My flight left at 10:15. I arrived at the airport at 8. Mom and Dad had to drop me off at the door since there wasn't an easy way to park for a short period of time. This is the first time I flew this late at night and I rather liked it, the airport wasn't busy so getting through security was more relaxed than usual. I found my gate and sat down by the window.
Here I'm playing with the camera's focus to try to focus more on the lights than the window reflection. Meanwhile, little luggage cart trucks were scurrying around outside.
The plane was a Boeing 747-400, which is just massive.
I promised the mandatory picture of the wing of my plane. Here's a slightly different view. The plane sits ten people per row, divided 3-4-3. I was seated on the aisle of the center section, so I wasn't able to get any pictures out a window. The flight staff had everyone close the windows anyway, because we were flying towards the sunrise and that way more people could sleep if they wanted.
From where I was sitting I could watch them load the plane. I had never seen the cargo hold before. A nice fellow from Palestine was watching with me and we were oohing and aahing over the plane. And the luggage lift.
The luggage hoist machine was fun to watch. Rather than simply having a conveyor belt, it's covered with roller balls and it has rollers at the sides. I'm not sure precisely how it is controlled, but it gives the lift operated full rotational control of the luggage crate. As a result, no matter what angle the crate is at when it's drawn onto the lift, it's in perfect alignment when it enters the cargo hold.
All right, time for more sleep. I was able to get to bed at a reasonable local time, but I woke up in the middle of the night anyway. I should be adjusted by Monday night. The bed here is quite comfortable.
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