31
edits
Sydney Airport: Difference between revisions
→Other Spotting Locations: added beach section
(→Official Spotting Locations: added observation deck section) |
QantasA332 (talk | contribs) (→Other Spotting Locations: added beach section) |
||
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
==Other Spotting Locations== | ==Other Spotting Locations== | ||
=== | ===The Beach=== | ||
The Beach is a favourite spot for both photography and viewing. The Southern end of 16R/34L is visible, with 16R and 34L rotations often occuring in front of either Sydney ATC Tower or the city skyline. 34L landings can also be observed in the distance, as well as 16L arrivals behind the tower. Aircraft taxiing along taxiway Alpha are always crowd-pleasers, with wingtips passing just meters from the fenceline - don't forget to wave to the pilots! Other taxi movements can been seen across the runway, with smaller aircraft frequently taxiing to or from 16L/34R. The gates to the carpark at The Beach are locked at around 7 or 8PM. | |||
To get to The Beach travelling west on General Holmes Drive (from the east side of the airport), continue along until you pass through the tunnel under 16R/34L. Exiting the tunnel, stay in the lane in which you can either go left (for the M5) or straight (for General Holmes Drive). Go straight, and immediately after the M5 entrances branches off to the left there is a small left turn lane which leads into an Airservices Australia facility. Turn left into there, then turn right around the buildings in front of you, then left (continuing around the buildings) and then left again. There should be a carpark straight ahead of you, in which you park. For carpark spotting (see photography info below), stay put. Otherwise, head towards the bushes at the far end of the carpark and follow the fenceline there until you reach a cleared area and another fence preventing further forward progress - this is The Beach fenceline area. To get to The Beach travelling east on General Holmes Drive, look for a small turnoff to your left after passing over the Endeavour Bridge. This leads to the Airservices Australia area, at which point you can skirt around the buildings to the carpark following the directions outlined above. There is no way to get to The Beach going east on the M5, so you need to pass through the tunnel under the runway, turn around, and following the directions for travelling west on General Holmes Drive. | |||
There are two main spots for photography: the fenceline, and the carpark. The fenceline gets you close to 16R and 34L departures, and can afford some decent angles of 34L arrivals. Taxiway Alpha movements are excellent from the fenceline, with other taxiway movements behind the runway visible but not ideal. A relatively tall ladder is essential for fenceline spotting in order to see above the fence. Be sure to keep your ladder at least three meters from the fence, as airport security will probably ask you to move it back if it too close. If you don't have a ladder, there is a large rock at the edge of the bushes which you can stand on, however this only helps a little. The carpark affords views of 16R and 34L departures and 34L landings. A ladder is not required. Lighting for photography is best in the afternoon and evening. The approximate required focal length for fenceline photography is 15 to 20mm for wideangle shots of aircraft approaching on taxiway Alpha, and 160 to 400mm for everything else (though 200mm is still fine as a maximum). For carpark photography, the approximate required focal length is 200 to 500mm. | |||
Sample photos from The Beach fenceline: | |||
{{anetlink|846001}} | |||
{{anetlink|772501}} | |||
{{anetlink|619492}} | |||
Sample photos from The Beach carpark: | |||
{{anetlink|915579}} | |||
{{anetlink|517537}} | |||
Photo from The Beach carpark of spotters at the fenceline: | |||
{{anetlink|723417}} | |||
==Locations to Avoid== | ==Locations to Avoid== | ||