19th to the 28th November 2015
Florida Holiday.
Thursday 19th November saw my family and I at Manchester for our flight to Orlando (Florida) for a ten day holiday. B747-400 G-VROS operated VS075 departing at 11.25am and arrived in the rather cloudy "Sunshine State" just after 14.30 local. after collecting the hire car we made a quick visit to the multi-storey car park for a shot of the Westjet "Disney" B737-800 C-GWSZ but sadly due to the very dull weather the light was very poor.
The ladies wanted to visit the Florida Mall the next afternoon so I dropped them off and had a quick visit to MCO for some numbers and a couple of pics, timed nicely for the two Azul A330 arrivals.
I had a day off from the airport on the 21st but another quick visit to MCO on the 22nd saw a few more subjects caught by the camera,
The 23rd saw us drive down south very early morning arriving in Miami around 09.00, the day was spent there photographing from various locations where the following were taken ......
A great day with some nice subjects and 150 new numbers in the book, we stayed in the Clarion Inn & Suites overlooking MIA.
The next morning we had a quick run around the perimeter and then drove north via a quick stop at Ft. Lauderdale where only one subject was worthy of a pic .....
After arriving back in the Orlando area by midday the ladies went shopping again, I made another very quick visit to MCO for the Copa "SPFC special"
I spotted the Copa "National Soccer" special arriving at MCO on FR24 on the evening of the 24th so we made an early morning visit to catch it departing on the 25th .....
The morning of the 26th saw us make a run down to Tampa ....
and back via a perimeter tour of Lakeland to see finally see the unique PA-47 Piper Jet that is on display at the entrance to the museum, also noted amongst the hangars was the first 737-300 Freighter for new Brazilian cargo airline Modern Logistics.
Finally, the 28th saw us departing for home but an hour or so on the car park before check in saw us catch the new turquoise special Azul A330 PR-AIU,
Virgin B747-400 G-VLIP carried us back home after a great holiday, another 505 new numbers in the book as a bonus too!
The ladies wanted to visit the Florida Mall the next afternoon so I dropped them off and had a quick visit to MCO for some numbers and a couple of pics, timed nicely for the two Azul A330 arrivals.
I had a day off from the airport on the 21st but another quick visit to MCO on the 22nd saw a few more subjects caught by the camera,
The 23rd saw us drive down south very early morning arriving in Miami around 09.00, the day was spent there photographing from various locations where the following were taken ......
A great day with some nice subjects and 150 new numbers in the book, we stayed in the Clarion Inn & Suites overlooking MIA.
The next morning we had a quick run around the perimeter and then drove north via a quick stop at Ft. Lauderdale where only one subject was worthy of a pic .....
After arriving back in the Orlando area by midday the ladies went shopping again, I made another very quick visit to MCO for the Copa "SPFC special"
I spotted the Copa "National Soccer" special arriving at MCO on FR24 on the evening of the 24th so we made an early morning visit to catch it departing on the 25th .....
The morning of the 26th saw us make a run down to Tampa ....
and back via a perimeter tour of Lakeland to see finally see the unique PA-47 Piper Jet that is on display at the entrance to the museum, also noted amongst the hangars was the first 737-300 Freighter for new Brazilian cargo airline Modern Logistics.
Finally, the 28th saw us departing for home but an hour or so on the car park before check in saw us catch the new turquoise special Azul A330 PR-AIU,
Virgin B747-400 G-VLIP carried us back home after a great holiday, another 505 new numbers in the book as a bonus too!
10th to the 13th August 2015
Palma
A four day trip to Palma for some sun and spotting saw us depart MAN early morning on Monday the 10th August, Monarch A321 G-ZBAE was our carriage and we touched down in Mallorca just before 10am local time.
We picked up a hire car and spent the next few days in various spots around the perimeter. We stayed at the ROC Linda in C'an Pastilla with a room looking towards the airport which allowed a bit of number crunching after dark.
The following photos were taken over the time we were there.
Monday 10th August.
My highlight of the day, Tarom A310 YR-LCA arriving at sunset.
Tuesday 11th August.
The definite highlight of our trip .....
Spanish Air Force B707 T.17-3 making an early morning arrival on 06L!!
Wednesday 12th August.
Thursday 13th August.
Time to head home and just two shots taken from the windows in the departure lounge before Monarch A321 G-MARA flew us back to Manchester .....
A very relaxing few days in the sun and some great company from Ashley and Adrian, another 146 numbers in the log book and plenty of new subjects caught by the camera!!
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We picked up a hire car and spent the next few days in various spots around the perimeter. We stayed at the ROC Linda in C'an Pastilla with a room looking towards the airport which allowed a bit of number crunching after dark.
