USA Road Trip

[bussgarfield]

Well actually it will be an air trip.

Hi all.

My wife and I should be leaving for the USA on Friday - 23rd April. I live in Spain but have elected to fly Easyjet from Alicante to Gatwick (London) and then on to Portland Oregon with Delta Airlines.

If the volcanic dust cloud does allow us to us to fly into and out of the UK then we should enjoy a nice relaxing 28 days in the States with my sister.

I will be in the Sutherlin area of Oregon so if any of you are within easy reach, it would be nice to pop in for a coffee and a fly so I don't get withdrawal symptons.

This will be our first time to America and are really looking forward to the experience. Lets just hope it can go ahead.

Kind regards

Gary

[jackpilot]

I live on the opposite side, but welcome anyway on the Big Island!
Hope the dust will settle 4 U.
Cheers
JP

[Trevor Hale]

I have to agree that ash cloud is causing havoc..  Good luck on yoru trip and be safe.

Trev

[bussgarfield]

This is rediculous.

The UK have still restricted flights but other European airlines are flying through the UK airspace. We are now told that the UK will be opening airports tomorrow but there may not be flights.

Still we live in hopes. Maybe, just maybe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Power to your joysticks.
Gary

[bussgarfield]

Hi all.

For those of you that may be interested, Linda and I have arrived in Oregon.

We had a mixture of aircraft for our flights. An Airbus A319 between Alicante and Gatwick, Boeing 767 to take us to Atlanta and a 757 to Oregon.

Very Impressed with Delt Airlines and their 767. Wasn't allowed in the cockpit though !!!!!!

All the very best from this side of the pond.

Gary

[matta757]

Did they refuse you a visit to the cockpit? I always hate that. I was on a United 777 and asked while de-boarding if I could take a look at the cockpit and the senior flight attendant acted like I was a terrorist and jumped in front of the cockpit door so as to block it... because you know, I was TOTALLY planning on storming the cockpit. Needless to say I was offended by such action.

[phil744]

Word of advice if u want a sneaky view of the flightdeck, show them a pic of your sim on your phone, worked 3 times for me so far!! dont know if there interested or just feel sorry for you but who cares it works, ended up at the business end of a BA76, BA320 and a KLM 737 in 1 day!!

[ivar hestnes]

Yeah, as Phil says, show them a photo of yourself next to your project. Works for me also.
Think the success rate is around 50% here 

[matta757]

More often than not my requests to see the flight deck are successful, but that one time with United sticks out in my mind as pretty much the only time I have actually been turned down.

[bussgarfield]

I think the problem with Delta Airlines is that the Captain stands by the door and bids farewell to all the passengers so he has not really got the time to break away from his duties. it is a nice touch though.

We will be flying back to Atlanta on a 737 on 22nd May so I might try again. The aircraft wont be used straight away after landing so I might be more fortunate, and we have a few hours to kill before our connecting flight.

I haven't got any pics of my sim with me over here, besides the Captain would probably fall about laughing in any case as it is in a very basic state of construction. Cut out bits of MDF and the MCP and radio balanced precariously on the top of my screen table would not endear the elite long haul pilots I am sure. They could always fell sorry for me and take pity on me I suppose!!!

For those of you that don't live in the States or have not travelled to this wonderful part of the world, it is truely amazing from the air. It is so vast and has some great scenery. Almost as good as the photographic VFR scenery !!!!!!!
I feel very fortunate to have travelled over so much of it to get from one side to the other.

Anyway, wish me luck with my next attempt and 'cockpit spotting' on the 737.

Kind regards

Gary

[jackpilot]

I usually manage to get in (even in flight with european airlines) by just giving my Pilot licence to a Flight attendant asking him/her to give it to the captain with my request.
Sometimes though I get it back with a very polite "Not this time because....blah blah"
A business card or any ID helps too.

[matta757]

i always wait and deboard last... that way they are done bidding farewell!