Real-life Routes Challenge - Tracking Thread

[ThePotato]

Real-life Routes Challenge

Hello IFC!
I have been put in a very fortunate position that has allowed me to, in real life, travel a lot to various places around the world. I personally want to re-live all of these travels, and, as a result, I am issuing myself a challenge: I will try to fly to the places I have flown to in real life using the means that I did in real life in Infinite Flight. Feel free to join me on any of these routes if the time fits your schedule: I will be doing this by myself, so it would be nice to have company.
Here are some rules I am issuing myself:

• All routes must originate from one of the five main Los Angeles area airports (as I live here), being KLAX, KONT, KSNA, KBUR, and KLGB, unless otherwise specified.

• All routes must have a return leg back to the city they originated from.

• All routes must be flown by the aircraft they were flown with in real life. If the aircraft isn’t available in Infinite Flight, it will be replaced with its best available counterpart (an example would be replacing an American Airlines A321NEO with an American Airlines A321-200).

• I will give myself some leeway on the return legs of some routes. I don’t have to return back to LA the same way that I did in real life, as I see that getting repetitive and boring really quickly.

• Routes can have stops (i.e. if I took a flight from KLAX to KLGA via KCLT, I will stop in KCLT).

I will try not to fly to destinations that are near to each other consecutively, though this may end up happening as more destinations are flown to.
I will post below the times for routes with departure times, cruising altitudes, speeds, and aircraft types. If you want to participate in a route, please DM me for further information.
Some routes are more common, while others are, shall we say… exotic. I am confident that you guys will enjoy this series. Once again, feel free to participate in any routes that you want to!
Thanks for reading! Safe travels, blue skies!
(Full credit to @BP-Aviation for this idea, as well as this format, and for allowing me to do this challenge :) )

[ThePotato]

1. Cairo

Cairo, a Historic city that I have personally been to many times throughout my life as an Egyptian, is a busy, bustling metropolis on the banks of the Nile River. Home to over 20 million people as of now, you’re sure to find something to entertain you here.
As I have flown the Los Angeles - Cairo route many times, I won’t bore you with doing it over ten times on here. Rather, I have picked a rather interesting routing, and we’ll see where we’ll go from there.
Route: KONT-HECA via KATL and LFPG (KONT-KATL-LFPG-HECA)
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Delta Airlines A321-200
Departure time: 22:30Z (15:30 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: 2-208
Cruising Altitude: FL350
Speed: Mach .80
Estimated Flight Time: 04h27m
Actual flight time: 04h21m
Slightly lop-sided rotation out of Ontario today, rather strong winds here in Southern California. You can feel it if you go outside :)

Bye-bye, California!

What a nice sunset!

Landing… only slightly hard, as per usual :)

Leg Two (DEPARTED)
Route: KATL-LFPG
Aircraft: Delta Airlines A350-900
Departure time: 1700Z (1000 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: F12
Cruising altitude: FL370
Speed: Mach .84
Estimated flight time: 08h06m
Actual flight time: 07h53m
V1… rotate!

Bye-bye, America!

What a nice sunset

Nighttime approach into Paris… thank God for ILS, it’s too dark to see!

All parked up!

Leg Three (LAST LEG) (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Air France B777-300ER
Route: LFPG-HECA
Departure time: 0200Z (1900 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: K37 (terminal 2E)
Cruising altitude: FL390
Cruising speed: Mach .82
Estimated flight time: 04h20m
Actual flight time: 04h07m
Early morning departure out of CDG

Sunrise over some Greek/Turkish islands goes well with that engine view

Egypt! 🇪🇬

No way, a butter landing this time?

Parked at out gate!

RETURN
Route: HECA-KLAX via EHAM
Leg one (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: KLM B777-300ER
Route: HECA-EHAM
Departure time: 2000Z (1300 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: E06 (Terminal 2)
Cruising speed: Mach .82
Cruising altitude: FL380
Estimated flight time: 04h50m
Actual flight time: 04h47m
Please feel free to join me on this leg of the trip!
Departing Cairo for this entirely night-time flight

It’s smooth sailing as we approach the European Continent

Descending down into Amsterdam

Okay, this has got to be my butteriest butter landing within like the last month, might not beat it in a while:

Arrived/Gate Arrival

Leg two (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: KLM B747-400
Route: EHAM-KLAX
Departure time: 0500Z (2200PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: E18 (Pier E)
Cruising speed: Mach .84
Cruising Altitude: FL360
Estimated flight time: 11h0m
Actual flight time: 11h17m
Sunrise behind us as we depart Amsterdam

Cruising as we pass Iceland to our right

Is that Canada I see?

Final approach Runway 25R into KLAX (with ATC!)

