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Hoe Jyh
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I used a 70-300mm for the take-off shots at the observation deck. Yes, Zhongshan Junior High School is one stop before Songshan Airport in the direction towards Nangang Exhibition Centre.
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I had the opportunity to do some aircraft spotting at Taipei Songshan airport (TSA/RCSS) on a recent trip. However I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post these photos as the thread title only mentioned spotting at Taipei Taoyuan airport (TPE/RCTP). Taipei Songshan Airport (臺北松山機場) is a mixed use airport located in the northeast corner of Taipei City and serves both domestic flights as well as limited international connections to China, Korea and Japan. Songshan Airport is conveniently located near the city centre and travelling to the airport is more convenient than ever before with the opening of the Taipei Metro Neihu Line (brown line) that serves the airport. It only takes less than 10 minutes to get from the city centre to the airport metro station by metro (approx S$1). Passengers are treated to a sweeping view of the Songshan Airport west apron when the metro train slows down to negotiate a sharp bend before entering the underground section towards Songshan Airport station from Zhongshan Guozhong station. Songshan Metro station is located directly below the terminal building. Clear directional signs direct passengers to the correct exit for either terminal. Terminal 1 (shown here) handles international flights while Terminal 2 handles domestic flights and houses the new observation deck on the third storey. Terminal 2 departure entrance after exiting from Exit 2 of Songshan Airport metro station. Terminal 2 Check-In Area (Domestic Flights) Terminal 1 Check-In Area (International Flights) It is near impossible to miss the colourfully decorated entrance to the observation deck upon entering the Terminal 2 departure area! There are 2 lifts which whisk visitors direct to the third floor or one have the option of taking the stairs instead. Wall mural at the final staircase landing before entering the observation deck. Each staircase landing in the stairwell is decorated with colourful cartoons which make walking up the stairs a joy as one gets to admire them! With the introduction of direct air routes between city centre airports such as Taipei-Songshan, Tokyo-Haneda and Seoul-Gimpo (from Apr 26), the airport management is aggressively marketing the airport as Taipei International Airport instead of Taipei Songshan Airport to highlight its convenient international connections. Taipei's main international gateway is known as Taipei Taoyuan Airport instead after the county where it is located. The observation deck is open air but the dark tinted glass would pose certain challenges to photography especially where reflections are concerned. However, it faces the single runway (10/28) and amenities such as toilets are within easy reach. Two piers jut out into the apron above the gate holdrooms and visitors are thus not only restricted to a single view of the apron and the runway. One could also move around to find the best spots to capture the aircraft movements. Apart from aircraft movements, the observation deck also offers a vantage point to spot the different monuments that lie north of the Keelung River. The Grand Hotel (圆山大饭店) on the left is featured prominently in many of the approach photos of aircraft coming into land at Songshan Airport's runway 10. EVA Air A330-200 B-16311 taxiing to her gate at Terminal 1. The airport sees regular widebody movements from ANA (B763), JAL (B763), EVA Air (A332) and China Airlines (A333) in the afternoon. Air China B737-800 B-5485 gets under way for another cross-strait flight to China. Air China serves Shanghai-Hongqiao and Tianjin from Songshan Airport. Uni Air Dash 8 DHC-8-311Q B-15235. Even at 300mm on a 1.6X crop factor camera body, the aircraft only occupies half the frame! Uni Air is the largest domestic operator at Songshan airport. Uni Air MD-90 B-17911 was photographed pushing back from her gate for another short domestic flight. However, it is not easy to photography many aircraft movements at close distance as there was extensive construction work being done at the apron and taxiway at the time of visit. A forlorn looking ex-Far Eastern Air Transport MD-80 B-28017 with both her engines removed. A Republic of China Air Force C-130 Hercules taxies out for departure. No political repercussions for spotting these birds at its home base! Tucked behind a narrow street lined with temples at the western perimeter of Songshan Airport, is one of the most famous spotting locations in Taiwan which had even been featured in several Taipei travel guides. Lush green fields and farm produce create an unlikely location for aviation enthusiasts and the general public to enjoy an