WestJet 2884 - CYUL-TNCM

[abasa12 38]

I have some pictures here of a recent flight I did, WestJet 2884 from Montreal to St Maarten. Save for a couple of FSX crashes, slewing and some rather low FPS, it went relatively well. It was the first time I saw the snow in REX4 (not that there's any change), and the sky colours were magnificent. Join me as we recall the flight in the 737-800 to the land of low approaches!

 

The OFP is attached below (PFPX)

 

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Starting our flight, right after pushback from gate 55 at Montreal and waiting for the all clear from the ground as we wrap up some last-minute before taxi procedures. We'll be taxiing for a bit with the flaps up because of all of the snow. It'll be a very short taxi to runway 06R, though.

 

 

After takeoff and the big turn south over Montreal, we climb towards 36,000 feet. We're in American airspace at this point, and heading for New York as the last of the dawn colours slip away. From there we'll make a slight turn to the left, over the Atlantic, where we'll head south towards the Caribbean for most of the flight.

 

 

In the midday sun we approach our top of descent point, from which we'll follow the ULUBA1 STAR via SLUGO into runway 10, right over Maho Beach.

 

 

Right after crossing the 10,000 foot mark on VS to try and catch up with VNAV, we make the final turn to the left to line ourselves up with the runway. The island lies ahead, and we're getting ready to put down our flaps for the final stretch of the flight.

 

 

The island is clearly in view as our gear is lowered and our flaps are extended to slow us for arrival. According to the PAPI system we;re right on track, and as we're flying the RNAV and we've passed the last waypoint, it's manual flight for the rest of our arrival. Ahead of us a US Airways 757 exits the runway. We're all cleared for landing.

 

 

On the left side the beach maybe seems a little too close as we're just seconds away from touchdown. Our flaps our full and we're all configured for landing.

 

 

The famous view from the cockpit as we get ready to flare. The runway's ours, and the airport is emptier than usual. A Dash 8 to the left, the usual WinAir traffic, a Shorts and some GA aircraft are all that can be seen from the flight deck.

 

 

Two seconds later we're over the beach, with sunbathers and spotters alike all staring up as we roar over the road and the fence, seconds away from touchdown. The skies are clear and it's very hot here. By no means a typical January!

 

 

After some unnamed issues and subsequently prolonged flight over the runway, we finally get our wheels down onto runway 10 to quickly decelerate conclude our flight. After a speedy backtrack along the runway, we exit to allow for a Jetblue A320 to arrive as well. From there it's a quick taxi to gate A2, where the jetway connects and the flight concludes, at around 4 and a half hours. I can imagine our passengers are happy to get into the sun as opposed to the Montreal snow we had on takeoff. All in all, a great flight.

 

Thanks for joining us!

 

 

-Derek

 

 

PS - In case you missed it, I made a similar photographed FS journey, from Montreal to Dubai as Emirates 804 here. Please comment with what you thought of them!

 

WJA2884 CYUL-TNCM (05 Jan 0810 UTC).pdf

 

[HUSSAR 271]

Great pic's and nice story Derek, keep up the good work!

 

Robert

[abasa12 38]

Great pic's and nice story Derek, keep up the good work!

 

Robert

 

Thanks! Glad to hear you liked it.

[JRMurray 214]

Great commentary. Really adds to the screen shots (which were also great).

[abasa12 38]

Great commentary. Really adds to the screen shots (which were also great).

Thanks! As I said in the last one, I though I would give it a shot, and they're really fun to put together. The toughest thing is editing the pictures, though, as with so many of them it takes a fair bit. That's why some of them are a little dicey in regards to quality. I'm glad you liked it, though.

[JAT 185]

Nice shots.

 

nebojsa

[altstiff 71]

Coolio. Love the cockpit shot from the jump seat.

I did a Canjet charter there last year CYUL-TNCM (in the sim of course).

I also took a ton of pics in real life from Maho beach back in 2012 (the best place for spotting by a landslide)

https://picasaweb.google.com/115015307264021148201/TNCMTFFJMarch2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[abasa12 38]

Coolio. Love the cockpit shot from the jump seat.

 

I did a Canjet charter there last year CYUL-TNCM (in the sim of course).

 

I also took a ton of pics in real life from Maho beach back in 2012 (the best place for spotting by a landslide)

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115015307264021148201/TNCMTFFJMarch2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I was there a couple of years back, for only a day. It was spectacular, though.