This past week, I had a couple of (long-known) guests (actually a couple...) visiting me from Florida. For a few days, I was busy chauffeuring them around Chicago, including an enjoyable trip to the Meigs Field, the (former) site of the famous (little) Meigs Field airport, and now a lakefront park. (Side Note: The airport was destroyed during the night of March 30–31, 2003, just a few years after I moved to Chicago.)

Anyway, earlier this week, I dropped my guests off, at O'Hare for their return trip. When they had left Florida, it was sunny and ~80°F there, but it was cloudy and blustery cold ~40°F in Chicago most of last week. 

This reminds me of an occasion, when I was once returning from Miami to Chicago. As we started our descent to Chicago O'Hare late in the (freezing) night, to a (local) temperature of ~0°F (EU readers, please note, this is 0°F not 0°C; or equivalently -18°C), I noticed many of my fellow-passengers in T-shirts or/and light apparel, since it was unseasonably hot in Florida that week. I hoped for their sake that they had packed some heavy winterwear (preferably) in their carry-on (a bit of a challenging task, if you ask me), to be able to (comfortably) step out of the terminal doors; or at least, had packed such outfits in their check-in luggage...🙂...Around here, 0°C (32°F) is not considered cold...🙂..., but 0°F certainly is, at which temperature, in just about 15-20 minutes of exposure, your ear lobes and fingertips would feel that first tingling of numbness, especially in wind-chill conditions.

Anyway, my guests had travelled (paid) first-class (non-stop) in a United A321neo, giving up the option of (free) mileage-based flights in AA. Apparently, on their selected day and time of departure from MCO, AA had only 1-stop flights to Chicago (via e.g., DFW). I (silently) told myself, there is the difference between normal air passengers vs. an aviation enthusiast. Why in the world would I (ever) give up an opportunity to travel free while converting my single flight into two distinct flights and getting to see Dallas Fort Worth airport, on the side...🙂...? Oh well...Of course, I kept my personal sentiments to myself.

So, I did 2 flights this week with the iniBuilds A321LR, essentially a longer-range A321neo (see images below), since I don't have any other A321neo in my (Xbox) hangar. 

1. KMCO-KORD (This leg was flown prior to their arrival, but I could not keep up with the RW flight, due to required (hectic) preps for their imminent arrival...including external errands such as (rare) stocking up on certain kinds of beverages of their choice...🙂...)
2. KORD-KMCO (This leg was flown after they boarded the Uber on the driveway outside the doors, on their way to O'Hare, with my A321LR (almost) ready for takeoff on the 4K TV...🙂...The flight of this post here is about that return leg from KORD to KMCO; I've followed rigidly the times and route of the RW A321 flight, based on FlightAware).

The RW (UAL) flight Route was "DENNT DARCY DREGS DUMGE SCOTO SWAPP Q79 THRSR ZJAYX GRNCH5", with a distance of about 1,010 miles, and a flight duration of about 2hrs 30mins, with a late afternoon departure from O'Hare and late evening arrival in Orlando. Coincidentally, SimBrief Flight Plan (by default) yielded the identical route string as above, which I've uploaded into the FMGC/MCDU of this (decent) iniBuilds A321LR, see the EFB screenshot of the OFP in shot #2 below. I've also shown my SimBrief (virtual) Route Map and the FlightAware (RW) Route Map in shot #s 3/4 below. SimBrief gave me ~900 nms or about 1,030 (statute) miles for my own recreated flight.

So, I've departed per the RW departure, keeping toe-to-toe with the (RW) A321neo, as observed in FlightAware, while it was speeding away at Mach 0.80. The pictures below represent a set of images from my (virtual) flight. You'll notice that I've chosen, at the pilot's discretion of yours truly, the (pleasing) livery of Jet2holidays, a British package holiday provider, and the third-largest scheduled airline and the largest tour operator in the UK. After all, being in Chicago, I've flown UAL (RW and virtual World) umpteen times, so, I wished for a bit of variety.

One of my guests, after reaching my place, during chitchat, had asked me a question, "How many gallons of fuel does the Airbus A321neo burn per hour?" He knew of my propensity for aviation and is somewhat of an aviation fan himself. Previously challenging playfully my (aviation) awareness, he had just stated that they had actually traveled in a Boeing 777...to which, I instantly replied, "No, you cannot fool me that way...!"...🙂...

Anyway, as answer to the question, I (promptly) looked up, on my phone, the (still) available SimBrief Load sheet to find that their A321neo burned ~5,000 Kgs of fuel on the trip, in about 2hrs and 30mins, which converts to about 2,000 Kgs per hour, or equivalently ~700 US gallons of Jet-fuel per hour. Since my guests own a Hybrid Toyota SUV, that consumes about 1 gallon per hour, and would have required only about 20 gallons in the 20-hour trip from Orlando to Chicago, there was a moment of stunned silence followed by an exclamation of surprise...Oh well...They got to travel in first-class comfort and completed the journey in just about 2hrs and 30mins. [Side Note: I've travelled once by road the (round-trip) 2,000 miles between Chicago and Orlando, so, I know, even if with one overnight stop each way, it's a daunting and physically exhausting task, so, best done, in my former times, when I was a bit younger...🙂...]

Please find, below, the collection of images from my (ORD -> MCO) flight. In the (lift-off) shot #6 below, under the starboard engine of the A321, you will spot the (iconic) black Hilton Hotel of Chicago O'Hare, that's one of the few hotels that's located directly on the premise of a major airport. I've stayed there on a couple of occasions. The hotel (renowned for plane-spotting) is connected to the airport terminals via (seemingly endless) indoors (underground) passageways (perfectly walkable and thankfully climate-controlled).

The one exception to the RW route, I did for my own flight, again at my own discretion, is a lower altitude flyover of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (see shot #11), part of the larger Appalachian Range. The RW flight route goes just past the western edge of this mountain chain. The outlines of the Appalachians are best seen on my (MSFS) EFB Map screenshot (#8) below.

Hope you enjoy this report of my virtual flight, mimicking a RW A321neo flight, to the extent of adherence, as best as I could, in my own virtual world. As I arrive at my destination, the dusk is settling down on Orlando airport, with the myriad nearby lakes glittering in the brilliant sunlight (see shots below), with the sun itself about to enter the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, on the eastern shoreline of Florida.

Soon after my guests landed in KMCO, and texted me, "We have safely arrived", I texted back, "I, too, landed there just a few minutes ahead of you."  See my final screenshot of a smooth touchdown...🙂...on the northward ILS Runway 35R.

They surely must have given a chuckle to themselves, while taxiing to the gate...

Thanks for viewing...!

Edited March 14Mar 14 by P_7878

Fantastic Captures 

This is excellent P!

4 hours ago, Phantom88 said:

Fantastic Captures 

Thank you, Patrick…!

Great to hear from you once in a while…

When will spring be here…it was flurrying yesterday…🙂…?

26 minutes ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

This is excellent P!

Appreciated the kind words, Jack…!

Nice set, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

5 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Nice set, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

Thanks for the comment, pmplayer.

(Surely, pre-occupied with your (new) A346…🙂…)…

Always love the "story"!

My wife flies to asia a few times a year, and I've virtually flown along a few times. Always kinda cool to see how well I'm matching up to flight aware 🙂

 

Wonderful...!

I have always looked forward to my (Lufthansa) 2nd legs from Frankfurt to East and far East destinations much more than the Atlantic pond crossing ...🙂... You need to be there to appreciate the stark differences.

Yes, FlightAware is nice; literally you can track altitude, speed, distance, time of your loved ones...in real time...no matter where they are flying in the world.