afternoon of plane spotting and admiring the beauty and sheer size of the aircraft that pass by mere dozens of metres above their heads. This is Binjiang Street Lane 180, where photographing widebody aircraft taxiing to the end of runway 10 for take-off requires a wide-angle/standard lens and one need not worry about viewing the aircraft through multiple layers of fences. One of ANA's newest B767-300ER, JA626A taxiies for take-off to Tokyo-Haneda. On afternoons where weather is good, locals turn up in droves to witness the wave of widebody arrivals and departures much like the A380 continues to be a weekend highlight for many families at larger airports around the world. Uni Air MD-90 B-17921. This is probably the easiest way to fly a MD90 in this part of the world as Uni Air offers frequent flights throughout the day to various domestic destinations such as Kinmen and Kaoshiung using these Mad Dogs! Transasia ATR72 B-22810. The private Taiwanese carrier had been progressively downsizing its operations at Songshan over the past year as the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) had affected demand on many of the domestic routes. The Republic of China Air Force Beech 1900D is a regular movement at Songshan Airport. The sunlight gets increasingly tail-on towards the evening as the sun shifts to the west. China Eastern A321 B-2288. A China Airlines A330-300 moments from touchdown in the evening sun after a flight from Tokyo-Haneda. Mandarin Airlines (a subsidiary of China Airlines) Embraer 190 on short finals. Saving the best for last, photographing the 'Sun Moon Lake' special livery on the Mandarin Airlines E-190 B-16829 is always the highlight of any spotting session at Songshan Airport. Here, she was photographed on approach from a slightly further vantage point. B-16829 turning onto the runway for departure with her special livery being illuminated by the late afternoon sunlight. The weather had cleared up dramatically as it was pouring heavily in the morning! Getting There The information below had been compiled from Taipei travel guides, various forums, personal experiences and other sources. Walk The nearest metro station to this spot is Zhongshan Junior High School (中山國中) on the Neihu Line 內湖線. After exiting from the station, walk towards the north until one reaches the junction with Mingzhu East Road. Turn left and continue walking until the No.2 Fruits & Vegetables Wholesale Centre. The lane is the opposite side of the road. Various travel guides estimate the walking time to be approximately 20 minutes. Alternatively, one can take a 30 minute walk from Songshan Airport along Mingzhu East Road (bear right after exiting the airport compound and keeping the airport perimeter on your right). However, do be forewarned that in a country known for its profileration of convenience stores, there is not a single 7-11 to be found in the vicinity along the road! Bus Services 49, 74, 642, 643 and 286 Supplement serve the No. 2 Fruits & Vegetables Wholesale Centre bus stop. Many visitors can attest to the complicated one way loops that bus services in Taipei favour and the above five services are no exception as most of them only call along the road in one direction. To further complicate things, service 74 will call at a terminal within the one way loop before serving Mingzhu East Road. However, an excellent and accurate bus stop announcement system is installed in the buses and bus drivers in Taipei are among the most courteous and friendliest that I had ever met. Getting To > Take the Taipei metro to Xintian Temple on the newly opened Xinzhuang line. Transfer to Xindian Bus 642 or 643 and alight at the fourth stop. As these two services are long distance stage fare services, do remember to tap your EasyCard when boarding and alighting the bus. Alternatively pay NT$15 for a single stage fare upon boarding. The headway is approximately 15-20mins. Getting Away > From the same stop, take Metropolitan Transport Company service 74 to Zhongshan Junior High School metro station. As this is a single stage fare service, one only need to tap the EasyCard upon alighting. Cash fare remains the same at NT$15. The headway is approximately 10mins and is serviced by a full wheelchair accessible bus fleet. Note: 643 also serves Zhongshan Junior High School. 642 and 643 will also both return to Xindian Temple metro station. Security The airport police conduct frequent patrols of the spotting location and there are prominent signs that warn visitors that they are in a protected area. Do not stand next to the fence or park besides the fence - one will most certainly be chased away and personal particulars noted down from what I had observed! Apart from that, visitors are generally left to photograph the movements unhindered as long as they stand on the opposite side of the road. Thanks for reading and happy spotting! Note to moderators: Please feel free to move/delete the post if it is in an inappropriate location or deemed inappropriate! Thank
