GLOBAL SPOTTING REPORTS
USA - IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, OH and WI
Chicago O Hare – Nov 2015
LANDSIDE
No views that I know of from the terminal areas.
AIRSIDE
The domestic terminal has excellent views. Its possible to walk inbetween all the terminals and respective piers with plenty of windows to see the action. Given the size of this place though and its numerous runways its impossible to see everything. You just have to settle on a good spot. Gate E15 and vicintiy is where I usually park myself. I reckon most stuff passes by on its way in or out. There are good views of the united terminal and a lot of the American and commuter traffic seems to pass by. You can expect to be kept very busy logging stuff. A few years ago I spent over 12 hours here and logged over 500 different aircraft.
HOTELS
The Hilton hotel located at the domestic terminal has excellent views similar to those described above. Again most movements should be seen. Expensive but worth the money unless you can guarantee a long stint airside. Not sure on room numbers but the eight floor or higher is recommended.
WHAT TO EXPECT
American and United along with there respective commuters probably make up 90% of movements.
TIP - N7017U is preserved inside the Chicago Museum of science and industry. There is a metered car park outside the museum if you are driving. Otherwise I believe its close to public transport.
Chicago Midway – Nov 2015
LANDSIDE
None from the terminal. The multi storey provides good views and all movements should be seen. Some stands can be read and various hangers are visible in the distance. They have tried to put some plants in the way but it dosent prevent views. Instead it helps stop people from the terminal area seeing what you are doing.
AIRSIDE
Its been many years since I was airside but assuming nothings changed then there are good views.
HOTELS
WHAT TO EXPECT
Southwest was the only operator I saw with a constant stream of arrivals. However given that Southwest have many bases at larger airports with more variety, is it worth spending time here.
Quite a few Biz were noted in a couple of hours. I didn’t explore the Biz hangers so unsure if its possible to see inside them.
TIP - N7017U is preserved inside the Chicago Museum of science and industry. There is a metered car park outside the museum if you are driving. Otherwise I believe its close to public transport
Indiana – Nov 2015
Indianapolis
Fairly quiet and not worth spending any time at. A large new terminal has been built with a runway out to either side. The multi storey has decent views of some stands and across to cargo. Some other stands can be seen from within the terminal area landside.
This was a large base for Fedex but I’m not sure if that’s the case anymore. 2 B757s and 3 ATRs where present.
At the other end of the field where the old terminal used to be, remain several hangers but you can’t see in most of them. However there was one next to the main road with views inside which produced a BBJ and a Comlux SSJ.
Columbus (Indiana not Ohio)
A small field with little activity but the home of Cummins who have several executive aircraft. It was possibly to see inside there hanger which had a Gulfstream, 2 G280s and an E135.
Lafeyette
Purdue University uses B727 N180FE located on the airport grounds.
Evansville
A small airport located between St Louis and Louisville. Quiet but some smaller regional stuff can be seen at peak hours.
Louisville – Nov 2015
LANDSIDE
From the perimeter it is possible to get the majority of the UPS, even at night. A good pair of binoculars is required, especially ones that work well in the dark. Many of the stands are lit up at night making many easy to read off. Stuff on the taxiway can be difficult. The nosewheels proved a little easier to read.
If you take a look at google maps, starting on the east side at Grade Lane about halfway down the map. There is a small road next to a fire station where you can park and read off about 10 planes. Continue down this road to midfield access road. This road takes you past some hangers and the main employee car park. You should get several more from here through gaps in the fence. Don’t hang around to long though. It’s a busy area and staff will report you. Back onto Grade lane and you will find some more car parks that allow views of a few planes.
From here turn right onto Crittenden Drive South. This takes you onto the western side of the field. Theres a small right turn for a truck stop and a couple of other places to pull in along here allowing different angles on the stuff parked this side, which is where the majority of planes are. The road eventually comes to a dead end but there is a car park on the right. This is the best place to be to watch movements. Lots of stands are visable and most stuff can eventually be read off as planes push back. Lots of aircraft from other stands will also use this taxiway.
From here you will want to get onto Crittenden Drive North. You need to take the overpass just before the dead end, then take Strawberry Lane, Allmond Ave and Woodlawn Ave. Take a right onto Crittenden Drive North. Again similar views as before but with a different angle allowing some more to be read off. Theres a car park along this road if you prefer to stay here. Also from here there are views of some stands on the terminal.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
Theres plenty of hotels close by but none that have actual views. Apparently there are some with distant views if you wanted to watch lights fly around the night sky and use sbs.
WHAT TO EXPECT
On the airline side this place is very quiet so no point hanging around once you get the UPS stuff.
You can expect to log maybe 80-100 UPS in a night. Arrivals are mainly around 11pm – 2am with departures 230am – 6am. I prefer to get a few hours sleep and then get around the perimeter for about 2am and watch stuff as it departs.
UPS also have a daytime push. I arrived about 3pm and there was about 50 on the ground. Check flightstats for timetables and remember that weekends are probably a bad time to go.
Detroit – Nov 2015
LANDSIDE
Detroit is a large airport with a lot of runways and it can be difficult to see everything. The top of the car park on the north terminal probably has the best views with the car park on the Mcnamara terminal also having decent views of some runways.
