Good plane spotting place?
Discussion
I’ve found myself to be obsessed with planes lately, constantly looking at plane videos on YouTube and spending a lot of my spare time on flight radar.
I had always considered plane spotting but always put it off until last night where I was going for a walk in Richmond and saw 3 planes zoom over me on the approach to Heathrow and I really want to see more of these beasts flying over me.
I couldn’t get over how quiet the 787 was, 2 Airbus A320’s went past, they were very loud and they seemed huge until I saw a 787 coming on the app which I was excited for as I like loud noises from engines, it’s fun to hear/feel how hard a planes engine is working to keep it in the sky but it was a lot more quiet than the A320’s!
Is there any place I can visit where I can see the planes taking off over me? I remember my dad taking me to a spot by heathrow as a child but I asked him about it and he said it was closed after 9/11
Thanks in advance
I had always considered plane spotting but always put it off until last night where I was going for a walk in Richmond and saw 3 planes zoom over me on the approach to Heathrow and I really want to see more of these beasts flying over me.
I couldn’t get over how quiet the 787 was, 2 Airbus A320’s went past, they were very loud and they seemed huge until I saw a 787 coming on the app which I was excited for as I like loud noises from engines, it’s fun to hear/feel how hard a planes engine is working to keep it in the sky but it was a lot more quiet than the A320’s!
Is there any place I can visit where I can see the planes taking off over me? I remember my dad taking me to a spot by heathrow as a child but I asked him about it and he said it was closed after 9/11
Thanks in advance
What age are you?
Do you drive?
Sadly, modern airports are very enthusiast unfriendly these days - what with all the additional security measures they have in place. The days of being able to spend hours on the roof of The Queen's Building at Heathrow are long gone (indeed, The Queen's Building itself doesn't even exist anymore).
Do you drive?
Sadly, modern airports are very enthusiast unfriendly these days - what with all the additional security measures they have in place. The days of being able to spend hours on the roof of The Queen's Building at Heathrow are long gone (indeed, The Queen's Building itself doesn't even exist anymore).
Eric Mc said:
What age are you?
Do you drive?
Sadly, modern airports are very enthusiast unfriendly these days - what with all the additional security measures they have in place. The days of being able to spend hours on the roof of The Queen's Building at Heathrow are long gone (indeed, The Queen's Building itself doesn't even exist anymore).
I’m 26 and yes I do drive, I really want to see a 777 in action, that’s where most my time is spent on YouTube, 777’s taking off with the GE90’s firing away Do you drive?
Sadly, modern airports are very enthusiast unfriendly these days - what with all the additional security measures they have in place. The days of being able to spend hours on the roof of The Queen's Building at Heathrow are long gone (indeed, The Queen's Building itself doesn't even exist anymore).
Manchester Airport, south side (i.e. opposite side to viewing park). Look on Youtube to see how close they are when lined up for take-off on Runway 2! Love it up there :-)
Not great due to Covid at moment, but previously was great. A380s, 777s, A330s, 747s, 787s, A350s all sorts of stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxV8nk0Gog
Not great due to Covid at moment, but previously was great. A380s, 777s, A330s, 747s, 787s, A350s all sorts of stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxV8nk0Gog
Chestrockwell said:
I’m 26 and yes I do drive, I really want to see a 777 in action, that’s where most my time is spent on YouTube, 777’s taking off with the GE90’s firing away
As you are in Surrey, Heathrow would make most sense. Drive to the top of one of the short stay car parks, Terminal 3, say - £5 an hour, or thereabouts - job done.Other airports, terminals and car parks are available.
Edit
Terminal 3 is shut pro-tem. I think that only leaves 2 & 5. I am open to correction
Edited by The Mad Monk on Thursday 12th November 14:04
Join Heathrow Spotters on Facebook. They will tell you where and what.
Good variety of planes in and out of East Midlands Airport from light aircraft to 747s with 757, business jets, occasional Antonov 124 and even the Roll Royce Spitfire ( which lives there) and a P51D recently in between.
