LO336 CDG-WAW 2016.05.05

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

05 May 2016
LO336 (1940-2150) CDG-WAW
SP-LNC Embraer 195

After arriving at the airport train station I head for another train that will get me to Terminal 1. There I briefly drop my baggage of and head for a tour outside around the terminal. After a couple pictures I return inside and head for my satellite. A ride through the tunnel, the security control and there I am, still having time until boarding. Nothing interesting that could be easily photographed from here so there's nothing else to do but wait for boarding to start. On board I take my seat in row 12. All is ready for departure on my side. We taxi next to a Boeing 757 from TACV, a nice goodbye to the apron it is. A smooth rotation and off we go up with a view on fields in the area. A beautiful mix of yellow, green and brown all over the place.
The flight proceeds smoothly and after an hour or so we dive into the night. Landing in Warsaw is on-time and I don't have to wait too long for the bags to arrive.
Once again there is nothing bad that I could say about my flight with LOT. The crew on board was fantastic, it was a sheer pleasure to be there with them.

LO331 WAW-CDG 2016.05.02

May, the month when the weather isn't too hot yet, but ain't too cold either. A great month for traveling around western Europe. This year the plan was for a quick visit in Paris, as a tourist, and even quicker visits in Prague and Amsterdam, as a spotter.

02 May 2016
LO331 (0730-0955) WAW-CDG
SP-LNB Embraer 195

The morning flight with LOT was the one I chose to get with to Paris. The weather that morning in Warsaw was gray. Cloudy with a slight breeze. At the check-in area there is no queue to the bag drop, so I quickly get rid of my bag over there and head over to the security control. The worst part of a journey from Warsaw... But well, one must get over the poor and rude treatment they get and move on, to the gate! Having a lot of time I catch up with some friends and when boarding is at it's end, board the plane. Today SP-LNB, seat 25D. The forecast for the flight is good, the sky in Paris is clear.
After almost two hours we finally begin our approach to Charles de Gaulle airport. Smooth touchdown and after a couple of minutes deboarding commences. The bags arrive rather quick, but as it is in Paris, not in the right order...
All in all, another very pleasant flight with LOT.

Someone here got priority for takeoff

LO332 CDG-WAW 2015.06.23

After a short pre-flight spotting at the airport (mostly at T1) came the time to go for the flight. So after over two hours of walking around the entire airport, photographing planes and the interior of the terminals. The construction of T1 is kinda funny. It has a couple of satellites around the main building that you can get to with underground walkways. A cool experience.
The flight itself:

23 June 2015
LO332 (1045-1300) CDG-WAW
SP-LNE Embraer 195

The flight passes quickly without any special events. The sun shines nicely, but clouds block the view of the ground. I'm seating at 18D.

Departing CDG with a A380 waiting for us to pass so it can taxi to its stand.

Paris CDG pre-flight spotting LFPG/CDG 2015.06.23

Yesterday we returned with Robert home pretty late, the night was not going to be very long. Before ending our day we packed our suitcases and checked-in for our flights back home. He was bound to depart in the morning (7am-ish), my flight was 3 hours later. The plan was easy, we drive to the airport, I return the car to the rental service and he goes for his flight. Meanwhile having a couple of hours to spent I decided to walk around the airport and perhaps take some pictures. I couldn't leave my bag anyway before check-in for my flight opened. My conclusions after the morning? Terminal 3 has nearly no spotting opportunities, Terminal 2 is hard and not many spots, Terminal 1 is on the other side pretty nice. Open air, planes very close and so on. Most of the pictures where taken from T1. For more info and pictures of the terminals visit my entry about LO332.

F-RAJB

9K-AME

Paris CDG spotting LFPG/CDG 2015.06.22

Monday came quickly. Three nights in Paris have passed since my arrival. During that time I've been at Le Bourget for the Air Show and at Orly airport for some spotting. This was supposed to be my last day in Paris, after the night I had to catch the flight back home. So we decided, together with my friend, to go for a little spotting at CDG - which is the main airport in the Paris metro area. After planning nearly everything out before arriving to France we knew that the distances were huge and without a car it would be nearly impossible to get some decent results. We did rent a car the day before (it was needed at ORY) and had a schedule of what arrives or departs when so that we could have a chance of catching everything (or at least most of the things) we came here for, which was: Air Tahiti Nui A340, LaCompagnie 757, the Air France 747s and A340s, UA/AA 757s and other plane+livery connections that are usually unavailable in Warsaw. To the "cooler" things we got I could add: FedEx 777s, UIA 767, TK A330, SAS retro jet, Egyptair 777, Air Transat A310 and more! Well, I can't say I am disappointed with the results. Although the weather was from the poor kind, in the morning full overcast, and later during the day rain came so we started spending more and more time in the car :P (of course lets add the trips for food to nearby villages).
Overall, Roissy offers a wide range of pretty good spotting locations, but to get to them easily you need a car transport. There are, more or less, a couple of parking spots in the area of mosts of the spots. If you are interested in a decent guide check this spotterguide out. It did help me out with a couple of problems. And remember about the permit, we did encounter a check during our stay.
Have a look what came out of my camera:

F-HPJD

F-HBLA

LO333 WAW-CDG 2015.06.19

June is the month of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget. After a couple of years I finally got the possibility of flying for it. As the name says it takes place in Paris, so I had to get there somehow. My money went to LOT Polish Airlines. To Paris Charles de Gaulle with LO333 and the return on LO332 but each flight will have its own entry.

19 June 2015
LO333 (1940-2205) WAW-CDG
SP-LIB Embraer 175

I arrive at the airport as usual, one hour before departure which gives me at this time of the day enough time to drop off my bag, go through security and have a little walk around for some photos. Boarding starts as planned and we arrive with a bus to the plane. Everybody boarded rather quickly and so we managed to depart more or less on time. The flight itself was rather smooth, no special sights or events. Just another great flight on a Embraer with LOT. In Paris we docked at a jetway at Terminal 1 and I proceed on to the baggage claim. The tunnels that take you to them are fantastic. You get a long moving sidewalk which goes both up and down. Later you find yourself in a area with multiple slides going different directions through tubes. After claiming my bag I head for the train that will take me downtown. And so my three days in Paris start. What will they bring? You'll see in the next entries.