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Emirates B777-300ER A6-EGO with the 1000th B777 special titles at the back. 19 years ago, the 1000th B747 was delivered to Singapore Airlines and SQ would be bidding farewell to the B747 this Friday. How times had changed.... In addition, Emirates also sent their B777-200LR A6-EWJ Not to be outdone by its Arab rival, Qatar Airways also sent in a B777-200LR A7-BBI which is the 100th aircraft to be delivered to the airline. However, the size of the sticker near the cockpit could definitely not match the huge billboard titles on A6-EGO! Korean Air B777-200ER HL7752 'New Horizons of Korea' After the March school holidays, Hong Kong Airlines had reverted back to using the Hong Kong Express B738s for the afternoon flight from HKG. Vietnam Airlines Skyteam A330-200 VN-A371 with a white nosecone. Wow! Indonesia Air Asia A320 PK-AXS definitely looks stunning in the strong afternoon sun. G-BNLI One World In addition, there were also a number of colourful business jets which landed on runway 20R this afternoon. Bombardier Global Express VP-BJI is a regular at Changi but I never get tired of her colourful livery! Jet Asia Bombardier Global Express N889JA NetJets Gulfstream G550 N518QS Thanks for viewing!
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Spotting at Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta Int'l Airport
Hoe Jyh replied to ivanindra's topic in Observation Hill
Thanks, flee Some of the photos such as the Garuda Citilink aircraft were shot from the viewing deck, while the rest were shot through the window of the aircraft I was on as it taxiied around the airport. -
Spotting at Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta Int'l Airport
Hoe Jyh replied to ivanindra's topic in Observation Hill
Sharing some photos from my recent trips through Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta airport (CGK/WIII). Garuda Indonesia The national carrier had recently adopted a green version of its 'Nature's Wings' livery for its Citilink subsidiary. Garuda Indonesia had leased a number of A320-200 from GECAS for use on its Citilink routes. PK-GLD was photographed after pushing back from her gate at Terminal 1C. (Citilink operates from Terminal 1C while the rest of Garuda Indonesia's domestic routes operate from Terminal 2F). Many Singaporean spotters would no doubt be very familiar with this B737-300 PK-GGN which had since been transferred from mainline service to the carrier's Citilink operations. PK-GCC wears a unique livery to promote the Citilink subsidiary. B747-400 PK-GSI at Terminal 2E. Pullmantur Air B747-400 EC-KSM was leased by Garuda Indonesia for the 2011 Haj charters and wore a hybrid livery. Apologies for the weird colour tint and quality as this was shot out of an apron bus with extremely tinted windows. Lion Air Lion Air has a huge presence at CGK...perhaps even more than Garuda Indonesia with its endless waves of B737-900ERs hogging the taxiways and runways. The airline also occupies Terminal 1A, part of Terminal 1B and also conducts its international flights from Terminal 2E. B737-900ER PK-LFQ taxiing to her parking position at Terminal 1A with the rather rustic looking airfreight terminal in the background. Lion Air still retains a sizeable fleet of B737 classics such as B737-400 PK-LIT as shown below. The B737 classics are still indispensible as there are a number of Indonesian airports that cannot accept the newer B739ERs due to runway loading and/or runway length limitations. MD-90 PK-LIO was photographed in a very sorry state with her twin engines and plyons removed. It might be very possible that she would not take to the skies again and join the ranks of other abandoned classics that are languishing in various states of disrepair at the remote stands. Sriwijaya Air Sriwijaya Air is perhaps one of the most interesting airlines for aviation enthusiasts as they still operate a number of B737-200s. It is simply a treat to hear the shrill whine of the old JT8Ds at the Terminal 1B open air viewing deck! B737-200Adv PK-CJO Sriwijaya Air had been replacing the venerable B732s with newer B733s and B734s over the past few years (with B735s to come that will soon sound the death knell of the B732's loyal service with the airline). B737-300 PK-CKI has additional 'I "love" Papua' sticker on the fuselage. Trigana Air B737-200Adv PK-YSD taxiing to her parking spot at Terminal 1C. Batavia Air B737-300 PK-YVK wears the carrier's striking new livery. Republic Express B737-200C PK-RPI looks to be in urgent need of attention! Virgin Blue This Virgin Blue ERJ-190 VH-ZPO came as a complete surprise as CGK is definitely not one of their destinations currently! Thanks for reading! -
Here is my take of OH-LQD with the Angry Birds stickers on her Now I do need to photograph her left side which has my favourite black bomb bird on the inboard engine nacelle!
