Your move, @villaraigosa.

A few years back, I proposed the Metro Flyline – a rail network from Union Station to every airport in the region. It was kind of a joke, in that not many people need to hop a train from Downtown Los Angeles to fly their personal jet out of Van Nuys Airport. But what about a line that did service the major transportation hubs in the region? A high speed TRIANGLE, connecting LAX, Bob Hope in Burbank and Union Station.

Put it all underground. Run the whole thing elevated. Tunnel through every living room in Beverly Hills.

I don’t know where the money would come from. I don’t know ridership numbers. I don’t know environmental impact blahbitty blah. What I do know, is that people would use it. Isn’t that what mass transit is for?

The point here is that it’s time for Los Angeles to start thinking big again. No matter how far-fetched and ridiculous it may seem. Let other cities celebrate highway widenings and Target openings. We’re better than that.

Maybe someday, we’ll have a mayor that won’t mind rolling up his sleeves and putting in a solid 8 hours of work.

Air Force One returns to LAX Thursday afternoon.

As I’ve previously mentioned, it’s pretty exciting when Air Force One is at LAX. It is, after all, probably the most recognizable 747 in the country, if not the world. In addition to being exciting to see, it can also be a tremendous pain in the ass. If Air Force One is here, that means the President is, too. And that likely means especially bad traffic on L.A.’s streets.

If you’re a fan of plane spotting, I’m here to give you the hot tip. Pick your spot on the lawn next to In-N-Out on Sepulveda on Thursday afternoon. If all goes according to schedule, Air Force One will cross directly in front of you as it comes in to land at 2:45pm. I always recommend getting there at least 30-60 minutes early, as this flight sometimes runs ahead of schedule.

If you’re not a fan of plane spotting (or heavy traffic,) I’m here to give you the hot tip. Stay the hell away from West L.A. on Thursday afternoon! President Obama arrives in mid-afternoon and will be heading to Sony Studios in Culver City to appear at a fundraiser for his reelection campaign. The Secret Service has worked closely with LAPD and LADOT to mitigate the traffic caused by the presidential motorcade, but seriously, how much can they do? Traffic in that area is typically bad anyway. Add the President to the mix, and things could get ugly.

President Obama will spend the night in southern California, then depart on Friday morning. Scheduled departure is 8:55am, if you plane spotters would like to see AFO in flight again. Remember to set up at the opposite end of the airport, as departing flights head out over the ocean.

Clickably gigantifiable.

Last week I mentioned an opportunity to have a (semi) up-close gander at Air Force One as it arrived at LAX yesterday. Did you go?

The President and his posse arrived about 40 minutes ahead of schedule Monday afternoon, which worked out really well for those of us who had gotten there early. It meant beating the worst of the afternoon traffic coming back up through downtown.

Now, speaking of the traffic, I heard it was terrible virtually everywhere yesterday. The Pres flew via Marine One from LAX to Beverly Hills, but once he got into the car bound for the DCCC fundraiser in Hancock Park, Secret Service street closures for the motorcade turned all of L.A. into one giant traffic clusterf*ck.

The obligatory snapshot with the plane.

For the record, I was there for the arrival. I had nothing to do with the resulting traffic.

If you were there, how was it from where you stood? In addition to the grassy knoll at In-N-Out, I saw a bunch of people perched above Imperial Highway on W. Imperial Avenue, which gave the advantage of being down toward the end of the runway where Air Force One was parked.

The rest of the photos from my vantage point on the runway can be found in this Flickr set.

Air Force One, by Burns!

Los Angeles International Airport is a busy place, with flights coming and going to all corners of the world. If plane spotting is your thing, it’s a great place to see some interesting aircraft that you don’t get to see everyday. For instance, have you ever seen that beast, the Airbus A-380, come in for a landing?

If you’re interested in seeing Air Force One, Monday and Tuesday are the days. President Obama will be in Los Angeles for about 16 hours next week, so you’ve got an opportunity to see the First Aircraft (I don’t know; I just made that up) arrive on Monday afternoon and depart on Tuesday morning.

I’m told that the lawn in front of the In-N-Out on Sepulveda Blvd. is a great viewing spot, as it is just at the eastern end of the runway (where most flights touch down.) As Julia pointed out in a recent blogging.LA post, another good place to take in the action would be the observation deck atop LAX’s Theme Building.

What: Air Force One at LAX
When: Arriving approximately 4:10pm Monday.
Departing approximately 8:40am Tuesday.

