4:44am
Er...
7:44am EDT (+0300)I'm sitting in the beautiful new Terminal 7 at JFK in NY. Home to United and British Airways, it also happens to be where the Concorde departs from. Not wanting to pass up what might be a once in a lifetime experience, I'm planning on mugging the closest rich looking british fellow and stealing his ticket. A little jaunt to London would be nice, and I could be back in Los Angeles in time for afternoon tea. (Or at least Scotland Yard.)
There's a nice little Coffee (and Tea) shoppe between gates 7 and 6. Gate 6 is the concorde gate, and gate 8, which is next to gate 7, is where my flight is departing from. I'm sitting there, only slightly annoyed that there is no 802.11, and that the complimentary telephone jacks for notebooks appear not to be functioning.
On the positive side, I have a great view of one of the Concorde's (G-BOAD, for any of you who keep track of this kind of thing.) being prepared. It leaves 15 minutes after my flight departs, so I won't get to see (or hear) it leave, but it would have been very silly (yet quite cool) to schedule that.
It's a small funny-shaped plane. The windows are all tiny. (Very tiny.) The plane has weird curves and stabilizers. There is what appears to be a small army filling it up with fuel, food, and luggage. Likely, it's the same amount of people preparing my 767, but the proportions are quite different.
I'm sad that this plane will make it's last regularly schedule flight in the next few months. It seems like a step backwards in technology to give up on supersonic speeds, even if they are expensive. ($6000 for a one way seat!)
This lounge has a great view. It's a quiet hour of the morning, so there aren't planes nose-to-tail going by, but wha does pass is quite interesting. A JAL 747. A Jet Blue plane with a nice checkered tail, and another with stripes. The DHL cargo center is across the way. A good selection of silvery AA tubes and white and purple FedEx cargo planes. (Insert obligatory link to airliners.net.
A United 767 has just stopped its nose about 20 feet from my toes as an Argentine Airlines jet lands behind it. Airplanes are amazingly cool and fun. I should go back to practicing with Microsoft Flight Simulator and start budgeting to become a commercial jet pilot. See the world!
5:03 AM PDT / 8:03 AM EDTFifteen minutes till boarding and a uneventful flight to Los Angeles. Time to rest the fingers and stretch the feet.