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Reviving this old thread On the very last day of our Europe trip, we decided to have a brief aircraft spotting session at Zurich-Kloten airport in Switzerland before our flight back to Singapore. On weekends, landings are only conducted on runway 34 from 6am to 9am except in cases of exceptionally strong cross or tail wind as part of the noise abatement procedures. Shall skip straight to the pictures as Azman had shown how good it is to spot at Zurich with his excellent posts and pictures:) Thai Airways A340-600 HS-TNC arriving in the brilliant early morning sunshine. As Zurich is located in a the middle of a valley, it can be a challenge to get good weather during one's visit. The weather conditions also change quickly throughout the day. A familiar sight in a foreign land. Singapore Airlines A380 9V-SKC on final approach for runway 34 as SQ346 from Singapore. She would later turnaround to operate my flight back to Singapore. Delta Airlines B767-300ER N153DL. All the US airlines that operate into Zurich uses this highly versatile aircraft. US Airways B767-200ER N245AY on final approach in less than desirable lighting conditions. Lufthansa B737-300 D-ABEM from Frankfurt. KLM Cityhopper ERJ-190-100 PH-EZH departing on an early morning flight to AMS...dedicated to Pieter. I miss the old Fokkers! Edelweiss A320 HB-IHZ soon followed suit. The company's aircraft feature the Edelweiss flower prominently in its livery. Air Berlin A319 HB-IOY still retains the company's old livery when this photograph was taken. Swiss Intl Airlines RJ100 HB-IYU with a Star Alliance special scheme. Swiss Intl Airlines A319 HB-IPT taxiies out on another morning flight. Helvetic operates a fleet of Fokker 100, such as HB-JVC as photographed below. Adria Airways CRJ-900 S5-AAL from Ljubljana (the capital city of Slovenia). HB-IZG Saab 2000 operated by Darwin Airlines. After entering the restricted area (but before immigration and security formalities due to the interesting terminal layout as a result of the Schengen agreement), it is possible to spot at the large glass windows located in between the A and B pier. The A pier is currently used to handle Schengen flights to intra-EU destinations. Austrian Airlines A319 OE-LDG 'Tbilisi' pushing back for her flight to Vienna. A close-up of the nose of Swiss Intl Airlines A320 HB-IJD. In addition, one can also obtain decent shots of heavies departing from runway 16. United Airlines B767-300ER N656UA in the carrier's latest livery with Continental base colours and United titles. One of my personal favourites from this spotting session - American Airlines B767-300ER N381AN with blended winglet modification. It was also my very first time personally seeing and photographing an AA aircraft. Swiss Intl Airlines A330-300 HB-JHD departing from runway 16. One last photo to share...taken from the aerobridge while boarding my flight. Montenegro Airlines Fokker 100 4O-AOL. Thanks for reading!
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9M-MPH (line number 1041) had left for good and had been delivered to leasing company Air Castle with the new registration of N420AC.
