Spotters visiting the airports in Southern California (SoCal to the locals) now have a new web resource to help in their planning, which has been set up by Mark Ollier.

Mark moved to the area and has been inundated with requests for information from fellow enthusiasts, so has decided to set up this site to cover all of the information you’ll need when spotting at the various airports. To start with, he has covered Burbank,Van Nuys,Los Angeles and Long Beach but states “I will add more airports over the coming weeks.”

He adds: “On the site you will find spotting locations and daily movements for those airports. I will be adding SBS reports and a gallery. I have a forum which you need to sign up to access but on here I will keep everone updated with airport news, airline schedules, new build C-17′s and Gulfstream’s out of Long Beach, and the latest information on the storage areas of Mojave and Victorville.”

This site has fantastic potential as a lot of decent airports are situated close together and regularly make it onto the travel itineraries of spotters visiting the area.

The site can be found at http://www.socalspotters.net/

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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Jaunted‘s latest Plane Spotting blog post comes from St. Lucia – one of the most scenic islands in the Caribbean.

One of the best places to watch the action at St. Lucia is from the St. Jude’s highway running into Vieux Fort and passing the western end of the runway.

Alternatively, at the eastern end of the runway the beach offers a breathtakingly close view of aircraft departing over your head. Of course, this is a great place the enjoy the sun, sea and sand whilst on the island!

Read the full blog post here.

Various enthusiasts sites exist for some of the airports in Scotland which can help in planning a trip to any of them, or in simply finding out what’s been happening up there. We have collated this information for some of the airports:

Glasgow Airport
EGPF.co.uk
Enthusiasts site for Glasgow Airport, with timetables, SBS list, spotting locations and charts, photos, live arrivals & departures, and logs of recent movements.

Prestwick Airport
Prestwick Airport Movements Site
Similar to the Glasgow enthusiasts site, with movements, photos, spotting information, airfield charts and live flight information.

Edinburgh Airport
EGPH.co.uk
A similar site for Edinburgh Airport enthusiasts. Lists frequencies, live flight arrivals & departures, airline information, photos and SBS information.

egphforum.co.uk
A forum for discussing Edinburgh Airport and its operations.

Fancy a trip away to pursue some spotting with like minded enthusiasts in 2010? Aeroprints, one of the longest established aviation spotting tour firms in the UK, have released their 2010 brochure, listing all of the tours you’re able to book on, along with details of which aircraft/flights involved in each trip, and the day-by-day opportunities for spotting.

I’ve personally used Aeroprints for a tour a few years ago and highly recommend them.

You can download the brochure here

Jaunted has posted another excellent piece on plane spotting. Get Thee To The Jetty: Perfect Plane Spotting in Vancouver is a nice little overview on wandering along the waterfront as small seaplanes buzz over your head as they land in the harbour.

Take a look at the blog post.

As the new airport at San Bernardino, CA nears its official opening, the locals are asking whether it will ever actually attract and airlines.

The San Bernardino International Airport is opening on the site of the former Norton Air Force Base, which closed in 1994. A new terminal has been built, and is already fitted with check-in kiosks, arrivals and departures screens, escalators, offices, and an automated voice which warns passengers not to leave baggage unattended. Coupled with 3000 new jobs being created in the surrounding areas recently, on paper the outlook seems rosy. But in these times of airlines cutting back routes or closing down, and recession hitting hard, does this part of California need another airport?

You can read the full story here.

If the airline does start to attract operators, you can be sure we’ll cover the opportunities for enthusiasts. If you’re a local, why not tell us what the new airport is like by leaving a comment?

The excellent ‘Krayzeekris’ website has been updated this week, with a number of airport spotting guides added for French airports and airfields.

The site is officially known as AircraftSpotting.co.uk

Go take a look.

Manchester Airport’s Aviation Viewing Park now has multiple entry tickets available for those who visit regularly and want to save a bit of money on the entrance fee. The TAS Manchester site has full details.

The tickets come in batches of 25, 50 and 100. These are priced £25, £50 and £100 respectively. I’m sure you can work out that means entrance is therefore reduced to £1 per visit. You can buy tickets from the entrance kiosk, but if you present your TAS membership at the Aviation Shop on site, you’ll get 10% off the ticket cost.

There’s no mention whether the tickets are for pedestrians only, or include car entrance. Perhaps someone could comment if they know.