From the City of Lights to the Capital of French Polynesia

[Pilot_B]

French Bee 711/710

Paris Orly to Papeete (via San Francisco)

Hey everyone! On my last day of school vacation, I decided to try out a pretty unique flight. As you may know, there are a number of airlines that fly from Paris to Papeete, through the U.S. west coast. These include Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, and French Bee. While Air Tahiti and Air France operate through Los Angeles, French Bee connects through San Francisco.

The state-of-the-art A350 is utilized by French Bee on this lengthy route, so I couldn’t resist trying it out. The first flight was twelve hours flat, with the second leg lasting just over eight hours. Including the connection, this stop-over journey lasted in excess of 24 hours.

Here are my best photos from each flight! Enjoy, and feedback is always welcomed and appreciated!

Flight 1 | French Bee 711 | Paris Orly - San Francisco

Loading up our A350-900 with more than 300 passengers and 20 tons of cargo.

Taking advantage of a long runway, I was able to perform a derated takeoff to get our heavy load into the air.

Our captain putting those sunglasses to use as the sun sets over the North Atlantic.

After a quiet and uneventful night flight, we intercept the runway 28L localizer at San Francisco just after sunrise.

Greasin’ it as a fellow Frenchman holds short of runway 28L.

Flight 2 | French Bee 710 | San Francisco - Papeete

After a few hours on the ground, we are saying goodbye to the Bay Area as we rocket out of San Francisco International, this time with a lighter load. (I changed the time to make sure it would be light when we landed)

Kind of a failed moonshot, I had it right but then the moon shifted in the screenshot. Oh well.

Approaching the beautiful islands of French Polynesia as the sun begins to rise over the South Pacific.

Passing by some wonderful terrain and scenery just a few hundred feet above the ground.

After another smooth landing, we arrived into Faa’a International, the main (and only) airport on the island of Tahiti. As of today, the airport only sees about three scheduled arrivals everyday, all of which are Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliners.

Thanks for viewing my post, and if you would like, let me know which photo is your favorite!

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[RitzRegis]

On image 6 how we’re you able to get that kind of engine view on the 350

[Pilot_B]

I used free cam

[RitzRegis]

I wish IF would add more wing and engine cams.

[Pilot_B]

Me too, hopefully some more will come with the 777.

[Philippe_Gilbert]

Nice photos but you landed too early on the runway in Papeete. Aim to touchdown at the center of the big two white rectangles.

[Pilot_B]

Please don’t nitpick. It’s quite unnecessary, not to mention I hadn’t even touched down yet. This thread is for viewing photos. We can take this to PM if you want.

[EyesSkyward]

Thats where you aim. The touchdown zone is between the striped markings before the aiming point.

Nice pics. As long as you land around there, it doesn’t matter 👍

[Pilot_B]

Thanks, I thought the landing was good at least 😂

[Rilej_aviation]

@Pilot_B

Taking advantage of a long runway, I was able to perform a derated takeoff to get our heavy load into the air.

Hey mate! Great photos right there, but my real question is how did you perform the reduced thrust takeoff in terms of throttle percentage?

[Pilot_B]

I think I used about 85% N1

[Rilej_aviation]

Ah cool! I wish they had that wing view added to the 350 in image 4, especially over San Francisco! Beautiful shot there, mate! ;)

[Pilot_B]

Yeah me too, thanks man!

[Alec]

Nice shots! I’ve been contemplating doing this flight but in the ATN 787-9… how would you rate it?

[Pilot_B]

There wasn’t much to see for almost the whole flight but the approach is great and it should be a very smooth flight. It was kind of a bucket list thing for me.

[cptlogue]

Your captions make the pictures 100 times better! I have to try this route out sometime!!

[Pilot_B]

Thanks man, I really recommend the route!