Florida Trip 2017 Day 1 Monday 20/11 Heathrow-Tampa

[davidallum]

Up @ silly o'clock for the start of my first trip to Florida for two years,picked up mate Geoff Pierce from his home and then off to Heathrow.People who have read my previous trip logs to the States will know that we try and do something different for our entry into the USA and this year was no exception.With Swiss being in Star Alliance along with United we decided to try the new Bombardier CS300 aircraft,so we booked to fly with Swiss to Geneva and then catch the United flight to Washington D.C- Dulles.

Once we had checked in @ Heathrow,we didn't have to wait too long for our flight and soon we were boarding HB-JCE operating Swiss 359,Heathrow was already getting busy but only three aircraft were of interest to me:

SP-LWD B737 LOT
HS-TKY B777 Thai
SE-ROB A320NEO SAS

Flight was smooth and I was impressed with the CS300 with a decent amount of legroom,a snack was served along with complimentary Swiss chocolate,we landed @ Geneva on time @ 09.35 local to be met by clear blue skies and a gentle breeze.We had approx 2 hours here before our next flight and the following went into the log:

Airliners:

HB-JCD Bombardier CS300 Swiss
HB-JXA A320 Easyjet Swiss
HB-JYD A319 Easyjet Swiss
SP-LIB E170 LOT
OD-MRO A320 MEA
OH-LKN E190 Finnair
HB-JYL A319 Easyjet Swiss
EI-FPG CRJ900 SAS
G-DHKK B757F DHL
SX-DNA A320 Aegean
OO-SNB A320 Brussels (painted in "Tin Tin" colours)
HB-JYF A319 Easyjet Swiss
HB-JYK A319 Easyjet Swiss
HB-JCB Bombardier CS300 Swiss
OE-IAE B737F ASL Belgium
EI-SLV ATR 72F ASL Ireland
LY-RUM ATR 42F Dano Oro Transportas
EI-RDM E170 Alitalia Express

Biz:

N930JG Falcon 50
HB-JFP Gulfstream 650
M-ARVY Falcon 7X
P4-KAZ BBJ
PH-CTR Citation 680 Soveriegn
N194ER Citation 510 Mustang
OE-GDF Phenom 300
CS-DVS Phenom 100
3C-EGE BBJ
A6-AJC A319CJ
VP-CJK Global Express 6000
OE-FAT Citation 510 Mustang

GA:

N45WF PA-46 Malibu Jetprop
RA-01508 PC12
RA-01512 PC12
RA-01514 PC12

Then it was time to board UA975 operated today by B767 N674UA,we had hardly taken our seats when the cabin crew came down shutting all of the overhead bins saying we are ready to go,it transpires that there were less that 60 passengers on this flight so plently of room to crash out in.Flight time was approx 9 hours and we landed on time @ 14.30 local again met by a glorious sunny afternoon.

One thing I hate about entering the USA is the amount of time it can take especially if other international flights are arriving at the same time,but not today,Dulles is one of many U.S international airports trialing a new entry system,because we travel on an ESTA we were directed to the line where the returning Americans head to,we went to a machine where it asks you on what documentation you are travelling on so we pressed the ESTA button,you then have your passport scanned and you have the four fingers of your right hand scanned and it takes your photo.You then answer a few Customs questions and it prints you a receipt,you take this to a TSA officer who looked at our passports,asked how long we were staying and then sent us on our way.I think that from joining the queue and clearly Immigration took no more that 15 mins,fantastic,picked up luggage and handed back in for onward transit to our final destination.

We had about 3 hours here and the following hit the logbook:

N85352 E170 Mesa (United Express)
N87318 E170 Mesa (United Express)
N93305 E170 Mesa (United Express)
N522LR CRJ701 Mesa (United Express)
N16112 E145 Trans States (United Express)
N519LR CRJ701 Mesa (United Express)
N509MJ CRJ701 Mesa (United Express)
N496UA A320 United
N89349 E170 Mesa (United Express)
N39475 B737 United
N358PH Dash 8 CommutAir (United Express)
N69816 B737 United
A6-BLE B787-9 Etihad
N8640D B737 Southwest
N65832 B737 United
N420AW CRJ200 Air Wisconsin (United Express)
N329NB A319 Delta
N73276 B737 United
N12136 E145 Express Jet (United Express)
N63820 B737 United
N12126 E145 Trans States (United Express)
N77430 B737 United
EI-LBS B757 Aer Lingus
N379PH Dash 8 CommutAir (United Express)
N514MJ CRJ701 Mesa (United Express)
LN-RKN A330 SAS
N81449 B737 United
N475UA A320 United
C-GKQB Dash 8 Porter
HP-1836CMP B737 Copa
VQ-BBE A330 Aeroflot
N522TA A319 Avianca
ZS-SXK A330 South African
OE-LAW B767 Austrian
HZ-AK36 B777 Saudia
N918XJ CRJ900 Endeavor (Delta Connection)

Biz:

N148QS Global Express 6000
YV1401 Galaxy
C-FPYP Citation 510 Mustang
N768QS Challenger 350
N543BA Challenger 650
N997QS Citation X
N131KS Challenger 350


Then it was time to board UA 360 to Tampa operated today by B737 N26232 for the two hour trip,again arriving ontime @ 19.45 local where the following were logged on the taxy in:

N1997A B767F Prime Air
N1049A B767F Prime Air
N1361A B767F Prime Air
N325UP B767F UPS
N463UP B757F UPS
N312DN A321 Delta
N644NK A320 Spirit    

So a long tiring but enjoyable day had come to an end,time to catch the shuttle bus for the 10 minute trip to our hotel before crashing out ready to start our trip the following day:

Part 2 to follow.

[graham]

Already looking forward to part two Dave. I bet Dulles has changed a bit since 1972......

[davidallum]

It certainly has Graham,but they still use those people carriers (or an updated version of them,but more about them when I finally reach my last part).