Jet WindowWindow seat by route · SEA to ANC
Seattle to Anchorage: which side of the plane?
Sun side turns with season and hour.
The sun is on the left on 3 and the right on 2 of the 5 daylight departures we modeled, so the season and the hour decide it. Find yours in the table.
The sun, by departure time
Where the light will be.
Departure times are local to Seattle. About 3 h 30 min in the air over 1,256 nautical miles.
| Leaving at | Winter (mid-December) | Summer (mid-June) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Dark the whole way | Right · sun on this side |
| Noon | Left · sun on this side | Left · sun on this side |
| 5 p.m. | Dark the whole way | Left · sun on this side |
| 10 p.m. | Dark the whole way | Right · sunrise about 3 hours in |
On a dark crossing, the right 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.
Leaving Seattle
Puget Sound, its wooded islands and ferries, opens up as you climb away.
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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