Well, almost 2 months late, but better late than never. Unfortunately my plans to write a bunch of articles and reports while I was vacationing in Mexico quickly fell apart due to the not-so-great 2MBPS connection at my parents’.

So last year for Thanksgiving break I planned a trip with some friends. While I insisted on going only to Vegas, one of my friends insisted to visit other places too, so we only had 2 days at LAS. Given that they are rarely up before 9 on non school days, I took this as an opportunity for early morning spotting. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good on my previous visit to Vegas, in addition to not having too much spare time.

The only location I tried was the viewing area on Sunset Rd. This is a small parking lot on Sunset Rd, just east of Escondido Rd (if you’re traveling from the strip, it’s quite far away), this location offers great opportunities for aircraft on 25L, and some on 25R (usually dependent on heat haze). If you’re trying to get a break from Southwest’s and US Airways’ duopoly at PHX, this is not quite the place to go, as there are quite a bit of Southwest operations on those runways, but, you can enjoy other airlines such as Spirit, Allegiant, Virgin America, etc. This isn’t the place to get side shots of  757-300s, unless you have a really wide lens, or unless they’re taking off on 25R.

There are a few restrictions regarding this spot, including

-You need a vehicle or a ladder to clear the fence

-No vehicles or equipment allowed within 6 ft of the fence

-Lot closed between 0000 and 0500 (I think those are the right hours)

Needless to say, the location has more pros than cons.

All the photos were taken with a Canon 7D and a 70-200 F4L USM with a 1.4x TC. The TC wasn’t really needed but I was too lazy to remove it. Unless you want extreme closeups or planes too far away, 200mm is about right for 25R ops and 140ish for 25L.

• This is a huge garage; you can go to any level to get uncluttered shots from either side north/south/east/west. It is a good location to get close-up shots of aircraft taxiing to the gates you can also get shots of aircraft lining up on 25R or landing on 25L. You can also get aircraft touching down on 26 with the Papago Mountains in the backdrop which is a signature shot from Phoenix.

• Terminal 4: Southwest, US Airways, Air Canada, AeroMexico and British Airways.

• From the east side, you can catch aircraft taxiing on taxiway Romeo to depart on rwy25R. Shots are well lit from noon to sunset here.

• From the west side, you can catch aircraft taxiing on taxiways Sierra/Tango with the PHX tower in the background. Shots are well lit from morning to noon here.

• With the construction of the new Air Train bridges, the southwest gates have become obstructed.
• All of the parking garages have a fee of $4 per hour

Sample Images:

T4 North:

T4 South:

T4 East:

 T4 West:

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS INTENDED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING AVIATION SPOTTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Thank your for the continued use of this site, we here at PHXSpotters.com assumes no liability nor responsibility for any individual’s actions or conduct. The user acknowledges that aviation enthusiasm can draw attention and/or suspicion from others. All enthusiasts are expected to act in a respectful and open manner during encounters with law enforcement officers, please carry identification card with you at all times.When someone steps out of line EVERYONE is affected.

It is with great pleasure, that I get to announce that Dave Budd has been selected for our spotlight photographer for the month of January 2012.

I remember the first time I got to meet Dave. We were all out at an Chino Air show and Joe Kates came up to me and said “Bong, I want to introduce you to someone.” “This guy is one of the best P-38 pilots and I think I can get him to give you a ride” Are you kidding me? After listening to him talk in some strange British accent. “Hello my name is Budd, Dave Budd”. My mouth dropped and Joe and Dave just busted up laughing. Since I did not know what Dave looked like. I had only heard his voice on the phone.

When I began helping out with Phxspotters, Dave has always had an open door policy. If there was something that I wanted to change I just had to ask and Dave would make it happen. He turned my ideas into reality. He has helped me transform PhxSpotters into one of the top Aviation Spotters websites. He has always been there for me and my dreams. I can’t even count how many times that I have called Dave at 2am with some brain buster idea. And it is done the next day.

Thank you Dave!

While Standing in line waiting to clear the TSA security checkpoint. I overhear a little boy talking to his mom about going to see the “Fishy Plane”. After clearing the  checkpoint, I started thinking about the difference between US Airways and Southwest Airlines and their Special Themed liveries. Being a employee of US Airways, they will always have a special place in my heart. In  my own personal opinion, I believe Southwest Airlines has the best overall paint schemes on a number of their aircraft. Although most of their paint schemes are State related. Southwest Airlines has several special schemes to commemorate their destinations, anniversary`s and various other events. Southwest also has several that have nose art.

Arizona One, California One, Florida One, Illinois One, Lone Star One, Maryland One, Metallic Gold One, Nevada One, New Mexico One, Shamu, Spirit One, Triple Crown One, Bags Fly free,Maryland One, Slam Dunk One

US Airways also has some great themed aircraft. They have top notch NFL teams on a couple of their Airbus 319′s. They also have Arizona and Nevada state themed 319′s but instead of painting the entire aircraft. The logo was painted on just the tail of the Airbus 319.

