7th to the 9th February 2017
Madrid Trip
Having not visited Madrid since 2011 a trip was long overdue to catch up with the latest deliveries to Iberia,Air Nostrum and Air Europa and also to see some of the newer visitors.
We departed MAN on the evening of Tuesday the 7th February, Ryanair 737-800 EI-DLG was our ride and we arrived in Madrid just before 9pm local time.
24 numbers were added to the log book on the taxi in and the walk to arrivals before we made our way to the Ibis in Barajas for our two night stay.
Two shots were taken through the windows from the terminal as we walked to passport control,
Wednesday 8th February 2017
We were up early and made our way down to the mounds overlooking Terminal 4 and the taxiways, it was an extremely cold and windy day, the following pics were taken during our time there and another 63 registrations in the book.
Nice to finally catch the "Pull & Bear" Iberia Express special A320 EC-LYE
Thursday 9th February 2017
This morning we were up very early to get back to the terminal to start walking all the way around to the far side of the ramp by Terminal One to catch the Conviasa B747-400 when it arrived just before sunrise ...... if only it had been a few minutes later it would have caught the sun!
We then made our way around to the end of Runway 33 Left to catch arrivals,
Bluebird Cargo B737-400F TF-BBH was parked in a nice position towards the end of the new freight ramp.
We then walked the long route back to the terminal to spend a short time in the cafe area in T2 before going airside for our flight home.
My last shot before departure was a night shot of the days nicest movement, shame that the steps were still on!
Another 36 new numbers in the book for today,
We departed home on board Ryanair B737-800 EI-EVS at 2200, landing back in MAN just after 2300 local.
A total of 123 new registrations added to the log book for the trip and many new subjects caught by the camera too, Some great company from Ashley and Gary, just a shame about the cold weather eh?!
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6th to the 7th March 2017
Madrid Trip
A cheap fare from Ryanair tempted us to make a quick return visit to Madrid to catch up on some of the subjects we missed last time. We departed Manchester on board EI-FRH (FR3187) on the evening of the 6th arriving at MAD just after 9.30pm so made our way straight to our hotel in Barajas.
We were up again very early the next morning to catch some of the early morning movements, we walked from the terminal to the spot overlooking the terminal 1 ramp where the following were photographed ....
We then started the long walk back to the terminals (takes around 45 minutes) where we proceeded airside around 15.30 and caught the following before darkness set in .....
Our flight home (on EI-FOK FR3186) departed Madrid just over two hours late (thanks to the French ATC strikes!) and we arrived back at Manchester just before 01.00 on the 8th.
A great day and some really nice catches in the sunny weather ....
another 47 numbers put away in the log book which was surprising after only visiting Madrid a month ago!
Thanks again to Ashley and Gary for a great trip.
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25th to the 28th May 2017
Prague & Paris Orly Trip
A long weekend trip to Prague and onwards to Paris Orly.
Thursday 25th May 2017
We departed Manchester early morning on Thursday 25th May on Jet2 B737-800 G-JZHA en-route to Prague arriving mid morning where we then spent the rest of the day airside watching the movements and the following were photographed.
We departed late evening on board Transavia France B737-800 F-GZHL to Paris Orly arriving just after 22.30.
Friday 26th May 2017
Up early morning and we made our way down to the end of runway 06 where the following were taken in the lovely weather.
After a superb morning down the end of the runway the sun was starting to move around, we made our way back to the terminal for something to eat and to photograph the afternoon and evening movements from the viewing deck.
Saturday 27th May 2017
We were up on the Orly Sud terrace first thing to catch a couple of early arrivals before the sun moved around,
We then made our way back down to the end of 06 but not as much of interest for the second morning, there was a fair bit of cloud around too and a runway change back to 24 departures made us move back to the terminal far earlier than planned, these were caught in the couple of hours we were there ....
We arrived back at the terminal early afternoon and made our way airside ready for our early evening flight back to Prague, Transavia France B737-800 F-GZHF did the honours departing Orly at 17.35 and arriving back in Prague at 18.50.
We managed to get off the aircraft and back in to the terminal just in time to snap the departing Korean Air B747-800 HL7642!
