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STL to SGN 2020 via DTW, PVG, and NRT

Share your latest flight experience or aviation-related poetry with us.
 

symphonicpoet 06 Feb 20, 21:35Post
Long trip with many layovers . . .

We were initially booked to fly out through Atlanta, but the inbound leg of our outbound flight got diverted . . . to my home airport. Some kind of medical emergency. I know not the details. All I can say for sure is it delayed the flight the next day sufficiently to render my connection in Shanghai impossible. Delta kindly rebooked us on a flight through Detroit instead, but I lost my window seat on the first two legs in the process.

That said, we got kicked up a class for the long flight at no cost to us, so I can't really complain too much. (We'd been booked Comfort Plus for the outbound TransPac and Premium Select on the return, but ended up Premium Select for both long legs.)

Things returned to normal in Shanghai.

Here's a couple of shots of the new satellite terminal if you haven't had the chance to check it out yet.






It's not bad looking, but I think I prefer T1. It's more distinctive to my mind and all the kinks have been ironed out. (There was a distinct moldy smell in the basement arrivals area and a bad plumbing smell in the middle of the terminal on the main level. I'd guess these are construction related and will eventually get fixed, but . . . I really don't care for smelly airports. Biggest turn-off. Stale grease in Chicago. Mildew in London. Sewer gas in Shanghai. Fix it!)

Anyway, the terminal was large and the problems were localized, so you could mostly avoid them. Lots of desks with universal outlets if you want to work and need power. More than enough food and drink options. And the place felt . . . absolutely abandoned all considered. During the New Year's rush. Oddness, there. It's not as though it wasn't busy. Our inbound flight was wall to wall and China Eastern had actually upgauged a flight usually handled by an A320 to an A333. But the building is so big it can easily absorb all of that. (I want to say the satellite terminal alone has something on the order of 80 gates.)

And here's our bird for the leg to Saigon:



I won't belabor the part without planes too much here, but if you want a taste . . .

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Feel free to click through to Flickr, where I keep my non-aviation stuff. But for now, back to planes . . .

The return trip went a bit more smoothly.



Wait, what? That fellow on the apron is on a bike? Seriously? Okay. Why not!



The cloud cover made the view of Ho Chi Minh a bit less impressive, but at least the clouds were pretty when we got above them.

Lots to see in Tokyo . . .







Including our own flight heading back to Ho Chi Minh:



I call this one "Avenue of Giants"



Every large aircraft you could dream of was lined up there or elsewhere. Honestly, East Asia is the place to be anymore. You get enormous passenger traffic, heavy freighters of all stripes, color, variety, and generally very nice airports. I still haven't found an East Asian airport I didn't like. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Saigon, Seoul . . . You just can't beat the Pacific Rim.

I was really hoping to post a bang-up series of flight videos this time, but the new camera was kind of a bust. I mostly ended up using my cell phone. Again. Which means rolling shutter issues I can't seem to get under control. Still, at least there's something. Gorgeous night approaches to Ho Chi Minh and St. Louis and lots of apron action in Tokyo. Plenty of action in Shanghai too, but it's less impressive in the middle of the night.

If you want to skip around, here's where different stuff starts:
Night Takeoff from Shanghai - Pudong (PVG): 00:22
Night Landing at Tan Son Nhat, Ho Chi Minh City (SGN): 04:10
Day Lading at Tokyo - Narita (NRT): 13:08
Afternoon Takeoff from Narita: 24:40
Afternoon Landing at Detroit - Wayne County (DTW): 40:58
Night Landing at St. Louis Lambert (STL): 50:13

Last edited by JLAmber on 06 Feb 20, 22:40, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed youtube link
JLAmber (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 06 Feb 20, 23:01Post
I saw your photos earlier and thought it looked like an amazing trip.

symphonicpoet wrote:Feel free to click through to Flickr, where I keep my non-aviation stuff.


Will do, love the shipwreck shot {thumbsup}
A million great ideas...
Zak (netAirspace FAA) 06 Feb 20, 23:06Post
Great trip report! {thumbsup}

As far as I am concerned - don't hesitate to include as many non-av shots as you like. I checked them out on Flickr, awesome stuff!
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
symphonicpoet 07 Feb 20, 04:17Post
^Zak and JLAmber,

Thank you both! It really was a fun trip. One of these days I'll even find a better way to make flight videos. :) (That night approach into Saigon really is pretty gorgeous if I can ever manage to do it justice.)
ANCFlyer (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 07 Feb 20, 11:07Post
Great TR and awesome photographs . . . thanks!
LET'S GO BRANDON!!!!
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 07 Feb 20, 23:12Post
I really liked reading this, and man, that's some good photography. The red tree over the boat...that was killer!
symphonicpoet 08 Feb 20, 09:29Post
^Thank you ANCFlyer and Lucas both. I was really happy the picture with the blue boat and the red tree came out. I was worried it wouldn't, and the boat was gone when I went back.

It was definitely a trip with some absolutely gorgeous scenery and airplanes. Thank you. :)
 

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