Routing:
Montreal-Frankfurt - Air Canada 777-300ER C-FITL
Frankfurt-Washington IAD - Lufthansa 747-8i D-ABYA
Washington DCA-Montreal - Air Canada JAZZ CRJ C-FWRT
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Routing/Flight No: Montreal-Frankfurt AC874 Seat 62K
Aircraft: AIR CANADA 777-300ER C-FITL
Load Factor: 90 Percent
Cruise Level: FL350
Flight Duration: 6h 52m
Just after work on Friday I caught this 77W over to Frankfurt. I was lucky to have the seat next to me empty, as this was a fairly full flight. We pushed back ontime, and rotated off runway 24L about 20 minutes later. This was the first 777-300 flight for the season for the YUL-FRA route.
As is usual, the service was good and the F/As handed out dinner promptly. I even got two meals, because I was at the back of the aircraft, and they had leftovers that they were willing to give out. I hardly ever use the PTVs on long haul flights, and instead catch up on rest, so I was able to get over 3 hours of good sleep after the meal service was completed.
On the approach into Frankfurt we flew directly overhead Dusseldorf and Cologne, so I snapped a few aerial shots as the sun was already up. We landed on the new runway in Frankfurt - in a westerly direction, so the take to the B-gate was extremely long. We arrived at the gate approximately 20 minutes late. I snapped a few photos in Frankfurt - met up with a work collegue and chatted for about 30 minutes to an hour, then got ready for the next flight (already!).
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Routing/Flight No: Frankfurt-Washington IAD LH418 Seat 36K
Aircraft: LUFTHANSA 747-8i D-ABYA
Load Factor: 80 Percent
Cruise Level: FL???
Flight Duration: 7h 43m
I checked in early and went to the C-gates early - had lots of time to kill. I was given seat 36K which would be on the better side of the aircraft for photos, for travelling westbound. While killing some time at the C-gates I took some time-lapse videos with my iPhone - one loading a Lufthansa A380 to New York. Check it out on the bottom. It goes through about 1 hour worth of loading, then dispatching the flight. On the other side was another A380 going to San Francisco, but its parking spot was more obscured than the A380 to JFK.
Our 747-8 flight to Washington had quite a few empty seats, which I thought was unusual given that it was June. But apparently the eastbound load for this flight is pretty much selling out all seats lately. Boarding only took about 20 minutes, and took place through automated gate machines that scanned your boarding pass. Before I knew it - I was onboard the only 747-8i flying revenue service in the world. It was a pretty awesome experience. I took a few cabin photos of the aircraft while boarding (even of the First Class nose section - there were only 3 pax up there), then the lower deck Business Class cabin, and then finally settled into my Economy seat (36K). Again - luck was on my side as the middle seat was empty. Unfortunately my PTV wasn't working 100%, and same thing for about 20 other passengers around me. You could scroll through the content, but the content wouldn't load when you chose it.
We pushed back a few minutes late, and departed off runway 25R. The overall noise factor was quieter than a 747-400, but not as quiet as the A380. We had some turbulence on departure until we cleared the cloud layer. The pax behind me commented that he thought the airplane was probably brand new because he had never seen an engine with the pointed ends at the back. Hardly anyone knew how new this plane was, however. Only the gate agent @ FRA made one announcement telling everyone they were flying on a brand new 747-8, and the captain made a short blurb over the P/A once we were airborne.
Inflight, service was good - the meal was tasty, but the 20 or so passengers around me were frustrated their TV's weren't working. None decided to move to another seat that had a TV working however. I wasn't all that bothered, as the content didn't seem all that interesting anyway, and I was ready for some sleep.
A few comments on the aircraft itself - again - overall quieter than 747-400. One thing I don't like about the new Boeing interiors is the sidewall vibration. Often when you are trying to sleep, and seated behind the wing/engines, you hear the sidewalls vibrating a lot (plastic). It gets quite load - especially if you apply pressure on the window shade or plastic area between windows.
The cabin seemed quite boring in Lufthansa-dressed esthetics. I walked around the cabin after the seatbelt sign was turned off. The cabin crew had no problem with me going into Business Class, First Class, and even the Upper Deck - so I took a few photos. Business Class looked comfortable but again - boring interior.. with the white bulkheads and grey seats, and little to no colour. First Class looked really comfortable, but it surprised me that the updated F-class in the 747-400s have a separate bed, and the 747-8s don't. I was hoping to see a nice rotunda-type ceiling as you entered the aircraft from the jetway, but that didn't exist on this aircraft.
The aircraft does have a nose cam and belly cam, but not a tail cam. Sorry - I don't have any photos or videos to show those features.
Overall - a nice plane, but nothing special on the interior. Our approach took us past Dulles Airport on the downwind of runway 1R, so I snapped a few pics of the numerous planes parked on their gates. We landed ontime, and even though I was staying in Washington for a day - I took the mobile lounge option to clear customs at the F.I.S. facility in the C-Terminal, just so I could walk around the airport for an hour to see all the traffic. So below are numerous photos of IAD activity. I grabbed a rental car, and took a few photos of the 01R European departures (including the 747-8 going back to FRA), then headed into Washington for a 24 hour stay. It was hot an humid but I have lived in Washington on/off for almost 5 years so I was used to it. I accidentally caught a supercar event at the Ferrari dealership in the Virginia suburbs - so for you car enthusiasts I'll post a few photos of that.
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Routing/Flight No: Washington DCA-Montreal AC7655 Seat 5F
Aircraft: AIR CANADA JAZZ/EXPRESS CRJ-100 C-FWRT
Load Factor: 70 Percent
Cruise Level: FL???
Flight Duration: 1h 15m
I departed from DCA Airport the next day after spending about 2 hours at Gravelly Point doing some spotting, as they were arriving to the south. It was packed with people cause it was a weekend, and a sunny warm day. We departed towards the south, and turned northerly towards Montreal... flying directly overhead Dulles. So I switched sides to Seat 4A to snap a few aerial shots of Dulles activity during its busy 5pm bank. I even got 100 airplanes in one photo. The flight was uneventful and boring and as usual, I hurt my neck trying to view out the window.
All in all a very good and quick trip. It was exciting to fly a brand new plane so early into its revenue service. Here are the photos and videos. Enjoy!
