USA/Caribbean Trip Part 2: VX LAX-SEA (Photos)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Introduction:

Part 1: VA BNE-LAX: http://www.yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9280

Here is Part 2 of my report. This will include my Virgin America flight from LAX-SEA as well as what I did whilst in Seattle.

DAY 7: VIRGIN AMERICA LAX-SEA

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

After 6 nights in LA it was time to fly to Seattle. We caught a 7am shuttle to the airport, Virgin America use T3 at LAX. The Virgin America check-in at LAX doesn’t look like your usual check-in, it was very modern but I thought it was also very un-organized. After half an hour everything was sorted out and we were lined up at security. We finally got to our gate at around 8am for the 9am departure.

Our flight was departing from Gate 33B. We were originally meant to fly on an Airbus A319 (never been on an A319). But unfortunately a few months earlier it was changed to an A320 (which I have flown on loads of times). So I was hoping we would fly on N361VA, which is the only VX A320 with Sharklets. As we were waiting for our plane to come to our gate, I saw N361VA arrive! But she went to another gate! A few minutes later another A320 comes around the corner and into our gate. Didn’t see the rego so I’d just have to wait.

Virgin America Airbus A319 N530VA parked next to our plane
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5453/8980935176_6584ae7efb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980935176/)

Virgin America Airbus A320 N361VA with Sharklets!
http://l4.yimg.com/sm/5450/8979737921_f1d439cdf9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979737921/)

Boarding commenced about 30 minutes before departure.

June 1, 2013
Virgin America
VX781
LAX-SEA
N841VA A320
Seat 14A

My wing view
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3797/8980926794_1d88abcb0f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980926794/)

We taxied out to RWY24L, took off, and made our way north to Seattle.

Nice view
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3771/8979728421_353a940eb0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979728421/)

Love the American flag on the wingtip
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/8979723901_eec887dc3c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979723901/)

The flight map
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2822/8979719525_039648a459.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979719525/)

In cruise over California
http://l6.yimg.com/so/7390/8979715185_b32026ef83.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979715185/)

I see a plane heading our way!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/8979701939_7eec89b1d7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979701939/)

I think it was a Southwest Boeing 737
http://l4.yimg.com/sm/5322/8980891916_fa78f18cef.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980891916/)

I purchased the onboard Wi-Fi for this flight. It was pretty cool searching the internet at 36000ft. I went on flightradar24 and flightaware and tracked our flight haha! I found out that we were on N841VA. The cabin crew came through, VX offer some complimentary drinks and snacks for a price. I didn’t get anything.

Now over Oregon with some nice snowy mountains
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8277/8979684881_8a00a8f750.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979684881/)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/8979680501_5e9c665d37.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979680501/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/8979676531_56fae3bd2c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979676531/)

Crater Lake, it looked pretty cool from up here!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8263/8979671689_4e853e9a70.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979671689/)

http://l6.yimg.com/so/7331/8979667083_02b58285c7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979667083/)

http://l7.yimg.com/te/8279/8980856498_7220ef0f19.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980856498/)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Passing a contrail that belonged to a Sun Country Boeing 737
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2831/8980852012_e7c3707093.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980852012/)

Commencing our descent into Seattle
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/8980847808_d93d4771cb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980847808/)

Nice left turn
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8980834756_e8fec33d65.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980834756/)

Approaching Seattle
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/8979636041_b058f3b208.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979636041/)

Passing Tacoma Narrows Airport
http://l6.yimg.com/so/7417/8979630947_f5c4364d75.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979630947/)

Taxiing to the terminal after landing on RWY16R
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7347/8979626417_ef3f95f017.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979626417/)

Alaskan dominates Sea-Tac!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8556/8979621619_a99481a16f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979621619/)

More Alaskans!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7451/8980811752_d087719354.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980811752/)

The International Terminal with a ANA B77W, LH A333 and a DL B763 and B744
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/8979612923_7f1255a799.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979612923/)

At the gate
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2867/8980802474_f1250095c3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980802474/)

N841VA after flying me from LAX-SEA
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2865/8980842948_5561056526.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980842948/)

The flight to SEA was very good. Virgin America was great, the interior is very nice and having IFE was good. I would definitely fly with them again.

