Definitely the wrecked Arab Airlines plane on the beginning of Diagoras Airport runway in Rhodes. Never helps my hate of flying and it's been there for years.

Not the best of sights for the beginning of a holiday is it.

Last time we landed in Rhodes the plane lost its steering on the nose wheel before it cleared the runway. After waiting 20 mins. for a tow which never arrived the pilot got it off the runway in a zig zag by using the left and right hand engines alternately. For best view of planes landing rent a boat and moor at the top of Skiathos harbour (power boat definately no masts allowed), this is as close as you would want to get!!!

Lying on Playa D'en Bossa beach in Ibiza!
The planes come in right above your head. I have a couple of pics took from undeneath!

Wave to the passengers from C'an Pastilla Beach Majorca.Wear ear plugs for a good nights sleep, after a few days it gets boring. If you are really lucky (we were)novice pilots practice really low over the beach to scare the sunbathers.

Lying on Playa D'en Bossa beach in Ibiza!
The planes come in right above your head. I have a couple of pics took from undeneath!

Don't remind me. My son was only three at the time and hated the things at the best of times.There we were, Jeep parked up and all the gear on the sun beds when ROAR...............and the little one dissapeared under the sun lounger, it was funny as everytime we coaxed him out, along came another one It's great looking back at the video shots.

Best beach that I have encountered,IMO, for plane spotting and waving at the passenger's is Playa Dorado resort in Dom Rep. It's fantastic.

St Martens in the Caribbean - a strip of sand maybe 15m wide, sea one side, single carriageway road the other. then a six foot fence then the end of the runway!! If he drops in 25m short he'll get wet wheels - and how anyone keeps the sunloungers on the beach is anyone's guess - maybe they're concreted in!!

There used to be a nice photo on airliners.net of a KLM Jumbo landing short there (wrong side of the "piano keys" on the tarmac so far too close to the beach and road for comfort) - must try to find it!!

A great pic here:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/385938/L/

Mark

Matagorda in Lanzarote is a good place to stay for plane spotters.Theres a small area at the end of the promanade where you can sit and watch the planes land just over your head!Ive seen a video of a plane landing in St Marten where the sunbeds are being blown into the sea as a plane lands,but I am not sure where on the web it is.

Holy quackermoly that's low!

Anyone beat ST Martens?

I live in the perfect place for plane spotters. They don't fly directly over us from Heathrow but you can read the flight number on the side of the plane.

Also when I'm in the bathroom with the radio on, everytime a plane takes off I can hear the pilot having a conversation with air traffic control.

Cavtat in Croatia. We used to watch as the planes flew right over our accomodation. Very noisy, but enjoyed reading the markings on them all and seeing where they all came from. They did not land at night which was a blessing.

St Martens in the Caribbean - a strip of sand maybe 15m wide, sea one side, single carriageway road the other. then a six foot fence then the end of the runway!! If he drops in 25m short he'll get wet wheels - and how anyone keeps the sunloungers on the beach is anyone's guess - maybe they're concreted in!!

I think we can beat that in Scotland! The landing strip on Barra in the Outer Hebrides IS the beach. It's the only place I know of where the scheduled flight timetable has to be done in conjunction with the tide tables with the result that take-off and landing times are date specific. Just because a flight was timed for mid-day last week doesn't mean that it will be this week. Planes can only land and take-off at low tide and because the sand is only firm enough for take-off and landing between the high and low waterlines every landing is bumpy on account of the ripples left in the sand by the outgoing tide. Must be one of the few places in the world where your first walk on the beach takes place before you've even got to the terminal buildings (probably more properly described as a shed) and your last walk on the beach is the one you take to the plane steps!

SM

WOW! Mark what a picture! That's got to be the lowest I've seen a plane.

I must admit in a way I was disappointed by the new airport at Hong Kong - I would have loved to have flown in the 'old' way through the city Now that would have been exciting....

Yes mark, what an incredible photograph. At first I thought it must be a trick photo of some kind as surely an aircraft cannot fly that low, but then I noticed the shadow, so clearly it is real. Do we know where the location is? It is an amazing image. Thank you

BHIC

I used to work in the Aircraft industry and was a bit of an anorak (still am as this afternoon I shall be taking my first trip on a Boeing 777)! I used to love walking to the end of Playa Den Bossa beach Ibiza and lie under the flight path as the planes came in. The planes were so low that their slipstream would whisk the sand up off the beach. The real biggies like Tristars and DC10s could lift the water off the sea in vortices as they came in!

When we first went there in the early 80s there was a daily DC3 flight that came in early each morning. I used to get out of bed and stand on the balcony to watch it come in. Classic!

I flew into Hong Kong about 15years ago, it was quite an experience looking at people eating in their kitchens as the plane flew past their window. A bit scary too.

I flew out of Hong Kong in 1981 - is it really over 25 ago? - and it was even scarier that way! We arrived in Hong Kong by train from Guangzhou (Canton) which was interesting to say the least but neither compared with flying from Beijing to Nanjing on the same trip in an ancient CAC prop plane that looked as if had first seen service in the Revolution! The air conditioning consisted of the stewardess coming round with a tray of paper fans just before take-off :-)

SM

Internal trips in China were an adventure (maybe they still are) some years ago. Old Russian Tupelovs, seats backs that wouldn't stay upright, Toilet doors swinging open and pilots that were determined to land the plane without any thought to passenger comfort, even if it meant bouncing down the runway three or four times before coming to a stop.
I've also done the train crossing from Guangzou, as you say interesting, I wonder what it is like since the handover ? but unfortunately didn't get a window seat on the flight out of HK so couldn't see the folks in their homes.
It will be interesting to see the new airport though.