Spotting in SEA and MIA

[Paul S.]

Hi Everyone, im heading over to the planes of fame air show in chino an will be doing some spotting in SEA MIA LAX and LAS. Any thoughts on hotels and spotting tips for MIA and SEA would be appreciated. This is my first post so i hope I have placed this in the correct area,

regards

paul s.

[Tim Bowrey]

Hi Paul,

If I'm correct that airshow is on in May? This may complicate things a little as the sun tends to be more northern this time of year which in LAX and MIA you will need to switch sides of the runway in the afternoon.

In LAX mornings at Imperial or Proud Bird would be the place to go and In N Out during the afternoon which is brilliant all arvo especially between about 6pm till sunset.

Funnily you should ask about Miami as I'm acctually in town now. I can't speak for other times of the year but 95% of heavies have landed 09/27 depending on wind which is great at 'El Doraldo'. In May you would need to change to the north side in the afternoon. Weekends are slow and freight is often unpredictable although fantastic! Flightaware app helps as always but can be unreliable.

If you need anymore help I'm happy to help.

**Almost forgot Seattle, 188th St is beat for 34's and North Seatac Park is believe is for 16's although I haven't spotted from that location. SEA is not the most exciting airport, tons of Alaskans as expected but not a great variety of Intl compared to other airports you are visiting.

[Justin L]

If you get time to spot in LAS and have a car, there is a spotters parking lot on Sunset Road, at the corner of Escondido Street (in between the traffic light intersections of Paradise Road and Spencer Street), with great views of the terminals, take-offs, landings with the Las Vegas Strip and mountains in the background.

If you don't have a car, access by public transport is possible, by taking a "Strip & Downtown Express" bus southbound on the Strip to the South Strip Transfer Terminal, then a Sunset Road 212 bus east.

[Kieran Wells]

LAX i definately recommend In'n'Out in the afternoon.. I got there about 1pm(15min walk from T3(alaskan/Virgin America) terminal, and had an absolute ball till i left about 8pm.. Got all sorts of light and heavies, although sad to miss the Delta 744. Found with that spot there wasn't large amounts of Delta/United(having terminals on the other side of the airport!).

[Matt_L]

Spot on Kieran.

What you will find with LAX is (vast majority of the time Runway 24/25s are in use) that the Heavies are most often landed on the 24's in the morning and takeoff on the 25s towards the afternoons. This means that if you want the landings of certain International Airlines , and most certainly the domestic carriers who are on the 24s side (Alaskan, Virgin America, Southwest etc) then In N out is a great option.

Imperial Hill as Tim suggests is a great spot too, and great for both departures and arrivals on the 25 runways.

[Paul S.]

Thankyou all for your input and advice I will have a car at all my stops so that will help. Tim i would love to know if you went to Opa Locka and if you can still get airside there to have a look around, and Justin, Im pretty sure i know the place you are talking about so thanks for taking the time to answer my post.