The following photos were taken over the time we were there.
Monday 10th August.
My highlight of the day, Tarom A310 YR-LCA arriving at sunset.
Tuesday 11th August.
The definite highlight of our trip .....
Spanish Air Force B707 T.17-3 making an early morning arrival on 06L!!
Wednesday 12th August.
Thursday 13th August.
Time to head home and just two shots taken from the windows in the departure lounge before Monarch A321 G-MARA flew us back to Manchester .....
A very relaxing few days in the sun and some great company from Ashley and Adrian, another 146 numbers in the log book and plenty of new subjects caught by the camera!!
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17th to the 20th July 2015
London Heathrow
Made the trip down to Fairford for the Friday show and followed this up by a long weekend at Heathrow spotting from the Club Lounge at the Renaissance Hotel.
Only a few shots taken at Fairford as the weather was pretty awful,
The stars of the show were undoubtedly the Japanese Maritime Kawasaki P1's, one of which was parked in the static and the other flying a daily display.
Another highlight (for me) was the Dutch Air Force KDC10, sadly arriving when the light was particularly poor!
After a few hours walking the static lines and taking some pics we left Fairford and travelled on to Heathrow for just over three days of number crunching and photographing from the top floor (lounge) at the Renaissance Hotel. It was to be a very relaxed and enjoyable time!
The weather was very mixed with sun one minute and dark clouds the next, the following highlights were photographed over the time spent here ........
Friday 17th July (Evening)
Saturday 18th July.
Nice to catch the new colours Vietnam Airlines B777-200 shortly before the change to B787's!
A very rare catch at LHR, Finnair A340-300 OH-LQB substituting for the usual A320.
A pair of Qatar Amiri Flight jets, A320 A7-AAG and A310 A7-AFE departed late afternoon.
Sunday 19th July.
Another rare type change, SAS A340 LN-RKP instead of the usual narrow body jet.
Monday 20th July.
Nice to catch a relatively new Kuwait Airways A330 arriving just before we left to head home ......
A great weekend with some enjoyable company (thanks Adrian!),
A total of 170 new numbers added to the book including the ones at Fairford, Brize Norton, Heathrow and a side trip to Luton.
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22nd to the 29th May 2015
Sharm el Sheikh
I have recently had a week relaxing with my “Better Half” in
Sharm el Sheikh, with the added bonus of making a few numbers whilst relaxing
by the pool!As with all our previous visits we stayed at the Hilton,
Sharks Bay which is adjacent to the runways.Some aircraft make their downwind legs over the hotel and
all departures (on on 04 ops) can be seen from the pool area as they climb out
but you have to nip to the gate at the far end to see arrivals on touchdown. I used the SBS by the pool for warning of any arrivals and
then positioned myself for anything required. The airport is far quieter than my first visit back in 2012
but there are still some very nice movements.
The following photos were the more interesting movements over the week but most suffer from heat haze sadly due to the very high temperatures at this time of the year!
A total of 103 new numbers in the book for the week, only 62 being frames showing the high number of "paint scrapes" on the charter traffic, especially from the CIS!
Only a few shots taken at Fairford as the weather was pretty awful,
The stars of the show were undoubtedly the Japanese Maritime Kawasaki P1's, one of which was parked in the static and the other flying a daily display.
Another highlight (for me) was the Dutch Air Force KDC10, sadly arriving when the light was particularly poor!
After a few hours walking the static lines and taking some pics we left Fairford and travelled on to Heathrow for just over three days of number crunching and photographing from the top floor (lounge) at the Renaissance Hotel. It was to be a very relaxed and enjoyable time!
The weather was very mixed with sun one minute and dark clouds the next, the following highlights were photographed over the time spent here ........
Friday 17th July (Evening)
Saturday 18th July.
Nice to catch the new colours Vietnam Airlines B777-200 shortly before the change to B787's!
A very rare catch at LHR, Finnair A340-300 OH-LQB substituting for the usual A320.
A pair of Qatar Amiri Flight jets, A320 A7-AAG and A310 A7-AFE departed late afternoon.
Sunday 19th July.
Another rare type change, SAS A340 LN-RKP instead of the usual narrow body jet.
Monday 20th July.
Nice to catch a relatively new Kuwait Airways A330 arriving just before we left to head home ......
A great weekend with some enjoyable company (thanks Adrian!),
A total of 170 new numbers added to the book including the ones at Fairford, Brize Norton, Heathrow and a side trip to Luton.
