Lufthansa A380

[megatop412]

I thought this had been discussed before but I can't locate the thread even using the search function.

When exactly is the LH A380 first coming to JFK. The LH site says 2/28, wikipedia says 2/8 and a USA Today article says 2/18. I'm trying to give my job a heads up as to which day I want off. I would think the airline itself would know best, but anything is possible. I seriously want to catch this thing.

Thanks in advance

[megatop412]

Looks like the original thread for this topic has been reawakened and has the answer I was looking for- sorry for opening this one guys

[moose135]

LH web site is showing Flight LH400 with A380 service on Monday, 2/28/11, scheduled to arrive JFK at 1335L (1:35pm).
See you then!

Unfortunately, it is scheduled to depart back to FRA at 9:45pm, so we will miss out on any HoBe bank shots.:frown:

[fk6065]

From Newsday.com http://www.newsday.com/business/lufthansa-to-fly-super-jumbo-jet-into-jfk-1.2708650

Is anybody going out Monday afternoon to take a look?

I am guessing they will be using the 22's? So the mounds?

[gonzalu]

LH web site is showing Flight LH400 with A380 service on Monday, 2/28/11, scheduled to arrive JFK at 1335L (1:35pm).
See you then!

Unfortunately, it is scheduled to depart back to FRA at 9:45pm, so we will miss out on any HoBe bank shots.:frown:

Moose, not even joking... just don't remind me. For the life of me, why is it that some airlines can turn around quickly while others like Emirates take most of the afternoon to turn around. I have heard Emirates 202 take off after midnight. I feel bad for those who have to get there so late.

So maybe Korean Air will help us out with a daylight departure of an A380 in 2025!

[gonzalu]

From Newsday.com http://www.newsday.com/business/lufthansa-to-fly-super-jumbo-jet-into-jfk-1.2708650

Is anybody going out Monday afternoon to take a look?

I am guessing they will be using the 22's? So the mounds?

My bet is on 31L since it is the go to RWY setup for JFK!

[jerslice]

They are planning 31L and will land at 1:35pm - that's the intent. NYC will be there :-)

[chrisparypa]

Im leaving depressing but warm Maryland Beaches :) and Im heading to NY tomorrow... already asked whole family to pray for the weather for the weekend - I'll try to be around on Sat and SUn and of course Monday Lathansa A380 is a priority, this is my last visit for a long time unfortunately I must go back to work in Maryland after this weekend :((

[moose135]

Early forecast is for rain Monday, but I'll probably be out for it.

[megatop412]

Last I checked 70% chance of rain and thunder- as long as it isn't pouring out we should be OK- overcast skies aren't the best for this stuff but plenty of awesome shots have been taken in damp conditions

Coming up there on Saturday, see you folks Monday

[gonzalu]

the right Overcast conditions can be great for even low contrast lighting that can show off more parts that usually would be buried in shadow under full bright sunlight. FILM had latitude but Digital has very little unfortunately. I know it does not look as POP as full sunny, but it can be pleasing to look at given the right conditions.

Now, we all want nice sunlight I think for a better brighter picture and of course, who loves getting their heads and gear wet?

Looks like [I] will have to miss it. A two million dollar project is close to signing and Monday from 12:00p to 2:00p is one of the final huge meetings and my name is all over it :mad: Even if I call in sick I risk much... I am jealous and I expect SOMEONE to tweet a shot or two or to at least TXT me or post a screenshot of their LCD screens hahahahaha

[RomNYC]

Why do I have class that day, that time? :mad:

Well, I allow myself to miss class twice every semester... This could be one of those :cool:

[Zee71]

I'll be working a half day Monday, so I'll be out and about.

Manny........I think you should have your meeting offsite (maybe at the mounds, or Inwood, etc.) for the ceremonial signing.

