Ever fancied seeing a classic VC-10 buzz just a few feet over your head in a scene reminiscent of St. Maarten’s famous Maho Beach? How about a mix of military and civil types of yesteryear all in one place? Brize Norton is one of the UK’s busiest military transport bases. It is located in Oxfordshire, closed to Abingdon, and around 65 miles northwest of London. Brize is home to the RAF’s VC-10 and L1011 Tristar fleets, as well as the C-17s and a number of Hercules aircraft. Since it is a major staging post for troops and supplies, it also handles a lot of large cargo aircraft, such as DC-8′s and AN-124′s. It also plays host to a number of private airlines being used for troop movements, flying 757s, 767s and DC-10s. The primary spotting location is at the end of Runway 26. The A4095 road leading north from Bampton towards Brize passes very close to the end of the runway. With care you can park near a crash gate as long as you do not block it. Alternatively, park on a nearby road and walk to the spot. Here you will be just a few feet under the aircraft as they approach the runway. It is perfect for photos, and has some views over the ramp (it’s difficult to read things off). To get close to the ramps usually used by the VC-10s, head west from Bampton on the A4095 and follow signs for Black Bourton. If you follow the road through this village as far as it goes, you will come to the perimeter fence. A footpath leads in either direction, and has some close-up views of the VC-10s and the runway. Eventually you can walk to the Runway 08 end too. Here’s a nice aerial view of the airfield . As always, tread with care. Military bases have incredibly tight security. Although spotters are common and tolerated at Brize Norton, don’t push your luck by trespassing or blocking a gate.

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Charleston Airport, in South Carolina, is about to see it’s most important change as Boeing opens its new 787 production line on the site.

Dubbed Boeing South Carolina, the site will take the strain from the Seattle production line, manufacturing the new state-of-the-art aircraft simultaneously. This has proved a necessary step due to the popularity of the aircraft, and the backlog that has built up as the programme has slipped. At the time of writing, Charleston was about to begin constructing its first production models of the 787 as the test models complete the certification process elsewhere.

Charleston is also an important and busy Air Force Base, which is home to the 437th Airlift Wing and their C-17 aircraft. The 315th Airlift Wing is also based here, and also uses these aircraft.

The base takes up most of the airfield site, with a large apron running north to south alongside the associated buildings and hangars. There is a small airpark with a number of preserved aircraft related to the base.

On the south side of the airfield, alongside the new Boeing plant, is the passenger terminal and its two piers. It is served by AirTran, American Eagle, Continental, Delta, United Express and US Airways

This map shows the two main locations for spotting at Charleston Airport. They are:

1. Terminal Car Parks
The car parks outside the passenger terminal each have views over some gates, and the cargo ramp. It is not advised to loiter here for too long, but a quick check from each car park will allow you to log most passenger aircraft and some of the military ramp.

2. Airpark
The small collection of preserved aircraft, known as the Charleston AFB Airpark, is situated alongside runway 15 and has views of aircraft using this runway. The collection is worth seeing.

Frequencies
Ground            121.9
Tower            126.0
Approach (151-330)    120.7
Approach (331-150)    135.8
Approach        119.3
Clearance Delivery    127.325
ATIS            124.75

For more information on Charleston, and nearly 70 other US airports, Airport Spotting Guides USA is an excellent resource book packed full of information.

Southend Airport is a great place to catch up with airliners that are in transition from one airline to another due to the maintenance and painting work that is regularly carried out there on behalf of a number of leasing companies and airlines.

The airport is only 40 miles from central London, and has tried to bill itself as London Southend in order to attract new airline services. At the moment, only seasonal flights are operated to Jersey with Flybe Q400′s.

There are a number of smaller cargo operators passing through the airport on a daily basic.

For the spotter, Southend has many nooks and crannies to explore and you’ll often find aircraft hidden in different places. Most prominent will be those parked around the terminal, and outside the spray hangars. These are the easiest to spot, simply by following signs to the airport terminal and entering the car park to the side.

After this, if you follow signs to the Southend Flying Club, it will bring you to another vantage point with views of other aircraft parked outside the hangars or on the main apron.

Next, it’s wise to head to the opposite side of the airfield, where many other aircraft are stored or receiving maintenance. In recent years, there have always been a large number of BAe 146 and Avro RJ airliners here at any time, with other HS.748 and BAe ATP aircraft to compliment them. Sadly the number of aircraft in residence here – particularly the more exciting Boeing 707s, 727s and 737s have all but gone now.

To reach the opposite side, drive back to the airport entrance and turn right onto Eastwoodbury Lane. Follow this past the runway end, and turn right along Aviation Way (next to the church). If you follow this road, you will eventually come to a dead end, but on your right you will see many vantage points to quickly log and photograph aircraft on the various ramps. Don’t loiter too long as it may cause suspicion.

Here are some recent photos from Southend:

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Singapore A380 9V-SKA seen from London Heathrow Holiday Inn Ariel hotel

I recently had the fortune to spend a night at London Heathrow’s Holiday Inn Ariel hotel, so I thought I’d check it out as a spotting location.

I did a bit of research first, and found out that rooms  270, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 284 are all good (thanks to Plane Spotting Hotels website). I even rang ahead to request one of these rooms and was told it was not a problem.

However, upon arriving at the hotel I was told these rooms were not possible with my reservation. BUT there was an upgrade option available to room 376 for £15, or £20 with unlimited internet access. So I snapped up this offer.

