There's a lot to see if you take the time to look out the window.

Uniform Taxiway at the NWA, now DAL terminal in DTW from an A-320 jump seat while commuting to work from BOS. N343NW, MSN 387, mfg 11/92

Looking out the window at a new American Triple-7 a few years ago.

Early morning departure from MEM to MIA in a B-727-251, N297NW, MSN 21789, mfg 1979.

DC-10, 30L at MSP.

Spirit A-320 pushing back at TPA. 5/29/05

Horizon Dash-8, South ramp, SEA. 6/22/05

Somewhere over the planet earth.

Waiting to depart 36L at MCO in a 757-300. How can I tell that this is a 300 series? Only by it's a/c number, 5814. N594NW, MSN 32994, mfg 8/03.

More from over the earth.

Climbing past Mt Rainier in a B-757 headed for MSP. 6/11/05

And again a week later on our way to DTW. 6/11/05

Arriving runway 30L, MSP. 12/18/05

Landing runway 30L, MSP. 12/18/05

Departing runway 30L, MSP. 12/31/05

While on a HNL layover I arranged for and flew on a HNL/HKO Hawaiian Airlines jumpseat. 1/8/07
Great crew, you'll find there pictures under the crew tab.

While on a HNL layover, I flew jumpseat from HNL to HKO and back on this brand new Hawaiian B717. Here we're taxiing into the gate on Golf taxiway at HNL.

On the ground, early morning at HNL

Somewher between HKO (Kona) and HNL in a B-717.

Flying up the Pearl Harbor channel towards HNL in a B717.

Right base to final for 8L at HNL in a B-717. It even smelled new.

Arrive Saipan from Nagoya

Passing the east end of Oahu, next stop SEA.

Out the window of LGA Flight Ops.

Honolulu, Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head as we depart for SFO.

Landing, Amsterdam, 36R, sunrise with fog.

Finishing the pushback JFK-TLV

AMS to BDL (Hartford, CT)

North Atlantic Track System

At about 40 West.

It's crowded out here.

Scenes along the way from LAX to HNL in a B-757-300
1/8/07, Aircraft 5812, N592NW, MSN 32992, mfg 6/30/03.

Just off LAX, Malibu to the right

The Channel Islands, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa here.

Airway R576 at Dialo. N29W139. No whale watching today.

Descending on the MAGGI3 Arrival to 8L at HNL

And now off to Dukes!

Airline pilots are often accused of never looking out the window.... Says who?

Arr DTW from DUS, 757-200-OW.

My 744 OE w/ Gene Peterson

Lv DTW to NGO 744, N673US, MSN 30268, mfg 8/99.

Inbound to HNL, 757-300, with Marc

I. Lipworth, ANE. DTW River.

DTW

Taipei

LAX to HNL, 757-300

Landing HNL, 753

A documentary film. (F-27)

FRA to DTW 767-300ER

Beijing, going to SFO, 767-300ER

Buckle up and follow along as we approach SEA (from HNL) in a 757-300 at sunrise. 7/4/07

Sunrise over the Pacific. Mt Rainier is just a bump on the horizon.

Mt Rainier surrounded by morning clouds and fog.

ILS to 34 Center, as the condensation nuclei moves in.

SEA Tower and Mt Rainier as we taxi to our gate.

It's a beautiful sight isn't it?

SEA was one of my favorite layovers.

ANE DC-3 landing runway 27 BOS, 1974. Aircraft N25666 was built for Braniff in 1939.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico. The southern most of the Rocky Mt chain. 35,000' eastbound from LAX to MEM in a 727.

Number 2, waiting to depart 34L, NRT to SPN. 744, N672US, MSN 30267, mfg 7/99.

Southbound B586, VASKO, near Iwo Jima, N24.46.3 E141.18.5

Landing runway 7, SPN

Parked at the gate. This was a great layover. 757-251, N533US, MSN 24264, mfg 9/88.

Views from my 1946 J-3 Cub

Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. 4/30/06

Mt Monadnock, NH. 11/12/05

Ipswich Bay & Plum Island, MA. 4/29/06

Bob Zaminski's airfield, Mason, NH. 5/28/06

These three photos, taken in SEA, (11/19/05) were taken over a five minute time span. How the WX changes!