Yesterday a C17 was in the circuit and we had two Saudi Hercules at the start of the week.
Yesterday a C17 was in the circuit and we had two Saudi Hercules at the start of the week.
andy97 said:
Good variety of planes in and out of East Midlands Airport from light aircraft to 747s with 757, business jets, occasional Antonov 124 and even the Roll Royce Spitfire ( which lives there) and a P51D recently in between.
Yesterday a C17 was in the circuit and we had two Saudi Hercules at the start of the week.
One of the Saudi Hercs flew directly over Farnborough on the way out. I couldn't see him because of the cloud cover but I certainly heard it.Yesterday a C17 was in the circuit and we had two Saudi Hercules at the start of the week.
Eric Mc said:
One of the Saudi Hercs flew directly over Farnborough on the way out. I couldn't see him because of the cloud cover but I certainly heard it.
I was directly under the path of one of the Saudi Hercs not many hours ago when it took off from EMA. I only know this because as it was such an unusual looking plane I had a look on Flight Radar to see what it was.Chestrockwell said:
I’ve found myself to be obsessed with planes lately, constantly looking at plane videos on YouTube and spending a lot of my spare time on flight radar.
I had always considered plane spotting but always put it off until last night where I was going for a walk in Richmond and saw 3 planes zoom over me on the approach to Heathrow and I really want to see more of these beasts flying over me.
I couldn’t get over how quiet the 787 was, 2 Airbus A320’s went past, they were very loud and they seemed huge until I saw a 787 coming on the app which I was excited for as I like loud noises from engines, it’s fun to hear/feel how hard a planes engine is working to keep it in the sky but it was a lot more quiet than the A320’s!
Is there any place I can visit where I can see the planes taking off over me? I remember my dad taking me to a spot by heathrow as a child but I asked him about it and he said it was closed after 9/11
Thanks in advance
LHR has a viewing gallery, small stand, next to the visitor centre off the Bath Road. Car parking right next to it. I had always considered plane spotting but always put it off until last night where I was going for a walk in Richmond and saw 3 planes zoom over me on the approach to Heathrow and I really want to see more of these beasts flying over me.
I couldn’t get over how quiet the 787 was, 2 Airbus A320’s went past, they were very loud and they seemed huge until I saw a 787 coming on the app which I was excited for as I like loud noises from engines, it’s fun to hear/feel how hard a planes engine is working to keep it in the sky but it was a lot more quiet than the A320’s!
Is there any place I can visit where I can see the planes taking off over me? I remember my dad taking me to a spot by heathrow as a child but I asked him about it and he said it was closed after 9/11
Thanks in advance
Myrtle Avenue is another favourite spot.
Look online for Heathrow's alternation schedule. Note you'll need the revised one as they're down to single runway operations untill further notice.
Enjoy.
My son wanted to see an A380 flying before they disappear so we went up to Heathrow last month to catch the Emirates A380 flight coming in at lunchtime. I then intended heading back home for chores. However we end up having a day out instead, catching the evening flight coming in as well.
What we found was,
Myrtle Avenue is best when they are landing from the East (London) direction on the Left hand runway (27L).
The Premier Inn on the A4 is for when they are are landing from the East (London) direction on the Right hand runway (27R). It costs £2 to park in their car park but you can use the facilities in the Premier Inn like the toilet and Costa Coffe when the old Thermos runs out.
You need to check which runway is in use before you get there. Note that they swap at about 15:00 each day for noise abatement.
We haven't tried it yet when they are landing from the West.
Anyway here are some we got last month. The first is from Myrtle Avenue in the morning waiting for the lunchtime A380 arrival. This gives you an idea of how close you can get. I should add that I don't recommend standing directly in the path of an aircraft for various obvious reasons. I had to get one shot like this though.
Next is an A320 in the old BEA livery taken from Myrtle Avenue. Nice to see this as I have only ever seen the livery in photos.
B787 Dreamliner, Myrtle Avenue.
