Jet WindowWindow seat by route · SFO to HND
San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda: which side of the plane?
Sun on the left.
The sun is on the left on 5 of the 6 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 San Francisco. About 11 h in the air over 4,474 nautical miles.
| Leaving at | Winter (mid-December) | Summer (mid-June) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Left · sun on this side | Left · sun on this side |
| Noon | Left · sun on this side | Left · sun on this side |
| 5 p.m. | Left · sunset 15 minutes in | Right · sunset about 10 hours in |
| 10 p.m. | Dark the whole way | Dark the whole way |
Out of the window
What you can look for.
Out on the edge of San Francisco Bay. Built out on the flats of Tokyo Bay at the mouth of the Tama River.
Leaving San Francisco
Many departures bank out over the Bay, swinging the city and the Golden Gate into view.
Arriving in Tokyo
Water of Tokyo Bay, the Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba, and the dense sweep of the city; on a clear day the cone of Mount Fuji stands on the western horizon, snow-capped roughly late October into June.
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.
More routes