derekn22
04-23-2008, 03:15 AM
Well my flight was a bit more adventurous than I would have liked. Takeoff out of Long Beach was nice, there was a nice marine layer above and we passed through that in about 2 seconds. It was pretty cool seeing it from the plane, usually that view (the entire LA basin covered by clouds with only the mountaintops peeking out) is one I only see on TV from Mt. Wilson. There was a little bit of light chop until we got to 10,000 feet but then it smoothed right out.
It was smooth with some occasional light chop from the west through the MidWest. When we got to Michigan, we ran into the first bits of the low pressure system over that area. Started to get more constant light turbulence but nothing too bad, we had some instances where we were flying in and out of clouds, so that led to some slightly more moderate bumps. It started to get more bumpy to where the Captain finally put on the seatbelt sign and the flight attendants held off on the last drink service for about 10 minutes while the turbulence subsided. Landing at JFK was rather uneventful, no turbulence there, just some light stuff on the descent. The one nice thing about the turbulence was that it was due to having a very strong tailwind pushing us. From about... Nebraska on, we were flying along at about 640MPH, typically the fastest I've seen the A320s do on this flight is a little over 500 I believe, with some occasional 520 or so. We arrived in NY about 40 minutes ahead of our scheduled time.
I was a bit nervous in the couple of days leading to my departure. Mostly I didn't want to leave (my girlfriend and I are in a long distance relationship) but it was nervousness from seeing a big low pressure system over the central US. I was checking the jetBlue flights departing JFK for Long Beach and they were all taking a far north course through Michigan and then diving southwest around Minnesota. At first I wasn't sure why, then I checked the echo tops on here and saw that the clouds tops were up to 40000 feet in the south and only up to 29000 to 30000 up north. Plus there was loads of severe weather in the south (tornadoes and severe thunderstorms), we didn't quite have any of that up north to fly through. Some severe thunderstorm warnings and snow but that was really it.
Getting off the ground at JFK was rather long. We were stuck behind about 8 or 9 other planes all waiting to takeoff, it was about the worst airplane bumper to bumper traffic I'd ever seen. I was under the impression I flew to avoid that sort of gridlock, there goes that preconception. LOL
The takeoff was very smooth, no chop at all. We first started to run into it over Michigan I believe, it started light and stayed that way for about 2 hours into the flight then gradually got heavier the closer we got to the low pressure system. The Captain finally flipped on the seat belt sign and advised everyone to buckle up, the flight attendants advised everyone to get up only as needed as the plane was really shaking, rattling and rolling. No severe changes in altitude but it did drop and climb a little bit a few times. A few times we were able to climb above or descend below the really heavy stuff but mostly the flight was with constant light to moderate at all times until we got to about Arizona/Nevada. Descent and landing at Long Beach was also uneventful, though there was some light borderline moderate turbulence just below 10000 feet.
It was probably the worst turbulence I've flown in, worse than the mountain wave I ran into in March of '07 over Colorado. I'd like to say my tolerance for turbulence has increased but I'm really not sure. I was quite nervous on the flight, not quite to the point where I was gripping the chair but I was tensing my legs up a bit, I do like looking out the window so that helped a bit. Seeing the wings flexing as they do is a bit unnerving though, even though I know they are designed to do that. I still get that feeling inside that the wings will snap or some turbulence is going to knock the plane sideways and out of control or just knock it out of the sky.
The one really great thing about the flight to Long Beach? The pilot we got was a real comedian on the intercom, plus he was the one who was always communicating with us instead of the first officer which is usually the case. Typically the Captain will say something before take off, then leave all announcements to the first officer during the flight, then say something just before descent or after landing. This Captain though, said everything and was very communicative during the turbulence (even calling it musical chairs when we had a brief 10 minute respite but then had to flip the sign back on). I really wish I had gotten his name before leaving the aircraft. Now a few choice tidbits from his intercom chatter.... :)
Just before pushing back from the gate:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd just like to ask that you remain seated until we reach our cruising altitude of about 33000 feet at which time you may feel free to run up and down the aisle with scissors. Oh no wait... they took those away from you at security didn't they? Okay, feel free to run up and down the aisle with nail clippers then.
Upon reaching cruising altitude:
Ladies and Gentlemen, feel free to move about the cabin and do whatever you wish, but please remain inside the aircraft at all times.
