Nashville to Denver via Phoenix
Hey all! The other day I flew from Nashville to Denver via Phoenix. This will also be an Infinite Flight trip report, which I haven’t made in a while. Enjoy!
Both flights were completed on the expert server.
This trip report was unique, so I have an inspiration for this format:
My Inspiration
While digging through the Sanspotter website, I found he had founded his flight log after reading Aeromoe’s flight log. I dug through his (Aeromoe’s) website and found he had a neat section of his flight log photos. I looked through there and saw it had a basic picture of the plane and route.
Flight log: http://www.aeromoe.com/FLIGHT_LOG.html
Flight log photos: Moe's Flight Log Photos
Our First flight takes us from Nashville to Phoenix, and the flight details are listed below, with a screenshot of our flight path, our departure out of Nashville, and our approach into Phoenix with a subsequent go-around (more on that later)
Flight Details: BNA-PHX
Airline: Southwest Airlines (WN/SWA)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-8H4 (WL)
Registration: N8543Z
Seat: 6F
Departure Airport: Nashville International Airport (BNA/KBNA)
Departure Gate: C17 (Charlie 1-7)
Departure Runway: 20C (2-0 Center)
Cruising Altitude: FL360/FL380
Arrival Airport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX/KPHX)
Arrival Gate: D5 (Delta 5)
Arrival Runway: 25L, originally planned for 26 (2-5 Left)
Flight route (map):
We start today’s trek home from Nashville’s Concourse C, where I was greeted by N8543Z, a 3 year old 737-800, delivered to Southwest on August 1st, 2017. It arrived earlier in the day from Chicago.
After boarding, and I settled down in seat 6F, we pushed out and started our taxi out to runway 20C. We then had a smooth takeoff and started our trek westward. We flew north of Little Rock, Arkansas, then proceeded to fly over Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, (pictured below), Amarillo, Texas (not pictured), and Albuquerque, New Mexico (not pictured).
After passing Albuquerque, we started our descent from FL380 around 170 miles northeast of Phoenix and had an uneventful descent into the Valley of the Sun. Everything was seemingly fine until the final approach happened. The winds started to pick up the closer we got the field, and the pilots did not seem prepared for this situation and forced a go-around. We made left traffic and re-entered the pattern for Runway 25L, where our original planned runway was 26. We then made a successful landing and taxied to gate D5. Welcome to Arizona!
I was able to catch one more shot of N8543Z before I ran to check the TV monitors so I could check that I would make my connection.
Now, you may ask: “Luke, where’s the Canyon Blue?” and to which I reply: “right here” - this flight was operated by N706SW, a 22 year old 737-700, being the 24th 737 next-generation aircraft to be produced. Here’s our frame at gate C4 before our departure. Flight details are provided under the image.
Flight Details: PHX-DEN
Airline: WN/SWA
Aircraft: Boeing 737-7H4 (WL)
Registration: N706SW
Seat: 16A
Departure Airport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX/KPHX)
Departure Gate: C4 (Charlie 4)
Departure Runway: 25R
Cruising Altitude: FL410
Arrival Airport: Denver International Airport (DEN/KDEN)
Arrival Gate: C33 (Charlie 3-3)
Arrival Runway: 16R
Flight route (map):
After Boarding, I snagged seat 16A, which was a window on the left side. We then pushed then had a brisk taxi over to runway 25R. Here is a shot of our bank towards the north, facing Interstate 10 westward and some of the greater Phoenix area.
We then had a smooth and uneventful flight for the majority of it, except for the common bumps on the descent into Denver. Here’s a shot looking north towards Crested Butte and Aspen, Colorado, as we are on the descent into Denver.
We passed through the foothills, then entering the Denver metro area near Morrison and Ken Caryl, then passed near Downtown Denver, thus entering the downwind for the field. We touched down on runway 16R, the longest runway in the Americas, but had a short exit, which is rare. Normally planes go most of the way down to avoid crossing 16L/34R but we exited early and crossed the runway. We then arrived at gate C33. I grabbed one last shot of the aircraft, with a company 737-800 (N8662F) having just arrived from Salt Lake City.
Thank you all for viewing! Let me know down below if you liked the idea/shots below!