This next leg of our journey approximately replicates my IRL trip back home to Tennessee for the holidays. I had screenshots of the flightplan and the exact time of departure, time en route, and time of arrival; however, I can’t find them anywhere on my phone, so this is my best attempt at replicating the flight. Additionally, Terminal 3 at LAX, where my flight departed from, is still incomplete. Hope y’all enjoy!
Server: Solo
Airline: Delta Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Origin: Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California (LAX)
Destination: Nashville International Airport, Nashville, Tennessee (BNA)
Flight Number: DL355
Route: KLAX-KBNA
Seat: 18F (Main Cabin)
Time En Route: 3 Hours 49 Minutes
In another case of departing-from-the-same-gate-we-arrived-at, we’re getting ready to board our aircraft at Los Angeles International’s Terminal 2, currently home to not only Delta Air Lines, but JetBlue after the closure and ongoing demolition of Terminal 5. Virgin Atlantic and WestJet also have their check-ins here, but the former operates out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal and the latter from Terminal 3.
Starting our taxi after a brief delay. We’re currently joining the evening rush of flights out of LAX to Europe at the moment, being behind a British Airways 777-300ER going to Heathrow as BA280, also running a bit behind schedule.
Taking off from Runway 24L, just before going into the goo. The Marine Layer is on thick this evening, with great gobs of fog drifting around the airport. Everything to the north is clear at the moment, but everything to the south is almost locked in, and that great mass is about to meet with us not 30 seconds after this picture was taken.
We’ve cleared the fog by the time we’re back over land down in Orange County. We’re also above 10,000 feet, which means that portable electronic devices can be on so long as they’re in airplane mode. This allows us to multitask between working on a resumé on our laptop and watching a movie.
Yet again, we’re cruising along at 37,000 feet over Oklahoma, only a couple thousand below where we were on the A350. Unlike our flight to Atlanta on Delta’s long-haul flagship, we can’t see much of anything out the window except for the lights of a town here and there and our own wingtip navigation, strobe, and beacon lights. Ah well, we can’t always have it all.
Our final descent starts over Centerville, the county seat of Hickman County and the only incorporated community there, and takes us by the glittering lights of downtown Nashville and BNA in the distance. What a contrast!
Arriving on a cold, quiet night/very early morning in Nashville on Runway 20L, which is still 1 of 2 open runways in Music City
Turning clear of the runway, with the lights of what’s apparently a quite rare Cessna 650 Citation III on final from Cincinnati-Lunken Municipal Airport in Ohio in the background
Parked at the B Gates after a pleasant flight from LAX, even though we got in too early to be a true redeye. Our journey doesn’t end here, though, as we’re going to be heading up to Boston from this exact gate in a few hours.