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06/08 Volga-Dnepr IL76TD-90MA VDA6721 from DEL. The weather could had been better for her arrival but it always felt good to photograph such a masculine Russian beast!
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Government/Military Aircraft The subjects below captivated the attention of the local enthusiast community (who were out in full force despite it being a weekday), and made us felt that it was a blessing in disguise that we were unable to carry out our original plan on Tuesday and miss a number of UK charter movements as a result. The first movement that had sent us scrambling up the platform was a French Air Force (Armee De L'Air) Aerospatiale SA330 Puma. This helicopter carries the tail number 1375. This was quickly followed by a pair of Kuwait Air Force Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules (L-382G) in close succession. KAF325 KAF323 backtracking down the runway to the military apron shortly after landing and treated the crowd an encore of the defeaning roar from its 4 Allison turboprops. Luqa airport does not have a parallel taxiway to the runway as it is tightly hemmed in by neighbouring towns and villages - perfect for aviation enthusiasts as it sometimes meant that one could get both the port and starboard side of the aircraft from the same spot (or a second chance at getting a better photo) ! The star catch of the day - French Government A310-300 F-RADB. In order to avoid backtracking along the runway, the crew braked very hard late into the landing roll and just -narrowly- made the exit to the terminal apron. I hoped the French VIPs on board had their seat belts securely fastened! The aircraft continued to hold the crowd spellbound as she gingerly made her way to her parking spot at stand 12 amidst a continuous chorus of camera shutters. UN World Food Programme had leased Medavia's Beech 1900D 9F-AFH for its humanitarian activites in Libya. Many apologies for the severe heat haze! Thanks for viewing!
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General Aviation Apart from scheduled operators, Malta Luqa airport also sees a fair amount of general aviation traffic throughout the day. Cabair Diamond DA42 Twin Star G-OCCY. Cabair is a UK based flight training school which offers professional flying lessons from its six bases in southern UK, thus it was rather interesting to photograph one of their aircraft in Malta! A familiar livery to many Malaysian and Singaporean spotters. Vista Jet Bombardier Challenger 604 OE-INY was photographed landing on runway 13 after a short test flight. Avio Delta Cessna Citation CJ 1+ LZ-FNA. Heat haze is a major problem when spotting at Malta in summer as daytime temperatures often rise above 35 degrees Celsius.
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Unfortunately, it is now not possible to capture such scenes as the crossing is within the airport compound. The road terminates with a roundabout just in front of fence line.
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Low Cost Carriers The bulk of the summer visitors in Malta are for leisure purposes, and it is thus not hard to imagine that low cost carriers comprise a large percentage of the daily movements. In fact, one might even be misled to believe that Ryanair has a base at Malta Luqa with the number of movements throughout the day! Ryanair B737-800 EI-DLI sports a special "Comunitat Valenciana" title on its fuselage. Easyjet A319 G-EJJB. Vueling A320 EC-KKT 'Vueling Together'. European Carriers Apart from the LCCs, a number of European legacy carriers also serve Malta during the summer schedule with narrowbodies. Lufthansa operates an A321 on the noon flight from Frankfurt-Main. On a 1.6X crop body, an A321 requires only 75mm to fill the frame of the photo. Alitalia A320 EI-DTD from Rome-Fiumicino. I must admit the revised cheatline is rather neat! North African Egyptair Express ERJ-170 SU-GDK arriving from Cairo in what is definitely one of the more spectacular liveries to be applied on an ERJ. Middle Eastern Emirates operate a daily A330-200 flight from Dubai via Larnaca, with A6-EKT being rostered on the day of our visit.