Number two behind Alaska on Bravo taxiway. 737-990, N315AS, MSN 30019, mfg 9/02

Alaska in position on 16L, We're still on Bravo. RVR is 900 feet.

We're now in position on16L. RVR is 1800 feet, our departure alternate is PDX.

Shortly after takeoff we're out of the WX and flying past Mt Rainier. 757-200

But the valleys below are still thick in fog as we climb to altitude and head for DTW.

"Welcome to good old Boston, home of the bean and the cod, where the Cabots only speak with the Lodges and the Lodges speak only with God"  The Boston Prayer, 1910 Holy Cross Alumni dinner.

Overhead Graves Light looking towards, Winthrop, Logan and downtown Boston. (9/17/07 all 4)

Over Dorchester Bay, U.Mass, JFK Library, Fort Independence, 4L & 4R ahead.

Over Old Harbor, Pleasant Bay, Fort Independence, South Boston, 4L&R ahead.

Logan tower, 22 stories, 285' tall, completed 1973, $7.2M.

Overhead Grave's Light, built 1905, 113' tall, landing runway 27 at BOS.

Approaching Point Shirley, landing 27 BOS.

CAL is on Charlie taxiing to 33L.

From BOS we'll fly 3º N and 22º W  (1,200 miles) to MSP to land on runway 30L in light snow. 1/18/07

Visual at 500', approaching 30L. All checklists complete but my eyes do a quick scan; gear down, flaps 30º, the right airport. (Old habits are hard to break.)

30L, MSP, approaching the Minnesota River. This river joins the Mississippi River just off to our right. In case you're wondering... yes, the auto pilot is off and this is a lot of fun!

Route 5, we're almost there. Pick up a sandwich and coffee at Starbucks, de-ice, then off to LAX.

In the alleyway.

We're parking at gate F3, just beyond the Airbus but will leave from F9 to LAX.

Taxiing to the "reef" runway, 8R at HNL in a 757-300.

Landing 21L, DTW, A-320.

Nagoya, 757-251, waiting for our gate to open. N540US, MSN 26487, mfg 4/96.

Landing on 4 at LGA
Have you ever wondered what it looks like to land on runway 4 at LGA? It's only 7,001 feet long.
The pics on the right are what the captain would see from his seat as they get closer to the airport.
The pics on the left are (close) to what the captain would see if he looked out his side window at that time.
BOEING 757-200 CONFIGURATION
Gear would be down, flaps at 30º, speed brakes armed, auto brakes at medium, speed Vref+5.
but before we get into the approach...

This is what you'd see if you were on taxiway Bravo, holding short of the "ILS Hold Point" awaiting a clearance onto runway 4. 2/6/05

Moments later this 757 would be flying past heading for the 1,000 foot touchdown zone. The pics below reference what this captain would have seen as he approached runway 4 today. 2/6/05

Now let's take a look over here from the control towers perspective.

If you were in the LGA control tower and looking over towards where the DAL 757 above is about to land, you'd see this. There's runway 4 with the old Pan Am Hangar just beyond and Manhattan beyond that. The USAir Airbus is touching down where the 757 will momentarily. You can also see the orange/white blast fence here as well as in the top right photo too.

Looking out your left window you'd be on the east side of the East River over Brooklyn, looking towards Mid Town Manhattan at the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the United Nations Building.

On about a two mile final, 4, LGA.

To the left the captain would see the old Pan Am Hangar and this, the Marine Air Terminal used by Pan Am when they were flying Boeing 214's, the Flying Boats to Europe just before WWII. If you've never been in here it's worth a trip to New York to see.

You're on short final over Rt 278 or Grand Central Parkway. We're in Queens and ahead to the left is Rikers Island in the Bronx. The water that you see ahead is the mouth of the East River. Many call this runway "zero four." I don't know why, there's no zero there.

If Sully had looked to his left just before takeoff he'd likely have seen Donald Trumps 727 on this ramp. It was always there. He has a 757 now. 727-23, former American Airlines mfg, 1968.

