JFK Spotting 2/2/08 (Many Photos)

[brontis5]

Just wondering if anyone had planned to go out spotting at JFK this Saturday or even Sunday. I would love to meet up with some people to do some spotting. If they are using 31R I would be into heading over to the Firestone. Take care and hope to hear from some of you soon, Brian

[lijk604]

Not sure yet, if Saturday is nice, I might get out. Have an appt in the morning, it all depends on what time that's done.

[pgengler]

Sunday's no good for me, but if the weather holds for Saturday I might get out there.

[eric8669]

I will be out tomorrow.

[AirtrafficController]

Im hitting Howard Beach tommorow.

[pgengler]

I'll be out tomorrow, hitting up LGA in the morning and JFK in the afternoon.

[eric8669]

Heading out to JFK now.

[brontis5]

I am getting ready to go out right now. Hope to see some of you guys out there. Brian

[AirtrafficController]

Well I just cancelled by plans because of the clouds.

[AA 777]

If anyone catches AAL 630 MCO-JFK at 1505 let me know! Be sure to post the picture if you do!

[pgengler]

Well I just cancelled by plans because of the clouds.

Too bad, because it was a great day. The clouds spoiled a couple of shots but there was plenty of sun and plenty of activity.

I had a pretty full day of spotting; 8:30am to 5pm. Some of the highlights:
* Two Cathay 777s
* Icelandair Cargo 757 (unfortunately the sun took a break)
* Continental Connection Dash 8
* KLM MD-11
* World MD-11 operating for Lufthansa Cargo
* Air France Cargo 747-400F
* Cargolux 747-400F
* Focus Air 747-200
* THREE Kalitta 747-200s
* NCA 747-200

I took enough photos to keep me busy for a while, but I'll try to have a report with photos tomorrow.

If anyone catches AAL 630 MCO-JFK at 1505 let me know! Be sure to post the picture if you do!

A lot of American stuff was going to 31L, so I might have missed it. Do you know what the reg was, so that I can check my photos?

[pgengler]

This was my first full day of spotting (started at about 8:30am, finished up around 5pm) and while the weather wasn't perfect it wasn't a total wash either.

I had initially planned on doing the morning at LGA and the afternoon at JFK, since LGA was supposed to be up and down 22. I woke up and checked the ATIS, and instead LGA was up and down 31, so I decided to just head straight to JFK, which at the time was departing 31L/arriving 31R.

As I got closer to JFK, I called the ATIS again. Now they were landing 22L, departing 22R & 31L @ KK. Figuring that the light wasn't good at HoBe yet, I headed to Bayswater, figuring that if it was a good spot for 4L arrivals it ought to work for 22R departures. It was muddy from the recent rain, and really very windy, but there was some interesting traffic to make it worth it.

Around 10:30, they switched back to using the 31s, so I got in the car and debated whether to head over to HoBe or to Firestone. As I was driving, Brian (brontis5) called and said he was walking up to Firestone, so I decided to meet him there. I think it was a good choice, as the first plane that went by was JetBlue (what else?) but following that was a Kalitta 747-200 (the first of three today) and behind that was a Focus Air 747. By this point, some clouds had started to roll through, and some shots came out dark as a result, but there were some gaps and eventually the clouds parted and we had blue skies for a while. As the sun started to wind down, but with shootable light left, clouds rolled back in again, but we figured we'd stick it out and sure enough, the sun came back out for PIA and Emirates, which came at around 4:40. Not long after that they switched back to the 22s, and with the sun almost gone we decided it wasn't worth heading over to the Mounds and called it a day.

Despite the wind at Bayswater, I got some nice catches. It's nice to be able to get the airport as a backdrop.

Avianca MD-83:


JAL 747:


These three launched in a row:

Nippon Cargo 747:


Cathay 777:


Air France Cargo 747:



Then they changed runways. The first arrival to 31R was a World MD-11 for Lufthansa Cargo; I snapped off a couple of photos but they didn't come out too well. So I headed over to Firestone.

First Kalitta 747:


Right behind Connie, a Focus Air 747, without any titles (on this side at least). I wish I could have had more sun on this one.


Second Cathay 777 catch of the day:


First time I've caught Jet Airways, since I haven't been spotting since they started service to JFK.


Continental Connection Dash 8. First time I've seen one of these, and first Dash 8 I've seen at JFK since Freedom stopped running theirs.


To our surprise, a second Kalitta 747:


With a Cargolux 747 not far behind. First time I've gotten a decent shot of one of these.


Later, a THIRD Kalitta 747. Until today I'd only caught one of these, and today I got three.


The KLM MD-11 was a nice treat.


The clouds parted enough to let some of the last rays of sun fall on PIA:



I was freezing over at Bayswater, and I probably got sunburn from being out all day, but I'd say it was definitely worth it. The clouds did spoil a couple of pictures, most notably the Focus Air 747 and an Icelandair Cargo 757) but there were still plenty of good shots to be had. You guys missed out!

[Alex T]

Fantastic shots man! I miss spotting haven't done it since with Tommy at BWI back in 2006.

PIA and the others were my favs!

Alex

[brontis5]

Overall a great day! There were some clouds, but for the most part they came and went. Here are some of my favorite shots I came away with. Later, Brian

[AA 777]

If anyone catches AAL 630 MCO-JFK at 1505 let me know! Be sure to post the picture if you do!

A lot of American stuff was going to 31L, so I might have missed it. Do you know what the reg was, so that I can check my photos?

I cant get the reg till I'm near a different computer, but we did land on the right side at about 1440-1445. It was an S80. Thanks!