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I wish more airports embraced planespotting! I enjoy planespotting at SFO regularly- I go to Bayfront park and get decent views of traffic departing/arriving th

I wish more airports embraced planespotting! I enjoy planespotting at SFO regularly- I go to Bayfront park and get decent views of traffic departing/arriving the 28s (longest runways).

joezydeco 7y ago
The best is Frankfurt, where you can actually go out onto the roof of the terminal without needing a ticket. It costs a small fee and you need to pass through a metal detector, but it beats sitting in a parking lot trying to get a view of the traffic.
- maxxxxx 7y ago
  Stuttgart has or at least used to have a viewing deck too. My favorite place as a kid.
  - Tomte 7y ago
    With a Junker Ju (or at least it used to). Additionally, the Autobahn is next to the airport, and planespotters also occupy the dirt just beside that. And since the main approach is from the east, you have kilometers of fields with small dirt paths in that direction where you can watch airplanes very low and directly overhead.
- souprock 7y ago
  The best is a house near an airport. I just look out my back window. So far the interesting ones have been the An-225, the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, the E-4B, the F-35A, the F-22, the V-22, the CH-47, the A-10, the B-25, the B-2, powered parachutes, Air Force One, Trump Force One, and all the teen series fighters. We didn't see it fly, but the YAL-1 also seems to have visited. When I lived in previous houses: the Goodyear blimp, the Space Shuttle (up and down) I bet you never get the Space Shuttle in Frankfurt.
  - maxxxxx 7y ago
    Isn't that brutally loud? I used to have relatives living in the flight path of Frankfurt airport and for a little while it was fun to watch the planes but the noise got old very quickly.
    - souprock 7y ago
      Usually it isn't. The Goodyear blimp was a weird buzzing noise, not that loud. The Space Shuttle launch was at some distance, otherwise the brutally loud noise would have killed me by ripping my internal organs loose. I had about 30 miles of safety margin, giving a house-shaking rumble. Landings were quiet except for a BOOM BOOM as the shockwave passed over. That would rattle the windows. The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft. The V-22 is another one that sounds really weird, but it isn't actually loud. All the fighter jets are loud. We get lots of them for about 3 days per year, during an airshow. Four or even six of the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds making a turn around my house is quite noisy. Otherwise, the rare fighter jet flies through maybe once or twice a year. The most awful noise was actually not on my list, because it isn't interesting. Delta likes to fly a decently large jet (probably 737-NG, 717, MD-80, or MD-90) at around 6:55 AM.
      - SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
        > The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft. So jealous. I'd love to see one of these things in the metal, let alone see / hear it taking off and landing.
        souprock 7y ago
        I'm about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) off the end of the runway, and about 1000 feet (300 m) off the centerline. Arrivals usually have gear down, while departures usually do not. I saw the An-225 departing. I heard it, felt that the sound wasn't typical, and ran to the window. I spotted the six engines and the distinctive H-tail just in time. That was a jolt. I see that and, well, there can be only one plane. It's that one, unique in the world. It turns out that my local airport (MLB) sometimes does maintenance for the An-225. I'm not sure why this would be done in the USA at all, but we do have a 10,000-foot runway and huge hangars that I suspect were built for the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The An-225 has probably been here more times than I know. Maybe I could see it often if there were some way to get notified in advance. Maybe there is even a predictable schedule.
- gpm 7y ago
  At Pearson (Toronto) there is a bike trail that goes through multiple layers of barbed wire fences, and right by the end of some runways. I estimate you are within 50 feet of the landing planes (straight underneath them). It doesn't have a great view other then that really, but I think that's a pretty cool unique view.
- yread 7y ago
  Schiphol also has a platform, it's free and there is a Fokker F-100 you can climb into
GauntletWizard 7y ago
Have you tried from the top of the San Mateo BART parking structure? The BART structure has a killer view straight up Runway 1. I am no planespotter, but I used to wander up there just to enjoy the view and clear my head.
- sand500 7y ago
  Do you mean Millbrae Bart?
  - GauntletWizard 7y ago
    That one
    - dontbenebby 7y ago
      Also IIRC there's no fee to park there on the weekend.
_ph_ 7y ago
Munich has a separate visitors center, including a small hill between the runways nicely overlooking the airport.

