On night flights, there's more to see than airline movies

The orange starfish stretched wide and large below me as I looked down from a great height...It was a reminder of how the view from an airplane window can sometimes be quite remarkable. In this case, it was a different perspective on the city of Winnipeg.

In the surrounding blackness, urban centres from the air look like crystalline decorations on the vast expanse of our planet. Despite the internal glare from a plane's lighting system, night views are not only possible, but frequently satisfying, if you happen to have a window seat.

During daylight hours we forget how widely developed our lighting systems have become. At night the grid structure of the streets and buildings look like lit-up circuit boards with capillary tentacles reaching to the outlying regions.

Many European cities, having evolved from walled enclosures, castles and market squares, spread out from a central hub evenly in all directions. I remember one night looking down on Dublin and being amazed at the symmetry of the radiating pattern. It looked like a perfectly-designed citadel or spider web.

Interesting night views are not limited to cities. Natural features like lakes and rivers are visible under clear skies and moonlight. Mercury snakes twist and turn under aircraft wings.

Clouds are equally fascinating. Flying south under a Caribbean moon one time, the clouds looked like dark gray cotton balls. They left darker shadows over the ocean below. At first I thought I was looking at islands in the water, but after a minute of looking down under the brightness of the moon, I realized the black shapes were patches of cloud shades on the water. Like herds of elephants slowly crossing a savanna, they marched in silent formations over the waterscape. It was a surprising and stunning sight.

If this is what we can see from our small oval windows along the fuselage, imagine what pilots see up front.

If you've had similar experiences, why not a add a comment below. I'd really like to hear about yours.

Notes:

To get a sense of how our cities look from outer space, see this illustrative YouTube video: "Cities at Night: An Orbital Tour Around the World."

Luggage fees result in more flying woes

In the desire to improve profitability, some airlines are making air travel even more of a hassle than it already is.

In the United States some carriers are charging a fee for checked luggage. On the face of it, it doesn't sound too bad: while the fees increase company revenue, costs presumably are also lowered by the reduction in the overall weight of the aircraft and the improved fuel efficiency. But the policy is turning passenger cabins into zoos.

I recently flew from Tampa Bay to Charlotte on a trip that illustrates how the flying experience has deteriorated.

With the luggage fees in effect, what happens is this: since many passengers want to avoid paying extra for checked bags, they pack more items in their carry-on luggage. Consequently, carry-on bags are becoming bigger and heavier.

It seems to me that people try to guess the maximum size of carry-on luggage and fervently hope the airline will pleasantly surprise them by using a wide-body aircraft on their particular flight.

Boarding, therefore, is taking longer. And it's testing the patience of both passengers and cabin staff. On my Boeing 757 flight to Charlotte, the boarding process took a full 40 minutes; I don't think it was an exception. As pre-boarding procedures (the accommodation of passengers travelling with small children and people in wheelchairs) get underway, the rest of the passengers begin to approach the gate entrance in anticipation of the rush. Just as soon as the staff announce the start of regular boarding, the scrum has already formed.

The lucky winners of the gateway dash move quickly on board and commandeer the overhead bins to store their oversized carry-ons. Those who step on the plane behind them begin the struggle for storage space. Flight attendants become mediators and start solving storage problems. They begin moving things around the cabin in an effort to find stowage for all. This takes time. An announcement follows, asking passengers to reconsider the placement of their luggage and to see if some items can be moved down from the overhead bins and placed underneath the seat in front of them.

On a full flight, some unlucky passengers inevitably find no room for their larger carry-ons and are forced to give them up to the flight attendants for checking into the hold.

All over America, economy ticket holders engage in boarding procedures that have become like a game of survivor, a procedure that sometimes approximates the length of the flight itself. When the plane finally takes off, you are left with this image of an unbalanced aircraft: it's flying sort of empty beneath the passenger floor and completely full in the cabin.

A few experiences like this, especially when you're facing a tight schedule, and you're ready to change airlines.

Now, more than ever, flying on some routes is indeed like being in a cattle car. The romance is gone.

Sigh.

A plane for the tired plane spotter

If you've driven by your local airport during peak traffic times, and especially on weekends, you may have noticed all those cars stopped near the runway fences.  That's because people are engaged in the hobby commonly known as "plane spotting."

What is plane spotting?  It's the observation and logging of aircraft types, their registration numbers and unique features. Also, it can be a thrilling experience for the young and old alike.

Now, a novelty... 

For the avid plane spotter and curious traveller, a hostel owner in Sweden may have just invented the consummate experience: sleeping in a converted 747 jumbo jet near the busy Stockholm-Arlanda airport. The seats have been removed and are being replaced by 25 guest rooms.  It's a daring idea.  See the details here.

If you're interested in learning more about plane spotting, a Toronto blog reveals all in its post entitled "Plane Spotting at Pearson Airport 101," which includes some dramatic photographs of a day spent under the big metal birds.

If you like aircraft and airlines in general, a stirring site to visit is Airliners. net for another exceptional collection of photos.

Related in Zanepost:

Eavesdropping on air traffic control

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Damaged airliner

Aviation officials are examining the nose cone of an airliner that was mysteriously damaged Sunday on a flight from Detroit to Tampa.

The nose of a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757 was crumpled, but the plane landed safely at it's destination. No one was injured.

What's curious is that Federal Aviation Officials today ruled out the possibility of a bird strike. Pilots said they heard a bang at 18,000 feet, apparently too high for a bird.
The investigation continues.

Read the New York Times account, or an Orlando television station's version here
(with photos).

Airline seat troubles

If you’ve travelled in economy class on a commercial airliner, you will no doubt be familiar with the challenge of staying comfortable in the tight seats. If you’d like to laugh (or cry) about the experience, don’t miss the latest post on the New York Times’ blog devoted to flying ("Jet Lagged"). The story by Wayne Curtis is entitled “A User’s Manual to Seat 21C” and any traveler will identify with some of the observations. Here’s an excerpt:

Directly ahead of you is the TRAY TABLE, which may be lowered for“snack service.” The circular depression in the upper right corner is for your plastic cup, an item you may find oddly wide-mouthed for something conveying sticky beverages in an environment subject to sudden and dramatic up-and-down and to-and-fro motions. Also, note the cup is designed such that empty mylar pretzel pellet bags stuffed in them to facilitate trash collection will not remain there, but will repeatedly and mesmerizingly creep back out and onto the tray table.

To read the full article, click here.

The blog’s contributors include a pilot, a flight attendant and several seasoned travel writers. The blog also lists as writers Clark Kent Ervin, the first Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, and essayist Pico Iyer.

Another well-known publication, National Geographic, has an interesting travel blog, called “Intelligent Travel.” It recently posted a story about the first carbon-neutral airline in the world. It's called NatureAir. Read how the Costa Rican company achieved this distinction here.

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Thanks to Ana Schaeffer for her photograph of the airline seat tray. She made it available at the stock.xchng.

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Related posts:

Eavesdropping on air traffic control

Thoughts on travel