On the way home from Tokyo yesterday I flew on a Boeing 787 for the first time.

On most of my International trips I fly on a Boeing 747. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have flown on a 747, but I am very familiar with it.

When booking my flights for the trip I wanted to find a flight that would allow me to leave for the airport a little bit later so I could attend a morning meeting at our office in Tokyo before I left.

The flight was not direct, but when I discovered that the flight to LAX was on a 787 my decision was made. I have wanted to try out the new airplane since it was first put into service.

When I first arrived at Narita Airport near Tokyo I was taking pictures of planes, but did not see a United Airlines 787.

The plane in the picture above is an ANA 787. As you can see the plane is much smaller than the 747.

I did capture a picture of the welcome sign as I was entering the plane. I also like the way that the late afternoon sun was streaming through the entryway.

One thing that I was happy to see was the personal screen. I would be able to watch what I wanted instead of what was showing on the 747 main screen. Of course, I knew that it would be there.

The entertainment system was really nice as I had the choice of more than 100 movies and TV shows. I watched two movies and several TV shows during the flight. Plus, I got a little bit of sleep during the nine hour flight.

The environment in the cabin was very refreshing compared to a 747. The cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of a lower altitude and has much higher humidity. I definitely felt the difference. I no longer felt myself drying out throughout the flight and was able to breath much easier.

Here is the interior of the 787 from where I was sitting. You can see that the luggage bins were spacious and easy to reach.

The seats were in a 3x3x3 format. I was fortunate to have an empty seat by me and didn’t have to worry about getting up for anyone during the flight.

One thing that was unique was the blue lighting on the ceiling. The lighting is all LED lighting and has different variations.

You can also see that the windows are larger than normal. They are made of an electrochromic material that can be adjusted for transparency. The transparency can be adjusted by the passengers or globally by the flight crew. They no longer have to make announcements asking you to open the window shades for take-off or landing. They can change the transparency from a control panel.

We did have a medical emergency during the flight. An elderly lady who was seated several rows ahead of me had heart palpitations during the flight and several doctors and translators came to help her out. Fortunately they were able to stabilize her, but there was quite a bit of activity near me for awhile. When the EMT team came on the flight when we landed she was able to walk off the plane with them.

Here you see the iconic Theme Building at LAX. While walking through the airport I was trying to think of the last time I had flown through LAX. Since hardly anything looked familiar I realized it had been a long time since I had been there.

After a short layover it was off to SFO. The flight was full, but I had a seat with plenty of legroom just behind First Class.

I was able to get some good sleep. I drifted off again as we were landing only to be woken up as the plane accelerated just before landing and took off skyward again. We were within seconds of touching down. The captain announced that a plane had not cleared the cross runway in time and we had to go-around and make another approach.

I will not bore you with the details of picking up my luggage, car and a quick dinner on the way home.

Instead I will leave you with a picture of my rose garden as it looked when I got home. The late afternoon sun was lighting up the bushes full of roses. A welcome sight.

Then it was time to relax a bit before bed, including trying to stay awake while watching the final game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

OK, time to get some sleep.

Steven