My Summer adventure part I

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MSS658
Posts: 555
Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

My Summer trip part I



After a long while of abscense I decided (and had time) to upload another trip. This trip contains the following flight (between arrows)

-> 14/07/2008 9W 0228 Brussels-Newark Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER <-
15/07/2008 AA 0915 New York JFK-Miami American Airlines Airbus A300-600
20/07/2008 AA 4959 Miami-Jacksonville American Eagle ATR 72
21/07/2008 FL 0026 Jacksonville-Atlanta Air Tran Boeing 717-200
04/08/2008 B6 1086 Charlotte-New York JFK Embrear 190
04/08/2008 9W 0227 Newark-Brussels Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER
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Background:
For my 18th birthday I wanted to make a special trip with alot of new aircraft types. Eventually after a month planning (dates, flights,…) I finally put this trip together.

Pre-departure:
Eventually for the longhaul segment I found a good deal with AI on their CDG-EWR route for 627 Euros. But the night before it was booked it changed to 800 Euros. About on par as 9W’s fare on their BRU-EWR route. So It was chosen. But untill halfway June I couldn’t find my itinerary online. Seat selection was aswell unavailible. The night before I wasn’t able to use the online checkin service. A minus point there. Due to a local party in my neighbourhood I was only able to sleep 4hrs. So the early get up at 4 hitted quiet hard. Leaving a bit later than scheduled and a miscalculated train departure time at my city made me just miss my train. But I still got to the Airport around 8AM.
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@ the Airport
Check in was not so crowded as First taught. Jet Airways haves 3 flights leaving at the same time. Toronto, JFK and my Newark flight. They arrived around 7AM from Chennai,Delhi and Mumbai. When these planes leave to the US. The US arrivals arrive. Wich leave around 11 back to India. I suppose the majority of the pax already checked in in India the night before. But at 820 I was clear to go thru passport control. About immediatly after I went thru security. Letting me clear to spot. After the usual 3 SN widebodys to Africa. (OO-SFM/O/N and another one.) I immediatly noticed 3 planes in the Jet Airways colors. 2. A330’s (VT-JWL and VT-JWB) going to YYZ and JFK. Besides that there was my 77W VT-JEB that will bring me to Newark. TUI’s leased plane EI-DMJ (former PH-BZB with KLM, flew it in March 2005 from Amsterdam to Atlanta) was also docked. Besides that a few US widebodies have reached BRU by that time. However due to bad weather in New York. Continental, American and Delta’s arrivals were late. But I did see N376AA who flew in from ORD and being prepared to go as AA 171 to JFK. At the end of the concourse Delta’s nonstop to Atlanta had arrived at gate B37. Today N153DL (former ex-gulf bird) was assigned to the Atlanta-Brussels run. At 9h00 I went to gate B33 where boarding had started.
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Delta N153DL Image
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The flight:
Monday 14 July 2008
Brussels(BRU/EBBR)-Newark(EWR/KEWR)
Jet Airways 228
Boeing 777-3H5ER VT-JEB. Economy 54K
09h45-09h47 (Gate B33; wheels up on runway 25R at 10h03)
11h55-11h34 (Gate B55; wheels down on runway 22R at 11h28)
Cruising Altitude: FL 320,340 and 360.
Load factor: 95% in Y
Routing: Brussels-London-North Atlantic track B-Gander-Boston-Newark
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=BRU- ... MAP-STYLE=

Boarding was via the 2L door. Making me view the Business class cabin. Looked kind of narrow to me. I was sitting in the rear Economy cabin. I was surprised to see the cabin in this early boarding stage so full already. I was greeted about at every doorway. Nice tuch. But no hassle, I found my seat 54K. while waiting I settled in and looked at the Delta 767 being prepared to Atlanta. Before takeoff we got a hot towel service WOW!!!. During the boarding the captain introduced himself and his FO. Even he explained the history of their careers. At 9h45 the doors where closed and 54H and J remained empty. That’s nice. Before pushback we recieved a hot towel service. What a treat (For someone like me who usually goes with Delta or Continental) After the saftey video played we lifted up at 10h03. Liked the Music played onboard at takeoff.
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About 10 minutes into the flight the AVOD was switched on. About immediatly I started playing with al the functions and tested about everything out. Here are some pics of the Avod.
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Then I recieved a menu.Yes a menu-card. It showed a page for the earlier Mumbai-Brussels segment and our flight to Newark: The BOM-BRU sector consisted over a light snack and Breakfast prior to its arrival in Brussels. The Menu on our flight consisted of the next
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Brussels-Newark

Indian selection:
Appetizer: Assorted lettuce with red raddish, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and cucumber

Entree: Murgh Tariwala
Tender morsels of chicken simmerd in a home style gravy of onion and tomatoes spiked with pounded spices
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Achaari Baingan (Vegetarian option)
Baby aubergines simmered in an onion masala temperd with pickling spices

