Giant planes on the beach!

When I was 17 there was a picture of an Air France 747 on the back of the Flying Club’s door where I learned to fly. The jumbo jet was only a few feet off the ground directly over a beach. I thought it was a fake, I couldn’t believe that someone would land such massive aircraft so close to the beach. I also couldn’t find anyone to verify the picture as real, so I always dismissed it as a hoax, until I saw more pictures on the internet of the approach to SXM. With the short runway, it makes for some spectacular visuals of aircraft landing. I thought to myself at the time that I had to get to St. Maarten and experience this for myself.

Well, here I am in St. Maarten, my new friend and member from the tourism office William Bell drove me to Maho Beach to watch the planes land. Air France doesn’t fly 747’s there anymore, but I was able to see a spectacular approach of one of their A340.



It’s so amazing to see such a giant aircraft landing and I never cease to think of how fortunate we are to live in such an age where air travel is prevalent. You can be in your home for breakfast and in a different land for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, this is exactly what I have to do right now…EAT!!

Take Care!