JFK 10/16/2010 (lots of pictures)

[gonzalu]

I am the world's slowest post processor, so my apologies for late posting.

This was my very first official airport spotting outing. I have to thank Mark "Zee71" for holding my hand and giving a nice tour of the prominent spots around JFK. After that, I was able to more comfortably go on my own and not feel weird being stared at for shooting planes ;-)


Departing 31L. We didn't stay long LOL...
Saudi Arabian Boeing 777. Very cloudy/overcast with weird lighting. Never could get a decent white balance




AFR Airbus A380. This was from Inwood since Bayswater was oddly closed. We barely made it to the soccer field when we turned around and she was on short final for 31L



Some from Firestone/Panera

Royal Jordanian Airbus A340


Etihad Airbus A340



Evergreen Boeing 747



From Costco

Virgin Boeing 747 with new Candy Apple paint and new fonts



AepoCbit Boeing 767



LAN Boeing 767



Qantas Airbus A330



American Airlines "One World" Boeing 757



American Airlines "Susan G. Komen" Boeing 777



Royal Air Maroc - RAM Boeing 767



TAM Airbus A330



Alitalia "Taormina" Boeing 777



Cathay Cargo Boeing 747



AFR Boeing 777



Light is almost all gone



After sun goes down

Aeroflot Airbus A330



and almost in total darkness

Kuwait Airbus A340

[gonzalu]

BTW EXIF data is intact if anyone is interested in the gory details.

[PhilDernerJr]

Some seriously high quality images there. Great stuff!

[gonzalu]

Phil, I am honored :-) thank you for the kind words. I owe it to you and your incredible forum and website. The spotting guides are spot on and the best I have seen.

Cheers!

[yves]

Awesome shots Manny! I was on board the AF A380! Cool to see you spotted us!

[gonzalu]

Thanks Yves. I wish I had a 600mm so I could have gotten a picture of you looking out the window lol. I find the A380 to be a really beautiful clean design. It has a sort of elegant balance, hard to explain. It looks really small compared to a 747-400 lengthwise, I guess because the upper deck creates the illusion of girth minimizing the optical effect of the length.

Anyway, I was wondering, do you guys look for [us] when you fly into an airport? Now that I am spotting I will look for spotters whenever I fly ;-)

Cheers.

[yves]

Sure I look for spotters when I depart/land! Unfortunately I was seated on the other side, otherwise you were on a picture as well!
The A380 is quite short indeed, shorter than 77W and 346, but it's much more silent than all the other aircraft I've flown.

[yves]

Hi all,
Got some pictures as well that I'd like to share with you:

During the Autumn break I visited the Big Apple together with my family.
The outward journey was flown as AF006 by A380, F-HPJD, Air France latest Super jumbo.

Here you can see her awaiting passengers on gate E57-58 just before boarding the upper deck.


Particular shape of her body.


Voyageur cabin on the upper deck, seat 86-87 KL were assigned to us.




Little sister with a very dramatic sky in the background.




The Gallery in the front of the upper deck.


Affaires cabin about an hour before landing.


Final approach to RWY 31L.


Very spacious flight deck of the A380.




La Première cabin.


After a week in this amazing city, we had to leave again.
This OS was the only plane to make a 'decent' shot of. Others were affected by back light.


Good way to end a wonderful trip.


Return flight was operated as AF011 by F-GSPV, B772. Notable more noisy than the silent A380.
We were parked at a remote stand near 2E, so I could grab a quick shot of this huge engine.

[gonzalu]

Yves, thanks... engrossing images!! How did you get so much access inside the plane? Last time I asked to take pictures of the cockpit, I was told NO WAY!! :-)

[yves]

Thanks Manny! Well, as soon as I boarded the plane I asked if it was possible to visit the flight deck. Purser told me that it was only possible after landing. After they served dinner in F and C, he invited me for a walk around trough the big bus.
Maybe the fact that I speak French helped as well.

[gonzalu]

Yves,

So they allowed you and your dSLR without much raised eyebrows... nice. Every time I take out my D2Xs or D3 on a flight with the 24-70mm or 17-55mm lens, I get nothing but hard stares from everyone LOL. I once was threatened if I didn't put away my camera after I placed a black cloth around the window while shooting outside because I wanted to minimize reflections.

Meanwhile Point and Shoots and camcorders get away with almost zero inquisition...

[yves]

Yes, cabin crew allowed me to take pictures all around the airplane, in fact the purser who guided me took some pictures of me standing in the Gallery and the captain took a picture of me while I sat on his seat. I've never experienced any problems on European carriers. I think the A380 crew is used to the fact that's is an extraordinary aircraft where many people wanna take pictures of.

[adscram14]

Great catches Manny! Quality is superb. Yves, hope you had a nice trip, and great shots as well.

[Zee71]

Manny and Yves..........nice series of images!