LivewireExpress flight 1890 is a twelve hour flight that starts off at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, France and finishes at Kansai International in Osaka, Japan. You actually get a lot out of this flight. Of course, Paris and Osaka are great locations. Also, there are a number of interesting sights along the way including both sunrise and sunset and a chance to see the Aurora Borealis (although we were not treated to that sight on this trip). There are 21 images, including the map, in this series.
Note that this journal exhibits a pre-release "non-dirty" version of the Birds of Paradise A340-300. The fleet version has been improved with additional details by Martin Grivalsky and myself.
Starting off in Paris, we begin this journal already taxiing towards our departure runway. Behind us are a number of our EuroLivewire friends.
Building up speed to Vr...
And we launch into the skies above Paris.
At FL330, climbing to FL390, I receive a traffic alert at 11 o'clock. With each of us going around 500 knots TAS, this was a very brief encounter. A moment later we were out of sight of one another.
Soon after, at FL370, I receive a traffic alert at 9 o'clock. By the time I find the Boeing 767, it is at my 4 o'clock.
After reaching FL390, we fly over a number of countries, including Denmark, Sweden, and a very long trip over Russia. This is pre-dawn over Siberia.
And I always like catching the moon in a shot.
Soon after the sun appears over the horizon, we pass into North Korea. Here we see the North Korean coast.
Sometime later, I make a major navigational mistake. You can see our destination airport of Kansai International 39,000 feet below us. Ooops! Well for the paperwork we'll just say I was testing out a new high-altitude approach. It's a very good thing there was a 20 knot tailwind nearly the entire flight, as I'm currently way ahead of schedule. This might work out for the best!
So, after continuing on the same vector for 10 or 15 minutes, we make a 180 degree turn and head back towards our destination.
Air traffic control, now referring to me as 'Baka 1890', direct me to descend. The following two shots show the breathtaking mountains of Japan.
ATC continues to urge me lower. This valley caused Bitching Betty (GPWS) to alert me to imminent mountainside splatting. Fortunately, ATC was not misleading me and we didn't even rustle any leaves. There may be a few noise complaints from the tanuki, though.
The approach took us right over suburban Osaka. In the distance you can see downtown Osaka as we prepare for landing.
On short final, we are right on the localizer and glidescope. (The PAPI, here, shows the "glidescope" of the camera, not the aircraft.)
And touchdown is as gentle as it gets. My instruments recorded a vertical speed of only -42.29 feet per minute!
The bridge to the mainland is evident in the background as the oil quickly burns off my landing gear and dances in my jet wash.
Everyone likes thrust reversers! I am no exception.
And, snug at the gate, we can see a EuroLivewire MD-11 just about to land.
Unfortunately, he was unable to clear the runway before this LivewireExpress B747-400 declares a go around.
The entire route is depicted here. On the right is a closeup of my "special" approach into Osaka. We arrived only 18 minutes late despite my detour. This flight generated $107,963.00 total revenue. (PAX: 233 Economy Class, 42 Business Class, 3 First Class)
I hope you all enjoyed!
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