I'm down in Charlotte for work this week, and spent an hour spotting at Charlotte/Douglas Airport this afternoon. They have a neat airport overlook park next to the approach end of Rwy 18C - looking at Google Earth, it's literally 850 feet from the park to the runway centerline, it has nice light all afternoon, with the tower and Charlotte skyline in the background.
Are you noticing a trend here? Yes, about 98% of the operations were US Airways...and heat haze is a little bit of an issue, but all in all, it's a great spot. All I brought on the trip was a 28-200 lens, and that was plenty. It was mostly departures on 18C, but we did get some arrivals - most arrivals came in on Rwy 23. I just missed the LH A340 arrival (on 18C) - that was the big catch of the day, and a Sky King 732 arrived on Rwy 23, but the shots I got of him on the ground were distant and heat-hazed.
It's not all US at CLT...
Here's a peak at part of the park. There is a large parking area, benches facing the runway, and picnic tables in a tree-covered area. It was a sunny, warm afternoon, and there had to be 50 people out there, many families with kids watching the airplanes, a few people with scanners, and a couple of other photographers.
In the cargo area, there are two Roush-Fenway Racing 727s, as well as an old 727 which once belonged to MGM Grand Air (N504MG), none of which were in a good spot to shoot. The MGM 727 has been on the ramp, minus the outboard engines, since at least 2003, based on photos I saw on JP.net.
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Originally Posted by moose135
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