Paul F
2007-09-15, 03:16 AM
So what do you do when you visit New York with wife and daughter for the first time, you’ve got one week and you’ve wanted to spot at JFK ever since you first set eyes on a Pan American or TWA Boeing 707 flying in over London in the 1960s?
Well, I could be one of those people that looks back to “the good old days” but I prefer living now, for the day, so I figured :idea: I’d drop NYC Aviation an e-mail to ask for some advice. Advice I got and a whole lot more when Tom Alfano offered to pick me up at JFK the day after we arrived.
Friday of that week came and it was a 0630 start for us for the drive over to Heathrow for our first flight with American Airlines.
24AUG07 ...
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20071.jpg
1106 GMT: AA105 (LHR-JFK) N780AN ... waiting to board ‘7AL’.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20072.jpg
1229 GMT: AA105 (LHR-JFK) N780AN ... ex 09R, passing Terminal 4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20073.jpg
19.26 GMT / 14.26 EDT: JFK ... watching the cars as we pass over the Van Wyck Expressway before turning onto the ramp at Terminal 9. Little did I know that I’d be in a reversal the following afternoon when our car passed underneath the taxiway bridge as an American 777 passed overhead. The wing overhang above us was just awesome!
25AUG07
Tom, Chris Weyer and Florian Trojer had been out since early morning but the weather had been against them. Having picked me up we made our way to a parking lot with a good view of the approach for 31R to try our luck with the lifting cloudbase.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20074.jpg
1300: EI-DRE ... still misty but if you’re based in the UK an Aeromexico B737 in any weather is OK!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20075.jpg
1331: N401JS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20076.jpg
1338: AP-BHV ... go-around, and as we waited for her to come around again we finally caught glimpse of her on finals ................ for 31L.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20077.jpg
1350: N780AN ... so pleased to catch the aircraft I arrived in from London the day before, and I managed to pin the beacon as well!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20078.jpg
1355: By this time we had an ever growing group in the parking lot. Sorry Chris, I tried 3 shots at waist height but only managed to get you half in shot.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20079.jpg
1422: B-2447
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200710.jpg
1430: OE-LAE ... one for Florian t o feel at home with, naturally!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200711.jpg
1455: SU-GBX
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200712.jpg
1456: “G-ULLS” ... quite a few of them :)
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200713.jpg
1457: N517UA ... nice to catch a new livery UA757 after catching the old livery at KIAD earlier this year.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200714.jpg
1506: N714CK ... B747, always a good sight to see.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200715.jpg
1546: Over to a new location after the runway change.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200716.jpg
1554: N231JB ... OK, so I know you locals must get fed up with them, but the 190s do look good from any angle.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200717.jpg
1606: B-16111 ... over at The Mounds for the 22L arrivals.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200718.jpg
1609: XA-UBU ... my first Baby Bus in camera, dedicated to Mario ... for obvious reasons!
The next hour or so proved a little bit frustrating as LTU, LOT, Swiss, Lufthansa, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Finnair and Aeroflot heavies all landed against the sun on 22R :(
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200719.jpg
1705: N929RD ... good looking 757 and the light was turning quality 8)
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200720.jpg
1720: 9Y-BGI ... oh yes! ... oh no!, what a nasty sticker!!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200721.jpg
1735: EI-DBL
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200722.jpg
1748: A6-ERG
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200723.jpg
1748: A6-ERG and Matt ... New York Times headline for the following day: “Latest political initiative questioned as Bush attacks photographer” :mrgreen:
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200724.jpg
1756: D-AIHS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200725.jpg
1815: N160BS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200726.jpg
1817: N70072
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200727.jpg
1907: AP-BHV ... taken from the Air Train on my way back to Manhattan.
The rest of the week was spent seeing the sights with the family but I managed to get a little time to look in on the action at Downtown Manhattan Heliport ...
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200728.jpg
N407MA
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200729.jpg
N318PD
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200730.jpg
N19TD
31AUG07 ... homeward bound
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200731.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200732.jpg
0734GMT, AA132 (JFK-LHR) N750AN ... dawn about half an hour west of Ireland.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200733.jpg
09.06GMT, AA132 (JFK-LHR) N750AN ... ‘7BJ’ over Hatton Cross on very short finals, 27L.
