Denver is the largest airport in Colorado, and one of the busiest in the USA. It plays host to a large number of movements by Frontier and United Airlines. It also has services from all other main US airlines, and a number of international airlines.
Denver Airport has three terminals – A, B and C
Terminal A hosts Frontier’s regional fleet, operated by Lynx, and is the best terminal for spotting. Inside, walk to the end of the terminal where there are large glass windows. This overlooks the commuter aircraft, and across to the United gates. This is the best spot for covering most movements, although the airport is so big and has so many runways that it is impossible to cover everything.
Terminals B and C also both have large windows at their gates, which offer views of aircraft moving around.
There are few accessible views from around the perimeter due to a lack of public roads.
Anyone know of any other good spots? Please comment.
Derek Oldham has provided this excellent report on spotting at Memphis – a haven for FedEx and Northwest (soon to be Delta) jets.
I stayed in the Radisson at the airport. Contrary to what somebody said, I found the reception staff very helpful. I was given a room at the back overlooking the taxiway, but the view of the runway threshold was blocked by part of the hotel kitchen. I decided Room 373 looked the most promising and luckily it was free. The receptionist warned me it would be noisy (bless her!) and it was – NWA DC 9s and FedEx 727s actually shook the building! My advice would be to go for the corridor 351 – 373 (all odd numbers). Probably the same numbers on floor 2 would be good enough, but you will be at ground level and looking up at the taxiway. Floor 2 is the outward looking ground level because the inward facing part of the hotel has a floor 1 as well. Before 2 of you go booking room 373, I was on my own and therefore had no problem with the Queen bed! All these rooms lookonto the taxiway linking FedEx to RW 18R, and the higher the number, then the more chance you have of seeing the other aircraft taxying out from the terminal for take-off. At night you will only get the FedEx that taxy past – there is not enough light for the others – and even for the FedEx you will have to go outside (the fire escape at the end of the corridor is ideal). I don’t think any of the other rooms will have much of a view, but at the front you may have distant views of RWs 18C & L.
I had e-mailed the police beforehand about spotting at Memphis. (Google “Memphis Airport Police” and go to “Contact Us”) – I got an almost instant reply from the chief with a phone number to ring when I got there.
I arrived late afternoon Friday and saw some departures from the room, followed by a constant stream of arrivals from 2230 until I gave up at 0030. From what I heard there were a good few departures in the middle of the night.
I did Graceland Saturday morning and then phoned the police in the afternoon, was told they had my details and I spent the afternoon on the terminal car park roof with no problems at all. (It is walking distance from the Radisson.) The busy period was about 1415 to 1630 – about 50 FedEx departures and 60 or so others – mainly Northwest of course. When it went quiet, I drove around the north of the airfield and got most of the remaining FedEx from the main roads. Leave the terminal area on Winchester East, turn left on Tchulahoma and left again on Democrat. I had read elsewhere about other roads around here with views, but they have clearly been eaten up by the FedEx complex and are no more. Also the National Guard complex is now completely shut down and they have what appears to be a new complex close to the RW 36R threshold. If you now retrace your route, when you get back on Winchester, you are on the correct side of the road to turn into the Wilson Air Center and Signature FBOs where you can easily read off anything there. Coming out of Wilson you are straight across from anything on the UPS ramp.
On Sunday afternoon there were 75 Fedex departures between 1455 and 1645 with one or 2 after that. 45 used RW 18R, 4 on 18C and 26 on 18 R, so it is definitely worth going to the car park and not staying in the hotel. I saw 20 that I hadn’t seen on the Saturday. Again I telephoned the police and was left alone all afternoon – there are plenty of patrols who drive around and would have seen me up there, so contacting them is definitely worth the effort.
What can be seen at Memphis then? Loads of Northwest (some are now appearing in Delta colours) and Northwest Airlink, a few US Airways Connect, American, Continental Express a few Biz (I was there at the
weekend – maybe more during the week?) and a few twins and lights. I saw plenty of FedEx DC-10s, lots of A300s and A310s, quite a few 727s and MD-11s and a handful of 757s.
