CHA-CLT-CHA June 2011 pt.2.

After about an hour and a half of plane spotting, I headed back to A3 for our next flight. The A320 had not yet arrived, so I took one more scour of concourse A. By the time I did that, stopped at the gift shop, the aircraft had arrived from Atlanta.

My aircraft, N352NW, performing Delta Air Lines 1817 to Atlanta.

 

Departure Board

N577RP- Delta Connection (Chautauqua Airlines) flight 6085 from New York-Kennedy

 

Flight #3:
Delta Air Lines Flight 1817
N352NW (delivered 2/24/1998 to Northwest Airlines)
Seat: 18F
CLT- A3                 RWY: 18C
ATL- T4                 RWY: 10
ETD: 11:50am       ATD: 11:49am
ETA:   1:14pm       ATA: 12:54pm
F/A: Sonya, Mae, Joy
C/A: Mike
F/O: Carl
Base: MSP (PMNW)
I/B:   1863 ATL
O/B: 2211 DFW
Load Factor: 135/148= 91%
Cruising Info: FL260 @ 478kts
2^nd flight on A320
1^st flight on aircraft
Map: DL 1817

At about 11:25, they started boarding. 

Readying for departure to Atlanta, while the other Airbus prepares for departure for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Pushback commenced at 11:49. 

Taxiing on taxiway E11

We did something rather surprising; we taxied straight from the pushback point, located on taxiway E11, to taxiway N, made a right turn onto runway 36C and taxied to the takeoff end, bypassing about five other aircraft as we did so, made a 180 and took off on runway 18C.

The takeoff video can be found here: Delta Air Lines 1817 Take-off CLT

Passing the Rock Hill (KUZA) airport.

This flight seemed to pass even quicker than the flight over to Charlotte. 

At our cruising altitude.

Beginning our descent for Atlanta.

Cabin Shot

Initial speed brake extension

Before I knew it, the speed brakes were extended, as we were on downwind for a west-east runway. I thought to myself, “Hmm…I wonder if we will be landing on the new runway?” Sure enough, runway 10 was our runway today.

The landing video can be found here: Delta Air Lines 1817 Landing ATL 

Close up view of the field.

View of speed brakes as we fly downwind.

Taxiing to T4, from runway 10.

Delta Air Lines flight 1653 to Miami.

Delta Air Lines 894 from Myrtle Beach and Delta Connection flight 5094 from Moline, are both taxiing in to their gate's.

N881AS- Delta Connection (ASA) flight 5002 to Jacksonville (NC) taking the active for departure.

N3744F

Delta Air Lines flight 857 to Fort Lauderdale.

N912DL- Delta Air Lines flight 2003 to Panama City (FL).

N651DL- Delta Air Lines flight 1701 from Boston.

N528US- Delta Air Lines flight 1602 from Las Vegas.

We touched down at 12:44pm, 30 minutes prior to our scheduled arrival. Taxiing from the “Macon runway,” as my Dad calls it, took 10 minutes, still putting us in, at gate T4, 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

N175DZ- Delta Air Lines 166 to New York-Kennedy.

The front office of N352NW.

Delta Air Lines flight 2211 departure board.

On time: 10/10
Aircraft:  10/10
Crew:     10/10
Seats:       9/10
Service:   8/10
Avg.:      47/50=A

Thanks to the fact that we were very early, we had even more time to kill in Atlanta before heading back to Chattanooga. We started off by going to the BEST restaurant in the entire airport, the Chili’s Too, which is located right near the Delta Sky Club, in the center of Concourse A.  What makes it so fantastic is the fact that it overlooks the alley between Concourse A and B. The food is so-so, service…pretty good, the view...awesome – and we had the only booth overlooking the alley. After a leisurely lunch, the next task was to conquer the international terminal. I must say, it was a painful success. By 3:30, I had seen every corner of Concourse E, plus boarding was to start soon. Our flight was scheduled to depart out of C55, one of the farthest gates down the Delta end of Concourse C. By now, my feet were hurting and I was starting to feel tired, so sitting sounded like a fantastic idea.

Flight #4:
Delta Connection Flight 5056
N849AS (delivered 10/28/1999)
Seat: 10A
CLT- C55               RWY: 8R
ATL- 3                    RWY: 2
ETD: 4:17pm         ATD: 4:52pm
ETA: 5:05pm         ATA: 5:43pm
F/A: Jamison
C/A: Ray
F/O: Quincy
Base: ATL
I/B:   5144 GNV
O/B: 5056 ATL
Load Factor: 50/50= 100%
Cruising Info: 12,000ft @ 402kts
10^th flight on CRJ-200
1^st flight on aircraft
Map: DL 5056

N981EV, occupying our gate.

 

Prior to reaching our gate, we had learned that our flight was delayed so we did not rush to get to our gate. By the time we got there, another aircraft was still at our gate. Considering the fact that we were supposed to be boarding soon, we were unsure as to how this would pan out. Finally, at about 4pm, the inbound, 5144 from Gainesville, arrived. 

N849AS- Delta Connection (ASA) flight 5144 from Gainesville, pulling in.

Boarding started at about 4:35pm. After boarding we just sat there, and sat there, and sat there some more. The captain came on to let us know that they had yet to fuel the aircraft! We had to wait another five or so minutes until the truck arrived, and another ten minutes until they fueled the airplane. 

Our aircraft being fueled.

Wing view, as Delta Air Lines flight 2161 pushes back for Philly.

Cabin shot.

Finally, fueling was completed. Pushback commenced at 4:52pm. Pushback from C55 is, in my eyes, pretty complicated. The driver has to pushes us back about 25 feet, then turn us 90°, and finally push us back an additional 70 feet, into the alley. After being released from the tug, we waited a few more minutes, before continuing on. Our path was interesting, to say the least. We took F4, made a right on F, a left on F5, a left on E, before taking H to the end of 8R. After waiting for 4 other aircraft to take off, it was our turn. We rotated off the ground at 5:19, 14 minutes behind scheduled arrival time.

The takeoff video can be found here: Delta Connection (ASA) 5056 Take-off ATL 

Wing view on climb out.

 

With this being the shortest flight so far, I was surprised that we were offered snacks. Jamison offered peanuts, pretzels and Biscoff cookies as he galloped down the aisle. No drinks on this flight, which was understandable, considering the fact that not too long after the snack service, we began a rather steep descent for runway 2. 

Beginning descent.

Spoilers deployed.

Finally after a short 21 minute flight time, we touched down on runway 2, and made a quick taxi to gate 3, arriving 38 minutes past the scheduled arrival time.

The landing video can be found here: Delta Connection (ASA) 5056 Landing CHA

N849AS getting ready to perform a relatively empty flight back to Atlanta, as flight 5056.

On time:   7/10
Aircraft:    7/10
Crew:        8/10
Seats:        6/10
Service:    9/10
Avg.:        37/50=C

               

Overall, it was a good trip. Despite some bumps in the road, this trip was pretty smooth.

More pics from my trip can be found on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rokinryan/
Please tell me what you think and if, and where, I can improve.