Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, view 3 Live Cam

Reagan National sits on the Potomac across the water from Washington, and the webcam looks over the river towards it. Aircraft on approach follow the line of the water.

That is not scenery but a rule. The airspace over the centre of Washington is prohibited, so aircraft landing from the north fly a visual approach down the river itself and turn onto the runway at the last moment, a manoeuvre pilots know as the river visual.

A second rule limits how far most flights from here may go: with a handful of exceptions, nothing scheduled may fly beyond about two thousand kilometres, which is what keeps the longer routes out at Dulles.