Landed into a (rather foggy) Los Angeles. I’m so fortunate to have been able to fly the 747-400s before they were all retired, now you can pretty much only find them with Lufthansa and Air China :(

This trip has come to an end! Now for the next one…

[EAviation]

Wow, great pictures, I recently flew that KLAX to KATL route

[ThePotato]

Thank you!

[ThePotato]

2. Cancún


A beloved spot for all tourism-inclined Americans, Cancún is more than first meets they eyes. Beyond the tourist-y resorts and nice beaches, there are thousands of years of history. The ancient Maya civilization has left the area filled with fascinating ruins not even an hour from the city itself, one only has to go looking.
Route: KLAX-MMUN
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Virgin America A320-200
Departure time: 2000Z (1300 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: 63 (Terminal 6/T6)
Cruising altitude: FL350
Speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 04h30m
Actual flight time: 04h08m
Rotate!

Crossing the US-Mexico border

The sun sets as we descend over the Yucatan Peninsula

I don’t know about everyone else, but the Virgin America livery was personally one of my favorites. It’s really sad to see it gone, but what can we do? :(

Landed into Cancún just as the sun sunk below the horizon

RETURN
Route: MMUN-KLAX
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: United Airlines B737-900
Departure time: 1700Z (1000 PDT) (date 03/25)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 19 (Terminal 2/T2)
Cruising altitude: FL370
Cruising speed: Mach .81
Estimated flight time: 05h02m
Actual flight time: 04h53m
Pushing back… Cancún Airport definitely deserves the 3D treatment, just saying!

Departed!

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico, how do you like my First Officer self? :)

I don’t know about everyone else, but I personally think that the split scimitar winglet design is epic.

Landing…

This trip is now over! Next!

[ThePotato]

3. San José del Cabo (Cabo San Lucas)

Classic American, right? Hitting up all the Mexican tourist-y spots in one go, lol. Cabo San Lucas is really nice, though it is a little less well-known than other places. Some rather unique and interesting rock formations make for some scenic views that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Since I took this flight out of San Diego and returned to San Diego, I’m only going to bend the rules slightly: I’m going to go there the way I came, but I’m going to come back to an LA airport.
Route: KSAN-MMSD
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Alaska Airlines B737-800 (old livery)
Departure time: 2310Z (1610 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 37 (Terminal 2/T2)
Cruising altitude: FL340 planned, FL300 actual
Speed: Mach .79
Estimated flight time: 02h10m
Actual flight time: 02h04m
Taxiing the entire length of the airport…

Chilling in the flight deck, waiting for our TOD 😎

Bro, look at this guy. He was number two behind me, this isn’t even the closest he got. He was probably not even a thousand feet laterally and barely five hundred vertically at one point, “Expert” server.

I guess he skipped go around training day, too, literally touched down before I vacated the runway. In fact, he vacated via the same taxiway not even ten seconds after I did. “Expert” server.

Not to sound whiny or anything, this isn’t the point of this thread, but it’s frustrating, these people belong in casual server.
RETURN LEG
Route: MMSD-KSNA
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Southwest Airlines B737-700 (Heart livery)
Departure time: 0100Z (1800 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: 16
Cruising altitude: FL310
Cruising speed: Mach .79 planned, Mach .80 actual
Estimated flight time: 02h40m
Actual flight time: 02h23m
Off to California!

Some terrain on departure :)

Cruising…

Desert, desert, nothing but desert as far as the eye can see! I just love California :D

I also love it when your gate it literally feet away from the taxiway you used to vacate the runway, this is how it’s done, airport designers!

This trip is now over, thanks for watching! Next!

[ThePotato]

4. New York - LaGuardia

Who hasn’t heard of New York? It’s the biggest city in the United States, for crying out loud. I don’t think I have to do much explaining here, so I’ll just explain why I’m going to LaGuardia airport and not Newark or JFK, who are both arguably much better. I have been to all three New York airports, and we’ll go to all three, I’m just starting off with LaGuardia because I like the approach.
Route: KLAX-KCLT-KLGA
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Route: KLAX-KCLT, Los Angeles - Charlotte, NC
Aircraft: American Airlines A321-200
Departure time: 2230Z (1530 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: 54A (Terminal 5/T5)
Cruising altitude: FL330
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 04h47m
Actual flight time: 03h55m
Departing LAX with a slight crosswind

Cruising over New Mexico, apparently it’s not completely flat there

Reverse green!