In this time of global economic downturn, business for the storage boneyards for aircraft in the USA is booming. More and more airlines are parking aircraft, with levels not seen since the year following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Read this interesting article about Victorville, CA.
Obviously this has benefits for the spotter. Lots of older aircraft all parked up in one place. Makes playing catch-up very easy!
Keishi Nukina recently posted a great overview of the main Washington DC area airports from a spotting perspective, following his recent visit. If you’re planning on heading there, it makes great sense to give this a read:
WASHINGTON – NATIONAL
Traffic consisting of mostly domestic narrowbodies with a couple of Air Canada Jazz mixed in. For spotting, there is an exibit hall between terminal A and B, from where you can see all movements and in the afternoon you can take nice photographs there as well.
WASHINGTON – DULLES
Spent there one day, spotting from the parking lot of the museum and Daily Garage 2, both are excelent for photos, but you will miss a couple of movements from both. Notable international traffic include Qatar Airways, Saudi and SAA.
BALTIMORE – WASHINGTON
A couple of movements from each major airline from the US, with a lot, and I mean a lot of Southwest and AirTran aircraft. If youre in the area, definitely an airport that is worth a visit for a half day or a full day. You can spot all day from the observation room located inside terminal without being bothered, but the place is not the best for photography due to being backlit almost all day.
COLLAGE PARK AIRFIELD
If youre going to Baltimore by public transport, you will most likely be on the green metro line to Greenbelt. After the University of Maryland stop sit on the right and get your camera ready. Right after the train leaves the station, there is that airfield with a couple of light aircraft parked outside, so you will be able to get a couple of new light frames by reading them off the photos you take. Was a nice surprise for me. Nothing for those who dont collect light aircraft.
The ban on spotting from the parking garage at Orlando MCO airport in Florida has now been lifted by the Director of Security.
The airport’s website will soon be updated with such details. They request that spotters fill out a Use of Facilities form from the security offices during normal business hours (not in advance), along with copies of your passport/driving license.
This is great news for spotters visiting Orlando. The security measures are worthwhile for the hassle-free access it gives.
From today (12 January 09) there are new rules about entering the US from places such as the UK. Whereas previously you filled out a green Visa Waiver (I-94) form before landing, you now have to register your details a minimum of 72 hours before flying to the US.
See this news story for more info.
If you plan on visiting Phoneix, or any of the nearby storage airports, then I can’t reccommend this link enough:
www.visitingphx.com
It is run by spotters at Phoneix and covers all the comings and goings, news, and latest photos.
What is also invaluable is the lists of aircraft currently stored at places like Goodyear, Chandler etc – often updated daily, so you’ll know how accurate it is when you plan on visiting.
I just came across a great website for the spotting community around New York City. It has guides and maps to all the main airports there, and many other interesting and useful bits of information.
The site is: www.nycaviation.com
Are you planning on going to Tampa for the Superbowl? If so, you’ll be in for a treat with the hundreds of biz movements expected, on top of the usual airliners and good weather.
The official stance on spotters at Tampa for the Superbowl is that you’re welcome to be there! What a refreshing change! Here are the rules, kindly provided for all you spotters by Mike Greenway via Geoff Cook:
Spotters are encouraged to congregate on the roof of the economy car park on the south side of the airport. This offers fantastic views over the ramps where all the biz jets will be, and also has views of other movements.The car park costs $9 a day to use, and has toilet facilities, and a free shuttle to the terminal.
If you are attending, you are encouraged to contact Community Relations Coordinator Kelly Figley on KFigley@TampaAirport.com, with names and your passport or driving license number, who will pass on the details to the police.
As an extra note, aircraft are expected to stop flying during the game. Any arrivals after this time are likely to use nearby St. Petersburg airport, so you may wish to head over there for some more spotting.
If you’re heading to Miami Airport for some spotting, I recommend this hotel to you.
The Red Roof Inn has generally good views over the northern part of the airport, in particular the aircraft from South America, and is situated at the end of the northern of the parallel runways.
The hotel’s address is:
3401 Northwest Le Jeune Rd.
Miami, FL 33142
Their website is www.redroof.com
