ILS From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 1054 times:
Today, I took out my binocs and sat in my backyard for 2 hours looking at planes passing over at about 30,000 feet out of DFW over AUS. Here is what I saw:
AA 777
AA 763
AA 757
BA 777
Lufthansa A340
DL 763
It was really fun to identify them at a high altitude. Does anyone else to this. Also, I like the challenge of getting the reg. number off of planes at about 5,000 feet on approach to AUS.
Co LITE From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 948 times:
I like High Altitude spotting. Its great. I can see mostly Delta traffic over us, and after that its mostly local airline stuff at lower altitudes or departures from MSY. The rare planes I've seen in our area are the Atlas Air 747, Continental 737's, Northwest 757-200, etc. I use a telescope.
H. Simpson From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 949 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 922 times:
I love it too. I live in New york and I could get planes as low as 1,000 feet to all the way up to ~20,000 feet. High Altitude spotting always give you an excitment of the unknown, airlines that you don't know and model that you never think of.
BA From United States of America, joined May 2000, 11135 posts, RR: 61 Reply 4, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 901 times:
You know....this is a great idea! There are TONS (and I mean TONS) of planes that fly over here at 35,000ft. Infact today, I saw 7 contrails at one time!
I have binoculars sitting in my closet collecting dust.
I'll use them tommorow and see what flies over here!
Regards.
"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need." - Khalil Gibran
VapourTrails From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 885 times:
Yes I do high altitude spotting! It's fun even though most of the time it is Qantas.. I would ideally like a telescope because I can just make out the aircraft type with binoculars but definately not the reg.
High altitude spotting is a totally different experience than seeing the aircraft on the ground at an airport ..apart from the obvious of course..
The noise from high altitude aircraft flying overhead is quite unique. Nearly every time I look up there are one or more aircraft, I need to work out the time of day when there are lots & when I have the time to spare as well..
YKA From Netherlands, joined Sep 2001, 766 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 870 times:
I run for my binocs anytime I see one flying over since there aren't many that do here. When I visited poland last year I could indentify all sorts of planes with my crappy 10x50 binocs. Its pretty fun too. Im gonna try using my 5" telescope at 45x and see how that works.
DeltaASA16 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 839 times:
YOu bet I do,
A lot of times , i am to lazy to do homework, so i grab the binnoculars and head to my front yard. I ussually only sit for about twenty minutes, but I see alot of planes
Donder10 From Canada, joined Oct 2001, 6659 posts, RR: 23 Reply 9, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 823 times:
I live by LHR and do high altitude spotting.
Airlines I regularly see:
AirFrance
Alitalia
British Airways
Swissair
ElAL
Sabena-did!
United
American
Northwest
Continental
USAirways
World
Saudia
Austrian
AirCanada
Lufthansa
CSAir
Tarom
Delta
KLM
Martinair
Jordandian
British Midland
Lauda(a bit)
Ryanair
Aer Lingus
One Iberia overflight a day
Turkish
and charters:
JMC,Brittania,Air 2000,Airtours etc.
Ndebele From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 2895 posts, RR: 25 Reply 10, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 818 times:
I remember, it was a clear sunny day, when I couldn't believe my eyes, so I took my binoculars, and indeed: In a real high altitude, I saw one of those Belugas!
I used to work for Swissport Stuttgart Operations. Cargolux Luxemburg Operations seemed to use the same station frequency, we could often hear those Cargolux aircraft talking to their local operations. Once, we heard a voice on the radio "Cargolux operations, this is Cargolux xxx we're just passing Stuttgart, eta Luxemburg 12:20". My colleague (who is a spotter as well) took his binoculars, and we could really see this particular Cargolux 744 through our office window! He seized the occasion and asked the Cargolux Captain for his registration. That captain was a little confused about Swissport Stuttgart talking to him, but then he told us that it's LX-LCV. That is what I call effective high-altitude spotting!