Once outside the terminal we caught a new colours ASL ATR72 being towed from the hangars and the CSA Prague special A319 departed in the evening sun ....
we then called it a day and made our way to our city centre hotel.
Sunday 28th May 2017
Our final day of the trip, we were down at the end of the runway early morning (although PRG isnt exactly busy first thing!), the following were seen over the next few hours,
Another runway change had us move to the other end where just two of interest passed us by ...
With very little of interest due for a couple of hours we decided to have a run up to the museum at Kbely, the following snaps were taken but sadly very little is parked in good positions for photos,
You can also see on to the active base where a few aircraft can be identified.....
After our little run round the museum we headed back to Prague and the observation mound opposite the terminal in time for a few nice visitors,
This was apparently the first time Prague had seen two B747's on the ground at the same time!
We made our way back to the terminal and went airside ready for our flight home, just two more shots taken late evening, sadly the special schemed LOT Dash8-Q400 was not in the best position for a pic!
We then boarded Jet2 B737-800 G-GDFJ for the flight home, arriving back in Manchester at 23.00.
A great weekend with some great laughs with Ash and Gary, Another 162 new numbers hit the book too!!
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22nd to the 23rd August 2017
Amsterdam Trip
A two day trip to Amsterdam in August to photograph the summer lease aircraft and to catch up on the latest Dutch airliners and new traffic.
Tuesday 22nd August 2017
We departed Manchester early morning on board Easyjet A320 G-EZRJ arrving in Amsterdam at 09.40, we spent the first day up on the terraces where the following were seen although (as usual at this time of year) the heat haze was pretty awful.
Wednesday 23rd August 2017
We were up early for breakfast and made our way up to the terraces again, as it was blue sky and sunshine it was pointless spending the morning there facing the sun so we decided to make our way airside despite our flight home not being till later that night, this allowed us to spend the day at the end of Pier G photographing the aircraft taxiing past at close range, the following were seen here during the next nine hours.
We departed on board Easyjet A319 G-EZFE at 22.05 arriving back at Manchester just before 22.00 local time, another successful visit with all of the summer lease aircraft caught along with another 91 new numbers in the book.
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19th to the 20th September 2017
Heathrow Trip
A two day trip down to Heathrow allowed me a chance to catch up on all my outstanding BA and Virgin wide-body aircraft and to see some of the new aircraft now being used by the overseas carriers, having been over a year since my last visit it was always going to be a good number crunch for me!
Tuesday 19th September 2017
We departed the Manchester area early morning and made a short stop at Luton to see what was around, fairly quiet on the numbers front on this visit with only 22 new ones for me including just two new Wizz Air frames. We moved onwards to Heathrow arriving mid morning where we enjoyed the next day and a half in a room with a view at the Renaissance Hotel overlooking runway 27 Right.
The following were taken during the remainder of the day ....
Very nice to catch the fairly new El Al B787-9 Dreamliner 4X-EDA
Air Canada sent in one of their latest B787-9 Dreamliners in their new colours, C-FRSR.
Wednesday 20th September 2017
The day was once again spent in the Club Lounge of the Renaissance Hotel overlooking the airport, the following photos were taken whilst I added numbers to the log book.
My catch of the trip ..... I was very pleased to have photographed Swiss C-Series 300 HB-JCA in their special livery which is in honour of the Romandy region of Switzerland.
We departed Heathrow around 18.30 and were back in the Manchester area around three hours later, Some nice new subjects photographed and a total of 94 new numbers in the log book.
My thanks to Adrian for a great couple of days and one or two laughs along the way!!
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7th to the 9th October 2017
Frankfurt Trip
A three day trip over to Frankfurt with my Son Ashley allowed us a long overdue chance to catch up on some of our outstanding Lufthansa wide-body aircraft and to photograph some of the more interesting visitors there, it had been a few years since my last proper visit so it was going to be a good trip for me despite the poor weather forecast!
Saturday 7th October 2017
We departed Manchester on board Lufthansa A320 D-AIUE at 06.55 arriving at Frankfurt at 09.00 local time,
Some nice views as we came in to land on 25 Right, the newest of FRA's four runways.
