No doubt, some of you enjoy looking at airplanes even when you know you aren't getting on board. Many of us know an aircraft type by quick glance and keep logbooks of the serial numbers of the aircraft we fly.

If you are a planespotter, you've got to check this out:
http://www.planespotting.net/spec-airports/index.html




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Great pictures.

LAX and JFK are good places to see planes landing. My wife and I got stuck in the mud doing this at JFK about 20 years ago. Life was good then.

Dan

About 20 years ago, I used to stay on St. Maarten at a guest house next to the opposite end of the runway shown. The turn-around for landing aircraft was directly opposite the cottage, and the road to the guest house was known as the "old runway", which is what it in fact was.

The views of the aircraft were spectacular, mostly consisting of 727's, with a few 737's, 707's, DC-8, and once in a while an A300. Big bruisers like DC-10's were unusual enough to be an event. I don't think I ever saw a 747 there.

There's none better than watching landings at Hong Kong Kai Tak.. I used to go there and watch the landings from the top level of the parking lot when I lived in HK. I can't think of any airport that can beat Kai Tak in terms of watching planespotting!

If you ever want to know who owns some of those planes you're spotting, you can find out at www.landings.com

Great websites guys!

Al

When I was a kid in the mid-'70s I used to spend weekend afternoons in the elevated observation lounge on the control tower structure at BOS with binocs and a copy of JP Airline Fleets... I still have my old spotting logs. I remember how excited everyone was up there the day the Braniff Calder DC-8 came in on an unscheduled wx diversion. It was a great hobby -- but that was before FF-mile-culture was born.

BearX220 ,
The last time I talked to Massport, they told me the BOS observation tower had closed due to "security." But I have not been up in the location of the lounge to see what if anything is now present. Do you remember also there was a bar in the lounge?

I was up in that BOS observation deck one day and met somebody from Massport, and he gave me a tour of the Massport Operations area. This is a room, I think on 16th floor or so, just below the control tower. Lots of radios, telephones, flight status screens, etc. When I went in, it was a quiet January Saturday night, but I imagine the place is hopping during a snow storm. People would call into Massport Operations with all sorts of questions. Like I was told people would call and say "when is my aunt arriving in Boston from California," but not knowing the airline/flight number, etc. Also once got a tour of the actual air traffic control tower on a foggy March night. They had the "strips" where each flight was on a strip, and the strip of paper mounted in a bracket of sorts was passed from controler to controler: clearance, ground control, tower, etc. Not sure if they still use these strips, or if it is now all computerized.

Believe it or not, the "strips" are called "shrimp boats". It is computerized now, but the shrimp boats stand ever ready for back-up!

Planespotting is BIG in Europe, especially in the UK and Holland, I come over to the USA two or Three times a year to view mainly US Naval aviation at bases, air shows etc.Also when you spot a G5 or similar at the airport it's nice to check up and see what lucky so and so owns it.Uncle SAM is the owner of most of the aircraft to be spotted at Andrews AFB!

Anyone see Pushing Tin?

The strips are still supposed to be used, but with the high quantity and complexity of traffic they're pretty much worthless at radar sectors today. While controllers are supposed to mark on them and keep them updated for back-ups, it would be impossibile to control numerous airplanes pointed at each other using little strips of paper.

That said, they are used in the oceanic sectors where there is no radar.

As for shrimp boats, those are not the paper strips, but were from the days of the flat radar scopes when each airplane only showed up as a / with no data. Controllers would write each aircraft's data on pieces of plexiglass that would then get moved along from sector to sector as the plane passed through. They no longer exist.

BTW, you can tour ATC facilities - center, towers, tracons - by calling the facility in advance and scheduling a tour.

[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 01-02-2001).]

letiole: As usual, I'm stuck in old technology.

I actually bought this book some time back and carry it with me. Kind of fun.
http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/books...sbn=1882663101

RichG: It's easy to see why you might have thought that seeing as it's probably the one piece of old technology ATC doesn't still employ.