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22nd to the 29th May 2015
I have recently had a week relaxing with my “Better Half” in Sharm el Sheikh, with the added bonus of making a few numbers whilst relaxing by the pool!As with all our previous visits we stayed at the Hilton, Sharks Bay which is adjacent to the runways.Some aircraft make their downwind legs over the hotel and all departures (on on 04 ops) can be seen from the pool area as they climb out but you have to nip to the gate at the far end to see arrivals on touchdown. I used the SBS by the pool for warning of any arrivals and then positioned myself for anything required. The airport is far quieter than my first visit back in 2012 but there are still some very nice movements.
The following photos were the more interesting movements over the week but most suffer from heat haze sadly due to the very high temperatures at this time of the year!
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16th to the 20th March 2015
Istanbul (Ataturk)
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16th to the 20th March 2015
16th to the 20th March 2015
A five day visit to Istanbul's main airport (Ataturk) with my friend Adrian saw much better results than my last visit back in 2012 (when the weather was awful!),Mostly sunny skies and some very nice movements were seen. Most of the days were spent by the balcony of the Fly Inn Shopping Mall alongside runway 35 Left where all movements can be seen, the evenings were spent watching the movements from window in our room at the Radisson Blu hotel.The following photos were taken during our trip,
Monday 16th March 2015
We arrived mid afternoon (via LHR) on board British Airways B767-300 G-BNWZ but as there wouldn't be much daylight time let we elected to go straight to the hotel and spot from the room for the rest of the day.These three shots were taken on landing and whilst taxiing in.
The Iraqi A330 (YI-AQY) landed just after us, sadly I only had the small lens on so the shot was too distant, it was the only time we got a chance of a photo!
52 new numbers made it in to the log book between arrival and midnight, a very good start!
Tuesday 17th March 2015
Up early and we viewed the movements from the room before taking a taxi over to the Fly Inn centre (which opens daily at 10am), from here we then photographed the movements all day in some great weather.
A superb sunny afternoon with nice traffic meant the camera was kept very busy!
Back to the hotel room after dinner and we continued logging until shortly after midnight, another 37 numbers were made today.
Thursday 19th March 2015
Azerbaijan Airlines now operates the 787 Dreamliner daily on their morning flight.
The highlight of the trip as Pakistan Air Force IL76 R11-003 taxied out for departure early afternoon having arrived the night before!
We left the Fly Inn as the sun set and spent the remainder of the day watching from the hotel room, another 41 new numbers were added to the log by midnight.
Wednesday 18th March 2015.
Up early once again, our day followed the same format as yesterday, arriving at the Fly Inn at 10.00 as the doors were unlocked!
This was our view (of the MNG ramp) from the room before we left.
A cloudy morning to start .... brightening as the day wore on!
This was our view (of the MNG ramp) from the room before we left.
A cloudy morning to start .... brightening as the day wore on!
Mahan Air had upgraded their morning flight to an A340 from the usual A300.
Iraqi Airways used one of their CRJ900's on the morning flight.
Two days in and both Azerbaijan 787's had been seen!
great to catch the new colours ATA Airlines A320 EP-TAD
U.S.A.F. C40 01.0040 taxied down 35L after landing on 05 late afternoon!
Our last full day and the weather was little more mixed with cloud and sun on and off all day, once again we were at the Fly Inn by 10am for opening time and stayed until sunset .....
A bit of Military action today, Turkish Air Force Casa 235 94-068 departing and....
Australian Air Force C130 A97-468 arriving .....
Turkish Government A330 TC-TUR was parked up having arrived the night before,
A very smart looking B737-900BBJ3 departing, VP-CKK
Another Turkish Air Force Casa 235, 96-113 departing late afternoon,
and so ended our final full day .... once again, lovely afternoon sun and plenty of interesting movements! We headed back to the hotel after dinner and continued to log the movements until the early hours, only 26 new numbers today showing that the numbers made decrease quite a lot once all the local traffic has been seen.
Friday 20th March 2015
This morning was spent spotting from the room as there wasn't much to be gained by going to the Fly Inn for a couple of hours, our afternoon departure meant we had to leave for the airport around lunch time. once airside we spotted from the windows before boarding British Airways B767-300 G-BNWA for just over three hours back to Heathrow. A further 19 numbers were added before departure at 17.00 local time.
One of the storage areas at Istanbul, Antonov An.12 TC-KET being the highlight here!
We arrived at Heathrow nice and early which allowed nearly two hours before we departed onwards to Manchester, this meant a further 8 new numbers being seen giving a total of 192 for the trip .... 149 Frames and 43 Scrapes ..... a great result!
My thanks to Adrian for a great trip with lots of good numbers, many great photos and a lot of laughs!!
My thanks to Adrian for a great trip with lots of good numbers, many great photos and a lot of laughs!!
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