack. I finished quick and went downstairs and watched National Security. At around 12, we get a phone call from US Airways that said our flight would be 110 minutes late due to matinence. Oh great. I called my mom at home and she said that they called there too. We were planning on leaving for the airport around 1:15 for the 3pm departure but we ended up leaving for the airport at 3. We got to the airport and went to see if we could get rebooked since we would miss our connecting flight to Newport News. We would've arrived in PHL on flight 1631 at 8:35 and our flight to PHF left at 8:05. So the friendly agent rebooked us on the 6:15pm flight to CLT and then the 10:20 flight to PHF. No E170. I called my mom back and told her we would be getting in at 11:40 instead of 9:14. Tyler and me walked around. He bought a Maxim (which turned out to be a very good investment) and sat down and read it while I did some exploring. I bought a box of Cinnabons and got a double chocolate chip frappacino at Starbucks. Nothing interesting plane wise. I saw a Frontier A319 and an Airtran 717. At around 5:15, we went through security and sat down at our gate. At that time, 4 US Airways express flights were delayed and one cancelled. The Airtran 717 was at the gate next to us and there was an announcment that Atlanta was in a groundstop due to storms and that the pilot would talk to ATL again in one hour to get a wheels up time . The flight was supposed to leave at 4:30pm and an hour later they got a wheels up time of 6:55pm. Well at that time I was starting to worry because it was 5:50 and no plane was in sight for us. Just as I was thinking about that, the gate agent came on and told us that the plane had checked into the airspace and should be at the gate shortly . I spotted a dark colored aircraft in the air and about 5 minutes later it touched down on 19R and taxied to our gate. The flight arrived from CLT only half full so we began boarding rather quickly.

    June 23rd, 2004
    US Airways flight 1254 MCI-CLT
    Boeing 737-301 N300AU
    Depart- 6:15pm
    Actual- 6:33pm gate 7 runway 19R
    Arrive- 9:23pm
    Actual- 9:31pm gate C12 runway 23
    Seat 7F

    [photoid=225565]

    I think we had a lot of first time flyers or something on this flight because it took forever to board. I was in the doorway of the plane for about 5 minutes and looked up and spotted the registration plate from the Boeing plant. I was on a 737-301. Finally I got to my seat and got comfy. Those 733's are really nice and comfortable . It got even better when a really hot girl sat down in 7E . Tyler was in 5F and there was an open seat next to him but I decided to get to know the girl next to me. She was a junior at Kansas State and was going to Orlando to work at a camp with her friends for a month. The guy next to her was from Boston and was coming home from business. I had great seat mates. We pushed back about 15 minutes late because people don't know how to put things in overhead bins and were #1 for departure on RWY 19R. The flight was about 98% full so we had a long takeoff roll and a steep climb to our cruising altitude. I could tell that the 737 didn't climb as well as the E170. It took about 20 minutes until we leveled off and the f/a's announced what our meal options were. Either a chicken sandwich or chicken salad from TGI Fridays for $10 or the snack box for $5. Yup, you guessed it, sprite and pretzels for me. I talked to Ashley, the girl next to me, most of the flight. We ran into some clouds about an hour out of CLT and the captain turned on the seatbelt sign, but it never got bumpy. It was a very uneventful flight with your average f/a's. We began descending around 9pm. This was a very slow, long descent. It was light out when we began and by the time we touched down it was pitch black. We descended through the clouds into a rainy Charlotte and touched down a little behind schedule on RWY 23. One of the f/a's said we would be arriving into gate C10 but we came into C12. I said goodbye to Ashley and met with Tyler in the terminal.

    I went straight to the little boys room where I let it all out. I had to go so bad. After about 4 minutes in there, Tyler and I went to Pizza Hut to get some dinner at 9:45pm. We carried it over to concourse E and ate it while we waited. I ran into a girl from my school who was flying home from GCM. That's two trips in a row now that I have run into someone I know at an airport . She was on my flight going to PHF. I talked to her for a while and ate my pizza. At 10pm, our Dash-8 pulled up to the gate and we began boarding.

