Getting into spotting

[callum5124]

Hey all,

Recently i have got into spottin5g and my local airports are Doncaster Sheffield and east midlands!

I have all the equipment (camera, tripod), have a live departure board on my phone and have some spare time but, i really like seeing the unusual stuff so i was wondering if there was a website or app or something which tells you when there is an unscheduled aircraft coming in for example a canadian C-17 landed yesterday at Doncaster but i really want a few days prior warnibg but dont know how!

Anyway i would appreciate any help and feel free to add some top tips for me when spotting below as i am just starting out and any help would be greatfully appreciated!

[Transport_Hub]

I’d suggest you take a look at this post:

Planespotting tips/guide, how to find your own location

Recently was looking through my PMs and found this about a question regarding spotting. Basically I have copy-pasted it, done some editing and made it public for those interested. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Without further ado… Tips for spotting… Never shoot into the sun. The photos will come out with dark planes and those won’t be so appealing: [US Airways Airbus A321-200] Not sure if this applies to anyone but don’t take photos with a cellphone camera. Phones only …

[Freddiefrogs]

Doncaster is a great airport for unusual traffic. FR24 will sometimes show the more interesting traffic on the arrival/departure boards and will give you a days warning, although most of the time it will only show the commercial services.

[callum5124]

Could you suggest any other way of getting more advance warning?

[Andre_S]

Spotting is fun!
Check this out for military aircraft:
(Scroll to the bottom for radar)
ADS-B Exchange

[Matt737]

Good luck with spotting! If you ever need assistance, PM me or @JRRaviation, or anyone else who spots on the community, we will be glad to help!

I’d take a look at these 2 topics. Good luck again!

New rule for Spotting category

@JRRaviation Tyler was basically reiterating the fact that the whole premise behind Philippe wanting to enact a 10-Photo limit helps ease the storage burden and he elaborated on the fact that including a link to a personal blog or other medium is a step in a direction for a compromise without dismissing the category altogether. :)

About the Spotting Category

This is a sub-category of #real-world-aviation, its purpose is to have a place to show aircraft that members have photographed in the real-world, either from a recent trip or a plane spotting experience. Anyone can post in this category. As well as our Guide to the Community, the following rules apply within this category when posting: Only create one topic per spotting session, aircraft or event Give as much detail about the shots as possible. This can be background information of the air…

[KPIT]

Well for starters it us hard to know about milatary up untill you see them visualy, or hear on a scanner. Byond that, check the arival/departures bord in FR24, and esspecialy check images. Special liveries are a great thing that can be planned ahead, but also be an awsome unique photo. Also keep track of aircraft you realy like to see, like at KPIT I always know that every other day at 5:30ish is good becuais the wow plane lands. Or evry 4th day at about 8:30 the Qatar Cargo 77. Another great reasourse is tp check the page about your local airport (may or may not be ine for your airport this is based off of my experience at KPIT) and see if it lists “Destinations” here atleast for my airport it shows frequencies/times of alot of flights. This is great esspecialy for seasonal flights to find a start/end date. For example I found that Condor starts seasonaly this Thursday two months ago and have had the date on my calendar since…

Hope this helps, KPIT

[cleipelt]

FlightAware is a great tool since you mentioned you want to know of aircraft more in advance. The only problem with FlightAware is that some cool aircraft (military, exotic business jets, etc) may be blocked and untrackabke on the website.

FR24 is more of a live view option which can also be useful in most situations.

[GaplessHiding]

Make sure you have a long lens! Also, find out the best spotting locations around the airport. If there’s security, listen to what they say. I’d recommend using manual mode for taking pictures.