So, if planes are your thing, here’s one that doesn’t come to town all that often. Go check it out. Of course, LAX will be crawling with extra security and a few Secret Service marksmen, so don’t try to get up close and personal for a snapshot like this one:

Photo by Angela Daves-Haley

As mentioned earlier this month, the Observation Deck on the Theme Building at LAX is once again open to the public. On Saturdays and Sundays from 8-5 you can watch planes take off and land on all four runways at once to your heart’s content. I did just that on Sunday and had to tear myself away after almost two glorious hours breathing in the alternating jet exhaust and restaurant grill smells.

The Theme Building is all sparkly and new after it’s stucco fixing retrofit. The place is so fab retro, that even if you aren’t a plane junky, the building itself is a hoot. Behold the elevator to the O Deck.

Going Up!

And some some left over artifacts tickle the memory spots.

I love airports and airplanes and all things flight related, in fact, the first time I met fellow blogger Will Campbell was in March of 2007 when he posted about the A-380 making it’s inaugural flight to LAX. I joined him and many others on the grassy knoll near the In-N-Out to watch that behemoth land on 24R. Now Qantas flies that baby regularly to LAX. I didn’t see it land on Sunday, but it was parked down the way.

Size Does Matter

On the observation deck, you can walk all the way around and get great views of all parts of the airport. I have to admit I was taking so many pictures of airplanes, I only took two photos of the deck itself! It wasn’t crowded but there was a fairly steady stream of people coming and going, most with kids.

There are four free (OMG FREE!) scopes you can use to get an up close and personal view of the planes landing and taking off.

But the guy sitting on the bench over there came with his own binocs. I’m 99.9% sure he’s one of the many plane spotters out there who love an awesome location like the Observation Deck to do what they love most. He was fully prepared: Binoculars, notebooks, lunch, hat. Though he could have used a bit of sunscreen as that place reflects a TON of light off the various angles and facets of the Theme Building.

Looking North

Looking West

But let’s get to why we are here! Huge jets are fun to watch. 747s have always been my favorite and I got treated to plenty of arrivals and take offs of those big beauties.

Come on big boy!

Oh yeah!

Watching them take off always makes the laws of physics seem impossible.

"Climb, baby, climb!"

(By the way, if you know where the quote from the above image comes from, you’ll win my undying admiration. Tell me in the comments!)

The Air Force made an appearance as well.

C-130

The Observation Deck is a blast. I would bring a picnic next time and stay for even longer. The Deck itself is free, but parking is not. I recommend sunscreen if you are staying longer than a few minutes as it is BRIGHT up there. Bring binoculars, bring a camera, bring your love of flying!

See you up there…

Three years ago a large chunk of the stucco fell from one of the arches onto the roof of the building and inspections revealed a few problems. The building was closed, scaffolding erected and fixes were made. Encounter Restaurant was closed for a about eight months while construction continued. Now the building is scaffold free and all gussied up for the reopening.

The Theme Building opened in 1961 and was designed by three different firms: Pereira & Luckman and Associates, Welton Becket and Associates, and Paul R. Williams. (Paul Williams also designed one of my other favorite buildings:  La Concha Motel in Las Vegas. I stayed there not long before it was moved to it’s final resting place.)

The observation deck will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 8-5. It is free to go up, though you must pay for parking and there are security checks. I personally look forward to being there in the not too distant future.

(Photo by x-ray delta one used under CC license.)

A little art never hurt anyone, not even Tom Bradley.

The LA Times just highlighted this study by a group called Priority Pass that lists LAX as the third worst airport – in the world, behind Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris.  I’m a bit skeptical – after all, this group is comprised of frequent business travelers who probably expect foot massages when they land.  Personally, I think there are other domestic airports that are worse (Houston’s comes to mind, and not because it’s in Texas).  Nonetheless, we all know that our home port could use a little (a lot) of improvement.  The airport has received over a billion recession dollars to improve and upgrade its facilities, and the LA Times has some ideas on how to use this money (some are blatantly silly, others are more serious).  My top gripes are after the jump.

1. Free wifi. Some airports like Louis Armstrong International (in New Orleans), Portland International, and Singapore International have it, others like LAX charge for it.  I get that in an industry that’s losing money, charging an obscene amount for wifi access is almost a capitalist given, but c’mon.

2. More outlets.  On a recent flight back from Seattle, I deplaned and walked past Southwest’s Business class waiting area.  There, I noticed that the nice leather-ish seats were adjacent to even nicer power outlets.  If all the outlets at LAX could be just as accessible, it would be so much better – and safer – than looping my cords between rows of seats.

