Sunday, March 30 LGA and JFK - Pics start on page 2

[adam613]

Anyone going out this Sunday? The cloud cover will likely be nice, and the temps will be in the mid 40s, but the winds are kinda weird...forecast to be northeast in the morning, transitioning to southeast in the afternoon.

I think I'm going to head to Planeview Park in the morning, and then either Grand Central Pedestrian Bridge or Frank M. Charles Park in the afternoon, depending on who is using what configuration...

[eric8669]

I will try and get out for a bit on Sunday.

[lijk604]

Depending on what I can get accomplished around the house on Saturday, I may make an appearance.

[adam613]

Just out of curiosity, does JFK send most arrivals to 13L or 13R when they're on the 13s? Do they ever use the 13s in good weather, or will they just use the 4s?

(I suspect I'll end up staying at LGA, they will probably land 4/depart 13 all day.)

[wunaladreamin]

Just out of curiosity, does JFK send most arrivals to 13L or 13R when they're on the 13s? Do they ever use the 13s in good weather, or will they just use the 4s?

(I suspect I'll end up staying at LGA, they will probably land 4/depart 13 all day.)
Landings are on 13L and departures will be from 13R. I've spotted plenty of times from Cargo Plaza, but the light is tricky sometimes and it's VERY risky just being there, less'n of course you can steal someone's baby. :wink:

[moose135]

I've spotted plenty of times from Cargo Plaza, but the light is tricky sometimes and it's VERY risky just being there, less'n of course you can steal someone's baby. :wink:

Meant to post this the other day - I drove past Cargo Plaza last week, and the parking lot is blocked off - all the entrances have Jersey barriers closing them off, and the delivery bays in the building across the way are also blocked off with barriers right up along the roadway. Don't know if Air India shut down or moved their cargo ops, but there is no way to get a truck in to any of the bays.

[wunaladreamin]

So now what?!?! lol

[Matt Molnar]

I may head over to LGA in the morning Saturday or Sunday, or both.

[adam613]

I'm not going to Cargo Plaza :P But Sundays when I don't have anything else to do are going to be rare for the next few months, so I'm a bit desperate :)

I'm on Google Maps staking out a few spots west of the airport (around Conduit Ave) that might work for 13R arrivals. I'll wander around the neighborhood if JFK is on the 13s, but if they're on the 4s, I'm going to stay at LGA and get some 13 departures.

(Anyone who wants my cell phone number, PM me.)

[kc2aqg]

I might head out Saturday and/or Sunday. I've definitely wanted to hit up LGA (specifically Planeview) for a long time, but don't think I'll be able to make it out that early on Sunday due to Sat. night festivities. Anybody else thinking about heading out Saturday? If not, I'll probably join Adam at LGA in the afternoon.

[T-Bird76]

I can't make it out this weekend...far to much going on. If the WX is nice next weekend I'm going to try to do a dawn to dusk outing..

[kc2aqg]

If we're planning a dawn to dusk outing, we need lawn chairs and beer!!! :mrgreen:

[adam613]

I wish I could go out on Saturday...the weather is now looking better on Saturday than Sunday. On Sunday, we should be good until 4 or so, but all bets are off after that.

I may actually head to PHL on Sunday...their forecast is looking a bit better than ours, and I've wanted to spot there for a long time, and Hog Island Road may not be an option for much longer. I'll make a final decision on Saturday night...

[kc2aqg]

Well it looks like my schedule for Saturday is booking up fast, so that's probably no good for me anyway. I would do Phili with you Adam if we would have planned it a little more in advance. I'm meeting up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while on Saturday and I'm sure it will be a very late night. Have fun (and let us know) if you decide to go. If you decide not to go, perhaps we can plan for next Sunday.

[adam613]

Weather forecast is looking better in NYC tomorrow...I'll be at LGA in the morning and JFK in the afternoon, depending on runway configs...

[adam613]

So I went out to LGA in the morning to try out my 50mm f/1.8 at Planeview Park:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2233/2375520545_7bae3c4ae2_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2343/2376356084_1ba3f09fc2_o.jpg

Then, I went over to the Grand Central Pedestrian Bridge to try out the 300mm f/4 I rented (we need to find a spot further east...everyone was banking a little too late to get the right angle):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2270/2375520301_e8a7d10178_o.jpg

I got bored there after wating the fifth American MD-80, so I went over to JFK to meet up with Andy. We stayed at Cargo Plaza for about two and a half hours before we got chased:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2375520717_cb6286299a_o.jpg

There are a lot more, but I'm too tired to edit.

Question: Why on earth are my pictures so contrasty? I dropped the contrast way down in Camera Raw, but it didn't help...

[Delta777LR]

I love the American MD-80 shot!!! late bank but worth a shot!!

[skyhawka4m]

Possibly due to the very bright sunlight we had over the weekend? I noticed similar on my images from 3/29.

[brontis5]

Adam,

Your Planeview shots look great. Please post more from JFK when you can.

Take care,

Brian

[lijk604]

Sunday I was at HoBe from 1115 until 1215 when they changed runways to the dreaded 13/22 combo. Went to Bayswater for about an hour, but it was too quiet and the banks & RJ's made for difficult shooting. Finally went to Brookville Park (I still cannot find The Mounds) and got a bunch of Euro arrivals there. I actually got 2 chances at the KLM B744, as he did a go-around on the first approach due to FOD on 22L. Pics later tonight.