Seattle

We got out of the terminal and got on a bus to the rental car facility. We decided to rent a car a few months earlier after finding out just how far away our hotel is from Sea-Tac. We wanted to go to Boeing Field and into Seattle as well whilst we were there so getting a car would be best. After about an hour sorting it all out we had a car and we were on our way to Paine Field. It is about a 45 minute drive. We drove past Boeing Field and had a few flights go overhead!

Emirates Boeing 777-200LR A6-EWA on its way into Sea-Tac
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7348/8979643905_892155c5af.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979643905/)

Asiana Airbus A330-300 HL7794 also going into Sea-Tac
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/8980772686_39ec469aeb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980772686/)

Seattle!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8535/8979588499_0b49279352.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979588499/)

Some photos as we arrive at Paine Field. Lots of 787s!! Also saw a 747 Dreamlifter.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3690/8979559617_210032b707.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979559617/)

[Brandon Giacomin]

JAL and Qatar 787s
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/8980745582_bdd24a33d7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980745582/)

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which is right next to the Future of Flight centre.

The view from our hotel room
http://l2.yimg.com/sk/3716/8980726758_4dfc3df880.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980726758/)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/8980719300_41e0740193.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980719300/)

We just stayed at the hotel for the day. Not much was happening at Paine Field. There were just a few light aircraft doing circuits and one 777 that departed.

Etihad B77W A6-ETP departs to Portland for painting
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/8979823581_ea181aa301.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979823581/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/8981014100_5b88edd2f0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981014100/)

The Dreamlifter
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2869/8979813969_37009b7f42.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979813969/)

The first 787 for BA
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5330/8980984396_ce5a84d58d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980984396/)

Lots of 787s over there!
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5448/8979774553_9207879e24.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979774553/)

Future of Flight building
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8260/8979763035_34ae7f9f97.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8979763035/)

More photos from Paine Field can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633993400190/

DAY 8: BOEING FACTORY TOUR AND SEATTLE SPACE NEEDLE

Before doing the Boeing Tour we went down to see if anything was happening. And there was an ANA 787 about to land.

JA820A
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/8982121828_6d127feab1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982121828/)

We then had a look through the Future of Flight museum.

Future of Flight
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5448/8982118584_4aca3a64db.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982118584/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/8980905183_7d3c420547.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980905183/)

A real Boeing 727 cockpit
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/8980917345_9700ea96ce.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980917345/)

We did a 10am tour of the Boeing Factory. The tour goes for 90 minutes and takes you to the 747-8, 777 and 787 production lines. It was a very good tour; the only downside is that you aren’t allowed to take photos. The highlight was seeing Jetstar’s first Boeing 787-8 in final assembly. On the 747 line there was another 747-8F for Cathay Pacific Cargo, can’t remember what else. On the 777 line there was a B77W for Emirates and TAM and a B772 for Asiana. On the 787 line there was an aircraft for ANA, BA and of course Jetstar.

In the afternoon we drove into Seattle to go up the space needle. Seattle is a beautiful city!

The Space Needle
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/8980898781_3cf4b45a37.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980898781/)

And the view, very nice!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/8980892675_02deab64ef.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8980892675/)

More photos can be seen here if anyone is interested.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633990786567/

We also drove down to Boeing Field and drove around before returning to Paine Field.

[Brandon Giacomin]

DAY 9: BOEING FIELD, SEATTLE AIRPORT AND RENTON AIRPORT

It was our last day in Seattle. That night we would fly to St Maarten via Miami. In the morning, after checking out we noticed an awesome visitor to Paine Field!

Antonov Design Bureau AN-124 UR-82027
http://l7.yimg.com/te/8393/8981624539_bfe0fe3104.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981624539/)

We went to Boeing Field in the morning and pretty much just drove around in the afternoon. Boeing Field was really good, some awesome aircraft on display. The first Boeing 737 and 747, a BA Concorde, the old Air Force One, an American Boeing 727 and a Super Constellation.

