03/16/2005 - KBOS-KDTW

03/16/05 - KBOS-KDTW
Type of Flight: Dawn flight: Six a.m. departure
Aircraft: Cessna Citation II
Callsign: Dakota 991

Summary: Captain Travis here. Two-leg flight from Boston Logan to Detroit Metro, by way of Buffalo (NY) for refueling. Passengers: a couple of local real estate developers heading to Detroit, where they're planning to do something with mini-malls. Didn't get the details, they weren't that interesting. A couple old farts with gold chains. But that United flight attendant getting breakfast at the Burger King in Buffalo? Hubba hubba! Bouncy brunette hair, and legs that stretched the length of a runway. I chatted with her, but didn't get her number. <sigh> The most interesting feature of the first leg to Buffalo was the traffic above us. At least three planes in view, and they crossed over us and split up. The second leg, from Buffalo to Detroit, gave up some beautiful sun-lit shots across Lake St. Clair. The shots below are all hi-res. Great for wallpaper, bad for modems. :-) Enjoy!

Screenshots (1280x1024/~400k each):

• Dawn at Boston Logan
  
• "Dakota 991, taxi into position and hold. Caution the departing Boeing 737."
  
• Ready for takeoff
  
• Climbing to 11,000 feet as Boston wakes up
  
• Sunrise
  
• A view of Boston and the airport as we circle for our eventual heading
  
• On our way to Buffalo
  
• Busy skies! Now you know what a highway in the sky looks like.
  
• The traffic crosses over our heads and ends up on the other side. We're at 18k feet, they're at 30+
  
• Descending towards Buffalo for refueling
  
• The view from the nose
  
• A heavy fog blankets Buffalo
  
• Moments before touchdown. The time is 7:21 am.
  
• We decide to run in for some breakfast while the plane refuels
  
• Back on the road
  
• Southwest Flight 632 ready for takeoff as we hold at the runway.
  
• Cleared for takeoff from Buffalo
  
• "Gear up."
  
• Sailing across a placid Lake Eerie
  
• A gorgeous series of shots as we cross Lake St. Clair, descending into Detroit:
  01 ... 02 ... 03 ... 04
  
• On final approach
  
• Landing Runway 27-right. I'm a little high on my glide slope, as you can see by the four white lights. (Still thinking about that flight attendant.) A Southwest flight waits for its turn on the runway, and a United and Delta are coming.
  
• That Southwest flight lifts off the runway as we taxi to North Parking. The Northwest terminal is in the background.
  
• We've arrived! Our passengers will be happy. The time is about 8:45 a.m.