[kc2aqg]

Adam your pics look awesome. I have to say I LOVE that AA MD-80 bank shot, even if it was late it's a killer picture. Even Kenny will appreciate a maddog bank LOL. I haven't even had a chance to look at what I shot (there are a TON of pictures). lijk - I know what you mean about KLM, I saw him do the go-around as I was on Sunrise Hwy and hauled a$$ over to the Laurelton station so I could shoot his second approach, which looked extremely nice. I did, however, miss two of the planes I really wanted to shoot: Air India (due to the fact that we thought we were going to get chased) and Qantas (was changing lenses and left the lens cap on! DOH!!!!!!! :evil: ) It could have been worse though - it could have been Wunala...

[wunaladreamin]

Yeah, there's no way I can hate that mad dog shot. Great work Adam.

[lijk604]

Here are the pics earlier promised:
HoBe
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2225/2378815072_a0f0a2895b.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2377976709_49a6725e37.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2377976809_c5703ba8f5.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2378815308_a7a72020ff.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2326/2377976989_c15cf2dcc7.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2378815762_670e0df529.jpg?v=0

Bayswater
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2165/2377977347_4b29b09a5d.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/2377977531_9a11094447.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2377977619_1b1507f266.jpg?v=0

Brookville Park
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2377977691_2ff7216771.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2019/2378315165_898847a469.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2379154690_1ed3caf94f.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2379154982_8bc0358a28.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2378316345_1c986aa263.jpg?v=0

[Iberia A340-600]

Some nice shots Adam and John. Adam, were did you go to get shots from 13L since Cargo Plaza is closed off?

On a side note there are now 2 morning American 777 departures. The first goes to CDG and the second goes to NRT.

John, the Mounds took me a while to find but here are some decent directions:

When your taking Rockaway heading towards Firestone you'll come to an intersection with a light located in front of that carpet store. You'll turn left onto Brookville Blvd and take the road until you come to another intersection with a light and a store on your left, houses to your right, and a park straight ahead and turn left onto 147th Ave. Continue down 147th Ave for a short period of time until you see 230th Pl on your left and your going to turn onto that street. Follow the street to the end and you'll see a school on your right and a soccer field in front of you. Park in the lot located in front of the field and you will see elevated land to the left of the field and those are the mounds.

Since the season for mounds is coming I'm sure it'd be in your best interest to find them! :)

[adam613]

Some nice shots Adam and John. Adam, were did you go to get shots from 13L since Cargo Plaza is closed off?

The Cargo Plaza as a whole isn't closed, only that Air India parking lot. We sat in the UPS parking lot across from the taxi driver praying area...I think the taxi drivers are the ones who called the (remarkably polite) PAPD on us.

[kc2aqg]

Agreed with Adam - the PAPD who did eventually chase us was surprisingly polite and courteous. He basically said that even though he knows it's a hobby, it screams suspicious to those working on airport property and would we mind leaving.

So I did get to roughly edit my shots tonight. Some had a little blur (I think this will improve once I tweak my settings with Shutter-priority mode), but some came out awesome.

These were shot from Laurelton LIRR station, where I was waiting initially for Adam...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03207.jpg
I was so excited when this guy did his go-around, making this shot possible on his second approach

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03211.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03230.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03243.jpg
Now I finally can prove that Finnair does indeed use two different types of CF6-80 engine exhaust cones on its MD-11's. The difference is pretty apparent in this shot.

From Cargo Plaza...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03260.jpg

For Phil...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03268.jpg

The plane everyone loves to hate...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03285.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03316.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03322.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03382.jpg

Big Yellow Bus...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03393.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03447.jpg

Love the light & setup on this shot, almost as if the bird and aircraft are flexing their wings simultaneously...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03457.jpg

Wish this one came out sharper...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03473.jpg

LOVE the light and angle on this one...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03522.jpg

And the final shot of the day before being chased...which I think came out just fabulous...
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u246/MD80MadDog/JFK%20Cargo%20Plaza%203-30-08/DSC03531.jpg
I actually flew this aircraft (F-GITJ) to CDG last September on the upper deck - awesome experience!

So let me know what you think of the shots. I think that I came away with some nice ones, despite missing Air India and very foolishly missing Qantas. I'm also in love with Cargo Plaza as a spotting location, but would definitely urge caution to anyone that you will be chased at some point or another. I think Adam and I just had good luck. Can't wait to see your shots Adam!

[Joe C]

Here are some more from Sunday.
John i had just left HoBe minutes before you got there. next time.
HoBe:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4457-ba777.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4497-JA8081-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4517-PT-MVL-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4529-B-KPE-1.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4564-etihad340.jpg

31 arrivals :
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4573.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4605.jpg

22 mounds :
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4843.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4853.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4864-2-CS-TLO.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4628.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4709.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4742.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4802.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4763.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/fdx924/JFK%2003-30-08/IMG_4767.jpg

thanks to Jakub for the heads up on the EuroAtlantic 767

[adam613]

Ahh! We saw that EuroAtlantic flight on FlightAware, but we had no idea who it was and we never saw it come in! Figures he went to 22L.

Good shots all...it looks like we got pretty much everything that came in over the course of the day... :)