NWA ARJ From United States of America, joined May 2001, 547 posts, RR: 2 Reply 13, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 768 times:
I always sit outside with my binocs and i see in FAR where i live alot of NW DC-9's flying to MSP some A320 and A319's sometimes a 727 and a DC-10 and a 742 coming from Tokyo
Nightmare 68, Fargo Tower, Runway 36, Fly Runway Heading, Mantain 10,000, Cleared For Takeoff, Change To Departure
Boeing757fan From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 14, posted (11 years 6 months 2 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 770 times:
I used to really be into it. Being in Traverse City Michigan, we see most all the International traffic from DTW-Japan, Japan-DTW, Europe-ORD, Europe-STL,Europe-MEX, Europe-DFW, Europe-IAH, and all kinds of Canadien and US domestic stuff.
I still look now with my binoculars. I used to use my telescope, boy, if they have condensation, they are easy to spot, and you can really get a close up!
Sdate747 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 272 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 708 times:
IT's THE BEST PART!!!
I live NW of IAD and on Saturday I saw -
A widebody trijet - MD-11 or DC-10
A 4 Engine widebody (747)
and at least 2 or 3 330's or 777
Also, I wanna buy a hi power lens device to get in close on these planes. Any tips? What products do you guys use? I have a semi decent pair of binoculars already but they are not powerful enough. Backyard spotting is the best.
Also, I see departing traffic from IAD, especialyl in the evening over my house. BMI, LH, BA, UA .. all the major players
Jmc1975 From Israel, joined Sep 2000, 3160 posts, RR: 17 Reply 17, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 702 times:
When I lived in Prescott, Arizona, I enjoyed taking out my telescope and watching all the transcontinental traffic to and from Southern California. Prescott is near the Drake VOR, which is a common transcontinental route.
AWspicious From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 19, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 659 times:
High altitude spotting is challenge I rarely accept. I did see a weather balloon, once. I have to replace my 10x50 binoculors.
I live btwn two approachs to Pearson, so, I see not only the operator, but, the equipment. Binocs wouldn't allow me to see reg.#, tho. Perhaps a telescope would.
H. Simpson From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 949 posts, RR: 3 Reply 20, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 658 times:
if you live next to a VOR I'm sure you will see planes flying over you!
Continental From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 5476 posts, RR: 21 Reply 21, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 632 times:
All the time, here at MSP, there are tons! I have seen United Airlines 747-400s heading west, and many Qantas! I couldn't believe it, Qantas!? After that, I was really into it, and I spotted ANA, and just yesterday, a Lufthansa A340!
Serge From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 1989 posts, RR: 3 Reply 22, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 626 times:
Wow, I whipped out the Sony 25x optical camcorder and recorded an NWA A319 for 2 minutes! Its not the best quality but very amazing.... don't try this without a tripod
Ren41 From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 1524 posts, RR: 1 Reply 23, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 618 times:
Yesterday, because of the crash in NYC JFK was closed and a lot of planes were diverted to BOS. I was sitting in my backyard which is under the path of departing planes, and I saw a SQ 744, BA 744, JAL 744, AZ MD-11, DL MD-11 fly right over my head at a pretty low altitude!!! I was in heaven because BOS never gets any Asian carriers, except for Korean,which left a few years ago.
ILS From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 24, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 613 times:
Wow, I see that I am not the only one. . Another interesting thing I saw today was an Aeromexico MD-80 at about 35,000 probably out of DFW.
25 Twr75: Basically any aircraft (from small piston singles to 747s) that flies between Sydney and Melbourne will fly over where I live....
26 Donder10: Anybody know of any high-altitude spotting clubs?
27 VapourTrails: I saw my first DJ B737 high-altitude spotting today, actually I wasn't spotting as such but when I looked up I could see there was red at the front of
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It's fun even though most of the time it is Qantas.. I would ideally like a telescope because I can just make out the aircraft type with binoculars but definately not the reg.
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