[steve1840]

Damn dealines! I have a deadline to meet on Monday and even coming in to work on Saturday I will still need to be here at the office. Otherwise I'd be putting my personal time off back in the negative to head down. :frown:

[fk6065]

So 31L, I guess that would be Inwood Park or Firestone at least if I am reading the spotting guide the right way. Thanks.

[gonzalu]

Inwood or Bayswater... not Panera/Firestone. From Panera it would be backlit. Inwood will give you a closer subject than Bayswater but the field/tower is blocked. If you want more of the field and tower in sight, Bayswater is better.

[NIKV69]

I have a few shots from the EK media flight which was the only time the whalejet departed in daylight. I have a decent shot of the left bank which I'll post later here she is after she banked back to the right.

1379220

[steve1840]

So 31L, I guess that would be Inwood Park or Firestone at least if I am reading the spotting guide the right way. Thanks.

From my experience, at Firestone you'll be a little ways away and will be backlit, but still managable. I made that mistake last time I went down. If the A380 is what you're after, I would pass up a few 777s at Firestone to head over to Inwood to get a better shot on the A380.

[gonzalu]

Thanks Nick... looks like maybe Korean Air would be the only one we see regularly on 31L during daylight, or as Eric put it, if JFK is on its best behavior and Air France has its act together, in summer, you may get a really late sunset departure of AFR7 A380.

[fk6065]

Thanks for the info, looks like Inwood Park it is, hope to see you all there.

[chrisparypa]

weather is nasty..... anyway, Im getting ready, should be around at noon, any idea on which runway they will land ?? 31L or 22L ?? Do we have any people that work at JFK to help us with it ?? Hope to see some of you today...

[megatop412]

We just had a monsoon-type cell pass over the 5 Towns with some lightning in it. Looks like more of the same is heading this way but hopefully it'll ease off a bit.

[megatop412]

They're on 22's right now

[AirtrafficController]

Based on the TAF, expect it to land on either 22L or 22R.

[moose135]

Based on the TAF, expect it to land on either 22L or 22R.
And with the cloud levels reported in the TAF, you might not even see it go by at The Mounds... :eek:

[NIKV69]

Just watched her on approach from my house. So cool!

[Ari707]

landing 31L

[megatop412]

Those bastards. Trying to mess with my mission of driving up from Philly to catch this. I had to drive like a maniac and watch my Mom go white in the face just to get to a suitable spot in time. We were all set at North Woodmere Park, when just minutes before the arrival, they switched to the 31s.

I never made it to Inwood in time, but I did make it to the trash-strewn lot behind the end store at Bay Harbor Mall. It was good enough. No cropping, no sharpening, SOOC.

http://media11.dropshots.com/photos/476411/20110228/151745.jpg

http://media10.dropshots.com/photos/476411/20110228/151801.jpg

[adscram14]

Great shots and congrats on the catch!

[gonzalu]

Wow... nice William :-) I love those kind of stories, it seems that I did that same sort of thing a lot when I first started spotting. Nowadays I try to be better informed by listening to CMRN or ROBER approach which give me about 15 minutes before they are on Final.

[fk6065]

Got caught too by the runway switch. There were a few of us at the mounds since they were using the 22's when we realized they switched runways. Tried to shoot down to Rockaway & Brookville but just missed it. Maybe next time. Nice Shots.

[Iberia A340-600]

Due to the delay in the delivery of D-AIME here is a revised schedule for the A380 to JFK:

http://airlineroute.net/2011/02/28/lh-jfk-mar11/

The next opportunity to catch the Lufthansa A380 is March 11th.

[eric8669]

just got home from the event. Pictures to follow. Even when they were on the 22's, Lufthansa requested to land on 31L. Not sure if they were going to get the request, but they changed anyway.