NFL Teams:Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers

State themed: Arizona One, Nevada One

US Airways also has some really nice Retro Themed Air Bus Aircraft.

Photos are provided by the following members of PHXSpotters

Peter Nickerson, Jason Bong, Peter Van Dyke, Felipe Garcia, Kyle Boyd, Saurabh Patel, Tim LaBranche

On December 12, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany US Airways took delivery of the 7,000th Airbus aircraft ever built – an A321-231, serial number 4957.  The aircraft wore test registration D-AZAE, and flew home to Phoenix Sky Harbor via Bangor and Pittsburgh on December 13, 2011 as AWE 9254.  US Airways is the largest operator of Airbus aircraft in the world, with 242 Airbus aircraft currently active in the fleet, and another 91 on order.  The new A321 is seen here departing Phoenix Sky Harbor on December 16, 2011.

Photos and Story provided by:Peter Nickerson

Video provided by: Jamie Hines of www.jamiehinesphoto.com

Terminal 3, opening in 2012, will be used for all international flights as well as scheduled airlines. The terminal will contain fourteen gates (E1-E12, E14-15), with the easternmost six gates being used for international flights. A people mover system will connect Terminal 3 to Concourse D.

A $2.4 billion construction project at McCarran International Airport is stimulating the bottom lines of thousands of Clark County households and businesses using revenue generated through existing airport facilities, not local tax dollars.

Work on Terminal 3 is now more than ninety percent complete, with more than 1,800 skilled laborers on the job when construction was at its peak in December. When T3 opens in mid-2012, this 14-gate facility will allow future growth within Southern Nevada’s travel industry, with the potential of significant increases in air service from domestic and international markets that could not be accommodated under the airport’s current configuration.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.) toured the construction site Tuesday afternoon to meet with workers on the job and personally examine the space that will soon provide millions of travelers with their first and last impressions of the Silver State.

“Terminal 3 is an exceptional project, not only for the number of workers it currently supports but also for the billions of dollars in expenditures that will be made by the many Nevada visitors who will someday pass through this portion of McCarran,” Reid said. “A UNLV study found McCarran has an annual economic impact of nearly $30 billion, which makes Terminal 3 even more critical to the future growth of this state.”

“It’s fitting that Sen. Reid tour this project given the role he’s played in its ongoing development,” said Rosemary A. Vassiliadis, deputy director of the Clark County  Department of Aviation. “His efforts to include Alternative Minimum Tax relief in last year’s stimulus package helped keep this project on track, and will ultimately save our department millions of dollars in debt service costs in the years to come.”

Committing to spend billions of dollars during a recessionary period presents some risk, but the Board of County Commissioners has repeatedly supported T3’s  development. With thousands of hotel rooms recently opening in Southern Nevada, failing to expand McCarran today will create a bottleneck that would impede air travel years into the future. Once completed, the nearly 2 million-square-foot T3 will allow McCarran to reach its maximum sustainable capacity of approximately 53 million arriving and departing passengers per year.

Terminal 3 is such a massive job that its development has been divided into six major elements. Its foundations and utility corridors are finished, with its central utility plant nearly complete as well. Crews are building out the interior of the main terminal building, while a roadway system near Russell Road and Maryland Parkway is more than 60 percent complete. An eight-level parking structure is nearing its halfway point, and construction of the aircraft apron is in its early phases. A solar power array will eventually be installed atop the parking garage roof, one of many environmentally friendly features to be added to this state-of-the-art facility.

http://cms.mccarran.com/dsweb/Get/Document-278237

This week we have picked Terminal 3 as the Spotting location on the week.

Terminal 3: Delta, Frontier, American, Hawaiian, and JetBlue

Terminal 3 -

Description :

• The T3 garage is a good location to get close-up shots of aircraft taxiing to the gates you can also get shots of aircraft rotating in front of you when are departing (either runway).

• You can go to the upper levels to get un-cluttered shots.

• Shots of the north side can be had anytime of the year (won’t be backlit).

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS INTENDED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING AVIATION SPOTTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Thank your for the continued use of this site, we here at PHXSpotters.com assumes no liability nor responsibility for any individual’s actions or conduct. The user acknowledges that aviation enthusiasm can draw attention and/or suspicion from others. All enthusiasts are expected to act in a respectful and open manner during encounters with law enforcement officers, please carry identification card with you at all times.When someone steps out of line EVERYONE is affected.

PHX Spotter Member Saurabh Patel had a chance to visit LAX and wanted to share his story.

This winter I got a chance to visit the city of Angels for a week for spotting while my family was out on vacation. LAX is one of the busiest airports on the west side with an abundance of international heavy traffic. LAX has a few world famous spotting locations where people from all over the world come to enjoy spotting. The few spots are namely Inn-n-Out Burger on Sepulveda, Imperial Hill just off of Imperial Highway and the bridge over Lincoln blvd on Westchester Parkway. Inn-n-Out Burger and the Lincoln Bridge are mainly summer evening locations for photography on the north complex. Imperial Hill is the location of choice in the winter as the light is good all day from this location. This location is a city park of El Segundo and gives a great 180 degree view of the south complex. The south complex holds runways 25R/L and is also home to United/Delta/American, all the cargo operations as well as most of the international traffic. So this location never gets boring for spotters. The park has a few benches where people can sit and watch the aircraft land/takeoff. This is a popular spot amongst locals who come here during their lunch breaks or morning jogs and catches some action before they go back to their busy lives.

