Jet WindowWindow seat by route · LAX to LHR
Los Angeles to London: which side of the plane?
Sun on the left.
The sun is on the left on 6 of the 8 daylight departures we modeled. Sit left for the light and any sunset; sit right to keep the glare off and the ground easier to photograph.
The sun, by departure time
Where the light will be.
Departure times are local to Los Angeles. About 10 h 30 min in the air over 4,730 nautical miles.
| Leaving at | Winter (mid-December) | Summer (mid-June) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Right · sunset about 5.5 hours in | Left · sunset about 9 hours in |
| Noon | Left · sunset about 3 hours in | Left · sunset about 7 hours in |
| 5 p.m. | Left · sunset 5 minutes in | Left · sunset about 3.5 hours in |
| 10 p.m. | Right · sunset about 10.5 hours in | Left · sunrise about 4 hours in |
On a dark crossing, the left side faces north. If there is an aurora that night, that is where it will be. Jet Window checks the aurora forecast for your actual flight.
Out of the window
What you can look for.
Right on the Pacific shore at the edge of the LA basin.
Along the way
- The Sierra Nevada, a granite wall along the edge of the desert on the left, in daylight
- Las Vegas, an island of light in the dark desert on the right
- The Greenland ice sheet, white to the horizon in every direction on the left, in daylight
Leaving Los Angeles
Straight out over the Pacific and Santa Monica Bay; Catalina Island rides offshore on a clear day.
Arriving in London
On the usual westerly days the approach tracks over central London: the Thames, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the City towers pass by.
Best from the right, because westerly operations (roughly 70% of days) approach from the east, putting central London north of the final, on the right.
How this was worked out
The same engine as the app.
These answers come from the model Jet Window uses on your phone: the sun's position from the cabin's own horizon at cruise, sampled along the great-circle path, with the landmark and airport notes the app shows. This page has to assume a departure time and a flight time, and a real flight bends with winds, airways and the runway in use. Cloud is not modeled.
In the app, Jet Window works it out for your actual flight, at its real departure time, and tells you when to look.
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