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Malta Luqa Airport Malta Luqa airport is the main airport for the island nation of Malta, which is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea off the southern tip of Italy. I had first heard of this airport when I chanced upon a photo of the purpose-built spotter's platform in an Airliner World issue a few years ago. "Wow! If only the authorities here are so accommodating towards our hobby!" I thought as I dreamt of a similar structure being erected in the middle of fenceline along runway 02C/20C at Singapore Changi Airport. Of course, one would probably be better off striking lottery twice than the likelihood of such a dream becoming a reality. Needless to mention, I simply had to visit this legendary spotter's platform during my recent trip to Europe. We had initially planned to pay a visit to the platform on Tuesday as the airport schedule indicated that a number of holiday charters from the UK were scheduled to arrive on the day. However, we had received a call from Harbour Air on Tuesday morning who had informed us that our flight on Thursday had been cancelled due to aircraft maintenance requirements and offered us a longer sightseeing flight on Tuesday afternoon instead at the same fare. We could not resist such a great offer and elected to postpone our Luqa spotting session. We had initially planned to pay a repeat visit to Gozo on Thursday to increase our coverage of the old public buses on the island, but we had learnt from another bus enthusiast on Wednesday that the bus deployment remained unchanged throughout the past week. This meant that time would not be well spent on a repeat trip to Gozo and we decided to stay in Malta on Thursday. This eventually freed up Thursday for a possible spotting session at Malta Luqa and we diligently spent a few hours using the hotel's wireless network to search for the scheduled movements on Thursday. The spotter's platform is located approximately along the halfway point of runway 13/31, and had been recently rebuilt when the airport perimeter fence had been extended to include the adjacent Medavia hangar as part of the airport compound. It takes about 20 mins to walk from the airport terminal building to the spot, or just five minutes from the nearest bus stop. Three public bus services served the bus stop direct from the capital city of Valleta, with a journey time of between 20-50mins depending on the service. With the recent takeover of the public transport system by Arriva, this had been reduced to 2 services with an average frequency of 20-30mins each. It is nearly impossible to lose one's way when walking to the spot from the bus stop as one simply had to turn left at the roundabout to walk along the road that is parallel to the runway. After a short walk besides a field of vines, the spotter's platform would be clearly visible. The spotter's platform is a very simple structure which consists of several stacked sandstone blocks and a welded steel pipe which functioned as a safety guardrail. A bench and a table is also thoughtfully placed under the platform to provide an area for spotters to seek respite from the scorching summer sun. A discarded radial engine is also placed in the compound as a monument, centrepiece or a random work of art depending on how one looks at it. As the view is not obstructed towards both ends of the runway, one would have ample warning for approaching aircraft and there is sufficient time to climb up the platform slowly. In addition, there are also no problems with the use of airband receivers. There are two runways at Malta Luqa airport, but the longer runway 13/31 is the dominant runway in use except in severe crosswind conditions that usually only occur in the winter season. The traffic comprises of mainly Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies, and the only regular scheduled widebody flight into MLA is a daily Emirates A330-200 flight from Dubai via Larnaca. The sunlight is in the correct direction from late morning (~10am) until late afternoon (~6pm). Air Malta Air Malta is the flag carrier of Malta and operates scheduled and chartered regional flights from its base at Malta Luqa airport. It has a fleet of 5 Airbus A320 and 5 Airbus A319 aircraft. One of the company's A320, 9H-AEP, was photographed taking off from runway 13 with the airport's characteristic terminal building in the background. Airbus A319 9H-AEG on its landing roll on runway 13 at the end of another regional flight with the town of Il-Gudja in the background. Due to its abundance, sandstone is the construction material of choice for almost every building in Malta. The majority of the departures are intersection takeoffs which make it tricky to obtain photos of aircraft on rotation. Airbus 9H-AEJ was photographed rotating off runway 13 with an especially light load. Medavia Medavia is a subsidiary of Air Malta and mainly offers charter and ad-hoc services from its 2 bases in Malta and Tripoli. A Medavia DHC-8-315Q Dash 8 9H-AEY was photographed climbing out from Malta Luqa airport.
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Hope I'm not too late to pen my well wishes.... Happy 6th Anniversary MalaysianWings!