New To Spotting

[richg1000]

Hi All:

I'm new to this, but love watching planes take off and land. I would love to see the a-380 coming in - can you tell me what time it's arriving and where would be the best place to view it?

Also - do you all ever go out in organized groups? I really want to be able to identify all the different commercial planes, and would love to go out with a mentor...

Regards,

Rich

[moose135]

Hi Rich, welcome to NYCA. We have a thread about the A380 arrival, with times, and our plans to get out and shoot the arrival here:

august-1st-a380-planning-t12825.html

As to spotting other days, check the Spotting Planning & Review topic, usually if someone is planning to go out, they will post a thread about it beforehand. And if you are interested in going out, feel free to post a thread on that as well, and you are more than likely to find others looking to go out. We are a large, (mostly) friendly group , and always ready to help out a new spotter.

[PhilDernerJr]

As for aircraft identification, when I first got into the hobby, I went to airliners.net and downloaded photos to my computer for each aircraft type, and looked at the differences. I recommend downloading a few pics of each of the following planes from different angles.

Boeing:
717
727
737
747
757
767
777
787

Airbus:
A319/320/321
A330
A340

Embraer:
ERJ-135/145
E-170/175/190

Canadair:
CL-600

I'd start off with those, which include most of what you'd see at the local airports, barring a few smaller propeller aircraft. From there, you can learn the various versions of those types (737-300 vs. 737-800), but one thing at a time.

If a certain type is giving you any trouble learning (I sometimes had a tough time with 737 vs. A320), just ask questions here and we'll let you know the various features that we have trained our brains to pick up on. Just keep on replying to this thread when you have questions.

I also emailed you some diagrams to help you out and get you started.