JFK-MIA, Baby's first plane ride (with a few pics)
It was the baby's first trip. We flew AA down to MIA to see my grandmother in Miami and stroll with the baby along South Beach. Also, we love Cuban food and Miami has some great spots.
We left the house @0520 and got to JFK by 0605, parked and got shuttled to Terminal 9, which is just lovely. (Request to Steve, please take some great shots of the AA logos just past security. That is a brilliant touch) I just love what they are doing to that terminal.
The line for security was sparse. Within 20 minutes of checking in, we were upstairs in the AAdmirals Club and facing the Ramp Tower for AA.
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/ramp1.jpg
After some coffee, reading and email, we left the club and headed to the gate for boarding. We originally had a pair of window seats. (we'd take turns holding the baby) But when we gate checked the stroller and car seat, they moved our seats to the center 3 seats in the aisle. So baby got his first seat, all to himself.
Flight AA 1165 was on a 762, #324 was on the nose gear.
We boarded and got to our seats. While I was somewhat happy about him having his own seat, I was a bit disgruntled not being by the window :( C'est la vie.
We departed off 22R. The takeoff angle seemed extreme but I was not sure if that was genuine or due to parallax of being in a seat I am not sued to. But it did feel like our 767 was attempting to takeoff like a 757 :)
Departure seemed odd. We departed straight out over the water but then leveled at what seemed like 4000 feet and then turned east and flew alongside Long Island until we got to Freeport. Then we turned south again and started to climb once more. I thought this was bit unusual. Perhaps this was due to EWR traffic?
HUGE HUGE Congrats to Sebastian on his first flight. He cried for 5 minutes. 2 minutes on takeoff, three on landing. He is a natural aviator ;)
Landing at MIA was ROUGH. Lots of hard winds battered the plane with many last minute adjustments and float over the runway. Finally the pilot just dropped the plane at what seemed to be near the halfway point of the runway. As he taxied off and past the AeroSur N753NA, we could see parts of the plane left behind on our runway ;)
(Phil, is that AeroSur an old NA plane?)
We spent the next few days in MIA with my folks. Just lots of relaxing and enjoying family. And of course, dinner and the baby's first stroll on South Beach and a look into Mangoes on the Beach ;)
They live near a smaller airlfied called Tamiami, where I got some shots.
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/musuem1.jpg
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/museum2.jpg
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/lineup.jpg
They have a little air museum there, comparable to AirPower at FRG. In fact, while we have the 101 Tomcat, they got #100.
The trip back was on:
AA882, on an Airbus A300, ship #083. I have not been on these in a while. While I do not have the usual negative things to say about it that others do, I did find it had a roomy/high ceiling.
One thing about flying out of Miami's A terminal. Holy crap, what a disaster that place is.
We got to the gate, checked the baby's stroller but no seat changes today(I'm glad). We got our window seats and holding the baby was fine.
The wx was really terrible as far as visibility. I am sure the fires had something to do with it. We could literally smell the smoke from the fires.
But I did manage to get this shot. While she dodged me at JFK, I did see her in MIA and I was happy to see this.
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/focus.jpg
Can anyone here appreciate the irony that is this photo, especially for me?
As for the baby and mom, they had a wonderful flight. A little bit of chop but nohting to worry about. Again, he cried only for 3 minutes on descent. We were elated.
We landed on 13L at JFK and the darkness had settled over the land. As such, the strobes directing us through the Canarsie approach were lighting up the night. Excellent. The landing was smooth. We turned around and as we taxied back to our gate, I saw Pink Delta land behind us. I've finally see her. She looks impressive even in the dark.
Thanks for reading, hope you liked.
Please post any questions or comments.