Just before descent into Long Beach:
Well while you people have been back there watching TV or sleeping, we've been flying along at ludicrous speed. We'll be making our initial descent into Long Beach shortly. This aircraft will be turning right around and flying to Boston about 40 minutes after we land, so please assist us as the flight attendants come down the aisle with bags by putting your cash, jewelry, trash and any stuff you won't need in there.
It was smooth with some occasional light chop from the west through the MidWest. When we got to Michigan, we ran into the first bits of the low pressure system over that area. Started to get more constant light turbulence but nothing too bad, we had some instances where we were flying in and out of clouds, so that led to some slightly more moderate bumps. It started to get more bumpy to where the Captain finally put on the seatbelt sign and the flight attendants held off on the last drink service for about 10 minutes while the turbulence subsided. Landing at JFK was rather uneventful, no turbulence there, just some light stuff on the descent. The one nice thing about the turbulence was that it was due to having a very strong tailwind pushing us. From about... Nebraska on, we were flying along at about 640MPH, typically the fastest I've seen the A320s do on this flight is a little over 500 I believe, with some occasional 520 or so. We arrived in NY about 40 minutes ahead of our scheduled time.
I was a bit nervous in the couple of days leading to my departure. Mostly I didn't want to leave (my girlfriend and I are in a long distance relationship) but it was nervousness from seeing a big low pressure system over the central US. I was checking the jetBlue flights departing JFK for Long Beach and they were all taking a far north course through Michigan and then diving southwest around Minnesota. At first I wasn't sure why, then I checked the echo tops on here and saw that the clouds tops were up to 40000 feet in the south and only up to 29000 to 30000 up north. Plus there was loads of severe weather in the south (tornadoes and severe thunderstorms), we didn't quite have any of that up north to fly through. Some severe thunderstorm warnings and snow but that was really it.
Getting off the ground at JFK was rather long. We were stuck behind about 8 or 9 other planes all waiting to takeoff, it was about the worst airplane bumper to bumper traffic I'd ever seen. I was under the impression I flew to avoid that sort of gridlock, there goes that preconception. LOL
The takeoff was very smooth, no chop at all. We first started to run into it over Michigan I believe, it started light and stayed that way for about 2 hours into the flight then gradually got heavier the closer we got to the low pressure system. The Captain finally flipped on the seat belt sign and advised everyone to buckle up, the flight attendants advised everyone to get up only as needed as the plane was really shaking, rattling and rolling. No severe changes in altitude but it did drop and climb a little bit a few times. A few times we were able to climb above or descend below the really heavy stuff but mostly the flight was with constant light to moderate at all times until we got to about Arizona/Nevada. Descent and landing at Long Beach was also uneventful, though there was some light borderline moderate turbulence just below 10000 feet.
It was probably the worst turbulence I've flown in, worse than the mountain wave I ran into in March of '07 over Colorado. I'd like to say my tolerance for turbulence has increased but I'm really not sure. I was quite nervous on the flight, not quite to the point where I was gripping the chair but I was tensing my legs up a bit, I do like looking out the window so that helped a bit. Seeing the wings flexing as they do is a bit unnerving though, even though I know they are designed to do that. I still get that feeling inside that the wings will snap or some turbulence is going to knock the plane sideways and out of control or just knock it out of the sky.
The one really great thing about the flight to Long Beach? The pilot we got was a real comedian on the intercom, plus he was the one who was always communicating with us instead of the first officer which is usually the case. Typically the Captain will say something before take off, then leave all announcements to the first officer during the flight, then say something just before descent or after landing. This Captain though, said everything and was very communicative during the turbulence (even calling it musical chairs when we had a brief 10 minute respite but then had to flip the sign back on). I really wish I had gotten his name before leaving the aircraft. Now a few choice tidbits from his intercom chatter.... :)
Just before pushing back from the gate:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd just like to ask that you remain seated until we reach our cruising altitude of about 33000 feet at which time you may feel free to run up and down the aisle with scissors. Oh no wait... they took those away from you at security didn't they? Okay, feel free to run up and down the aisle with nail clippers then.
Upon reaching cruising altitude:
Ladies and Gentlemen, feel free to move about the cabin and do whatever you wish, but please remain inside the aircraft at all times.
Just before descent into Long Beach:
Well while you people have been back there watching TV or sleeping, we've been flying along at ludicrous speed. We'll be making our initial descent into Long Beach shortly. This aircraft will be turning right around and flying to Boston about 40 minutes after we land, so please assist us as the flight attendants come down the aisle with bags by putting your cash, jewelry, trash and any stuff you won't need in there.