Looking at a plane in the air that just took off or is about to land is part of my daily life. Since I work at the airport, I see planes moving everyday. Even at the end of my first year at Embry-Riddle I never got tired and I would still look in the sky to see what kind of aircraft it was. Last week, I decided to go plane spotting after work.
In 2012, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (CYUL) inaugurated the Jacques-De-Lesseps Park for plane spotting activities, the only official observation park in Canada. The park faces 9,600 feet runway 06R/24L. The thing I like about Montreal is that we have a lot of international carriers so I can have a variety of aircraft in my pictures. I like the Air Canada A320, but sometimes it is great to see other airlines that we don’t see very often in North America like Royal Jordanian and SkyGreece Airlines.
I like to see people watch planes even though they have no clue what type of aircraft it is. The airport installed a sign where it shows all the types of aircraft that flies in and out of Montreal. It indicates the shape of the aircraft as well as the number of passengers it can sit.
Last year during the Christmas break my family and I went on vacation to St. Maarten. The island’s airport (TNCM) is best known for its low approaches over the shore and Maho Beach. There are a few restaurants surrounding the beach with a perfect view of the approach. Here are some of the pictures I took when I was there:
KLM Boeing 747-400 a few seconds before touchdown.
The ‘Queen of the Skies’ flew over a crowded beach!
Wells Fargo Bank’s Gulfstream G550 over Maho Beach.
United Airlines Boeing 737-700 arriving from Newark.
In Daytona Beach, we also have great locations to see what is going on the runways. I enjoy going on the terrace of the Aviation Maintenance Science Building and the Flight Operations Center. I highly recommend to the new incoming freshman to go check it out. We don’t have a lot of commercial flights there but we do have a lot of general aviation traffic!
All the pictures in this blog were taken with my iPhone. Yes, I know it is not the greatest camera but it did the work. Below are some of the pictures I took in Montreal:
Swiss Intl. Air Lines Airbus A330-300 heading to Zurich.
Air France B777-200ER taking off from 24L. There are up to 8 daily flights between Montreal and Paris.
Delta Connection CRJ 700 operated by GoJet Airlines.
Air Transat Boeing 737-800 with new fuel efficient Split Scimitar Winglets.
I only have about two weeks left working at the airport but summer is not over yet. I have many things planned in the next weeks. In my next post, I will share my experience working in an aviation environment this summer.
Until next time!
Nicolas
