Lufthansa A380

[eric8669]

I was just going to say that... glad it was cloudy so the light was more even... had it been a full sunny day, at least 2 stops over and then blown edges etc... Well, glad you were ramp side and made the best of it. I know you were being chaperoned.

When I called I was surprised the event was a Lufthansa one, not a Port one. Port press office asked me to call Lufthansa. I would have been able to make it had it not been for a prior engagement at my paying job :-(

I believe this was a Terminal One event.

[jerslice]

Lufthansa handled this event and got us out there.

[gonzalu]

Yeah I finally spoke to a Lufthansa rep and they said I would be welcome (I would represent another aviation media outlet) but I had to cancel a few days before as I had to be at work today. Big contract signing I had to be present for :-(

[megatop412]

Wow... nice William :-) I love those kind of stories, it seems that I did that same sort of thing a lot when I first started spotting. Nowadays I try to be better informed by listening to CMRN or ROBER approach which give me about 15 minutes before they are on Final.

Thanks Manny- yeah I have been wondering how I can get a better "heads up" than from listening to ATIS (although my Mom admitted it was the most excitement she's seen in a while)

[gonzalu]

William, I have learned to pay attention to the far away approach controllers and then when they hand off, if they hand off to tower I know JFK is notthat busy (and you have less time) and if they hand off to Final Approach they are usually busier and that guides me as to how much time you have to move if any. On Final Approach freq they are about 5 to 8 minutes out... once on tower, 5 minutes tops before they land.

EVEN THEN, there is no guarantee until the tower clears them for landing as I have PLENTY of recent experience with the pesky Finn Air Cargo MD-11 lol. They are always vectored in from the north east so would naturally get a 31R for instance. But they are really insistant on a short taxi to their cargo ramp up by JAL. So they ask every controller for a switch to 31L... I have been ready for them on 31R only to have the tower soften up and switch them to 31L at the last minute (of course, no time to move LOL)

Now of course, since I no longer "need" to snag a nice pic of it, it came in on 31R, on SATURDAY, 24 hours late I was laughing my ass off. Took me like 10 fridays of failed attempts to catc hher and now it just comes in on 31R, nice and easy, no stress, on a gorgeous day... I don't need it hahahaaha

My mom would have said, "faster faster" she is such a troublemaker. My [dad] is the chicken!

[moose135]

My mom would have said, "faster faster" she is such a troublemaker.

Wow, there's a straight line if I ever heard one...I'll resist the urge to reply.

[gonzalu]

Wow, there's a straight line if I ever heard one...I'll resist the urge to reply.

Ha!!

[Speedbird1]

Did any of you guys see the A380? On which runway was the landing? I saw no coverage on the local news. I guess the A380 is no longer newsworthy anymore. I have seen the AFR A380 so often that I now take it for granted just as I did the Concorde decades ago. Now, what I wouldn't give to see a Concorde arrive!

[Zee71]

I believe the next Lufthansa A380 is this Friday, 3/11 at 1:35pm according to Lufthansa's website. As far as which runways, it all depends on Mother Nature and the winds she whips up. There are times that they split runway arrivals depending on conditions but the majority of the time I would say has been 22L, and 31L. I recommend monitoring the air traffic and going to the appropriate spot to catch her arriving.

[megatop412]

Did any of you guys see the A380? On which runway was the landing? I saw no coverage on the local news. I guess the A380 is no longer newsworthy anymore. I have seen the AFR A380 so often that I now take it for granted just as I did the Concorde decades ago. Now, what I wouldn't give to see a Concorde arrive!

Hi- several people did catch it, depite the weather, myself included. There was actually lots of coverage on the news that night- I remember watching the TV and seeing clips. I also heard Tower talking to helicopter traffic requesting hovers near the airport just before the arrival. I assumed these were TV choppers getting footage of the landing.

[flyingwithfish]

I had the pleasure of having more than an hour to explore the A380, virtually alone, at LH's Technik Hanger at FRA the day before it's first flight to JFK ... then flew home on LH 400 on the 28th, the first LH A380 flight to the US.

You can check out some of my photos of the aircraft in the hanger here - http://bit.ly/hxA6RG ... and check out some shots of the A380 getting reading to push for its first flight to the US here - http://bit.ly/dTUe4g

Happy Flying!

-Fish

[gonzalu]

Wow Fish, welcome to the forum and to NYCA :-0 Nice first port. So you were on the flight? Did you see any of us spotting you? LOL GREAT pictures btw...

[flyingwithfish]

Manny,

I saw a few folks on the ramp under the jetway ... but on approach I was shooting other stuff needed for work. I briefly met a few folks in T1, but as soon as I landed I had a number of stories to file for my own blog, Conde Nast and other outlets, so I ended up being the anti-social guy in the corner with an iPad and MacBook Air glued to my fingers.



... this assignment with the LH A380 ranks up with with flying to Basrah Iraq with Richard Branson for six hours (less than twenty people on a 744) and spending a few days flying between HKG and YVR spending no more than an hour at YVR at any time while shooting a project for the now defunct Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (the only assignment where I can say I got to skateboard on the ramp of a major international airport :0))

Happy Flying!

-Fish

[gonzalu]

Looks like you're going to be a valued member around here :-) we looooove inside stories!

[flyingwithfish]

Manny,

Next up for me, when its rescheduled shortly, is JFK-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK in about three days. The best part, 10hrs of spotting at NRT ... oh yea, and doing my work of course. After that with any luck, its back to Frankfurt for a night of nothing but LH Cargo and three-holers.