When I go to the airport, for the vast majority of the time, that means I’m about to board a plane somewhere and go travelling for a bit to enjoy myself.
I love turning up to the check in counter to dump my backpack off, and receiving my boarding pass. This means I’m going away to somewhere different very soon!
I also enjoy walking around the terminal to see what kind of planes have pulled up to the terminal. I pretty much know all of them because I’ve flown on them! (Yes, I’m grateful for that!).
I know the differences between my Boeings and my Airbuses, and even some dodgey looking rust bucket jobs.
Regarding my favourite aircraft – I love the massive Airbus A380, but I have a very soft spot for the Boeing 747 as this plane has taken me to a lot of places!
But there are some people who take things to the next level when it comes to plane spotting. They’re like the paparazzi of airports! They’re stalking the celebrities of the sky as they come down the runway!
These are the guys that keep sites like Airliners.net going for plane geeks all over the world!
Plane Spotting Fanatics!
I recently had an excuse to check out an airport viewing area where there was no charge to park your car, or the chance to have some security guard question what I was doing.
Thinking I’d have the place to myself, I was surprised to find the viewing area packed with people.
I found there were a heap of plane spotting fanatics who love planes more than I do!
See below!
Yes, these guys are scrambling for the best view to snap one of those big flying metal beasts that taxi to the end of the runway!
They can be out here for hours, waiting for the best shot of their favourite plane. And they’ll move into whatever position they can, as long as they don’t end up arrested!
These guys bring the biggest SLR lens they can lay their hands on, plus they also bring step ladders to make sure they can score the best view at the airport.
That’s pretty dedicated! I have a few plane pics lying around my computer, but I’m sure these fellas would have entire albums!
You might think this is a bit weird – staking out an airport runway to take pics of planes before they take off. But I don’t think it’s strange at all.
These blokes obviously have a passion for flying machines and they wouldn’t be doing this if they didn’t love it!
Sounds like I’m a closet plane spotter though.. 🙂
But not if my plane appears on some plane crashes photo essay or Air Crash Investigations!