flight paths
 

I will be flying from Tokyo to Seattle -- arriving around 10 am. Curious -- do you see the polar ice caps, Alaska or anything else of interest from the air on this route.

At this time of the year, basically you'll see almost nothing. It gets dark about the time you take off from Narita and doesn't get light until you are close to the Washington coast. For the last hour or so, you'll see the Olympic mountains, the San Juan Islands, etc as long as it isn't cloudy - which it is most of teh time during the fall/winter and spring months is Seattle!

Ishould have clarified -- I will be traveling in late April.

In that case, you'll get to see a bit more. Still, most of the time you are flying it will be dark. Only the last few hours will it be light. April in the Pacific NW is still quite rainy and cloudy.

Having lived in Portalnd for 4 years I can attest to only 2 seasons there- winter and August!

The great circle arc (shortest distance) between the two cities is almost completely over water. The only exception is about midway through the flight. You might see the lights of Adak, Alaska, out the right side of the plane, or maybe Unalaska, AK, out the left side (this would also be about the northernmost point in the trip). That's well south of polar ice.

As I recall, this flight will take you over the Alaska Peninsula. We made this flight once in February and did see some broken sea ice. Put a string on a globe to see the shortest distance, not that flights will necessarily take the shortest route.

Bill we have the Seattle Rain Festival, Septemeber through May (sometimes June). I'm sure you understand.