    US Airways Express (Piedmont) flight 4402 CLT-PHF
    Dash-8-300 N337EN
    Depart- 10:20pm
    Actual- 10:20pm gate E9 runway 23
    Arrive- 11:40pm
    Actual- 11:35pm gate 3A runway 7
    Seat 3A and C

    [photoid=43610]

    I was in the last group to board. Tyler and I walked out onto the wet ramp and boarded the lovely little Dash-8. The seating is weird on the Dash-8. It goes AC DF . Does anyone know why they skipped B? My original seat was 3C but as every minute ticked by and no one had claimed 3A I was getting excited. I was looking out of the window when the f/a came out of the cockpit and I noticed it was Kelly from my first flight ! I talked to her for a little and then she went and shut the door and made her pre flight announcments. Yessssss no one in 3A . I scooched over and settled in the window seat. We taxied out to RWY 23 behind a UPS DC-8 and tookoff after it. We rattled over the city of Charlotte through the rain on up through the coulds. It was very smooth. I was surprised that the rain/clouds didn't bounce us. Kelly came around and gave me my sprite and pretzels and we talked for a little while. I was still full from the pizza so I put the pretzels in my backpack and took out my cd player. I listened to that and played solitare for a while. I had to use both tray tables to play and the cards always moved slighty to the left because of the vibrations from the props. I gave up on solitare and went to the bathroom. I noticed that the lav on this plane didnt have a sink. Kind of weird . It was dark and cloudy the whole flight so there was nothing to look at. I noticed that there are no window shades on the Dash-8's which is fine with me. We soon began our descent for RWY 7 in PHF. Cloudy skies in Newport News and we descended over the James River and over I-64 and Wal-mart. Across Jefferson Ave. and a smooth touch down on runway 7. A quick taxi to gate 3 and we pulled up next to sister ship N336EN. Kelly told me to take care and I said the same as I left the plane. Kelly was great. It was a nice night in PHF as we walked to the terminal. My mom was waiting for us and we went over to the bag claim. We got our bags in about 5 minutes and left the world of commercial aviation. I love US more and more everytime I fly them and I hope they don't go under. All of their aircraft were very nice and comfy. Long live US Airways .

    Next trip- July 24th-August 6th RIC-PHL-LHR-BCN-LHR-PHL-RIC
    GO SIOUX

  • #2
    Great report!!! That was a VERY good one. I love having the same f/a on the flights lol. it makes for a funyn story. about the hot girl im telling u ASK FOR HE RNUMBER!! anyway..glad u had a good time on US Airways.
    Alex.
    Stop Searching. Start Traveling. southwest.com

    Comment


    • #3
      Yay you finally got the report up! As always, GREAT report I love it because its so detailed.

      Have a GREAT time in Spain, I LOVED it. But not the flight, but that a whole diff story

      Thanks for mentioning me in your trip report Glad you had fun on your solo trip, and I hope your flying lessons go well.



      Next Flights:

      October 14, 2006 - Airtran MDW-MSP
      October 16, 2006 - Airtran MSP-MDW

      Comment


      • #4
        Sorry I wasn't the one who got to take you to PHL. Glad to hear you enjoyed the flights. I'm surprised we sent a -300 into PHL. We usually keep those around CLT, but have been sending some north lately.

        The seats are A/C, and D/F on the Dash's to keep them similar to the rest of the Boeings. I/E A being a window, C being an aisle.

        I wish you could have seen the registration certificate for the Dash's. They were made when Boeing had DeHavilland, and are certified as Boeing aircraft. I always check when I get in one just to see what it says.
        Bite me Airways.....

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by LRJet Guy
          Sorry I wasn't the one who got to take you to PHL. Glad to hear you enjoyed the flights. I'm surprised we sent a -300 into PHL. We usually keep those around CLT, but have been sending some north lately.

          The seats are A/C, and D/F on the Dash's to keep them similar to the rest of the Boeings. I/E A being a window, C being an aisle.

          I wish you could have seen the registration certificate for the Dash's. They were made when Boeing had DeHavilland, and are certified as Boeing aircraft. I always check when I get in one just to see what it says.
          I was surprised as well. The flight was 100% full though. No I didn't get to see the certificate for the Dash-8. I never knew that they were owned by Boeing at one point. Thats pretty interesting
          GO SIOUX

          Comment


          • #6
            I *LOVE* PHL. I went there on WN from PVD for a day trip to hang out (hey what the heck it was only $76.70 RT). I saw some E170's and I walked to A East over there and watched the BA747 come in . That was the sweetest thing I've seen in a while. But then I had to go back and board the Winglet 737 from WN .

            I'll DEFINITELY plan a trip to PHL again lol.

            Comment


            • #7
              Nice report and great picture on N300AU.

              I'm sure that photographer is very happy.

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              • #8
                Great report!

                Glad you got the chance to fly on the 170!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Great report!

                  Glad you got the chance to fly on the 170!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Nice report.
                    Go Red Sox!!

                    48-38 7.0 games back

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