Leg Two (DEPARTED)
Route: KCLT-KLGA
Aircraft: American Airlines B737-800
Departure time: 0415Z (2015 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: B05
Cruising altitude: FL290
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 01h56m
Actual flight time: 01h28m
Departing KCLT for this night-time flight

Cruising over Virginia with some rather severe wing flex, as an avgeek I love turbulence for this reason, others might disagree :)

While I don’t really like LaGuardia airport (to be fair, the new remodeling they’re doing is very good), the approach is rather good, with the views over New York. If only IF had 3D buildings…

Ouch, that landing, Passengers.exe have stopped responding, I don’t recommend landing in 31 knots of crosswind 😅

RETURN LEG
Route: KLGA-KLAX
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Spirit Airlines A320-200 (was new yellow livery in real life, only old livery is available in IF, will use it instead)
Route: KLGA-KLAX
Departure time: 2300Z (1600 PDT)
Server: Expert Server
Gate: C37 (Listed as just “GATE 37” in Infinite Flight)
Cruising altitude: FL360 (step climb from FL320, first FL320, then FL340, then FL360 due to high load)
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 06h05m
Actual flight time: 05h37m
Pushing back from our gate in KLGA in the sunset 😍

Taking off with flaps two, as KLGA has a short 6900 foot runway and I was at 100% MTOW

Cruising over Ohio

This turned into a flight of two, as @J-F_V joined me over Nevada for an escort all the way down into KLAX, he even did a barrel roll in his F22 😂

Landing…

@J-F_V landing…

Arrived at the gate!

This trip is now over! Next!

[J-F_V]

Too bad I can’t upload my little video of that!
Was a pleasure to escort you for a bit of your journey!

If anyone knows how to post .mov in here please let me know 🤷‍♂️

[ThePotato]

Thanks for joining! Feel free to do so again at any time :)

[J-F_V]

Was my pleasure!

[ThePotato]

5. Miami

The next city we’re going to visit is Miami. This city is a big center for tourism - its coastline and beaches are well known throughout the United States, and its architecture seems to be unique as far as the United States goes. Personally, it’s one of my favorite cities :)
Route: KLAX-KORD-KMIA
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Route: KLAX-KORD
Aircraft: Spirit Airlines A321-200
Departure time: 2300Z (1600 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 53B (Terminal 5/T5)
Cruising altitude: FL390 (step climb from FL370 due to high load - first FL370, then FL390)
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 03h52m
Actual flight time: 03h17m
Pushing back from our gate at KLAX

This garish monstrosity of a livery allows us to camouflage ourselves into the taxiway markings, evading all ATC commands hehe :)

Climbing…

Cruising over Colorado with some heavy turbulence

Welcome to Chicago O’hare Airport!

Leg Two (DEPARTED)
Route: KORD-KMIA
Aircraft: Spirit Airlines A321-200
Departure time: 2300Z (1600 PDT) (03/31)
Server: Expert server
Gate: L11
Cruising altitude: FL350
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 03h10m
Actual flight time: 02h46m
Flaps one!

Late afternoon departure out of KORD

Sunset over southern Indiana

Cruising…

Breaking the pavement as I smash this A321 down onto the runway lol

RETURN LEG
Return: KMIA-KLAX
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: American Airlines B777-200ER
Departure time: 2230Z (1530 PDT) (04/02)
Server: Expert server
Gate: D23
Cruising altitude: FL400
Cruising speed: Mach .82
Estimated flight time: 05h37m
Three American 777-200ERs? In one place? In IF? By chance? :O

Lining up for a late afternoon departure…

Bye-bye, Miami!

Sunset…

Buttering this 777 to make up for the hard A321 landings lol 😎 🧈

This trip is now over! Time for the next one ;)

[JayJayAviation]

I do this regularly already lol

[ThePotato]

6. Dubai

Some call it a parody of the 21st century, others love this city. I personally love it, and I don’t see why some hate it. Home to some of the most advanced engineering projects that continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible, from the Burj Khalifa to the World Islands, Dubai will never disappoint you. You’ll always find something cool or worthwhile to occupy you here :)
Route: KLAX-KJFK-OMDB (We booked these flights separately and two days apart to get some time in New York, hence the unusual route and airline combination)
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Route: KLAX-KJFK, Los Angeles - New York
Aircraft: Virgin America A320-200 (This was during the early days of the Virgin America-Alaska Airlines merger, so although this was sold and operated as an Alaska Airlines flight, it was a Virgin America A320 by livery and by the hard product. Therefore, I will use the Virgin America livery).
Departure time: 1630Z (0930 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 64 (Terminal 6/T6)
Cruising altitude: FL350
Cruising speed: Mach .80
Estimated flight time: 05h31m
Actual flight time: 04h49m
Taxiing to the runway with a 777 by our side

Cya, KLAX!

Turing to fly east, we’re not going to Japan today :)

Cruising…

Descending over Pennsylvania down into New York :D

Leg Two (DEPARTED)
Route: KJFK-OMDB
Aircraft: Emirates A380-800
Departure time: 1250Z (0550 PDT) (04/05)
Gate: 29 (Terminal 4B / Terminal 4 Concourse B / T4B)
Cruising altitude: FL360, step climb up to FL420 (First FL360, then FL400, then FL420)
Cruising speed: Mach .84
Estimated flight time: 12h45m
Actual flight time: 12h03m
A6-EDA, The A380 taking us all the way to Dubai today. Not so fun fact: in real life, Emirates scrapped this A380, despite being only 14 years old 😭

Bye-bye, New York!