We made our way straight to the hotel bus point to catch the transfer to the Inter City Hotel (where we were staying for two nights), once there we walked to the old 25 Left viewing spot where we hung around for a couple of hours to catch the following.
Early afternoon we walked from the 25 spot over to Terminal 2 where the following were taken from the Viewing Terrace.
After the terrace closed at 19.00 we had dinner and then made our way back to the hotel for the night.
Sunday 8th October 2017
Again we started out by the 25 spot before making our way over to the T2 Terrace again for the afternoon.......
Nice to catch the China Airlines "Boeing" scheme B777-300 B-18007, sadly the light was awful as the sun came out just as it was ready for departure!
Latam A350-900 A7-AMD is one of four currently flying for Qatar Airways.
Monday 9th October 2017
Our final day and once again we followed the same pattern, a couple of hours at the 25 spot before going to the T2 Terrace, then once we had caught the Aeroflot special we went airside to spend the last few hours by the windows before flying home .....
CargoLogic Air's only two B747-400 Freighters, G-CLBA and G-CLAA landed one after the other on 25 Left early morning!
Nice to catch the KLM Fokker 70 PH-KZU in the special Anthony Fokker scheme just two weeks before the type was withdrawn from service with the carrier.
Aeroflot A320 VP-BWD looking great in the special CSKA Moscow scheme!
We ended the trip by departing home just before 22.30 on Lufthansa A320 D-AIUA arriving back at Manchester shortly before 23.00 local.
A great trip despite the very poor weather, plenty of new subjects caught on camera and another 149 new numbers in the log book.
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14th to the 15th November 2017
Cologne / Bonn Trip
A 24 hour flying visit to Cologne / Bonn for an overnight freighter bash thanks to a £20.00 return Ryanair fare!
We departed MAN on board B737-800 EI-EKW arriving in Cologne just before 10.30.
We spent the day up on the terraces where the following were photographed, the very tasty government jets were a nice surprise as there was a Climate Forum going on in the area at the time!
After a very long day and night we departed back to MAN on board B737-800 EI-FRE just before 7am, arriving home just after 07.00 local.
A great trip really, some very nice photo subjects and another 59 numbers in the log book!!My thanks to Ash and Gary for their great company and plenty of laughs!!
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21st to the 31st December 2017
Florida Holiday
A holiday in Orlando over the Christmas allowed a few visits to Orlando International and a quick visit to Tampa International.
We departed MAN rather late on board Lufthansa A320 D-AIUP bound for Frankfurt, sadly.... thanks to the delay we arrived at FRA as our connecting Frankfurt - Orlando flight was leaving!
We were forced to spend the night in Frankfurt before departing to Chicago the next morning.
A short delay on the morning of the 22nd saw us leave FRA nearly an hour late on board United Airlines B777-200 N786UA arriving in Chicago (ORD) at 11.20 local. We transferred to United B737-900 N63820 leaving at 14.30 for Orlando, arriving at 17.45 ....... a day later than we had originally planned to start our holiday .......
A short visit to MCO on Christmas day saw quite a few numbers hit the book but only one aircraft worthy of photographing ..... Jetblue A320 N605JB in the great "Red Sox" colours.
The 27th saw a trip over to Tampa for the Mall next to the airport, I spent a couple of hours on top of the car park where the following were seen.
Two days later I heard that Westjet's B737-800 C-GWSV wearing the superb Disney "Frozen" scheme was due in to MCO, sadly the weather was the worst of our trip but beggars can't be choosers ...... a couple of hours allowed the following to be photographed,
and the star of the day ...........
The next day I made another short visit to catch Jetblue's great looking "Blueprint" E190 N304JB, the weather was much better!
Having had a very enjoyable and relaxing time in Florida we left for home on the afternoon of the 31st, we departed MCO just after 3pm on United Airlines B757-200 N17104 arriving in Newark NJ just after 17.00. we had a layover of just over two hours before departing for MAN ..... on board the very same B757-200 .... N17104!!!
We arrived back in Manchester just before 07.00 on New Year's Day.
A grand total of 382 new numbers in the book which is pretty good going for a non-spotting trip!
350 Frames and 32 Paint Scrapes.
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