San Diego - Las Vegas / Boeing 737-800 / IFR

Duplicating Southwest Airlines Flight 922, this 59-minute flight was pleasant and uneventful. The lights of Los Angeles and Las Vegas were pleasant to see. The original routing took me over LAX on the way to DAG, but ATC was kind enough to give me direct DAG (I note that the real flight didn't have the same luck).

After being cleared for the visual approach to 25L at LAS, I was asked at the last minute to switch to 25R, which I did. It gave me an excuse for more hand-flying. I did okay, although a crosswind caused me to drift off the centerline at just about the time I flared. The landing was pretty hard, too. Once again, I couldn't find the right gate (C19), so I stopped at the first C gate that looked free.

I'm still trying to find a source for gate maps that allow me to find my way to a gate after landing. It's kind of impractical to wander around in a big jet, burning precious (virtual) fuel, trying to read the signs to find one's assigned gate.