Climbing…

Sunset over the Atlantic

😴

Europe!

Cruising over Turkey…

Descending down into Dubai

The World Islands and Palm Jumeirah just so happen to be in our approach path :D

Welcome to Dubai!

RETURN LEG
Route: OMDB-KLAX
Leg One
Aircraft: Emirates A380-800
Departure time: 1250Z (0550 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: A04 (Concourse A)
Cruising altitude: FL350
Cruising speed: Mach .85
Estimated flight time: 16h20m
Actual flight time: 15h38m
Boarding in Dubai

Goodbye, DXB! Until next time…

Cruising over Northern Iran

Cya, Europe!

Cruising over the North Pole, where the sun doesn’t set this time of year 😎

The rockies

Descending down into LA, ending a 16 hour flight

This trip is now over! Next!

[itscay519]

I should do this… hmmm

[ThePotato]

Welcome to the community! Feel free to join me at any time ;)

[ThePotato]

7. Paris

The next destination we’re going to visit in this challenge is Paris. Known for the Louvre Museum, the Notre Dame, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower, this French city is world-renown. Its architecture (“parisian”) is loved by many, and there’s an evident charm that surrounds it.
Route: KLAX-LFPG
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Aircraft: Air France A380-800
Departure time: 1520Z (0820 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 159
Cruising altitude: FL370
Cruising speed: Mach .84
Estimated flight time: 10h45m
Actual flight time: 10h34m
Pushing back from our gate in KLAX

Rotate!

Cruising…

Over the Atlantic…

Ayo, there’s Europe over there!

@J-F_V turned this into a flight of two again after he tried to shoot me down descending into Paris (thanks!), and thanks to @BT_HANDLES for becoming ATC at LFPG on my request, you guys are great 😉

Arrived at our gate!

RETURN LEG
Route: LFPG-EDDF-KJFK-KLAX
Note that this routing is one that I did NOT take home in real life, but since it would be rather boring to witness three A380 flights in a row, I’m going to use this rule, stated above

@ThePotato

I will give myself some leeway on the return legs of some routes. I don’t have to return back to LA the same way that I did in real life, as I see that getting repetitive and boring really quickly.

to take a different route back to LA. I’ll try to do this as little as possible to stay true to the name of this thread, hence why this is the first time this is being done.
Leg One (DEPARTED)
Route: LFPG-EDDF, Paris - Frankfurt
Aircraft: Lufthansa A320Neo (This is what it’s operated by in real life, I will use an A320-200Ceo instead, as it is the nearest available aircraft in IF)
Departure time: 1445Z (0745 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: B04 (Terminal 2D / T2D)
Cruising altitude: FL270
Cruising speed: 300 KIAS
Estimated flight time: 01h15m
Actual flight time: 00h51m
Departing LFPG

Cruising for an entire 13 minutes at FL270

Landing into a rather busy EDDF

Leg Two (This’ll be try number two, my game decided that over the Atlantic was the best place it could crash, sorry :/) (DEPARTED)
Route: EDDF-KJFK, Frankfurt - New York/JFK
Aircraft: Singapore Airlines A380-800
Departure time: 2150Z (1450 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: A19 (Terminal 1 Concourse A / T1A)
Cruising altitude: FL380
Cruising speed: Mach .85
Estimated flight time: 08h35m
Actual flight time: 06h59m
Boarding at the gate at Frankfurt

Bye-bye, Germany!

Over the Atlantic yet again :D

North America, here we come!

Welcome to New York, local time is insert time, weather is humid and unpredictable as always ;)

Leg Three (DEPARTED)
Route: KJFK-KLAX, New York - LA
Aircraft: United Airlines B757-300 (Closest aircraft in IF is 757-200 and will be United livery)
Departure time: 2120Z (1420 PDT)
Server: Expert server
Gate: 03 (Terminal 4A / T4A)
Cruising altitude: FL380
Cruising speed: Mach .82
Estimated flight time: 06h05m
Actual flight time: 05h40m
JFK is huge, fell asleep before I reached runway 13R 😴

The OP 757 departs New York, waving goodbye with a tip of its left wing

Cruising…

Everyone’s favorite, Colorado and their mountains, sure changes the scenery up a bit 😅

Landing…

Welcome to LA!

This trip is now over! Next!

[J-F_V]

This thread is real cool to follow!!

[BP-Aviation]

Agreed, it is a cool idea! And fun to see unfold!

[ThePotato]

thank you!

[J-F_V]

Thanks @ThePotato for the nice flight, thanks @BT_HANDLES for the service!