Best airport for Spotting/Photography

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Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 565

What's your opinion,of the airports i've been to(DUB/SHN/MAN/LHR),i'd say dublin is pretty good,at MAN i only went to the car park,so perhaps i didn't go to the best spots.LHR was Ok,on the queens building a while ago.Has anybody been to places like AMS,DUS or ZRH as i've heard they're pretty good.After a hostile response to posting links to photos i'm not even going to attempt to post a pic :rolleyes:

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 4,887

[QUOTE=gary o]What's your opinion,of the airports i've been to(DUB/SHN/MAN/LHR),i'd say dublin is pretty good,at MAN i only went to the car park,so perhaps i didn't go to the best spots.LHR was Ok,on the queens building a while ago.

Has anybody been to places like AMS,DUS or ZRH as i've heard they're pretty good.
I live half way between AMS and DUS, so the say I have been there in the past would be an understatement!

AMS is still the best airport I have ever been to from a spotting point of view. Not as busy as LHR or FRA that's for sure. And the multitude or runways, of which always 3 are active, make it hard to catch everything. But the spots more then make up for it.

DUS is kind a nice if you are into shots of taxiing planes. Can get boring rather soon, but then I am of course spoiled with AMS.

Never been to ZRH, high on my to-do list. I hope this will be this year but since I also hope to find to a place of my own (instead of student lodging) this year that might be out of reach for now.

The spots around MAN are a whole lot better then the parking lot. Personally I do not regard the AVP that highly either. Had there not been a concorde and a Trident this place would not have been worth it, as you are shooting into the sun all day (at least when I was there late october 05).

LHR is great. At any other airport the spots would bore me to death (final approach, that's about it) but LHR has such a great variety in airlines. Will be visited this year during my bi-annual London trip. Pretty much a tradition now: 5 days with Farnborough, Heathrow, Bexleyheath (what?), London itself and one more airport of choise (last year LGW this year probably LCY).

Member for

18 years 2 months

Posts: 31

Hello @all

I live 5min away from ZRH. ZRH is a great place to spot although it has little traffic. Best time to spot airplanes is from 1000 to 1400. At this time all the heavy planes depart.

There are 4 good spots around the airport. One is on the roof of the old terminal B, the other on the roof of terminal E. And there is a spot just behind the runway 14, the other next to the runway 16.

But as I said, ZRH has little traffic and therefore I would prefer spotting at places like MAN and/or FRA.

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20 years 10 months

Posts: 9,401

Amsterdam is easily my favourite place i've been for spotting/photography, is brilliant.

I imagine if i'd have better knowledge of the runways at LHR, that would have been great also, though i'm sure it couldn't match AMS. MAN is also fantastic.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

Er... you started a thread about whether or not Heathrow was worth a visit Gary, yet you say you've been already at the top of this one... confused....? I know I am... :D :diablo:

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

After a hostile response to posting links to photos i'm not even going to attempt to post a pic :rolleyes:

Might I suggest you post your pictures using the image attachment (manage attachments) facility or from a free hosting site such as Image Shack or Photo Bucket? ;)

As a new contributor all you've done is direct traffic from here to other websites and that looks a bit suspect to be honest. ;) :rolleyes:

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20 years 7 months

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After a hostile response to posting links to photos i'm not even going to attempt to post a pic :rolleyes:

But it wasn't hostile, it sounded like it pointed out the truth to me, it was an observation by the person pointing it out, and that observation seems valid,
nothing stopping you doing what Ren said to do :)

Heathrow is still good even without the Queens building, the perimeter road gives great views especially near 27R for arrivals

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 261

ahemm...MEANWHILE, BACK ON-TOPIC.... i am very biased and have not been to many other airports (other than as a passenger - then i've been to lots n lots:)

...but i love the Southside at MAN alongside 24L - you can get incredibly close to the aircraft and get taxi and rotation shots or move a short distance and get them coming in on either 06 L or R.

I do agree with the comments about the sun in your eyes at the MAN AVP tho.

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18 years 1 month

Posts: 565

I was wondering whether heathrow was worth a visit after the closer of the queens building.

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18 years

Posts: 2,098

Just like to add, that at DUB there is now a huge new fence alongside the mound area, making it very difficult to shoot anything on the deck.(Aerrianta getting a touch of BAA-itis??)

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 565

Yes that's true,the fence ruins all shots of aircraft taking off from runway 28
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d155/gary-o/DSCF0237.jpg

As you can see it's a good two feet higher than the old one.

Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 3,124

Just like to add, that at DUB there is now a huge new fence alongside the mound area, making it very difficult to shoot anything on the deck.(Aerrianta getting a touch of BAA-itis??)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y234/stuart87/P2130438.jpg

:(

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20 years 2 months

Posts: 696

It's got to be Manchester biased I know but the local authorities seem to like us enthusiasts. :D

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c301/wilag/brit757.jpg

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

Speaking of MAN, Glasgow is to soon get an officially sanctioned spotters mound adjacent to runway 23's threshold on land acquired by BAA for future development.

Member for

18 years 7 months

Posts: 261

It's got to be Manchester biased I know but the local authorities seem to like us enthusiasts. :D
They have always been fairly friendly towards enthusiasts, which i suspect is because MAN was owned and operated by Manchester City Council until fairly recently.

Another reason we get good viewing is that the area which was compulsary purchased for runway 2 development (the Bollin Valley) had been in large part a natural wild-life haven and open to the public, so the Bolin Valley Project made the airport authorities re-landscape and provide public access around the perimeter after constructoin was complete - as part of the deal.

It is a fantastic network of properley made foot and cycle paths which conveniently allow us access to any part of the runway perimeter fence

I *think* the convenient southside raised viewing mounds which we enjoy snapping away from are part of an attempt to keep the noise levels down in the surrounding countryside, which is why runway 2 is closed during quiet periods (12 - 3pm).Pro-active noise control was another issue which was insisted on as part of the deal allowing runway 2 to be constructed.

As ever, i stand by to be corrected by those more knowledgable about such matters.

Michael