LAX has a set pattern of traffic on a daily basis. LAX uses westward arrivals (25/24 runways) and departure on a daily basis for noise abatement. But on rare cases when the winds are from the east and are strong enough, the traffic pattern changes to use the 06/07 runways. Out of the 7 days I was there, I witnessed the reverse pattern once but didn’t get a chance to spot all day as the rain came down hard from noon to sunset.

The aircraft traffic follows certain schedules every day. The early AM rush is from Australia where depending on the day of the week, there will be 2-380’s 3-747’s and 1-330 arriving between 6-7am. This is also the time when two, daily Virgin Australia 773’s come in. All these jets unload their passengers and then wait the entire day in remote parking before heading back to Australia in the late night. The daily AM traffic includes Asiana/ANA/JAL/Cathay/China-Eastern/Korean heavies coming in from Asia and one Emirates 773 around 9-11am. These airlines all depart around noon in one giant rush just as they came in one-after another. Once this traffic leaves, there is a slow trickle of European heavies (that use the south side) which include Lufthansa/China-Airlines/Aeroflot/Iberia/Swiss/China-Southern/Singapore. Air New Zealand can be captured most of the time landing on 25R. Along with these, Virgin/AirFrance/KLM/Air-China can also be seen at a distance landing/departing on the north complex. During the winter, these are the only jets that you can catch in daylight hours. There are a few more late night arrivers that can be used for night shots.

LAX also holds some exotic aircraft such as Air Tahiti Nui and Air Pacific. Air Tahiti sends around 2-3 aircraft by LAX on a daily basis which continue their journey on to Paris CDG and then back the next day. Air Pacific has one daily 747 that comes in at noon and then leaves at night.

Like I mentioned earlier, the southern complex is also home to all the cargo ops. You are bound to see some cargo traffic all day like China-Cargo/Cathay/Polar/Atlas-Air/Fedex/UPS etc. During my stay, I was also lucky enough to catch Singapore Cargo, Air China Cargo, World Airways, Yangtse River Express, Asiana Cargo to name a few.

One of my biggest wishes for this trip was to catch some Skyteam/One-World/Star-Alliance jets. As luck would have it, I got a lot more than I had ever imagined. During my stay I was fortunate enough to see Air France, China Eastern, China Southern and Delta jets in their Skyteam colors. I also saw the One-World Cathay jet. Star Alliance didn’t disappoint either as I saw the United 777 and 757 and Star Alliance colors. Along with these, I also got to see the 3 American flagship jets and the “Komen Breast Cancer” 777. I have included some of these shots with this report.

LAX currently only has 2 A380 compatible gates. The daily traffic for these include 2 Qantas, 1 Korean and 1 Singapore. The problem of spotting on the south complex is that the Korean and Singapore 380 always use the one 380 gate in the north side. Singapore usually arrives just as the Korean is departing. On the South side you are guaranteed to see one Qantas 380 arrival every day. Although it is extremely rare, sometimes scheduling conflicts can push either the Korean on Singapore 380 to use the south complex. During my stay, I got to see the Korean and Singapore 380 once on the south side and the locals were quick to point out that this was the first such occurrence in months.

I have edited a small batch of the shots from my trip showing the variety of traffic at LAX. In most of the shots, you will see a large construction project in the works. This is the TBIT (Tom Bradley International Terminal) expansion. This will replace the current international gates. It’s scheduled to open at the end or 2012 or early 2013. Be sure to take a trip down there when that day arrives

This week we have decided to select Terminal 2 as our Spotting location of the week.

Description :

The T2 parking garage is only 2 levels tall and there is no view to the south side (which is where the gates are located) so the only spotting you can do here is on the north side overlooking the landing zone of rwy08. This is where most aircraft will turn off when they land on rwy26.

Shots can be taken all year long from this location (won’t be backlit).

UPDATE: Be advised that you are no longer able to park on the top level of T2. They have dedicated parking for Airport/Airline employees. You are still able to park on the lower level. And walk up the flight of stairs, and the cost of parking is $4.00 per hour.

For a complete list of Spotting areas around PHX visit http://phxspotters.com/airports/kphx

Photos provided by: Jason Bong, Josh Akbar, Felipe Garcia, Saurabh Patel

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS INTENDED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING AVIATION SPOTTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Thank your for the continued use of this site, we here at PHXSpotters.com assumes no liability nor responsibility for any individual’s actions or conduct. The user acknowledges that aviation enthusiasm can draw attention and/or suspicion from others. All enthusiasts are expected to act in a respectful and open manner during encounters with law enforcement officers, please carry identification card with you at all times.When someone steps out of line EVERYONE is affected.