[Zee71]

Here are my images. Firstly, we were by the mounds waiting. Then about 1300 a NYPD cruiser (with two young POs in my view) pulls up and asks what are you doing? Duh........taking pictures of planes (not my exact words). It's our hobby and we're waiting for an inaugural flight today, which is due in soon. The were polite, and asked us to leave because the school principal called in. He didn't even want to see our ID's, etc. I even stated that this is a public street and didn't want to hear it. Then he mentions "911", oh boy (by the way a high school friend of mine died in one of the towers) ....... I did not want to get in a pissing match, and didn't want to miss the Lufthansa, so we left. The NYPD cruiser parked by the school and waited till we left (and probably stayed there). I was so tempted to go back to speak to the principal to inform him/her and educate the individual about aviation photography, spotting, etc. Fortunately for us as were driving hunting for a location to shoot the Lufthansa A380, when they switched runways from the 22s to 31s. We made a bee line for Inwood. Unfortunately the light was ugly.



http://mbsphotography.smugmug.com/Aviation/Airplanes-and-Spotting/Kennedy-JFK/Lufthansa03JFK28Feb2011/1201767401_97qoK-L.jpg

http://mbsphotography.smugmug.com/Aviation/Airplanes-and-Spotting/Kennedy-JFK/Lufthansa04JFK28Feb2011/1201838192_puTqv-L.jpg

http://mbsphotography.smugmug.com/Aviation/Airplanes-and-Spotting/Kennedy-JFK/Lufthansa02JFK28Feb2011/1201767745_CfdfX-L.jpg

Here's one more
http://mbsphotography.smugmug.com/Aviation/Airplanes-and-Spotting/Kennedy-JFK/Lufthansa06JFK28Feb2011/1202021765_GFAUQ-L.jpg

[chrisparypa]

Thanks to Mark I was able to catch that bird.... After we had good day with Police (Sunday) on Monday (today) it was terrible experience, and like Mark said they were polite, and asked us to leave, we just left cuz they asked :))) .... and they pretty much started threatening that if we decide not to leave or we comeback, there will be some consequences... really bad experience...

Will post some pictures in few minutes :)

[gonzalu]

Due to the delay in the delivery of D-AIME here is a revised schedule for the A380 to JFK:

http://airlineroute.net/2011/02/28/lh-jfk-mar11/

The next opportunity to catch the Lufthansa A380 is March 11th.

Gordon you're a mind reader!! I was just about to ask that question :cool: thank you!

[Zee71]

Chris.........as long as there more good days than bad days, at the end it all turned out well........we got the Lufthansa A380...........mission accomplished!

[gonzalu]

Unfortunately the light was ugly.


Mark, apparently the light was not ugly enough .. .your images look fantastic given the conditions!

[chrisparypa]

We left... there was no problems.... and we didn't go on the mounds, I was on the parking lot and Mark was in his car.... anyway who cares, I have my inaugural flight shots :) Weather was terrible but looks like Mark 1 : Weather 0 great processing Mark !

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5486852783_32f4b89fc8_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5487448220_20d4f5bc7d_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/5486853337_418443a14a_o.jpg


Phil : Cop said that principal called and then he showed us a piece of paper with our reg numbers on it....

[eric8669]

One Image from me for now.

Continued coverage in the News section shortly.

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac155/southpawcaptures/Lufthansa_A380_nycaviation_022811_1.jpg

[PhilDernerJr]

Discussion of the police encounter at the mounds was moved to this new thread... http://nycaviation.com/forum/threads/39368-JFK-The-Mounds-2-28-11

[gonzalu]

Eric, my fiend, great vantage point. Although I imagined they would have put you on the sunlit side ... That sector p zone jfk RMP , wow, what a nice gig if you love planes. I bet that officer is wondering what the big deal is :cool:

[T-Bird76]

Well its certainly big and white ;)

[eric8669]

Eric, my fiend, great vantage point. Although I imagined they would have put you on the sunlit side ... That sector p zone jfk RMP , wow, what a nice gig if you love planes. I bet that officer is wondering what the big deal is :cool:

Thanks Manny. I go where they tell me to go. We had specific instructions that we were not leaving the Ramp Area. It was actually good that it was cloudy.