These rooms are one level higher, so I think they will actually be better than those in the 27x range. They are billed as Executive Rooms, with a double bed. However I’m not sure if they’re any different to the ones on the floor below.

The view from the window was fantastic. It’s not as close as the Renaissance is, and my room didn’t have a view of the western end of the airport or runways, but you could easily see most movements and a lot of aircraft parked on the ground.

In particular, it had a view of Terminal 3, Terminal 4 and the maintenance areas. Runway 09L/27R is right in front of you, and 09R/27L in the distance.

On my visit, 09L was in use for arrivals, which meant I missed a lot of them as they exited the runway early. But I’d catch them on departure later on from 09R.

It helped to have FlightRadar24 on my laptop the whole time. Having a SBS box would be just as handy. This way, when it got dark I was still able to log departures.

Photographs are good for larger airliners, especially if they taxi from 09L to Terminal 4, as the picture below testifies.

So, there’s a good example of an affordable (if booked in advance) hotel at London Heathrow!

When spotting in the USA, it is generally a good idea to let the authorities know that you are there and what your intentions are. In most cases, if you speak to the right person, you’ll be thanked for the information and given permission to carry on.

Here are some contact details for various airports:

Washington Dulles – contact Ops on (703) 572-2730 and you’ll be fine from the car park.
Washington National – contact dispatch on (202) 610-7515

For spotting information on nearly 70 US airports, check out our new book – Airport Spotting Guides USA

If any of you lucky people are off to South Africa this summer for the World Cup, perhaps you could benefit from a bit of information on spotting at one of the main airports in the country.

Johannesburg will handle the vast majority of international flights, given it is already set up and well-served by carriers from around the world. Cape Town will also handle a lot of flights.

Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport has two parallel runways. The airport also has two terminals – A (International) and B (Domestic).

Each terminal has its own viewing gallery, and each has views of both runways. The International terminal’s gallery is the best, as it also has views of the cargo terminal, and you can still see the domestic terminal and all movements from there. Sadly both viewing areas are behind glass, so it can limit photography potential.

Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport opened its new official spectator facility on 16 March 2010 on top of the new Terminal 2 building. Interestingly, this is the first official spotting location to be opened at any Chinese airport, and many hope this will pave the way for other airports to have such facilities incorporated – especially when new terminals and upgrades are built.

Terminal 2 is home to all domestic flights at the airport (apart from Spring Airlines), with international flights remaining at the older Terminal 1.

The new open-air spotting facility is on the 4th floor of the building with great views over the apron and runway beyond. It is 60 metres long and has a security check on entry.

To reach the facility, escalators from the check-in area will whisk you up in no time.

If you have any photos from this new facility, or experience from using it, please comment below.

If you’re heading to Cleveland, Ohio, there are two main airports that are worth checking out. The first, naturally, is Cleveland Hopkins International – the main airport, and a major hub for Continental Airlines. It also has services by other major US airlines, plus FedEx and UPS. Air Canada also provide links across the border.

Spotting is best from the 100th Bomb Group Restaurant. Situated just to the north of runways 24L/R, it has a large car park. It is located off Brookpark Rd. Excellent views can be had of aircraft arriving on these runways, or use runway 10/28. Remember to buy something at the restaurant if you intend spending any time here.

The other Cleveland airport is Burke Lakefront Airport. This handles biz and general aviation movements. It is situated on Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. You can spot from Voinovich Bicentennial Park close to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

A great website for all things to do with aviation in Cleveland is OPShots. They have movements lists, photography tips, and information on places to spot and what the local security is like at the moment.

Jaunted have posted another great report of where to spot – this time a beach alongside Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport is the perfect location for watching the action, as heavies literally roll by your beach towel!

Take a Dip at This Beach Down Under for the Best Plane Spotting || Jaunted

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If you’re planning on spending any time spotting at Tokyo Narita, you might want to consider the information below on the best spotting hotels and which rooms work.

Holiday Inn
This is fairly expensive, but has some views. Room 1250 is the best, giving you a view of everything on the western runway. If aircraft are landing to the west then you can poll everything that taxis to the end of the runway. If you have a SBS box you get everything landing and departing.

You can also see everything that takes off on the other runway and visa versa if they are landing in the other direction, but aircraft are very high by the time they are visible.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/1/en/hotel/narja?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/pc/1/en/hotelsearchresults

Holiday Inn
Tobu Narita
320-1 Tokko
Chiba
Narita
Chiba
286-0106

The Rest House
A basic, cheap hotel with a few rooms that have very limited views. You can see about 60% of the cargo ramp and if they are taking off to the west then stuff taxying off to the runway on the North only.

You can walk to T1 from here as it’s only 5 minutes away. There are plenty of places to eat in both terminals. T1 is good for Ti and there is a free shuttle to T2 and T2 has two observation decks that allow you to see most of the stuff around T2

http://www.apo-resthouse.com/english/index.html

Rest House Hotel
Narita International Airport
Narita City
Chiba-Pref
Japan
282-0011
yoyaku@apo-resthouse.com

Nikko Winds Hotel
A great spotting hotel at Narita. Room 910 is noted as having the best views of the action on the ground. It also has a restaurant on the top floor with great views of the airport.

http://www.jalhotels.com/domestic/kanto/winds/

560 Tokko
Narita-shi
Chiba 286-0106
Apan