Post by dennisn on Jun 2, 2017 8:01:37 GMT
At the risk of getting another comment from a certain someone, I have to say that Flightradar24 has fascinated me for watching flights into Skiathos. I regularly watch for anything going there.
So, what gets me is that the Thomson flights have become difficult to find. They've changed the numbering identifications. My flight is TOM7534 and that's what shows on the departures board at Birmingham. But putting that ID into Flightradar24 only comes up with a flight which has no information. I have discovered that there are different IDs - sometimes it will be BY7534 and sometimes a completely different number, today it's TOM44A. Try it for yourselves - right now TOM7534 has left Birmingham more or less on time (the normal half hour late take off). So ask Flightradar24 for TOM7534, then for BY7534, and TOM44A and you'll see what I mean. It doesn't help that the Birmingham flights seem to take a long time to switch on broadcasting of their IDs, so sometimes I don't pick them up until they are over Yugoslavia (as was).
So am I getting to be a nerd now?
Oh, by the way, I have a new nerdy thing. I have a TomTom satnav App on my iPhone and I fire it up whilst in the air. I have always looked out of the window (I MUST have a window seat to make sure we are still up, not down!) and tried to decide just where we are, but not with much success - I can see occasionally Venice and the Alps, but that's about it. And just once in the zillion years I've flown have the captain's announcements been intelligible, that was a couple of trips ago, so good I would have given great feedback if only Thomsons ever ask me for feedback - I certainly told the cabin crew as we got off. So anyway, now I can follow us as we pass over Europe and I like it.
Regards from a nerd with 28 days before he gets to Villa Maria again.
So, what gets me is that the Thomson flights have become difficult to find. They've changed the numbering identifications. My flight is TOM7534 and that's what shows on the departures board at Birmingham. But putting that ID into Flightradar24 only comes up with a flight which has no information. I have discovered that there are different IDs - sometimes it will be BY7534 and sometimes a completely different number, today it's TOM44A. Try it for yourselves - right now TOM7534 has left Birmingham more or less on time (the normal half hour late take off). So ask Flightradar24 for TOM7534, then for BY7534, and TOM44A and you'll see what I mean. It doesn't help that the Birmingham flights seem to take a long time to switch on broadcasting of their IDs, so sometimes I don't pick them up until they are over Yugoslavia (as was).
So am I getting to be a nerd now?
Oh, by the way, I have a new nerdy thing. I have a TomTom satnav App on my iPhone and I fire it up whilst in the air. I have always looked out of the window (I MUST have a window seat to make sure we are still up, not down!) and tried to decide just where we are, but not with much success - I can see occasionally Venice and the Alps, but that's about it. And just once in the zillion years I've flown have the captain's announcements been intelligible, that was a couple of trips ago, so good I would have given great feedback if only Thomsons ever ask me for feedback - I certainly told the cabin crew as we got off. So anyway, now I can follow us as we pass over Europe and I like it.
Regards from a nerd with 28 days before he gets to Villa Maria again.