V-Flyer

I'm flying down to Florida from San Francisco, for the best view of the Bay etc, can someone tell me whether left or right will give me the best view.

Thanks

Suzy

When leaving SFO, the view of the city is normally on the right hand side of the aircraft. The famous mist can however block the view.

This is typically the case with the bigger planes, which take off from 28R (south to north), aiming pretty much for Sutro tower so most of the city will be to your right at take off. However most 767s and below will take off west to east typically, 1R/L I think it is, so you're basically aiming for the Oakland hills. In that case the city will be to your left, and at quite a distance since the airport is basically in San Bruno/Millbrae.

BTW, Tinkerbelle is right, especially in summer you might fly and the Sutro antenna will be about all you will see of SF ... not today though

and of course it all depends which way the wind is blowing which can change the take off runway 180 degrees for any aircraft

Arrivals can be a little more difficult to predict, likewise many landings are from the south and frequently when I travel I've noticed that the plan flies in from the north then turns at the bottom of the bay to head into the airport. Similarly in these situations, sitting on the right gets the views of the GGB and the city if they're visible.

Over the years I've gotten to land pretty much in all directions, the most exciting is west to east as you're scraping the freeway - exciting when you drive to work and get buzzed, too ... only once did I get the dreaded north to south landing, after which you turn back and taxi for a Heathrow length of time...

Thank you everyone for your comments. I can now change my seat accordingly!

Must say I'm not looking forward to the 5+ hours journey on a smaller aircraft - but no pain, no gain!