3. Easier access to the rail. I know there is a shuttle that goes between LAX and the Green Line station, and I know that this two-step approach to airport public transportation isn’t so uncommon (for example, I had to take two buses to get to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to catch my flight back to LAX, and I had to take BART and a shuttle to get from my dorm room in Berkeley to Oakland Airport).  That said, wouldn’t it be nice if we could pull a SFO and have the rail go directly to the airport?

4.  Let buses enter the Loop. Before I found a ride back from LAX, I looked over my bus options from the airport to my apartment in Santa Monica.  I was surprised to find that I had to take a (free) shuttle from the airport to the Green Line station to get to my bus.  WTF?  Why can’t I wait for a bus on the dreaded Loop the same way I wait for a shuttle or a taxi?  To make things even easier, I would even designate one of the lanes a bus-only lane.  The FlyAway bus seems to be the only public transit-oriented bus that is permitted to make the Loop, but its use is premised on the assumption that you can get home after being dropped off in Westood, Union Station, or Van Nuys.

4(a).  More FlyAways.  That said, the FlyAway is an awesome, direct, and easy option for those of us who just need an option to get to Westwood, Union Station, or Van Nuys.  Expanding the fleet to serve other areas of the city (Mid-City and the South Bay, for example) would be welcome.

5. Improve the Loop. The Loop around the terminals is like driving in a racetrack with no ground rules.  Designate car- and shuttle-only lanes, make it easier to get into the terminal pick up areas, clearly post which lanes go to which freeways well in advance of the point of no return … anything so that little hatchback Yaris doesn’t get creamed by enormous hotel shuttle buses every single time she enters the Loop.

6.  More art, less fugly. Since we have a billion to spare, can we spend some on some art?  Even some of our rail stations look prettier and more welcoming than the static, sterile environment of the LAX terminals.

What’s on your list?

They’re still repairing because I just saw @alixito tweet this:

That’s pretty much gotta suck for travelers all around because I’d much rather use the facilities at LAX than on a plane…

Hopefully, @matt_brewer is not in one of those terminals with no restrooms, as he just tweeted this:

D’oh.

President Barack Obama disembarks Air Force One at LAX, 27 May 2009. Photo by Burns!

Air Force One touched down at LAX this afternoon at 12:55pm, bringing President Obama to southern California for an evening fund raiser in Beverly Hills for the Democratic National Committee. Although the President will spend the night in Los Angeles, he will make no public appearances and will depart early tomorrow morning.

I was somewhat disappointed that the President turned immediately toward the helicopter when he reached the bottom of the stairs. I had hoped that he would approach the press pool, even if only for a few questions. Sadly, not even a nod in our direction.

What it’s like to stand in the shadow of Air Force One and more (better) photos after the jump. All pics, including the one above, gain both size and awesomeness when you click them. Go!

We’ve all seen 747s, and they’re big no matter how you look at them. I can tell you, though, that as you stand on the tarmac and Air Force One towers above you, you truly get a sense of how big that plane is. Not just for its sheer mass, but for its primary passenger.

Huge planes land at and take off from LAX all day long, but none has quite the same activity around it. As one man walks down the forward stairs, about 50-60 spill out the back. Staff, military, traveling press; all have parts in what appears to be a seamlessly choreographed exercise.

In addition to Air Force One, other aircraft in use include Marine One (President’s helicopter) and its identical twin that takes off immediately after its predecessor; I’d imagine as a decoy. Those two are followed by three enormous Marine transport helicopters, which I believe contain the presidential limo and other support vehicles.

Quite a lot of organization goes into transporting one guy around the country. It is quite a spectacle to witness.

Although you won’t be able to get all that close, if you’d like to sit at the end of the runway and watch Air Force One depart tomorrow (Thursday) morning, wheels are up at 7:30am.

Air Force One taxis off the runway. Photo by Burns!

Arrival. Photo by the fabulous Angela Daves-Haley.

Saluting the airmen. Photo by the spectacular Angela Daves-Haley.

Straight onto Marine One for a quick getaway. Photo by Burns!

Metro has released new timelines for several transit projects that could change the way you commute around Los Angeles. The problem is, there aren’t enough of them. And the ones they do have could take decades to finish.

Expo Line to Santa Monica? Not until 2015.

It could be 2018 before the Green Line reaches LAX.

The Purple Line won’t reach Westwood until 2032.

The Valley won’t be able to catch anything except the 405 to the Westside until 2038.

It is refreshing to see Metro putting everything on the table for us to see. But this sure isn’t going to feed the millions of people coming over for dinner. Shouldn’t someone start cooking a little faster?

Consider: Construction began on The New York City subway in 1900. Less than five years later, 21 miles of tunnels and 58 miles of track were completed.