The Best Plane Spotting Happens Just Outside Of DC’s Restricted Airspace || Jaunted

Jaunted has posted a nice piece about spotting at Washington Reagan National Airport in the USA. The Gravelly Point Park passes the end of the runway giving some spectacular views of departing aircraft at close range.

The park is popular with cyclists and walkers, and shouldn’t draw too much attention if you want to watch the movements – as that’s what most people are doing anyway!

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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.

The airport’s civil terminal has some limited views inside, notably from the cafe upstairs. But this is not the perfect spot.

Outside the terminal, walk along the fence to the right for some more views of the apron, and also the many light aircraft parked up. You can also see some of the military ramp, but caution is advised for obvious reasons.

For a useful site for spotters in Croatia, including timetables to the main airports, visit this link.

The actual traffic you get is very similar to that at Tokyo’s airports.

Osaka Kansai has a spotting deck which is four storeys above ground, and situated at the end of Runway 24, which is used most often. The deck opens at 10am and closes at 6pm. It is free to enter, and has both indoor and outdoor areas, along with food & drink facilities and arrivals boards. A bus will take you from the terminal to the Aeroplaza building, which is opposite the viewing deck.The sun is behind you here, so you can take excellent photographs.

If you are travelling through Osaka Kansai, there are opportunities to view aircraft through windows at certain departure gates, although this can be frustrating and limited at times.

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.

The airport can be quite complex to negotiate, and never has one perfect solution to the spotter given the differing runway directions – especially if photography is your thing.

The best bet intially is to drive the perimeter road which will give you a good idea of what aircraft are in, and where the best spots may be.

The best place to join this road is at ground level outside Terminal 1. Look out for Silver Dart Drive and follow it as it passes the various ramps and runways. It soon turns into Convair Drive, and then Courtneypark Drive E. Turn onto Dixie Road, Derry Road E, and then Airport Road to take you back to the terminals and complete the loop.

There are various vantage locations around this perimeter road, although sometimes the police may move you on. A courtesy call to the airport police has often been very much welcomed, with the spotters being encouraged to carry on at will.

The best spots seem to be on the mound to the west of the FedEx ramp, and in the midfield cargo terminal area.

The hotel is not ideal for viewing aircraft, but is located in a convenient place.

See this link

I’ve covered this in my Airport Spotting Guides Europe book, but for those doing web research, here’s an overview of the main locations when spotting in Rome.

1. Terminal B Gallery
Inside Terminal B, head upstairs above the check-in areas to the Terrazza Roma Gallerie. Here you’ll find a cafe with large windows looking out over the action. This is the best view you’ll get from the terminal areas, although a few windows near the cafe do have some views. You’ll be able to see action on two of the runways, and will see most of the aircraft at some stage in their visit. Beware – police patrol here, and you will also be expected to purchase food/drink in the cafe.

2. Runway 16L/34R
A road runs from the terminal area along the entire length of this runway. If you have a car, head in the direction of Fiumicino village. It may be a little far to walk along here. The road has a few pull-in points where you can stop to log movements. At the northerly end, you’ll find an area to the side of the road where you can pull over and photograph arrivals if they’re from the north.

3. Between Runways
Following the road from location 2, turn right at the first T-junction you come to. This track will eventually lead to an area with some views back towards the terminal area (parts you can’t see from the cafe), and also of aircraft on the 07/25 runway. This is a residential area, so be careful.

To order Airport Spotting Guides Europe, go to this link.

In the International Terminal, follow signs for the viewing area, which is upstairs past the food court.

The large room overlooks most of the parking areas, and has views extending to both runways. It is surrounded by glass, but is usually acceptable for photography. There are seats and departures/arrivals boards provided.

You can see across to the pier, but not beyond it, which makes it difficult to see anything parked on the maintenance or cargo ramps. These can, however, be seen if you are in the remote pier departure areas.