I wish more airports embraced planespotting! I enjoy planespotting at SFO regularly- I go to Bayfront park and get decent views of traffic departing/arriving the 28s (longest runways).

joezydeco 7y ago

The best is Frankfurt, where you can actually go out onto the roof of the terminal without needing a ticket. It costs a small fee and you need to pass through a metal detector, but it beats sitting in a parking lot trying to get a view of the traffic.

maxxxxx 7y ago
Stuttgart has or at least used to have a viewing deck too. My favorite place as a kid.
- Tomte 7y ago
  With a Junker Ju (or at least it used to). Additionally, the Autobahn is next to the airport, and planespotters also occupy the dirt just beside that. And since the main approach is from the east, you have kilometers of fields with small dirt paths in that direction where you can watch airplanes very low and directly overhead.
souprock 7y ago
The best is a house near an airport. I just look out my back window. So far the interesting ones have been the An-225, the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, the E-4B, the F-35A, the F-22, the V-22, the CH-47, the A-10, the B-25, the B-2, powered parachutes, Air Force One, Trump Force One, and all the teen series fighters. We didn't see it fly, but the YAL-1 also seems to have visited. When I lived in previous houses: the Goodyear blimp, the Space Shuttle (up and down) I bet you never get the Space Shuttle in Frankfurt.
- maxxxxx 7y ago
  Isn't that brutally loud? I used to have relatives living in the flight path of Frankfurt airport and for a little while it was fun to watch the planes but the noise got old very quickly.
  - souprock 7y ago
    Usually it isn't. The Goodyear blimp was a weird buzzing noise, not that loud. The Space Shuttle launch was at some distance, otherwise the brutally loud noise would have killed me by ripping my internal organs loose. I had about 30 miles of safety margin, giving a house-shaking rumble. Landings were quiet except for a BOOM BOOM as the shockwave passed over. That would rattle the windows. The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft. The V-22 is another one that sounds really weird, but it isn't actually loud. All the fighter jets are loud. We get lots of them for about 3 days per year, during an airshow. Four or even six of the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds making a turn around my house is quite noisy. Otherwise, the rare fighter jet flies through maybe once or twice a year. The most awful noise was actually not on my list, because it isn't interesting. Delta likes to fly a decently large jet (probably 737-NG, 717, MD-80, or MD-90) at around 6:55 AM.
    - SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
      > The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft. So jealous. I'd love to see one of these things in the metal, let alone see / hear it taking off and landing.
      - souprock 7y ago
        I'm about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) off the end of the runway, and about 1000 feet (300 m) off the centerline. Arrivals usually have gear down, while departures usually do not. I saw the An-225 departing. I heard it, felt that the sound wasn't typical, and ran to the window. I spotted the six engines and the distinctive H-tail just in time. That was a jolt. I see that and, well, there can be only one plane. It's that one, unique in the world. It turns out that my local airport (MLB) sometimes does maintenance for the An-225. I'm not sure why this would be done in the USA at all, but we do have a 10,000-foot runway and huge hangars that I suspect were built for the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The An-225 has probably been here more times than I know. Maybe I could see it often if there were some way to get notified in advance. Maybe there is even a predictable schedule.
gpm 7y ago
At Pearson (Toronto) there is a bike trail that goes through multiple layers of barbed wire fences, and right by the end of some runways. I estimate you are within 50 feet of the landing planes (straight underneath them). It doesn't have a great view other then that really, but I think that's a pretty cool unique view.
yread 7y ago
Schiphol also has a platform, it's free and there is a Fokker F-100 you can climb into

GauntletWizard 7y ago

Have you tried from the top of the San Mateo BART parking structure? The BART structure has a killer view straight up Runway 1. I am no planespotter, but I used to wander up there just to enjoy the view and clear my head.

sand500 7y ago
Do you mean Millbrae Bart?
- GauntletWizard 7y ago
  That one
  - dontbenebby 7y ago
    Also IIRC there's no fee to park there on the weekend.

_ph_ 7y ago

Munich has a separate visitors center, including a small hill between the runways nicely overlooking the airport.