Boeing 787 N787FT departs Boeing Field
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/8982574248_5c61376c9d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982574248/)

Museum of Flight
http://l4.yimg.com/sm/5326/8982572502_157b32ca30.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982572502/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/8982555574_b0ba264bd9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982555574/)

Malindo Air Boeing 737-900ER 9M-LNH departs Boeing Field
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/8981346827_6530f2d561.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981346827/)

BA Concorde :D
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/8982528520_b1d7b5b5e0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982528520/)

Concorde interior
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8981326755_36357b95fd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981326755/)

Concorde cockpit
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2813/8982515770_69a514422f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982515770/)

The first Boeing 737
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/8982499132_678be70f2d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982499132/)

American Airlines Boeing 727
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2856/8981293531_04a1c31970.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981293531/)

The old Air Force One
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/8982437090_076d31ede1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982437090/)

Super Constellation
http://l2.yimg.com/sk/3815/8981240831_57f9345236.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981240831/)

The first Boeing 747
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7458/8981237091_6930e5b79a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981237091/)

More photos from Boeing Field can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633993345149/

In the afternoon we drove to Sea-Tac and tried to find somewhere to take photos. We eventually found a spot for RWY16L/C/R arrivals, but then they changed to RWY34 ops! We drove around the other side of the airport but couldn’t find the spot we were after. So we decided to try and find Renton Airport, where Boeing builds the 737s. We found it quite easily and found a good spot for photos. The only movements were a few light planes doing circuits.

Boeing 737s at Renton
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/8982337526_f0e8545c1e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8982337526/)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Some light planes
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/8981131831_38469d14a1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981131831/)

More photos from Renton can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/sets/72157633995078907/

After that we drove back to Sea-Tac. Here is a photo of Mount Rainier on the drive to the airport. It is very impressive!
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2886/8981104037_4982053426.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon301095/8981104037/)

Dropped the car off and got to the airport for the flight to MIA. Part 3 of the report will include the flight from SEA-MIA and MIA-SXM, as well as what I did while in St Maarten! Seattle is a very nice city, much better than LA! I would definitely go back to Seattle.

Thanks for reading!

Brandon

[Rob Fluke]

Great report Brandon...

Glad to hear Virgin America was a good Airline to fly with as I'll be using them for my SFO-LAS leg of my trip in September (Which is scheduled to be an A319 so fingers crossed it stays that way lol)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Thanks Rob. Yeah Virgin America were good to fly with.

Also, I forgot to share Josh's video of the takeoff and landing. So here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwcwe_B4wzI

[Jacob L]

Was there any reason that you couldn't take photos on the tour,
Competitors or something???

Great 2nd part

Jacob:)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Hey Jacob,

They gave us two reasons. The first was that you could drop cameras, phones etc. and they could damage equipment or the brand new planes below! Which I thought was fair enough. When taking the tour you walk around on a path above the factory and the railing is only 1m or so high.

The second reason was that competitor's could see the equipment they use and steal there ideas I guess. I thought this was pretty stupid considering anyone can take the tour. Somebody from another aircraft manufacturer could take it and no-one would know. Also there are lots of photos inside the factory already. For example, Qantas and Jetstar went to Seattle recently to see their first 787 and there are photos of it on the internet. There is even a documentary that shows to 747-8 assembly line.

Would've been good being able to take photos. But it doesn't matter.

Brandon

[Ben C]

Hi Brandon,

Awesome trip report!

I was just wondering how much the car hire was? and if you were under 25? A few friends and I are going in February and can't seem to find any reasonable cars for our age.

Thanks, Ben

[Jacob L]

Cheers Brandon

Thanks for the insight

Jacob

[Brandon Giacomin]

Hey Ben,

I am only 17 so I couldn't drive over there. My mate is 18, so our options were limited. We found one place and that was E-Z Rent-A-Car. It cost about $430 for the 2 days :eek: But because the hotel was quite far from Boeing Field and Sea-Tac, it probably would've been a similar price getting around by taxi. Having a car was just easier and more convenient.

Cheers,
Brandon

[Ben C]

Yeah we have decided to use busses as the car would cost $3000+ for the amount of time we would need it