[gonzalu]

I was just going to say that... glad it was cloudy so the light was more even... had it been a full sunny day, at least 2 stops over and then blown edges etc... Well, glad you were ramp side and made the best of it. I know you were being chaperoned.

When I called I was surprised the event was a Lufthansa one, not a Port one. Port press office asked me to call Lufthansa. I would have been able to make it had it not been for a prior engagement at my paying job :-(

[eric8669]

I was just going to say that... glad it was cloudy so the light was more even... had it been a full sunny day, at least 2 stops over and then blown edges etc... Well, glad you were ramp side and made the best of it. I know you were being chaperoned.

When I called I was surprised the event was a Lufthansa one, not a Port one. Port press office asked me to call Lufthansa. I would have been able to make it had it not been for a prior engagement at my paying job :-(

I believe this was a Terminal One event.

[jerslice]

Lufthansa handled this event and got us out there.

[gonzalu]

Yeah I finally spoke to a Lufthansa rep and they said I would be welcome (I would represent another aviation media outlet) but I had to cancel a few days before as I had to be at work today. Big contract signing I had to be present for :-(

[megatop412]

Wow... nice William :-) I love those kind of stories, it seems that I did that same sort of thing a lot when I first started spotting. Nowadays I try to be better informed by listening to CMRN or ROBER approach which give me about 15 minutes before they are on Final.

Thanks Manny- yeah I have been wondering how I can get a better "heads up" than from listening to ATIS (although my Mom admitted it was the most excitement she's seen in a while)

[gonzalu]

William, I have learned to pay attention to the far away approach controllers and then when they hand off, if they hand off to tower I know JFK is notthat busy (and you have less time) and if they hand off to Final Approach they are usually busier and that guides me as to how much time you have to move if any. On Final Approach freq they are about 5 to 8 minutes out... once on tower, 5 minutes tops before they land.

EVEN THEN, there is no guarantee until the tower clears them for landing as I have PLENTY of recent experience with the pesky Finn Air Cargo MD-11 lol. They are always vectored in from the north east so would naturally get a 31R for instance. But they are really insistant on a short taxi to their cargo ramp up by JAL. So they ask every controller for a switch to 31L... I have been ready for them on 31R only to have the tower soften up and switch them to 31L at the last minute (of course, no time to move LOL)

Now of course, since I no longer "need" to snag a nice pic of it, it came in on 31R, on SATURDAY, 24 hours late :mad: I was laughing my ass off. Took me like 10 fridays of failed attempts to catc hher and now it just comes in on 31R, nice and easy, no stress, on a gorgeous day... I don't need it hahahaaha

My mom would have said, "faster faster" she is such a troublemaker. My [dad] is the chicken!

[moose135]

My mom would have said, "faster faster" she is such a troublemaker.
Wow, there's a straight line if I ever heard one...I'll resist the urge to reply. :biggrin:

[gonzalu]

Wow, there's a straight line if I ever heard one...I'll resist the urge to reply. :biggrin:

Ha!!

[Speedbird1]

Did any of you guys see the A380? On which runway was the landing? I saw no coverage on the local news. I guess the A380 is no longer newsworthy anymore. I have seen the AFR A380 so often that I now take it for granted just as I did the Concorde decades ago. Now, what I wouldn't give to see a Concorde arrive!

[Zee71]

I believe the next Lufthansa A380 is this Friday, 3/11 at 1:35pm according to Lufthansa's website. As far as which runways, it all depends on Mother Nature and the winds she whips up. There are times that they split runway arrivals depending on conditions but the majority of the time I would say has been 22L, and 31L. I recommend monitoring the air traffic and going to the appropriate spot to catch her arriving.

[megatop412]

Did any of you guys see the A380? On which runway was the landing? I saw no coverage on the local news. I guess the A380 is no longer newsworthy anymore. I have seen the AFR A380 so often that I now take it for granted just as I did the Concorde decades ago. Now, what I wouldn't give to see a Concorde arrive!

