Planes like to take off and land into the wind. Somewhat of a headwind is better than any kind of tailwind. More often than not, the wind comes from the west or southwest. So sitting on the right side of the plane is the best odds of seeing the strip on a flight from the east. If you know in advance that the winds will definately be from the east, blowing west, the left side would be the better choice.

Thanks - I think I almost followed that!

And what about my umbrella assumption (or any other locals can chime in on that also!)

Kestral,as a former Air Traffic Controller Instructor and one who also arrives from the east it more than likely won't matter much. You'll see the lights from either side.
Without getting technical and for way too many reasons I care to not try and explain, if I absolutely had to make a choice I would lean towards the left side of the plane.

Sorry, I didn't understand the umbrella part. Our storms are wind and clouds. Not really umbrella factors. You might want it for the sun if the forecast is true this time. Always the optimist, I'm hoping the forecast is correct this time.

Here's an experiment you can play and use Bippy for a technical advisor if you like. Get your Vegas map and locate what you want to see and locate the airport. Make sure your airport diagram shows the runways or transpose them to the map using a Google satellite view or something like that. In most Las Vegas approaches I have been in, the planes are lined up with the runway about 7-10 miles out. So you can draw little extension lines out from the ends of the runways about 7 miles. Locate North, South, East, and West. Get a little airplane or something to represent your plane. Have the plane follow the approach lines you drew and look at what you would see if you were on the left or right side. Notice there are two north/south and two east/west runways, and view doesn't change within those pairs. I think that the parallels are seperated by 1000 feet.

Most of the airliners use the east/west runways, which are the ones parallel to Sunset Rd. In busy situations, they can use the other pair of runways that run north/south.

Fly your little airplane on the various approaches looking out both sides. Now factor in that the wind is "usually" out of the west and have the plane fly into the wind.

Taking off is another story. They will take off into the wind. Once they are in the air, it's up to Oneboaters students to find creative ways to get everybody headed in the right direction. They may maintain runway heading for 10 miles or they may turn very soon after takeoff.

I hope this helps.

Kes,

I vote for the right side of the plane, normally a "F" seat. 9 times out of 10 the approach is as JMT said and you'll see downtown first, off in the distance. As you get closer to landing, you'll see more and more of the strip. Same thing on departure. Most often the plane will take off and fly West for a mile or so then make a bug U-turn to the right giving you a great view of the strip.

When Chris said left side, I wondered. But gotta also be clear about perspective.

When I say "right side of the plane" I am thinking what side of the plane Im on when seated, facing the front. I think just about every single flight I've been on, I've sat on the right (facing the front of the plane) and seen the Strip.

I'm expecting a nice view flying in at 1 am Saturday night/Sunday morning - its been years since I've arrived after dark!