The long summer evenings are perfect for watching freight arrivals into EMA, which springs to life at around 7:30pm during the week and extends into the wee small hours, and with a sunny evening to spare, an Ameriflight B767F due, and runway 09 in use, I decided to head up the M1 to see what’s what.
Runway 09 was in use, and this is a useful runway direction because there are vantage points within easy walking distance from where you can leave the car. After leaving the M1 I followed the road toward the passenger terminal and investigated a few nooks and crannies. Stopping on the highway is forbidden here and the main routes around the airport are all marked as red route, with the threat of being fined for stopping on regular signage.
I had a quick look up Ambassador Road and photographed a couple of GA aircraft (Spot 1 on the map) – I have read that you shouldn’t linger here so I didn’t. I wanted to get some photos of the Bio Flight P68s and the Mapping C404’s but none were active and were either hangered or deployed elsewhere. From Ambassador Road, I continued toward the Aero Park museum which is clearly sign posted (but closed at present due to the Covid problems). As you drive along the western airport boundary northbound there is a long grass bank on the left and there were lots of people watching proceedings, not just spotters but families just out for the evening. Despite the Red Route restrictions, people were parking up on the grass verge and didn’t seem to get a ticket. I elected to drive beneath the approach turning right at the roundabout onto Hill Top drive. Just on the right is a patch of grass where plenty of cars were parked so I did the same. The sun favours the north of the approach just after 6pm at this time of year, and I therefore opted to walk from the car a short distance back to a separate mound at the northern end of the grass bank where it is at its highest. From here you can get clear shots of aircraft lining up on runway 09 for departure. I stood with a gaggle of other spotters (all socially distanced!) with the car visible at all times just in case! As a note, the grass bank south from here isn’t as high and you may not get decent shots of aircraft lining up.
Avgeeks Assemble! Enthusiasts gather on the top of the grass bank which affords a good view of aircraft lining up on the runway as well as arrivals when 09 is in use..
Airport Map
Example of photo from spot 1 is below:
Example of aircraft lining up from spot 2 below.
A DHL 757 gets airbourne from 09, on the left is the informal parking area. Photo taken from spot 2.
Good touchdown shots can be had through the haze but lighting columns can be an issue (taken from spot 2).
A great way to spend a summers evening!
On with the log – I didn’t attempt to read off the stored Jet 2 737’s or the ASL aircraft at the eastern end of the airport. It was too hot to walk the airport path.
Wed 24 Jun 2020 East Midlands
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CS-DVZ Cessna Citation II 550-0443 Taespejo
D-AALE Boeing 777 FZN 36198 AeroLogic
D-AEAI Airbus A300 B4-622RF 637 DHL Air
D-AEAO Airbus A300 B4-622RF 711 DHL Air
D-ALMD Airbus A330 243F 1070 DHL Air
D-AZMK Airbus A300 B4-622RF 683 DHL Air
D-IJOA Cessna Citation CJ2 525A0034 Excellent Air
EC-JXF ATR 72 211F 150 Swiftair
EI-DPC Boeing 737NG 8AS/W 33604 Ryanair
EI-EKD Boeing 737NG 8AS/W 35024 Ryanair
EI-HAA Boeing 737 4Y0SF 25177 DHL Air
G-DHKK Boeing 757 28APCF 32449 DHL Air
G-DHKN Boeing 757 223PCF/W 31308 DHL Air
G-ISAR Cessna 421C Golden Eagle 421C0848 Private
G-JMCT Boeing 737 3Y0SF 24546 West Atlantic Cargo Airlines
G-JMCX Boeing 737 406SF 24959 West Atlantic Cargo Airlines
G-JZHL Boeing 737NG 800/W 63568 Jet2
G-RVLX Reims/Cessna F406 Caravan II 406-0054 RVL Aviation Ltd
G-TAAS AgustaWestland AW.109 SP Grand New 22305 Sloane Helicopters
LX-ALX Challenger 350 20650 Luxaviation
M-JCBC Sikorsky S-76 C++ 760616 J C Bamford Excavators Ltd
N302UP Boeing 767 34AF/W 27240 United Parcel Service
N396CM Boeing 767 323ERBDSF 25195 Amerijet International
OE-IAZ Boeing 737 4Q8SF 25111 ASL Airlines Belgium
OY-SRJ Boeing 767 25EBDSF 27195 Star Air
OY-SRW Boeing 767 346F/W 35818 Star Air
SE-KXP British Aerospace ATP 2056 West Atlantic
SE-LPS British Aerospace ATP 2043 West Atlantic
SE-MAI British Aerospace ATP 2010 West Atlantic
SE-MHK British Aerospace ATP 2033 West Atlantic
TF-BBL Boeing 737 490SF 28887 Bluebird Nordic
