Things in the Sky

I decided that doing a day-by-day write-up of my cruise would a) take up lots of posts and b) be a bit hard in some areas. So I’ll be working on one long review that will be posted next week. But, today I wanted to share what Cranky Flier calls “airplane porn.” One of the ports of call was St. Maarten, which obviously means that a visit to Maho Beach is necessary. For those who don’t know, it’s right at the edge of St. Maarten’s major international airport. Obviously, this provides some great views of landings, and if you’re adventurous enough, an opportunity to experience some jet blast first hand (there was actually a group of people hanging on to the fence for awhile).

This was my second time at Maho, and it just doesn’t get old. Some things have changed in the past year, though. The famous Sunset Beach Bar was damaged during the last hurricane season, and also changed owners. It is now the Sunset Bar & Grill. Personally, I don’t care what it’s called as long as I can watch planes. One of the very nice changes, though, is the placement of speakers around the bar that are hooked up to a radio scanner. It is great to hear the radio chatter, but it’s also a good way to know when to get the camera ready!

Overall, it was a great day. Most of the pilots wove back to me and my fellow spotters. A few members of our CruiseCritic group stopped by for awhile, so that was nice as well. And, I did get my recommended dose of jet blast from a US Airways 757. All I can say is wow. As you’ll see in the video below of the Insel Air MD-80 taking off, the jetblast blows a lot of sand (and even the water) around.

Anyway, enjoy!

Videos:

Photos:

Emergency drill.

The famous surfboard. Screwed up with the codeshares though.

A Winair flight waits as another departs.

Three LIATs all lined up.

What a great day! Every plane dork needs to go to SXM at least once!