Dessert: Gajar ka Halwa
Grated carrots cooked with suger, cardamon and reduced milk

International selection:
Appetizer: Assorted lettuce with red raddish, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and cucumber

Entree: Poaled Nile Perch
Served with chervil hollandaise, fried potato bits, sautéed mixed vegtables

Dessert
Chocolate Profiterole with Crème Anglaise


Afternoon refreshment:
Entree: Kali Mirch Tikka, Machli Amritsari
Morsels of chicken steeped in a fiery black pepper marinade and roasted in a clay ocen: Medallions of fish dipped in a gram flour, chilli, carom and vinegar marination and fried

Samosa Chhole (vegetarian)
Fritters of refined flour filled with spiced potato and green pea mixture, served with chickpeas cooked with seeds.
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Dessert: Pista Kulfi
Indian style pistachio flavored ice cream.


I opted for the Murh Tariwala wich I tought was good. O yeah, we got real napkins and real silverware

After the meal I setteld me in for the AVOD system, watched the movie Be Kind, rewind. Once finished I realized that Newark was even less than 3 hours away. Doesn’t time fly somtimes.



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About 2 hours before our landing in EWR the Afternoon refreshement was served.
Then I opted for the vegetarian option. Wich was quite spicy.

The crew on this leg were very nice. One FA even came and asked me if I was enjoying the flight etc,… when I sended in my paper for the flight details the captain even gave me the original ICAO clearence.

We did had a little incident in our row. Since 54H en 54J remained empy. Frequently during the meal service people stepped aside for the cart to pass thru. During the second meal service a kid that moved in the Seats got sick. Just in time I managed to get my stuff away from the aisle seat. And was glad that nobody was sitting in 54H. The crew took care of the situation. Even apologized to me for the inconvienience.

Shortly after this we were flying over Boston and soon started our decent down. At around 11h28 we landed in a rather wet Newark, NJ about 11h35 we got docked at the gate besides an EL AL flight from Tel Aviv. Also just arrived from Geneva was Continental’s Boeing 767-400 N66056. The plane that took me back in April from Houston to Amsterdam.



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While deboarding I asked if i could visit the flight deck wich they replied. Sure, ifcourse. So here some cockpit shots and some cabin shots while deboarding.
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Immigration and Customs was a breeze by 12h15 I was out and about. Since my hotel was at the JFK airport I reserved the Olympic airporter to take me to JFK. At 13h15 the shuttlle arrived. Due to some traffic problems we only reached JFK’s terminal 1 at 15h15, just to find out I had to take the airtrain before continuing on to my hotel. After that worked out I arrived at the hotel at JFK. On my way I spotted at terminal 8 VT-JWL wich had flewn in from Delhi via Brussels

As a bonus I would like to give a list of regs I spotted in BRU and EWR.

BRU:
VT-JEB
VT-JWL
VT-JWB
N376AA
EI-DMJ
N153DL
OO-SFM/N/O/V
ET-ALP

EWR:
AX-ECC
N66056
VT-JEB

My Total travel time was about 16hours and 30 mins.

Thank you for viewing and stay tuned for part II (Spotting at JFK + American A300 JFK-MIA)
Last edited by MSS658 on 25 Aug 2008, 17:54, edited 2 times in total.

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Comet
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by Comet »

That's a great report, and interesting photos. Is that port one Zeebrugge?

I hope I see a Jet Airways plane when I'm at BRU, I've not seen one before.

And I love the flightdeck photos, lucky you!
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

MSS658
Posts: 555
Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

Comet wrote:That's a great report, and interesting photos. Is that port one Zeebrugge?

I hope I see a Jet Airways plane when I'm at BRU, I've not seen one before.

And I love the flightdeck photos, lucky you!

Thanks,


it is Zeebrugge indeed, we had a nice view of Ghent and Brugge and Zeebrugge. Good luck on spotting the Jet Airways planes in BRU

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sn26567
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by sn26567 »

Nice report. You have selected some nice flights for your trip. But why Jacksonville?
André
ex Sabena #26567

MSS658
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Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

sn26567 wrote:Nice report. You have selected some nice flights for your trip. But why Jacksonville?

Thanks for the comment. JAX was chosen because of the connecter point between the American Eagle ATR and the Air Tran 717. Didn't know any other place to connect between these aircraft (maybe Ft. Meyers?)

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Comet
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by Comet »

MSS658 wrote:
Comet wrote:That's a great report, and interesting photos. Is that port one Zeebrugge?

I hope I see a Jet Airways plane when I'm at BRU, I've not seen one before.

And I love the flightdeck photos, lucky you!

