Monday, March 25, 2013

Flight Report: Air France A380-800 [F-HPJG] IAD to CDG

Just 1 day after having arrived home from California, I was packing again. This time, it was for a visit to France. I was flying out to meet my friend and his family on the Island of Noirmoutier, on the Western Coast of France. My friend visited with my family earlier in the summer, and now it was time for me to go see him in France. 

After months of planning, it was time to book the tickets during the spring of last year. I decided to book my flights both ways on the Air France A380. To do this, I had to fly through JFK on the way back to fly on the A380 again. I'm not sure it was the best decision to fly on the A380 both ways, as I've always wanted to fly on a 747 or A340. I could've done one of each type both ways. 

I booked both of my tickets to have window seats on the Upper Deck economy section of the A380. It was definitely cool to fly on the 2nd deck of the plane. I loved that I was able to go up and down the aft stairs of the plane throughout the flight. 

Air France Flight 39 Information
  • Flight: Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
  • Flight Time: 7 Hours, 30 Minutes
  • Aircraft: Air France A380-800 [F-HPJG]
  • Seat: 92L (window)
The plane at the gate in IAD

Another photo of our plane at the gate (IAD)

Here is the video from taking off at IAD. It was so cool to have the live tail camera for takeoff and landing. More videos like this can be found on my Youtube Channel: MartinsAviation1



Business Class just forward of the economy section

I got extremely lucky on the flight over to CDG as there was no one sitting next to me in my row. Because of that, I was able to make a little bed. The plane was pretty lightly filled, some 4 seat rows in the middle were entirely open, but of course were taken over for use as beds at night.  

Window view from 92L

Here is the video from our early morning landing at CDG. You can see how hard the landing was in the video: 



I got somewhat lucky as were were de-planing. There was no second jetway for the upper deck, so we got to use the forward stairs in the plane. This allowed me to check out First Class and the In-Flight "Lounge/Art Museum." 

The Business/First Class Lounge/Art Gallery 


Thanks for reading and watching!
Swayne Martin 
Twitter: @MartinsAviation 


6 comments:

  1. Great videos and wonderful trip. You have the heart and soul of a pilot and that adventurer spirit... or a wanderer. I suspect if school wasn't involved you might be on planes everywhere around the world. Don't let anyone ever talk you out of your passion. Enjoy this travel time.

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    1. Thanks Karlene!

      I'm sure if school wasn't involved I definitely would be!

      Many Thanks,
      Swayne Martin

      Delete
  2. Swayne, you fly more than I do--and cooler hardware, too!

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    1. Haha thanks Eric!

      I have a lot of flight reports lined up for posting it's just a matter of spacing it out some :)

      Thanks!
      Swayne Martin

      Delete
  3. What a fantastic trip! I can't wait for the chance to fly on one of these!

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Thanks for your comment; I really appreciate it! Glad you are here with me on the blog. If your comment does not appear right away, it will after verification.

Many Thanks, Happy Flying,
Swayne Martin