06-05-2007 - West and Southwest of JFK
Greetings,
I visited JFK Spotter Site A around 4.30p after seeing some heavies departing 31L after having trekked up Cross Bay Boulevard from Broad Channel. V-e-r-y windy conditions
and
no shortage of bugs at Site A.
After an hour or so of spotting I saw an increasing number of flights departing from runway 22 L/R off to the east and climbing out straight out over the Rockaways. What started out as an even mix of alternating departures (31L vs 22L/R) gradually increased in favor of 22 with a greater number of heavies
Europe-bound?
heading seaward.
When only an occasional flight came up from 31L
I trekked over the bridge and up Cross Bay Boulevard to 157th Avenue to catch a southbound Q53 to the Rockaway beach area. With the strong SW winds the surf was up and scores of surfers were out waiting for the wave.
With sunset approaching I caught a number of heavies departing 22L/R
though I could have used a better side angle to reduce the number of bellies. Next time for that. Still
I got some nice side-lighting effects on some of them.
My black camera also attracted a few suspicious looks
as it usually does in populated areas
but nothing more. Finally the light faded and that was that. Heading north (homeward) on the Q53 I noticed an occasional departure still using 31L. This was close on 9pm.
QUESTION: - does JFK often split runway departures simultaneously
like the 22s and 31s
for extended periods
or does the heavier volume of evening departures dictate this?
Mike (shamrock838)
Re: 06-05-2007 - West and Southwest of JFK
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrock838
QUESTION: - does JFK often split runway departures simultaneously
like the 22s and 31s
for extended periods
or does the heavier volume of evening departures dictate this?
Saw JFK doing that again a bit last September, and seems to be happening more regularly now.
Not too common the last 5-6 years though..
Tom