Hi- several people did catch it, depite the weather, myself included. There was actually lots of coverage on the news that night- I remember watching the TV and seeing clips. I also heard Tower talking to helicopter traffic requesting hovers near the airport just before the arrival. I assumed these were TV choppers getting footage of the landing.

[flyingwithfish]

I had the pleasure of having more than an hour to explore the A380, virtually alone, at LH's Technik Hanger at FRA the day before it's first flight to JFK ... then flew home on LH 400 on the 28th, the first LH A380 flight to the US.

You can check out some of my photos of the aircraft in the hanger here - http://bit.ly/hxA6RG ... and check out some shots of the A380 getting reading to push for its first flight to the US here - http://bit.ly/dTUe4g

Happy Flying!

-Fish

[gonzalu]

Wow Fish, welcome to the forum and to NYCA :-0 Nice first port. So you were on the flight? Did you see any of us spotting you? LOL GREAT pictures btw...

[flyingwithfish]

Manny,

I saw a few folks on the ramp under the jetway ... but on approach I was shooting other stuff needed for work. I briefly met a few folks in T1, but as soon as I landed I had a number of stories to file for my own blog, Conde Nast and other outlets, so I ended up being the anti-social guy in the corner with an iPad and MacBook Air glued to my fingers.



... this assignment with the LH A380 ranks up with with flying to Basrah Iraq with Richard Branson for six hours (less than twenty people on a 744) and spending a few days flying between HKG and YVR spending no more than an hour at YVR at any time while shooting a project for the now defunct Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (the only assignment where I can say I got to skateboard on the ramp of a major international airport :0))

Happy Flying!

-Fish

[gonzalu]

Looks like you're going to be a valued member around here :-) we looooove inside stories!

[flyingwithfish]

Manny,

Next up for me, when its rescheduled shortly, is JFK-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK in about three days. The best part, 10hrs of spotting at NRT ... oh yea, and doing my work of course. After that with any luck, its back to Frankfurt for a night of nothing but LH Cargo and three-holers.

[eric8669]

Manny,

Next up for me, when its rescheduled shortly, is JFK-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK in about three days. The best part, 10hrs of spotting at NRT ... oh yea, and doing my work of course. After that with any luck, its back to Frankfurt for a night of nothing but LH Cargo and three-holers.


That sounds fun!

[gonzalu]

I'd take the Three Holer Glories any day over the Trip 7 and 767s :-)

[flyingwithfish]

Well ... it looks like my already rescheduled JFK-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK will be delayed again. My client, a Japanese airline, apparently has bigger issues to deal with in the next week ... like dealing with the after effects of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake

[Speedbird1]

When will the regular Lufthansa A380 service to JFK commence? I tried the search feature but nothing comes up.

[flyingwithfish]

When will the regular Lufthansa A380 service to JFK commence? I tried the search feature but nothing comes up.

The A380 is flying daily FRA-JFK.

[Cary]

The A380 is flying daily FRA-JFK.

It's actually x236, until April 15.

[gonzalu]

Cary, does that mean 2 times a week on day 3 and day 6? so Tuesday (3) and Fri (6) ?

[Cary]

Cary, does that mean 2 times a week on day 3 and day 6? so Tuesday (3) and Fri (6) ?

It means daily, except (x) for days 2 (Tues), 3 (Wed), and 6 (Saturday). So, it comes 4 days a week, and any other times LH wants to sub it in. I used to collect airport and airline flight schedule booklets, and part of the fun was trying to figure out all the notations they had in there. Luckily, there was a legend :biggrin:

[moose135]

Thanks for the explanation, Cary - I never remember if Sunday or Monday is Day 1 on those things...

[fk6065]

Ok that explains why we didn't see her today at Inwood. Thanks for the explanation.