Of course you wouldn't be touching down on the numbers in a jet. But this view is exactly what Sully Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles would have seen as they departed on USAir flight 1549 on 1/15/09 into history.

Hopefully you've decelerated quickly enough to turn off onto taxiway Papa, just prior to runway 13/31 as they're using that for departure today. Your FO has already called LGA Ops to tell them your on the ground and they advise that your gate is open. (Really!! This is LaGuardia.) LGA Ground will now clear you to the gate via Bravo and Zulu. Taxiing down Bravo parallel to 13/31 by taxiway Kilo you'd see this iconic NY sign. Keep your eyes open, it's tight down here with a lot of ground traffic.

Tel Aviv (TLV) after a 10-hour flight from JFK.

Join me as I catch a ride from Saipan to Nagoya in the jump seat of a B-757

Approaching runway 36, 11,483ft.

One of many manmade, island built airports in Japan.

It's 12' above sea level. 757-251, N540US, MSN 26487, mfg 4/96.

We're almost there.

And at the gate.

This was the end of a 12 day trip in 2008 while flying "inter-Asia" on the 757. Technically I'm supposed to layover in NGO and deadhead back to DTW tomorrow. But I've waived my rest requirements and crew sched has cleared me to jump on this afternoons 747-400 back to JFK and get home 24 hours early. At JFK I'll have 35 minutes to connect with a jetBlue A-319 to BOS. The 12-hour flight in a 1st class seat should provide sufficient rest. It's interesting what you'll do when your nose is pointed home.

To watch a 747-400 TO/L at LAX, CLICK ON this photo. Here we're landing on 22L, DTW, 747-400.

DTW

Across the North Atlantic: Boston to Amsterdam in a 757-200-OW.

Sunrise at 20º west longitude.

KLM whistled past us at .85 mach. We'll see them later.

At about 15º west as we contemplate breakfast.

One quick turn in the hold...

Approaching 18C at AMS.

Three green, flaps 30º, speed brakes armed, Bug +5, let's land.

Approaching the gate, there's the 747 again.

On Uniform taxiway, DTW, 747-400 waiting for our gate.

It's 3 a.m. approaching Chicago and Lake Michigan in a 757.

Holding short 36L, Amsterdam, 757, destination BOS.

Arriving SLC from HNL in a B-767-300ER

#1 for departure behind arriving SWA 737, PDX

Sky brightens at 25º West, DTW-FRA, B-757.

Sunrise at 23º West. Possible weather ahead.

Approaching the continent, DTW-FRA B-767-300ER

Approaching oceanic exit point PORGY (N56W058) in Labrador, en route from FRA to DTW, 757-200-OW. We're finished with HF and have contacted Gander on VHF just north of our eastern ETOPS diversion airport at GooseBay. Lunch, 2 more cups of coffee and we'll be back in DTW.

LGA to MSP then continuing to SEA in a 757-200.

On taxiway Alpha heading for runway 4, located over by the Marine Air Terminal at LGA. We're off to MSP where it's been snowing most of the day, change airplanes and then head out for SEA. Coast to coast with a quick stop in Minnesota.

Landing on 12L at MSP as many aircraft congregate at the de-ice pad off to our right. Although snowing most of the day MSP does a great job clearing their runways. Weather is 600 overcast, a mile and a half in snow with light winds. Picked up a little ice on the approach as seen on the wiper bolt. Yeah... this is fun.

Fall in line behind this A-320-212 (N350NA, MSN 418, mfg 3/93)

and we're off to find our gate.

We're headed to the gate just to the right of the Airbus, then it's off to G16 to find our next aircraft to SEA.

Gate G16 where we find aircraft 5653, N553NW, MSN 26500, mfg 9/01.

My FO doing a walk around inspection. Looks pretty good, let's go! This is a -200 model so won't be the aircraft that we use tomorrow to span the Pacific to HNL.

London Gatwick (England)
Taxiing out and waiting to depart runway 26L, 8/23/08, 1100L
LGW or EGKK to KDTW

We've just pushed back off our gate and start our taxi for runway 26L at Gatwick. From what had been a golf course in the 1920's a small airfield evolved and in 1939 the Air Ministry requisitioned it for the RAF during WWII.

