Jet WindowWindow seat by route · SFO to SEA
San Francisco to Seattle: which side of the plane?
Sun right by day, left in the evening.
It turns with the clock. On morning and midday departures the sun is mostly on the right; leave in the evening and it is mostly on the left. Find your departure time in the table.
The sun, by departure time
Where the light will be.
Departure times are local to San Francisco. About 1 h 45 min in the air over 590 nautical miles.
| Leaving at | Winter (mid-December) | Summer (mid-June) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Right · sun on this side | Right · sun on this side |
| Noon | Left · sun on this side | Right · sun on this side |
| 5 p.m. | Left · sunset 10 minutes in | Left · 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 edge of San Francisco Bay.
Along the way
- The Sierra Nevada, a granite wall along the edge of the desert on the right, in daylight
- Mount Rainier, standing alone above the Cascades on the right, in daylight
Leaving San Francisco
Many departures bank out over the Bay, swinging the city and the Golden Gate into view.
Arriving in Seattle
Volcano country: Mount Rainier looms to the southeast, the Olympics rise across Puget Sound to the west, and the Cascades run north.
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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