Into the USA and the Avid Hotel, Chicago O’Hare
Fall fun in the Windy City
In this adventure:
- Still trying to keep it different
- Great. A Broken Down Coach…
- Cathay Pacific Lounge, Heathrow Terminal 3
- AA99 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin Extra)
- Avid Hotel, Chicago O’Hare
- Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Table for One – Time for Food
- Trying a different Deep Dish Pizza (Pequods)
- Night-Time fun with the iPhone 14 Pro
- Return to much busier Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5
- BA296 Chicago O’Hare to London Heathrow (World Traveller)
- A Coach, A Coach. My Kingdom for a Coach
- Not the end, for 2022… maybe…
It’s Wednesday and we’re in the middle of a trip report, so it must be time for an Airplane Art Special.
We all know this bit. Don’t we? No? Well, let us start at the beginning.
For those who are new to this blog or those who need another reminder, I noted the Hyatt Regency O’Hare can be more than a little to Aviation Geeks who love photographing or spotting aircraft – as the hotel is in the direct flightpath in and out of O’Hare, sitting between 10R/28L, 10C/28C, with views out to 10L/28R depending on which side of the hotel you are facing. And also on the wind direction.
Such as this day – the arrivals are eastbound (or have to loop around to reach the airport). Although you will get some interesting angles of aircraft taking off…
Western Global Boeing 747-400F taking off from this angle.
This day is a lot better, as aircraft are arriving westward – which you’ll see in the images in this post.
This time, I was facing towards O’Hare International airport, which meant I had excellent views of aircraft on approach to 10R/28, at the expense of anything else.
This view isn’t optimal.
There’s no “right answer to which way to go – depends on the traffic you want to collect. This one is good for a mixture – of regional, national and intercontinental traffic.
Also, it’s a chance to spot aircraft I don’t see every day. One can only be interested in British Airways, Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2so many times before getting bored.
Like those who might spot at any other airport – you get excited about anything remotely different.
In terms of camera, I am stil using my EOS R, mixed with Canon 100-400 f4.5-f5.6 L Series lens.
Why don’t I upgrade? Cost mainly, to put it bluntly. High-end-zooms (or even fixed focus) cost serious money. At the moment the 100-400L is working very well for me (although I won’t like and say I’m not tempted by the Canon 600mm F11 lens – or at least hiring the thing and trying it out in sunny weather, as it has its own issues).
Also, RF glass is very much still in the premium pricing tier. EF L Series lenses on the other hand are starting to lower in value at last.
So, what did I spot? Here are some edited highlights over a few days. As usual, these have all gone through Adobe Lightroom as my image processing engine.
ANA Boeing 777-300ER
Korean Air Boeing 777-300ER
Southwest Boeing 737-700
United Airlines Boeing 737-800
Japan Airlines Boeing 777-300ER
Air France Boeing 787-9
Finnair Airbus A330-300
American Airlines Airbus A321
Emirates Boeing 777-300ER
United Airlines Boeing 767-300ER
Frontier Airlines Airbus A321
United Airlines Boeing 787-9
British Airways Airbus A380
Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i
Delta Airbus A220-100
Although the O’Hare region is good for aircraft spotting anywhere. Even when in the car park, waiting for a Lyft…
Shot near the Allstate arena.
Overall: The O’Hare area offers great opportunities for those who take aviation photos to keep busy, as well as see a slice of life. Having a hotel room you can go straight back in when it is chilly straight away is a big help though.
Just make sure you’re not looking overly suspicious though.
Next: Table for One – Time for Food
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, featuring in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can follow me on Instagram too!
Also, remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.