No photos of the A380 this time as I wanted to experience it without faffing with a camera.
Here are a few from the A4 Premier Inn car park. We nipped back here to see the evening A380 flight. The intervening afternoon was spent visiting the Ace Cafe for a socially distanced bite to eat, then a few hours going around the RAF museum at Hendon which was good as always. It was our first proper day out since the Covid madness started in March.
It was quite dark by the point we got to the Premier Inn so I was on 1600 ISO/ASA and using quite slow shutter speeds, so not the sharpest photos but you get the idea of what the viewing is like.
What we found was,
Myrtle Avenue is best when they are landing from the East (London) direction on the Left hand runway (27L).
The Premier Inn on the A4 is for when they are are landing from the East (London) direction on the Right hand runway (27R). It costs £2 to park in their car park but you can use the facilities in the Premier Inn like the toilet and Costa Coffe when the old Thermos runs out.
You need to check which runway is in use before you get there. Note that they swap at about 15:00 each day for noise abatement.
We haven't tried it yet when they are landing from the West.
Anyway here are some we got last month. The first is from Myrtle Avenue in the morning waiting for the lunchtime A380 arrival. This gives you an idea of how close you can get. I should add that I don't recommend standing directly in the path of an aircraft for various obvious reasons. I had to get one shot like this though.
Next is an A320 in the old BEA livery taken from Myrtle Avenue. Nice to see this as I have only ever seen the livery in photos.
B787 Dreamliner, Myrtle Avenue.
No photos of the A380 this time as I wanted to experience it without faffing with a camera.
Here are a few from the A4 Premier Inn car park. We nipped back here to see the evening A380 flight. The intervening afternoon was spent visiting the Ace Cafe for a socially distanced bite to eat, then a few hours going around the RAF museum at Hendon which was good as always. It was our first proper day out since the Covid madness started in March.
It was quite dark by the point we got to the Premier Inn so I was on 1600 ISO/ASA and using quite slow shutter speeds, so not the sharpest photos but you get the idea of what the viewing is like.
Eric Mc said:
Security used to move people on if they were hanging around the multi-story car parks - even as far back as the 1970s.
At Heathrow, Myrtle Avenue is a favourite location for watching landings.
Myrtle Avenue is marked on Google Maps as a plane spotting placeAt Heathrow, Myrtle Avenue is a favourite location for watching landings.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Myrtle+Ave,+Fe...
Tempest_5 said:
The Premier Inn on the A4 is for when they are are landing from the East (London) direction on the Right hand runway (27R). It costs £2 to park in their car park but you can use the facilities in the Premier Inn like the toilet and Costa Coffe when the old Thermos runs out.
I was going to suggest here. We took our (then 3 year old) to NYC a few years back and stayed at the Premier Inn the night before. He was visibly excited about seeing planes so they managed to get us a room with a panoramic window view of the runway, it was a late night!I forgot to update the thread, I went to Myrtle Avenue based on the recommendations on Saturday, I checked which runway was in use via FlightRadar and was in luck.
There weren’t that many planes coming and the weather was terrible, I also didn’t have proper parking so only stayed for a bit.
Managed to video a couple of A350’s, the A350-1000 looks gorgeous in the Virgin livery.
Second snap was at a random carpark where we parked to look for some food and I heard a very loud noise and turns out the plane went straight over us! That spot was actually more fun as you could feel the force and weight of the plane still flying over you instead of it landing from the side.
If only there was a place we could see them take off.
I’m definitely going to return and become a regular once travel is back to normal.
There weren’t that many planes coming and the weather was terrible, I also didn’t have proper parking so only stayed for a bit.
Managed to video a couple of A350’s, the A350-1000 looks gorgeous in the Virgin livery.
Second snap was at a random carpark where we parked to look for some food and I heard a very loud noise and turns out the plane went straight over us! That spot was actually more fun as you could feel the force and weight of the plane still flying over you instead of it landing from the side.
If only there was a place we could see them take off.
I’m definitely going to return and become a regular once travel is back to normal.
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