>>Consistancy. Entirely. They simply one one solid aircraft>type so that all of their pilots are fluent in flying a>particular type of aircraft. In the case of Frontier, though, the A318 and A319 have the same type rating...identical cockpits, etc.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>Oh wow they are finally getting some 20's? Schweet!actually -- just read the release from Frontier. Looks like the are going to expand to having Bombardier Q400's as well . . . :-)

Yes both flights were good. Very light chop no bad wx to avoid.I noticed some things about A318/19/20 ops I did not know about before.Frontier turned landing lights on when on the rwy threshold and not before. They turned them off at 10,000 ft asl.They had what looked like 1+F flaps setting for takeoff. That meant leading edge slats down a notch and rear flaps down a notch. I always thought those aircraft operated with clean wings on takeoff.I am not sure if we flew a high altitude jetway or not. It looked like great circle gps routing to me but I am not sure what typical airline ops are these days in this era of GPS.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Nope. Airbuses, like most other airliners their size, take off with a min of 1+ flap setting. Actually typical is a 2 setting.Landing lights on threshhold is sometimes an option ESPECIALLY if aircraft are also waiting on the other side. That way one does not blind the other waiting flight's pilots.Most of the rutings in the US are now so smooth you barely notice any turns, so it is easy to not notice you have been following jetways the whole way :-) But it is required to be on jetways when atthose altitudes - unless on an emergency or military op.

You can check the actual routing on flightaware.com! Here was the actual routing for your flight to Denver! http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT281/...1539Z/KSTL/KDEN

I forgot to add...we climbed to FL40 on the STL-->Den flight. (!)I did not expect us to cruise that high.On the way back, it was the staggered FL39. Both altitudes surprised me, as I expected 33,34,35,36 and not 40,000 feet.Another thing was, on the return flight (a night flight) the pilot had the wingtip strobes on (white flashers), and once we got up to cruise alt, I could swear I saw snow crystals each time the wingtip strobe turned on.However, after the flight, I asked the pilot if we flew thru snow and he said, "No, it was clear all the way". Maybe I saw high-altitude cirrus ice crystals? Is this common to see?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>You can check the actual routing on flightaware.com! Here was>the actual routing for your flight to Denver! >>http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT281/...1539Z/KSTL/KDENThat seems to be the correct flight number and time...however, we went over Grand Island, Nebraska. I saw it and the Platte River and the lake west of there. I know those landforms and we were over it. Plus the onboard display Frontier has at my seat showed us over Nebraska.I don't understand?Maybe the onboard was incorrect? Maybe flightaware is not accurate?We did approach from the north, but we CAME from the north, we did not come from the south as the FlightAware track shows. Interesting...There is no other river that this could have been. Not the Arkansas River.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>>You can check the actual routing on flightaware.com! Here>was>>the actual routing for your flight to Denver! >>>>http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT281/...1539Z/KSTL/KDEN>>That seems to be the correct flight number and time...however,>we went over Grand Island, Nebraska. I saw it and the Platte>River and the lake west of there. I know those landforms and>we were over it. Plus the onboard display Frontier has at my>seat showed us over Nebraska.>>I don't understand?>>Maybe the onboard was incorrect? Maybe flightaware is not>accurate?>>We did approach from the north, but we CAME from the north, we>did not come from the south as the FlightAware track shows. >Interesting...>>There is no other river that this could have been. Not the>Arkansas River.>>>>Rhett>>AMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS>A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150>gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb>5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster PraetorianAt the bottom click "MORE PAST FLIGHTS" and then click July 6th .. . . it does indeed show you over Nebraska :-) Looks like you were routed diff due to Wx or traffic for that day.<>Here's the link to that day's flight:http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT281/...1542Z/KSTL/KDEN:-)

>I forgot to add...we climbed to FL40 on the STL-->Den flight.>(!)>>I did not expect us to cruise that high.>>On the way back, it was the staggered FL39. Both altitudes>surprised me, as I expected 33,34,35,36 and not 40,000 feet.>>Another thing was, on the return flight (a night flight) the>pilot had the wingtip strobes on (white flashers), and once we>got up to cruise alt, I could swear I saw snow crystals each>time the wingtip strobe turned on.>>However, after the flight, I asked the pilot if we flew thru>snow and he said, "No, it was clear all the way". Maybe I saw>high-altitude cirrus ice crystals? Is this common to see?> Very common for the AB to cruise that high :-)As for the ice crystals - snow need not be present for those to form. As long as some cirrus or any other cloud body is present you can form ice or crystalization.In flight school we learned tha ice can form ANYtime that visible moisture is present, and this includes clouds, as clouds are visible moisture.

>>At the bottom click "MORE PAST FLIGHTS" and then click July>6th .. . . it does indeed show you over Nebraska :-) Looks>like you were routed diff due to Wx or traffic for that day.>Ah good to see I was not dreaming. I *knew* that was Grand Island Nebraska I saw off the starboard side. ;)I am going to have to find the jetway we used in FS, because it looks like we made a beeline from STL to a point in Nebraska just west of Grand Island.I assume that big turn at that point, was where the pilot entered the STAR. ??RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

And here is the link for the return flight:http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT282/...0258Z/KDEN/KSTLWe went way north (to IRK Kirksville MO) before turning south at the last minute.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>At the bottom click "MORE PAST FLIGHTS" and then click July>6th .. . . it does indeed show you over Nebraska :-) Looks>like you were routed diff due to Wx or traffic for that day.>><>>>Here's the link to that day's flight:>>http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT281/...1542Z/KSTL/KDEN>>:-)looks like perhaps SAYGE6 arrival into DEN hence the routing near North Platte.

OOPS! I used the wrong link (Thursay 7/5 instead of Friday 7/6) Sorry!!

>>I am going to have to find the jetway we used in FS, because>it looks like we made a beeline from STL to a point in>Nebraska just west of Grand Island.It's easy. What I do is take the route and copy it into notepad. Then I use notepad to take out the "enter" lines, so that the entire route is on one line, then I use FSBuild to place the route into a flight plan. Also, FSBuild needs the airports on the end, so if you place the plan in FSBuild as:KSTL OZARK3 HLV MCI J24 OATHE DANDD5 KDENIt'll show you the entire routing, including all waypoints :-)HOWEVER . . . . I took the liberty of doing this myself with your route, and even though the flight tracker map shows your northerly route, I came up with the usual southerly route. My guess is you were re-routed off the planned route due to weather. Flightaware may show your ACTUAL route on the map, but the text portion is always the original flight plan filed before the flight.>>I assume that big turn at that point, was where the pilot>entered the STAR. ??Yes the big turn is where you turned onto the STAR. DANDD is from the Southeast, but you actually were on the LANDR FIVE or SAYGE SIX arrival, so your route was definitely changed while in flight. We are famous for our afternoon summer thunderstorms here in Colorado, so this is more common than anything.Here are the links to the actual STARs you may have flown:http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0707/09077LANDR.PDFhttp://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0707/09077SAYGE.PDFThat link will be no longer valid once 0708 comes out, but you can always get the updated charts here for free:http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDENand . . . http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSTL

>>And here is the link for the return flight:>>http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT282/...0258Z/KDEN/KSTL>>We went way north (to IRK Kirksville MO) before turning south>at the last minute.>Looks like this one went accoring to plan, so your actual route was:KDENEMMYSMCKPWEBACNNIRKRIVRSLORLEKSTL