35 replies to this topic

[gjanke]

It’s finally here! Tomorrow morning I am getting on the plane at BWi and flying into Cleveland. I will be there just as the rain starts to clear out. If all goes well I will see the totality at 3:13 ending at 3:17. I am doing it all from the airport.

 

No hotel, no car, when it’s done I go back into the airport and a couple of hours later fly home. In my own bed by 9:30. 
 

I wish everyone clear skies and memories that will last a lifetime.

[KMH]

It’s finally here! Tomorrow morning I am getting on the plane at BWi and flying into Cleveland. I will be there just as the rain starts to clear out. If all goes well I will see the totality at 3:13 ending at 3:17. I am doing it all from the airport.

 

No hotel, no car, when it’s done I go back into the airport and a couple of hours later fly home. In my own bed by 9:30. 
 

I wish everyone clear skies and memories that will last a lifetime.

That's a very clever plan - I wish I had seen this thread a couple of months ago.

Good luck!

 

Kevin

[Zhengyi]

It’s finally here! Tomorrow morning I am getting on the plane at BWi and flying into Cleveland. I will be there just as the rain starts to clear out. If all goes well I will see the totality at 3:13 ending at 3:17. I am doing it all from the airport.

No hotel, no car, when it’s done I go back into the airport and a couple of hours later fly home. In my own bed by 9:30.

I wish everyone clear skies and memories that will last a lifetime.

Good luck.

This is what I did for last year's total solar eclipse in Australia. Flew to Learmonth from Perth in the early morning. Back to my hotel room by 3pm later that day..hehe.

[gjanke]

On the ground in Cleveland and it’s looking promising.

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[gjanke]

All I can say is my plan went off spectacular. I am now waiting to get on the plane home and when it is all said and done this trip will have cost me $35. My airfare is points from a CC. I met some really nice people atop the Cleveland airport parking garage. They offered mermosa and food, what a fabulously time.

 

Here are a couple of pictures 

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Edited by gjanke, 08 April 2024 - 04:25 PM.

[kfiscus]

That is fantastic.  A cost-effective thrill ride.  Congrats!

[CharLakeAstro]

This is awesome. Smart thinking... glad it worked out so well, and safe travels home!

[gjanke]

In makes me feel good I was able to pull it off. So many things needed to come together but they all did and it was an amazing almost 4 minutes. It closes out what started in 2017 as a lark and finished in 2024 as a mission.

 

After 2017 I read all the books I could about total solar eclipses over the ages, and in doing so it brought home what a marvelous time we live in.

The human race has created the means to cover great distances, understand the mathematics motions of stars, plants and their satellites thereby allowing us to take stock of our place in the universe.

 

In my 8hrs stay at the Cleveland airport I met the most interesting and kind people. All there to witness this event.  For six years I looked forward to this day and now it’s done and much like the theatrical end of the lord of the rings it brings a great deal of sadness knowing it’s over.

I hope everyone’s eclipse was a great journey that will last them a lifetime.

[jqc99]

Our DFW airport viewing went well too.  Flew in early, had some breakfast, roamed around the airport people watching, and eventually headed up to the top of a parking deck.  Had partly cloudy skies with fast moving clouds, so we felt lucky given the cloudy predictions.  We were able to get a lot of great views of the partial phases, and most of totality.  Met some great people who were either doing the same thing, or just happened to be traveling through at the time.  Afterwards, we hopped on a plane back home.  It was a very efficient way to see it, but without a rental car we were at the mercy of the weather.  Would still do it again in a heartbeat.  Even if we were clouded out, it was just a fun day trip with the family.

[gjanke]

Our DFW airport viewing went well too.  

Glad to hear that it worked out.

 

I never planned on getting a car, based solely on 2017 having a car in a place I wasn't familiar with would have proven futile.

 

I met a gentlemen on the flight to Cleveland from Baltimore who was going to go into the city for one of the many events Cleveland was running. He was on the same flight back as I was and he didn't make it back and wasn't on the return flight. So leaving the airport on a tight schedule like that seemed too risky. Landed in CLE at 10am 4/8/2024 and flight left for BWI at 6:10pm 4/8/2024, very tight window.

 

The position from the top of the airport parking garage gave a fantastic view of the outlying areas during totality.

 

The airport ran firetrucks out to the runway as the totality set in. It was a cool effect but could only guess as to the why; maybe the quick onset of darkness was the concern.

 

Another cool thing was someone set off a large round of fireworks...That was just crazy

 

In 2017 I can't say I really felt any temperature drop. It was hot and muggy. This time however, definitely noticed the temperature drop. It felt like a 10 degree drop. 

[gjanke]

What a great day Monday! I looked back at when I started this thread and it was good to see that it all held up. I got a alot of really good feedback and people shared stories of them using airports as a viewing platform in 2017. 

 

2017 was a family vacation to Myrtle Beach which was a sunk cost. We go there every year.  This time around school was in play and no one wanted to go to any of the places I was considering going to for the viewing. 

 

When I started making arrangements for lodging and transportation, well, I kinda choked on the cost. The average cost was $1,200 for the hotel and about $600 for the car. Not to mention any other costs that are incurred during travel. 

 

So I came up with a very simple plan of flying to an airport and viewing it from there and then flying directly back home.

 

I offered it to family members and they were saying, no way. When the day came and it all fell together, I cant explain the great joy I had. When I got back home the family was then saying how they wished they had gone. As I reminded them, Hindsight is 20/20.  This was not what they were saying weeks prior to the event.  I have a companion pass, so bringing someone was free.

 

An earlier poster was right, having family there was very important. I am glad I went but it wasn't the same as 2017.

 

So one last post from me for this thread. More for posterity then anything else. I am including two pictures.

 

One is the receipt from parking at BWI. It logs the hours in and out of short term parking ( add and hours drive time both ways if you're interested in seeing what my total time spent traveling to this event from and to my house).  The other picture is from the Hopkins Cleveland airport parking garage roof top right at second contact. Its cool in that it shows the control tower and Venus in the picture.

 

Thanks for all of the posts and encouragement. 

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