Thanks,


it is Zeebrugge indeed, we had a nice view of Ghent and Brugge and Zeebrugge. Good luck on spotting the Jet Airways planes in BRU
Thanks for answering my question, I had seen Zeebrugge on Google Earth but have never flown over it, I think it is quite easy to see if you do fly over because of its distinctive shape. I think flights from the UK often enter Belgium over Oostende (that is what we have been told if the pilot has made an announcement about our route). I don't know how other towns look from the air, so I will have to spend a bit of time on Google Earth so I can learn to find them :mrgreen:
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

MSS658
Posts: 555
Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

Comet wrote:
MSS658 wrote:
Comet wrote:That's a great report, and interesting photos. Is that port one Zeebrugge?

I hope I see a Jet Airways plane when I'm at BRU, I've not seen one before.

And I love the flightdeck photos, lucky you!

Thanks,


it is Zeebrugge indeed, we had a nice view of Ghent and Brugge and Zeebrugge. Good luck on spotting the Jet Airways planes in BRU
Thanks for answering my question, I had seen Zeebrugge on Google Earth but have never flown over it, I think it is quite easy to see if you do fly over because of its distinctive shape. I think flights from the UK often enter Belgium over Oostende (that is what we have been told if the pilot has made an announcement about our route). I don't know how other towns look from the air, so I will have to spend a bit of time on Google Earth so I can learn to find them :mrgreen:
I think we actually flew over Oostende to. but due to the short distance (approx 20kms) and the cloudless day made it possible to see Zeebrugge clearly.

regi
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by regi »

Very nice report indeed.
But some lacks: where is the picture of what happened when that kid got sick on that seat next to you? :)

Looking at the Zeebrugge harbour picture and keeping in mind that it is made under an angle becasue you look outside, I guess you practically flew above my head that time.
(I live at Bruges )

Nice to see the report about Jet Airways so detailed. because I take them in consideration for a long haul flight. An important question I had is now solved: is the plane cleaned, and how, during the stop at Brussels?
Well, Jet Airways made a good impression. ( but I took note of that seat nr. where the kid vomitted )

Outsync
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Joined: 19 Jan 2007, 15:17

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by Outsync »

regi wrote:Very nice report indeed.
But some lacks: where is the picture of what happened when that kid got sick on that seat next to you? :)

Looking at the Zeebrugge harbour picture and keeping in mind that it is made under an angle becasue you look outside, I guess you practically flew above my head that time.
(I live at Bruges )

Nice to see the report about Jet Airways so detailed. because I take them in consideration for a long haul flight. An important question I had is now solved: is the plane cleaned, and how, during the stop at Brussels?
Well, Jet Airways made a good impression. ( but I took note of that seat nr. where the kid vomitted )
Of course the plane is cleaned, all pax debark then the plane is cleaned, serviced and catered

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cathay belgium
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by cathay belgium »

Nice report!
New types flown 2022.. A339

MSS658
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Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

regi wrote:Very nice report indeed.
But some lacks: where is the picture of what happened when that kid got sick on that seat next to you? :)

Looking at the Zeebrugge harbour picture and keeping in mind that it is made under an angle becasue you look outside, I guess you practically flew above my head that time.
(I live at Bruges )

Nice to see the report about Jet Airways so detailed. because I take them in consideration for a long haul flight. An important question I had is now solved: is the plane cleaned, and how, during the stop at Brussels?
Well, Jet Airways made a good impression. ( but I took note of that seat nr. where the kid vomitted )
Thanks, Indeed we flew right overhead Bruges (is my school town :)). The mess got cleaned up immediatly (well at least the smell was gone). Thank goodness nobody was sitting there

MSS658
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Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

cathay belgium wrote:Nice report!
Thank you

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Moons / A
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by Moons / A »

Excellent report with many pics and nice vids ! :)

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luchtzak
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by luchtzak »

Indeed nice report! 8-)

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sab319
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by sab319 »

very nice and detailed report, looking forward to read the other legs :)

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Comet
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by Comet »

Just seen the videos (had to switch to IE because Firefox won't display them). They really add alot to the report! I have never had the opportunity to go on a plan with seatback entertainment, it looks better than the ones where you just get one screen for half the cabin.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

MSS658
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Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

thanks for the comments.

@ Luchtzak, thanks again for the help with the vids.

HighInTheSky
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Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by HighInTheSky »

MSS658 wrote:...After the usual 3 SN widebodys to Africa. (OO-SFM/O/N and another one.)...
That last one should be OO-SFW ;)

But, VERY nice report!

MSS658
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Joined: 14 Nov 2004, 00:00
Location: Maarkedal,Belguim

Re: My Summer adventure part I

Post by MSS658 »

HighInTheSky wrote:
MSS658 wrote:...After the usual 3 SN widebodys to Africa. (OO-SFM/O/N and another one.)...
That last one should be OO-SFW ;)

But, VERY nice report!

thanks

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