The best is Frankfurt, where you can actually go out onto the roof of the terminal without needing a ticket. It costs a small fee and you need to pass through a metal detector, but it beats sitting in a parking lot trying to get a view of the traffic.
At Pearson (Toronto) there is a bike trail that goes through multiple layers of barbed wire fences, and right by the end of some runways. I estimate you are within 50 feet of the landing planes (straight underneath them).
It doesn't have a great view other then that really, but I think that's a pretty cool unique view.
Additionally, the Autobahn is next to the airport, and planespotters also occupy the dirt just beside that.
And since the main approach is from the east, you have kilometers of fields with small dirt paths in that direction where you can watch airplanes very low and directly overhead.
The best is a house near an airport. I just look out my back window. So far the interesting ones have been the An-225, the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, the E-4B, the F-35A, the F-22, the V-22, the CH-47, the A-10, the B-25, the B-2, powered parachutes, Air Force One, Trump Force One, and all the teen series fighters. We didn't see it fly, but the YAL-1 also seems to have visited.
When I lived in previous houses: the Goodyear blimp, the Space Shuttle (up and down)
I bet you never get the Space Shuttle in Frankfurt.
Isn't that brutally loud? I used to have relatives living in the flight path of Frankfurt airport and for a little while it was fun to watch the planes but the noise got old very quickly.
The Goodyear blimp was a weird buzzing noise, not that loud.
The Space Shuttle launch was at some distance, otherwise the brutally loud noise would have killed me by ripping my internal organs loose. I had about 30 miles of safety margin, giving a house-shaking rumble. Landings were quiet except for a BOOM BOOM as the shockwave passed over. That would rattle the windows.
The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft.
The V-22 is another one that sounds really weird, but it isn't actually loud.
All the fighter jets are loud. We get lots of them for about 3 days per year, during an airshow. Four or even six of the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds making a turn around my house is quite noisy. Otherwise, the rare fighter jet flies through maybe once or twice a year.
The most awful noise was actually not on my list, because it isn't interesting. Delta likes to fly a decently large jet (probably 737-NG, 717, MD-80, or MD-90) at around 6:55 AM.
Go to flightaware if you want to figure out the plane type.
https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KBOS (for Boston; replace with your local airport) and you can see the scheduled IFR departures listed, with their abbreviated callsigns and aircraft type.
> The An-225's six engines got me running to the window, though more for the oddity of the sound. At the time, that was the world's largest operational aircraft.
So jealous. I'd love to see one of these things in the metal, let alone see / hear it taking off and landing.
I'm about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) off the end of the runway, and about 1000 feet (300 m) off the centerline. Arrivals usually have gear down, while departures usually do not.
I saw the An-225 departing. I heard it, felt that the sound wasn't typical, and ran to the window. I spotted the six engines and the distinctive H-tail just in time. That was a jolt. I see that and, well, there can be only one plane. It's that one, unique in the world.
It turns out that my local airport (MLB) sometimes does maintenance for the An-225. I'm not sure why this would be done in the USA at all, but we do have a 10,000-foot runway and huge hangars that I suspect were built for the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The An-225 has probably been here more times than I know. Maybe I could see it often if there were some way to get notified in advance. Maybe there is even a predictable schedule.
I live right next to Bruntingthorpe in the UK, which was a WWII and cold war airbase. They have shows there a few times per year where they fire up the old jets and blast them up and down the runway. Very cool.
Anyway, until recently the last airworthy Vulcan bomber would fly very low over our house when these shows were taking place. Ridiculously loud thing and absolutely awe-inspiring. Sadly it's not flying anymore due to lack of spares and too many accumulated hours on the airframe.
Pretty much. The demo team requires a runway that is 7,000 by 75 feet. They also demand single-wheel weight bearing of 65,000 pounds, parking spaces that are 75 feet wide, security fencing, and various other junk like hotels and a gym. I'm sure they'd settle for less in an emergency, perhaps even a wide highway.
I don't think it is all that much compared to the Boeing VC-25 (with Trump) or Antonov An-225 Mriya, both of which landed at the airport.