Such a good time. Hope to see you all again some time!
Paul
Well, I could be one of those people that looks back to “the good old days” but I prefer living now, for the day, so I figured :idea: I’d drop NYC Aviation an e-mail to ask for some advice. Advice I got and a whole lot more when Tom Alfano offered to pick me up at JFK the day after we arrived.
Friday of that week came and it was a 0630 start for us for the drive over to Heathrow for our first flight with American Airlines.
24AUG07 ...
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20071.jpg
1106 GMT: AA105 (LHR-JFK) N780AN ... waiting to board ‘7AL’.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20072.jpg
1229 GMT: AA105 (LHR-JFK) N780AN ... ex 09R, passing Terminal 4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20073.jpg
19.26 GMT / 14.26 EDT: JFK ... watching the cars as we pass over the Van Wyck Expressway before turning onto the ramp at Terminal 9. Little did I know that I’d be in a reversal the following afternoon when our car passed underneath the taxiway bridge as an American 777 passed overhead. The wing overhang above us was just awesome!
25AUG07
Tom, Chris Weyer and Florian Trojer had been out since early morning but the weather had been against them. Having picked me up we made our way to a parking lot with a good view of the approach for 31R to try our luck with the lifting cloudbase.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20074.jpg
1300: EI-DRE ... still misty but if you’re based in the UK an Aeromexico B737 in any weather is OK!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20075.jpg
1331: N401JS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20076.jpg
1338: AP-BHV ... go-around, and as we waited for her to come around again we finally caught glimpse of her on finals ................ for 31L.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20077.jpg
1350: N780AN ... so pleased to catch the aircraft I arrived in from London the day before, and I managed to pin the beacon as well!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20078.jpg
1355: By this time we had an ever growing group in the parking lot. Sorry Chris, I tried 3 shots at waist height but only managed to get you half in shot.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC20079.jpg
1422: B-2447
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200710.jpg
1430: OE-LAE ... one for Florian t o feel at home with, naturally!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200711.jpg
1455: SU-GBX
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200712.jpg
1456: “G-ULLS” ... quite a few of them :)
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200713.jpg
1457: N517UA ... nice to catch a new livery UA757 after catching the old livery at KIAD earlier this year.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200714.jpg
1506: N714CK ... B747, always a good sight to see.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200715.jpg
1546: Over to a new location after the runway change.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200716.jpg
1554: N231JB ... OK, so I know you locals must get fed up with them, but the 190s do look good from any angle.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200717.jpg
1606: B-16111 ... over at The Mounds for the 22L arrivals.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200718.jpg
1609: XA-UBU ... my first Baby Bus in camera, dedicated to Mario ... for obvious reasons!
The next hour or so proved a little bit frustrating as LTU, LOT, Swiss, Lufthansa, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Finnair and Aeroflot heavies all landed against the sun on 22R :(
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200719.jpg
1705: N929RD ... good looking 757 and the light was turning quality 8)
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200720.jpg
1720: 9Y-BGI ... oh yes! ... oh no!, what a nasty sticker!!
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200721.jpg
1735: EI-DBL
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200722.jpg
1748: A6-ERG
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200723.jpg
1748: A6-ERG and Matt ... New York Times headline for the following day: “Latest political initiative questioned as Bush attacks photographer” :mrgreen:
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200724.jpg
1756: D-AIHS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200725.jpg
1815: N160BS
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200726.jpg
1817: N70072
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200727.jpg
1907: AP-BHV ... taken from the Air Train on my way back to Manhattan.
The rest of the week was spent seeing the sights with the family but I managed to get a little time to look in on the action at Downtown Manhattan Heliport ...
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200728.jpg
N407MA
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200729.jpg
N318PD
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200730.jpg
N19TD
31AUG07 ... homeward bound
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200731.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200732.jpg
0734GMT, AA132 (JFK-LHR) N750AN ... dawn about half an hour west of Ireland.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd171/groove_man/NYCAv/NYC200733.jpg
09.06GMT, AA132 (JFK-LHR) N750AN ... ‘7BJ’ over Hatton Cross on very short finals, 27L.
Such a good time. Hope to see you all again some time!
Paul