For the past few days I've been leaving school - which is high in the hills over OAK - at around 7:30 and noticing a FedEx departure while walking to my car. This evening I decided to head down there and see it for myself.
I settled in at the marina, re-parked my car a few times to get the angle just right, and zipped up my hoodie. It was very windy - ATIS reported 21 knots but it felt stronger than that - and surprisingly cold. After a few Southwest 737 arrivals, I looked left and saw something BIG on approach. A UPS MD-11! It kicked up lots of smoke on touchdown and was absolutely gorgeous. And then, right as planned, 2 FedEx MD-10s peeked out from behind the hangars and headed out for departure; they rumbled down the runway at 7:25 and 7:27. Immediately after that was a UPS 767 departure. Considering I've seen at least a few hundred aircraft fly in and out of OAK, none of which have been bigger than a 737 or A320, this was a great treat. These are the aircraft that make me want to use the words "giant" and "bird" and "beauty" like I read in all the forums, but I won't because that all kind of disgusts me. Nothing like that type of jet noise, though.
I also collected 7 registrations (my OAK record is 9), which obviously takes a backseat to the 4 wide-bodies. When it's less windy and a bit warmer, I'm going back.
I settled in at the marina, re-parked my car a few times to get the angle just right, and zipped up my hoodie. It was very windy - ATIS reported 21 knots but it felt stronger than that - and surprisingly cold. After a few Southwest 737 arrivals, I looked left and saw something BIG on approach. A UPS MD-11! It kicked up lots of smoke on touchdown and was absolutely gorgeous. And then, right as planned, 2 FedEx MD-10s peeked out from behind the hangars and headed out for departure; they rumbled down the runway at 7:25 and 7:27. Immediately after that was a UPS 767 departure. Considering I've seen at least a few hundred aircraft fly in and out of OAK, none of which have been bigger than a 737 or A320, this was a great treat. These are the aircraft that make me want to use the words "giant" and "bird" and "beauty" like I read in all the forums, but I won't because that all kind of disgusts me. Nothing like that type of jet noise, though.
I also collected 7 registrations (my OAK record is 9), which obviously takes a backseat to the 4 wide-bodies. When it's less windy and a bit warmer, I'm going back.
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