The Fun of John Wayne Airport

This is a re-post.  I originally wrote this post on Cindy M. Hogan's blog.


A fav California destination of mine is definitely the O.C.

For starters, I love flying into the John Wayne/Orange County Airport.  Because of the noise abatement ordinance in place at the airport, I find both the landing and the take off fun.  On the landing, they slam on the brakes pretty hard because of the shorter runway.  On take off, the pilot revs up the engines while holding the brakes, then abruptly releases the brakes and everyone lurches forward in their seats then gets pushed back into them.  Once getting airborne, the pilot throttles back on the engines—again because of the noise abatement—and then a few seconds later, the engines rev back up.

It’s an added bonus when I get to sit near a passenger or two that have never flown in or out of there.  I love seeing the looks on their faces and try to imagine what they are thinking.  More than once, I’ve heard passengers asking the person next to them if they think something is wrong. 

If you have the chance to fly in or out of the John Wayne/Orange County Airport, enjoy the shorter security lines, a fake ice cream cone from the McDonalds in the terminal, the sunshine and most of all the flight.

P.S. If you’re departing flight gets delayed for whatever reason, I hope it’s not past 10 pm because they won’t let you depart if it is….again, the noise abatement!