Jet WindowWindow seat by route · ORD to DEN
Chicago to Denver: which side of the plane?
Sun left by day, right in the evening.
It turns with the clock. On morning and midday departures the sun is mostly on the left; leave in the evening and it is mostly on the right. Find your departure time in the table.
The sun, by departure time
Where the light will be.
Departure times are local to Chicago. About 2 h 15 min in the air over 770 nautical miles.
| Leaving at | Winter (mid-December) | Summer (mid-June) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Left · sun on this side | Right · sun on this side |
| Noon | Left · sun on this side | Left · sun on this side |
| 5 p.m. | Dark the whole way | Right · sun on this side |
| 10 p.m. | Dark the whole way | Dark the whole way |
Out of the window
What you can look for.
Out on the high plains at over a mile above the sea.
Along the way
- The Great Lakes, big enough to have a horizon of their own on the right, in daylight
Arriving in Denver
The snow-topped wall of the Colorado Front Range, from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak, stands along the western horizon beyond the brown high plains.
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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