Approaching the bridge that connects Pier 6 with the North Terminal. Built in 2005 to span taxiway Lima, it's 22 meters high and 128 meters long and will accommodate an A-380.

Paul, one of my FO's for this trip, is British. We've reached the 26L CAT III hold bar and been advised that our departure will be delayed for 30 minutes due to traffic at our Oceanic Entry Point.

We're so close to our OEP that we shut down our engines to conserve fuel, advise our passengers, brief our takeoff, departure and oceanic entry procedures and then ask for coffee and chocolate chip cookies to enjoy the airshow. You'll see arrivals off our left and departures off our right from our B-757-200-OW as we critique European airman. 26L has a very long displaced threshold which precluded me from getting "smoking tires" touchdown photography.

ATC gives us a ten minutes heads-up. We started our engines, spoke to the folks with an updated DTW arrival time, ran our checklists and reviewed our takeoff and departure procedures. We'll be underway in a moment. Winds from the west are light today so Dispatch increased our cruise speed from .80 to .81 and we anticipate an "On Time" arrival in DTW saving all of our domestic connections. You can see here the long displaced threshold that I'd mentioned earlier. We're heavy today so you can see that I followed the yellow line that provided the most possible runway. Not that I wouldn't anyway.

Shortly after takeoff we reached our Oceanic Entry Point west of Scotland as this Lufthansa 747-400 whistles past.

Not too much later this NWA A-330 passes overhead flying from Paris to DTW.

And this is how Gatwick appeared in the mid 1970s with BAC 111's, VC-10s, Comets and a DC-6 at the gates.

Older jet airliners thru the windscreen. All of these airplanes, except the 757 below have been retired.

MSP 12/88: DTW 747-251 from NWA DC-9-31, N1309T, MSN 47316, mfg 12/68. I was a DC-9 FO.

MSP 10/88: NWA 747-251 from NWA DC-9-10, N160RC, MSN 45744, MFG1966. Former EAL 8903E. NOTE: Slow Feet!

MSP, 30L, 5/28/05: NWA DC-10 from NWA 757-351, N588NW, MSN 32988, mfg 2/03. We were flying MSP to LAX in this 757-300 series.

DTW to TPA in a 757-300 with a few weather diversions. 6/22/09
It's unusual to have a -300 on this route.

Southbound, towards Pocket City (PXV) and we spot this small cell. It's moving right to left or west to east so we'll skirt it to the right and let the jet stream help move it out of our way. As you'll see, none of this weather is embedded so avoiding it will be effortless and provide some wonderful views.

According to our radar though, there will be a few more cells to contend with after we've flown past this first one. Radar also shows we've started our westerly diversion.

A close up of the first cell. It's still growing and well defined, but we'll be upwind of any turbulence. N585NW, MSN 32985, mfg 11/02

We've now turned the corner and steered more easterly to get back on course, but look at this baby.

This is the third cell on radar and provides a spectacular light show as we cruise past and look forward to a MIA layover.

MSP to ANC: NWA Flight 845, 757-251,6/29/08
- Ship# 5534, N534US, MSN 24265, mfg 10/88 -

Departing 30R at MSP. MSP is at 45ºN by 93ºW. Our flight time is 5:15 minutes to cover 2,600 miles.

Looking north over Minneapolis, the old Metrodome and the Mississippi River. Flaps up and we're on our way.

Most of these pics were taken over..

Just east of Juneau now, near Glacial Bay National Park

..the Skeena Mountains in British Colombia.

38 years of flying and I never tired of magnificent views like this.

Paul, trying to talk me into an early retirement. You may recognize him from an earlier Gatwick layover.

The Yukon Territory.

Hmmm..... let me see...

Back in the US, The Wrangell Mountain Range.

Above: short final for runway 14. Right: pulling onto the gate at ANC. 61ºN 149ºW. Tomorrow we'll fly due south from here to Maui and then to HNL in a 757-351.

What do we need all these maps for? We've got FMS!!

Over the Cook Inlet for runway 14 at ANC.

Through the windscreen.

DUS

Not 100% certain, I think this is PDX.

DTW

LAX

LGA

SFO

LAX

CDG

DTW

PHX