Leg 2 KPHL - Philadelphia (US) to KIAD - Washington (US)

KPHL - Airport Info

ICAO code: KPHL
Airport name: Philadelphia International
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Useful information

Airport elevation: 36’
Time zone: ET (GMT -5)
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length :10506'
Runway surface : asphalt

Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):

Runway 9L: ILS/DME 108.95 - 085º
Runway 9R: ILS/DME 109.30 - 087º
Runway 27L: ILS/DME 109.30 - 265º
Runway 27R: ILS/DME 108.95 - 266º
Runway 17: ILS 108.75 - 169º
Runway 26: ILS/DME 111.55 - 263º

Philadelphia Info

KPHL1 The original capital of the nation, PHILADELPHIA was laid out by William Penn Jr. in 1682, on a grid system that was to provide the pattern for most American cities. It was envisaged as a "greene countrie towne" and today, for all its historical and cultural significance, it still manages to retain a certain quaintness. Just a few blocks away from the noise, crowds, heat and dust of downtown, shady cobbled alleys stand lined with red-brick colonial houses, while the peace and quiet of huge Fairmount Park make it easy to forget you're in a major metropolis.

Settled by Quakers, Philadelphia prospered swiftly on the back of trade and commerce, and by the 1750s had become the second largest city in the British Empire. Economic power fueled strong revolutionary feeling, and the city was the capital during the War of Independence (except for nine months under British occupation in 1777–78). It also served as the US capital until 1800, while Washington, DC was being built. The Declaration of Independence was written, signed and first publicly read here in 1776, as was the US Constitution ten years later. Philadelphia was also a hotbed of new ideas in the arts and sciences, as epitomized by the scientist, philosopher, statesman, inventor and printer Benjamin Franklin.

Philadelphia, which translated from Greek means "City of Brotherly Love," is in fact one of the most ethnically mixed US cities, with substantial communities of Italians, Irish, Eastern Europeans and Asians living side by side among the majority black population. Many of the city's black residents are descendants of the migrants who flocked here after the Civil War when, like Chicago, Philadelphia was seen as a place of tolerance and liberalism.

KIAD - Airport Info

ICAO code: KIAD
Airport name: Washington Dulles International
Location: Washington, DC, USA

Useful informations

Airport elevation: 313’
Time zone: ET (GMT -5)
Lighted runways: Yes
Maximum runway length: 11501
Runway surface: Asphalt

Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):

Runway 1L: ILS 111.30 - 011º
Runway 1R: ILS 110.10 - 011º
Runway 12: ILS 109.30 - 121º
Runway 19L: ILS 110.10 - 191º
Runway 19R: ILS 111.30 - 191º

Washington Info

If civic politics is the American religion, then Washington DC is the nation's holy city. White houses, capital and pentagonal buildings, supreme courts - these monumental Lego shrines are rarefied with real power. A patriotic combination of history and histrionics: BYO wiretap.

To some, Washington means white marble, verdant lawns, and the colourful, ritualistic pageantry of American politics: the Capitol dome gleaming against an azure sky; limousine processions on Inauguration Day; the mournful, sombre, stately changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

Yet Washington is no mere political ornament. It is also a city, a city where ordinary and extraordinary people live, work and play, a city of vibrant and beautiful neighbourhoods where the federal government and its machinery are merely backdrops to life, not the main-stage drama. After visitors have explored the wonders of the Smithsonian Institution's 14 museums (always free!), strolled through the halls of power, and played spot-the-senator in famous eateries, delightful districts like Dupont Circle, Adams-Morgan and Georgetown offer opportunities to meet ordinary folks, tour lovely historic buildings, and dive into fabulous world cuisine.

Orientation

Washington is plonked down in the District of Columbia, a little enclave chopped from the state of Maryland. It is bounded on one side by the Potomac River (on the other side of the river you'll find Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia) and on the other sides by the state of Maryland. The city covers 170sq km (65sq mi). Washington is ringed by a freeway bypass called the Beltway, which divides the urban insiders from the suburbanites. The Capitol isn't just the symbolic centre of Washington: from here the city is divided into four compass-point quadrants along axes following N Capitol St, E Capitol St, S Capitol St and the Mall. Identical addresses appear in all four quadrants, so you need to know the directional component of the address you want.

Streets are arranged on a grid of north-south numbered streets and east-west lettered streets. This grid is overlaid by broad diagonal avenues. The geometric pattern is further interrupted by traffic circles that add to the city's appeal but can make DC a challenging place for outsiders to navigate by car.