Planegeek

[skyring]

This afternoon I went out to the airport. Saturday afternoon and the business centre carpark is all but empty. The Commonwealth sold the airport a few years back to a local businessman, and he promptly capitalised on the exemption from planning restrictions to build a series of office buildings beside the terminal. He's also building a shopping centre.

Anyway, the car park was deserted except for a bloke standing on the roof of his rather elderly Mitsubishi Sigma. He looked over at me as I approached in my rather more recent model sedan, but relaxed as I pulled up twenty metres or so and commenced fiddling with my camera. I soon discovered why he was standing on his car roof - to aim his camera over the chain link perimeter fence. His lens barrel was too big to fit through.

Mine only just made it, and in fact it's a significant limitation on the shots I can take from that position. But I got a few, of which perhaps the best is an example of the nose art on one of the Virgin Blue 737s from what is now Australia's "second" airline, Ansett having folded some years back, leaving Qantas holding a monopoly.





I walked over and chatted with him later. He'd been wondering if I was airport security in an unmarked car. Not that we'd be chased off - the airport itself maintains a map showing the best planespotting points. Perhaps they'd get us for not paying for parking, but I couldn't see it, not on a weekend.

Not as easy as I thought to take a good shot. Hard to see the screen in the sunlight, and using the digital viewfinder is a bit fiddly, especially while poking through a chain-link fence. On the plus side, I discovered how to use the continuous shooting feature.

I'm not going to stand on the roof of my car to take photographs, and I can't really see myself dragging along a ladder to stand on. Obviously being a plane spotter has its limitations.

Comments

[silvanime.livejournal.com]

Think DD might be conned into holding the ladder steady for you?

[skyring.livejournal.com]

Entirely possible! She's about as nutty about planes as I am! Once I get a scanner that works with aircraft freqs, she can be in charge of that.

I think she prefers being at the end of the runway and getting lightly doused with jet fuel.

[thebiblioholic.livejournal.com]

While you're at it, get an amateur radio license and HF rig. Can you say "on air bookcrossing meetup"? :-)

[skyring.livejournal.com]

Not quite my cup of tea. I just want to hear air traffic control so I know what's going on and what planes are coming in.

[silvanime.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great way to spend some quality family time. Might be a good idea to stay away from BBQ's for a little while after though...