Short final


Again in California and again it was my goal to catch a heavy on short final to LAX. Dream was to get a Quantas A380. But without having ATC or mobile internet the only thing you can do is wait (and I saw the Quantas bird already coming in when I still was on the highway). This time I had plenty of time to visit the famous park at Sepulveda Blvd. to watch the birds coming down on runway 24R. But everything I saw was a big cross on the runway marking it as closed. What a disappointment! So I walked down the road to 24L and got an AA triple seven – unfortunately on the best frame a wingtip is missing. Obviously not my day. So I walked back to the car. On the way back I met another photographer and he gave me the information that the Korean A380 is coming around. So I went back to 24L. Plan was to be at the left wing tip fence position and to catch the beast at 11 mm. Really hard to estimate…
This is what I got and I’m quite happy. Not the 24R position, but still an A380 wide angle picture at LAX. Due to the fact that it was done at 11 mm the plane looks smaller than it is. But have a look on it’s mighty shadow and you will get an impression about the size (front part is only from wing tip to No.1 engine)

Delta heavy

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One of the first things which came into to my mind when I got the information about traveling to California was: Hell yeah – spotting at LAX! Propably it was recognizable in ealier posts, I really like aviation and flying is always a pleasure for me. And due to this I have seen a lot pictures made at Los Angeles International Airport. A special thing there is a small park next to the In’n’Out-Burger at Sepulveda Blvd. This is one of the rare spots in the world where it is possible to make plane photographs using a wide angle lens as the aircraft are passing really low over this point. The plan was to grap the rental car and go there. Unfortunately it was right after noon and no heavy was in sight. And all the 737 and A32X were not that impressive.
Second attempt was on the day I had to leave back home. As I was not alone in the car I could not go to the airport in the early morning to catch all the A380 and B747 from Asia and Australia. At the end – this Delta 767 you see on the photo is the biggest bird I got. Not that what I had planned to shoot but better than nothing. Anyway, I assume there is no airport in the near were I can make a better wide angle picture due to the fact that the birds are to high when crossing the airport fence. What should I say, I had the chance to spot aircraft at LAX and I took it. And it was quite impressive. Especially a few minutes later when I went to the beach behind the airport for the final time and this big blue Korean A380 got airborne right above me. Incredible piece of engineering.