For more info take a look at www.detroitspotters.com
AIRSIDE
Airside in the Mcnamara terminal should see you get most movements. Its very big so expect to do some walking. Its possible to find a couple of spots to settle down where you can see a good proportion of the movements.
Airside in the north terminal did have good views over to the Mcnamara terminal and was possibly the best place to get most movements from. However there has been a lot of construction work done to the terminal so whether these views still exist I don’t know.
HOTELS
Hotels on Wick Road apparently have some views. The hotel in the Mcnamara terminal only has very limited views of a few stands and certainly not worth the cost.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Dominated by Delta at the Mcnamara terminal, and your only reason to visit can be to fill up your Delta fleet. Spirit have a few flights from the north terminal along with the other usual airlines.
Michigan – Other Airports
Willow Run – Nov 2015
Located not far from the main Detroit airport. Most things can be logged by driving around. Nothing compared to what it used to be. USA Jet only had 3 DC9’s parked up this time as opposed to 14 a few years back. A Kalitta DC9 and an old Emery DC8 appeared WFU along with a B727. Expect a few other bits along with a museum with several older types including a gulfstream.
Pontiac / Oakland county – Apr 2013
An excellent place to visit located about 40 miles away from Detroit. IFL are based here with B727’s and Convairs. This also appears to be where bizjets coming to Detroit land with several FBO’s. Expect to see lots of old Falcon 20’s in various conditions along with Some Embraer 110’s amongst other stuff.
Oscoda – Nov 2015
Located about 200 miles north of Detroit. Kalittas graveyard for spare parts. No problem seeing most stuff here.
B727s
N728CK
N866AA many parts missing -
N752DH
N706JP
N723CK
N502MG no engines
B747s
N701CK
N705CK small parts missing
N748CK
N110TR
N727CK - Japan Airlines Resocha cls - tail section chopped off
N768CK
N747CK
N703CK
N629US
N923FT
N488EV
N790CK
N791CK
N792CK
N767CK
D-ABTE
N704CK
N787RR
N706BL
P4-FSH
Plus 1 more - A/W presumably ex Kalitta
N450AX DC10
N207AX B767 Basic UA cls
Battle Creek – Nov 2015
En Route from Chicago to Detroit
N119FE - No longer at Battle Creek / Kalamazoo Int'l Airport
N258FE - Remains at Battle Creek Kellogg airport
Cincinnati – Nov 2015
LANDSIDE
Not sure about the terminal area, I think the multi storey may have views. There is an excellent viewing area on the west side of the field located off Donaldson Highway near South Airfield Dr. From here all movements should be seen including views of the cargo ramp. It suggests its closed at night but I suspect you may still be able to access it.
If you take South Airfield Drive you will get views of the Biz and GA ramp. You should be able to find some other views of cargo from this area.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
Several hotels are located in the vicinity but don’t know of any with views.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Long gone are the days when you could see over a hundred CRJs in a day. Delta are still the main carrier but with only a handful of flights its not really worth a visit for them.
DHL are based and have an early morning departure rush from about 4am. Check flightstats for timetables. However I didn’t visit at night so not sure on how easy it is to read stuff off. SBS may be required.
Ohio – Other Airports – Nov 2015
Cincinnati Lunken Field
About 20 miles from the main airport. Not that much here. An Ultimate Jet Charter D328 and some smaller bits.
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
About an hour from Cincinnati. There is large museum here with many exhibits including the C17 prototype. See there website for a full list. Its also possible to get a couple of things on the main ramp in the distance.
Dayton
Very quiet with nothing more than a handful of airliners each day. Don’t bother with the detour.
Columbus
A large airport with a large amount of hangers, including a base for Netjets. Not that that means you will see lots of Netjets though. Not many biz where parked outside but it was early morning so during the day they may open the doors. I didn’t explore the hangers but they didn’t look the type to have windows.
On the airline front its mainly regional jets from the main carriers. Reasonably busy early morning but generally quiet.
The multi storey offers good views but it didn’t take long to get noticed with the police preferring I didn’t stay much longer. Worth a visit to get whats in but no need to stay any amount of time.
Columbus Bolton Field
N107FE parked here at a training college.
Milwaukee
After the collapse of Midwest Express not much remains here. Air Cargo Carriers have there headquarters here and a few Shorts aircraft may remain WFU or parked up. Otherwise its fairly quiet with just the mainline carriers. Several years ago the multi storey had goo views and uis probably still the case.
Minneapolis – Aug 2017
LANDSIDE
The Multi storey car parks offer fantastic views over the whole airport.
AIRSIDE
Plenty of window views but with runways on either side of the terminal its hard to watch everything from one place. The top end of concourse E or F are possibly the best spot to log everything.
There is an observation deck located in the D gates. Not very well signposted. Walk past Mcdonalds and theres a set of stairs on the left. Excellent views of this side of the airport including a lot of the regional jet stuff. Only partial views of the other side and its at a distance so you will struggle to read a lot of stuff unless your happy to monitor flightradar.
Sun Country and Southwest depart from a different terminal thats out of sight. They can only be seen taxiing in and out and are difficult to see from the observation area unless they come over to that runway.
HOTELS
Not Known
WHAT TO EXPECT
Delta, Delta, Delta, Delta. Sun Country
Cleveland
