AIR> Jun 9 UA # 555 CMH --> ORD 6:30 pm 6:47 pm Gate B11. 757-200 N540UA. Seat 16F , exit row. The first leg was pretty unimpressive. Zipping through the security check was great though. To me it looked like people at BDL can learn a lot about the people at CMH. They wanted to examine my laptop further, and told me to take my shoes off. Not even one moment my belongings were out of my sight also. That's 10 out of 10 for the security people in CMH. Went to the gate. The aircraft was already boarding. I think United added a lot of capacity in the CMH - ORD route to compete with Southwest's CMH-MDW service. This was the biggest aircraft that served the market (usually 737s with 2 A320/A319 aircraft) but it was packed full. Flight attendants made an announcement several times to put laptops, purses, etc in the place under the seat before you. We pushed back on time , however captain told us we were waiting for a flow control at O'Hare, so we ended up taxiing to runway 28R via taxiway E1. I hated the fact that Ch. 9 was not available. So there wasn't much to report on the flight portion of it. We landed on runway 22L and taxied all around the airport to get to our gate in the C terminal : C15. Then the journey started to the B concourse. AIR> Jun 9 UA# 1050 ORD --> BDL 8:45 pm 11:47 pm Seat 9F B757-200 N509UA Ch. 9 ON!! Since there was quite a bit of time for the departure I chose to head for one of the bars facing the C terminal and got a dinner that composed of a turkey sandwich and a Heineken. It wasn't a gourmet dinner , but it filled me up pretty good. While sitting there I ended up meeting a nice guy from Texas who was traveling back home from DCA. We talked about airplanes, and once he found out that I am a flight instructor then we started to talk even more. I am sure his wife was not that happy :) The original departure gate was B9 but sometime between me sitting down at the bar and the scheduled boarding time they changed the airplane to B7. The planes arrived from SEA late, about 15 - 20 mins and due to that our departure time was pushed to 9:00pm. I felt homesick seeing people from home and not being able to go back there.. Oh well.. Once we boarded I put the headset on immediately and all the fun started : AA46: Metering , we are stuck here in the alley. How long is it going to be? Metering : About 15-20 mins. AA46: What is it? Traffic? ATC? Metering : I hate to say it, but it's a lousy configuration that we came up with. We are having hard time getting the airplanes to the runways. or something like Metering : Wisconsin Xxxx, monitor 121.75. It will be some time before he will be able to talk to you. Wisconsin XXXX : I appreciate it sir, have a good day. Metering : It's a bit too late for that, it's already a lousy day.. Wisconsin XXXX : It's the thought that counts. Metering : I appreciate it <chuckles> We pushed back about 10 mins late. It turned out that noone contacted the people at B9 and none of them cared to check the monitors. After push back we reported at Bravo South, which is a position reported to the ramp tower so that you can taxi. We switched to the ground frequency at 121.75 and were told to taxi to runway 4L via A, A6, J, W behind an AA Md-80. Once we were on the J taxiway we contacted the tower at 126.90. It was amazing that we had a huge line , maybe 15 airplanes waiting to depart on our runway. At 21:35 local (02:35 Z) we were told to taxi into position and hold. We were cleared for take of with a right turn to 070 and maintain 5000 feet instruction. Passing 2700 feet we contacted the departure which cleared us to 13,000 feet. Before we contacted Chicago Center at 130.35 we were told to turn right heading to 090. Chicago Center cleared us to FL230 and direct (Kefler???) ( Any help identifying this intersection/VOR). Leaving 19,600 feet we contacted another sector of Chicago Center at 127.62. This guy had his hands full with a lot of Uniteds and Americans flying in his airspace. He cleared us direct to Jamestown and to FL330. When we contacted Cleveland Center at 135.72 , there were so many United aircraft with similar flight numbers sharing the same frequency: UA 1040, 1056, 1022 and us 1050. I am wondering if United has a certain way of numbering their flights. The flight was uneventful except some bumps here and there. The in flight service was non existent by European standards; snack mix and drink of your choice. After some time enroute, we contacted Boston Center at 124.12 around 11:40 pm local time. The controller told us to descend down to FL180 at pilot's discretion. After hanging out in the cruise altitude for a bit more pilots started to take the plane lower. First we talked to Bradley Approach at 123.95, which cleared us to 11,000 feet. We were headed to the east when the controller turned us first to heading 110, and then to 210. Once he cleared us to turn to 240 heading we already had the field in sight. We were cleared for a visual approach to runway 24. Winds were reported almost calm, with 320/4 but our pilot advised the tower controller that winds at around 2000 feet were about 320/25kts. After a long touch down, right by the 5000 feet marker, we taxied to our gate : A4. Overall: - I still fly United for the same reasons that I mentioned before so many time. And I will do that as long as they match their competitor's prices. - Security people at CMH are doing a great job. Kudos to them. - Next week : my first flight ever on Southwest airlines.. Stay tuned :) BAHA Fan of having the opportunity to travel a lot.