Newcastle Airport
| Continent: Oceania | Country: Australia | Region: New South Wales |
| Williamtown Military | |
| Location | Newcastle, New South Wales |
| IATA code | WLM |
| ICAO code | YWLM |
| Airport type | Commercial & Military |
| Website | http://www.newcastleairport.com.au |
| Overview map | [ ] |
| Communications | |
| Tower | 118.30 |
| Ground | 121.8 |
| Clearance | 130.35 |
| Approach | 135.70 |
| ATIS | |
| Departure | 118.30 |
Official Spotting Locations
Medowie Road Car Park
This is the offical spotting location at Williamtown. There is plenty of parking to accomodate 100+ cars and a couple of chairs to sit on which face towards 30. This spot is great for visual landings on 30 or take offs from 12 most of the time the wind favours runway 30 so you get a lot of visuals. The sand dunes out to the east makes for a great back drop when spotting at this location and at sunset the runway lights make for a fantastic picture.
A good focal length for this spot is 50 to 300mm but 50mm is good for directly overehad photo's. The best place to photograph from is directly under the flight path. You could mover further up towards fighter world for angled photo's & side on photo's.
Fighter World
This is a great place for taking pictures of landings on 30. The viewing deck faces the 30 threshold and the designated touchdown zone is clearly visable. The recommended focal length for this location is 100 to 400mm althought 200 is a good maximum. The best time for photo's here is during the afternoon when the light is best but throughout the day there is good lighting.
Be aware that entry to fighter world is $5 for children and $10 for adults so this is not the best option for approach photo's but definately your best bet for landings on 30.
Other Spotting Locations
Location
Locations to Avoid
The Terminal
There is a fence running along the apron right next to the terminal and although this is a great place for taking pictures of aircraft up close you will probably be told me move on by security.
Regular Traffic
Jetstar A320 Virgin Blue 737-700/800 Tiger Airways A320 (Until August 2008) Brindabella Metro 23 Aero Pelican Jetream 32 & BAE 110 Norfolk Air 737-200(Mondays Only)