Leg The Eighth

MIA to La Aurora International, Guatemala

A relatively short hop of about 950 NM (using high altitude airways- direct via GPS would be shorter.) Pushed back about 9:00am, taxied to and took off from 9R, the longest runway at MIA. I was number 2 for takeoff, after following a 747 out to the runway. There was another 737 waiting behind me- so more traffic at this airport than even at DFW.

Looking back over downtown Miami Radio went from Clearance Delivery to ground, tower, then Miami departure. Flight path took me south near homestead, so I got passed off to Homestead approach. After that, then to Miami center, Havana center, Merida center, Central American center, Aurora approach, then tower.

Over Key West Takeoff & climbout was uneventful, weather not bad in Miami, just some spotty coulds. Got above pretty quick. Nearing La Aurora, however, it became obvious that there was low lying cloud cover, which is not unusual for this time of year. Closer in, it got thick- not quite pea soup, but definitely low visibility. Got vectored in from the south, and after control tried to run me into a mountain, got on the beam and put it down into a very stiff headwind.

Volcanoes on the horizon- appr to La Aurora

*Very* windy at La Aurora

Leg The Seventh

DFW to MIA
More boring. Pushed back at 7:20 am. 1005 NM from DFW to MIA, using high altitude airways. Picked up a 99kt tailwind over the gulf, and carried a groundspeed of 556 kts for about 350NM. Cruised at FL 330, but changed to FL350 because of turbulence. Radio went: Clearance delivery, ground, tower, Regional departure, Ft Worth Center, Houston Center, Jacksonville Center, Miami Center, Miami approach, tower, ground. Ho frikkity hum. Next leg we're off to more interesting parts.

Pushing Back from the Gate at DFW











Climbing out of Dallas
















On Final at MIA

Leg the Sixth

SFO to DFW

Boooooring.

Pushing Back from the Gate at SFO












Climbing out of SFO, Downtown in the background
















Over The Middle Marker at DFW













After all that gadding about over the pacific, this is kind of a letdown. Just a typical commuter air route between big hubs. Pushed back from the gate at 5:30 ish (trying to make it more interesting by flying at night), was #2 for takeoff. Cruised at FL330, 285kts, picked up a 50kt tailwind over Arizona, and made real good time into DFW. Total distance was 1269nm. Passed just on the north side of the China Lake Weapons Center airspace. Nothing went boom.

Radio went from Clearance Delivery at SFO to ground, to tower, to Bay Departure, handing off to Oakland Center. Passed between controllers at Oakland several times, then passed to LA center. LA center passed off to Denver center, then to Albuquerque, where I made a shallow left turn (no- not really), then to Ft Worth center, Regional approach, then DFW tower. And that's kinda how boring the flight was. Landed runway 18R, ILS approach, on the beam, easy rollout.

Next leg's gonna be kinda boring too.