Friday, 28 November 2008

Las Vegas 2008

A snippet picked up earlier in the year that Las Vegas was the 2nd busiest biz field in the US (after Teterboro) put in motion an idea to revisit this city for the first time since 1981.

The usual early start on Saturday 15th November found me at Gatwick meeting up with Brian and Alex and checking in for Virgin's flight 43. Initial check in is done electronically which I suppose speeds up the baggage check process. We were told the flight was 30 minutes late but no idea why. In the end, push back was only 35 minutes late so not too bad. B747-400 G-VROS left the gate at 11:22 (STD 10:45) and was off runway 26 at 11:39. The flight was pretty full but then it is the only operator on this route. Leg room was only just adequate but then it usually is when you're over 6 foot.

Our flight lasted 10 hours 33 minutes and we landed on runway 01R at McCarran where the temperature was a lovely 72 degrees (slightly warmer than Gatwick). The moment was caught for posterity at www.airliners.net

Entry formalities were fairly straight forward and as we came out of the customs hall, we were met by the 4th member of the group, Martin, holding the sort of sign that drivers hold for their clients enscribed "B. WEMBLEY" which will give you an idea of our Mart.

Only an hour or so of daylight so we went up to the car park to see what could be seen. The first thing that strikes you from here is the skyline of casinos and hotels. It's quite impressive.

Once dark, we went for our hire car (Dollar) and only just managed to get our 4 suitcases in the boot (sorry, trunk) of our Dodge Caliber. Our hotel was the Motel 6 on Tropicana and the picture below shows how close you are to the action.
Soon got in to a routine with most breakfasts and dinners taken at Denny's just south of the airport. Mornings started at the sports park on Sunset to catch arrivals on 01 until the sun went round at about noon. It's a bit of an art not getting the lampposts in the pictures though. We then repositioned to the crash gate off LV Boulevard until sunset. Most airliner arrivals were on 25R (25L being closed for maintenance). A couple of visits to the 711 garage in the SE corner for drinks and photos although you need a 500mm lens (which is my maximum) and you have to catch them in the gaps.
Brian and Martin did some trips away so an early start on Tuesday to get them to the terminal for their Southwest flight. They were back on Wednesday night and off again on Thursday morning, this time just for the day.
McCarran is dominated by Southwest and US Airways (who took over the former America West) but most of the US carriers visit. A highlight is a daily Horizon DHC-8-400 which gets in at lunchtime. Frontier are also nice to see with their colourful tails. Several operated charters (military?) and operated from Signatures. Quite a few Mexicans with Mexicana (some A-318s) and AeroMexico (plus EMB-145s of AM Connect). Plenty of Alaskan too.

Alaskan B737-800 N560AS arrives 01L as seen from the sports centre

Frontier A-319 N906FR taxis past the crash gate for a 01 departure

Have to confess that after a few days it tends to go a bit quiet in the middle of the day so on Tuesday, Alex and I decided to see if we could find Henderson (KHND). We headed south down LV Blvd and were soon out in the middle of nowhere. After about 4 miles, turn left at the lights and then follow the signs off to the right. There is a nice modern terminal and I can recommend the restaurant upstairs (Landings) where a nice leisurely lunch was taken. The ramp contained a reasonable number of exec jets on each of our visits. Thoroughly enjoyed my visits here especially with 3 different Gulfstreams seen.

A surprising amount of military was seen throughout the trip. Navy F-18s, a C-27, a KC-135R plus a Canadian C-130 and from the RAF, a VC-10 and Tristar supporting 3 Harriers and a Tornado.

On our last full day, most of us decided to have a run up to North Las Vegas (KVGT) to see what could be seen. There is a nice little cafe on top of the terminal which gives good views over the field and serves nice snacks and cold drinks. Vision Air operate a number of Dorniers on pleasure flights so this kept the interest going. There are also some stored ones which we managed to find and photograph.

All in all, a great trip and of course lovely weather. Not sure that I'd want to do a 'proper' holiday as LV is based on gambling which doesn't interest me. A couple of walks in to town after dark to see the lights was nice but that's about it really.

On our last day, we dropped the car off early as Martin was going home a different way and had a much earlier flight. Our flight home was on B744 G-VGAL. We were airborne off 07L at 17:08 and landed at Gatwick on 26 at 10:26, 9 hours and 22 minutes later. Pictures from the trip at http://www.bob-holland.fotopic.net/c1617397.html

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