NC Airport Observation Areas

[Chris-KH2PM]

I went to the observation deck overlooking runway 5L/23R on the afternoon of 11/15/2009. It is a nice facility, but you can only see runway 5L/23R. The observation deck is on the side of a hill and below the RDU FSS building. Because of the rise of the hill and the bulk of the FSS building, you cannot see any part of 5R/23L from this Observation deck.
Unfortunately, most activity that afternoon was on 5R/23L, so I did not see much.

The 'Observation Deck' is in a bad location for viewing 5L/23R. It should be on the OTHER side of the runway, where there are NO buildings to obstruct 80% of the view! It's quite frustrating trying to watch anything at RDU these days.

I could not access the other observation deck at the Crosswinds cafe because Hertz has all the parking spots in the area..

Here's a hint: You can park for FREE in the paid Exit Express station at the GA "General Aviation" building. The first FOUR (4) hours are FREE if you keep your ticket stub and use the same stub to exit at the gate arm reader.

http://www.rdu.com/genaviation/ga-ee.htm

Great pics, Marshall!

 

[KE4ZNR]

I will be heading out once again to the KRDU General Aviation Bldg Tomorrow (Saturday June 4th) sometime around lunchtime.
I will have several radios including my HomePatrol HP-1 and BCD396XT.
Feel free to email me directly at KE4ZNR -at-radioreference.com if you
want to meet me out there and do some aviation spotting/monitoring.
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[jackleg]

Still no better options for Greensboro? I mean, besides my bedroom window.

Wanna hear something weird? I live about 7 miles east of PTI and it's usually very quiet in my neighborhood.... but on seemingly random days and times, I think FedEx uses a backup Final Approach. It's the most bizarre thing. I need to find their diagrams again and figure it out. OH BOY A MYSTERY!

Anyway, back to the real topic... Seeing REAL airplanes, NEAR the airport. There are tons of trees out there, but there are also some places that might be well kept secrets. Anyone ever tried watching from the golf course, or from any of those 60000 miles of empty roads by FedEx?

That spot on Radar Road is okay sometimes... and with all the changes between Bryan Blvd and Oak Ridge... I think you could find some sweet spots on Old Oak Ridge Rd - IF you can find a safe place to pull off.

I've gone over the map sites again and again, and each place that looks good turns out to be a bust. Hopefully here I will run into someone with more luck or more determination. ha ha

 

[KE4ZNR]

You find a good spot I will make a trip up there one weekend with my DSLR and my radios for some prime plane spotting!

Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[jackleg]

Like all great plans involving spying on airports, this sounds like it has the potential to be ruined by the FBI.

 

[wt]

Air Fore One leaving Pope AAF...

From the President's visit to Pope AAF Wednesday...

A lot of chatter on the encrypted USSS channels...and great comm's from AF1 to Pope controllers. I missed getting to my preferred spot and had to grab some pictures from much further away than I wanted.


Bill "Etohcop"


Link to larger image at Flickr account: IMG_1009cropsatsharp | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[bonus1331]

Great pic

 

[Violation]

Just stumbled onto this thread. Very good idea for aircraft "buffs". When looking for a good observation spot, keep in mind planes are usually taking off and landing INTO the wind. I've noticed that at our small county airport here, and also at KCMI, which I monitor via remote transmitter. PW

 

[KE4ZNR]

Just stumbled onto this thread. Very good idea for aircraft "buffs". When looking for a good observation spot, keep in mind planes are usually taking off and landing INTO the wind. I've noticed that at our small county airport here, and also at KCMI, which I monitor via remote transmitter. PW

Thanks for posting in this thread!
You can see my various aircraft photos from KRDU on my Flickr Site:
Flickr: ke4znr's Photostream

Happy Monitoring (and Plane Spotting)
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[Cdw25si]

Has anyone found a definite good spot for videoing landings and takeoffs at GSO since all of the construction is done? And hopefully a good spot where you won't get run off or in trouble with police??

 

[NCFireman11]

Has anyone found a definite good spot for videoing landings and takeoffs at GSO since all of the construction is done? And hopefully a good spot where you won't get run off or in trouble with police??

In the past I've seen one person park at a gravel lot at Inman & Old Oak Ridge; however that still may be airport property so I wouldn't recommend it. I have yet to find a spot the public can access for getting photos at PTI.

 

[thrownout27]

I would be interested in knowing what days of the week and times of day are better than others at MCASCP? My family is from Havelock and my father would take me to watch take offs and landings as a child, that was 30 plus years ago, what is possible now???

KG4KHQ---OUTSTANDING POST !!! A wealth of great info....

Cherry Point is really easy because the town has built up right to the fence line....you can pick about any fast food place on Hw 70 South of the main gate (like Taco Bell ) and get prime radio and final approach viewing.....they have to go overhead of everything to land there....you can barely hear yourself think in some restaurants....

in fact you reminded me that i've been meaning to do that for ages now, to see what spots are still good there....we get so used to seeing them overhead 24/7 downeast here that going to the airport often seems like just more of the same....complacency is bad ! and i'm way guilty of it.....thanks for the kick start !

Barefootdipole