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Smart Phone Spotting.

by | Jun 30, 2022 | Application, Camera, Equipment Reviews., Online Logging, Optical Enhancement, Software Reviews, Spotting

In this post, where I talk about a smartphone – you can substitue deviced like the iPhone, iPad or and Android tablet. Most people will have one of these devices that they can use, so lets get to what you can do with them in the spotting world.

The primary use for a smartphone is communication, but they are capable of so much more. Sit in a cafe or on public transport and you will see people using them to consume digital media in some format, or they will be creating content of some sort.

So how does this relate to plane spotting, well there are a number of ways of using such a device to assist if you have Mobile Data or WiFi access.. Using free App’s like flightradar24 gives access to aircraft ID’s on a continuos basis, an aircraft flying overhead can be in most cases positively identified and would allow you to capture quite a lot of information.

Typically this App will show things like the registration of the aircraft, owner or operator, flight origin and destination. There are a number of dynamic physical reports, altitude, course, speed along with elapsed time and remaining time for the flight. All available for free. There are a number of other Apps that do the same thing, the main difference between them all is the display – and again most of them can be downloaded free.

Recording Information.

As I’ve already said, a pencil and notebook is all that you need to get started. But with a smartphone there are many more options, simply download one of the free Apps, I use Google Keep this allows you to quickly add notes, voice memo’s, check lists and pictures – they are all kept in one App. This makes accessing the information very easy, but you should note that there are many Apps that have similar functionallity. As most of them are free to try I’d suggest that you try a few.

Using the Camera.

In general the cameras on these devices are good quality, I have used mine to take some very good shots over the years – but generally when I’m very close to the aircraft. The photograph above was taken on a smartphone camera, around six years ago. So if you can be within a few meters of an aircraft, the results will be more than adequate using your phone camera.

Some cameras come with multiple sensors and lens configuration, these provide optical zoom sometimes allowing you to zoom into your area of interest. I have found the digital zoom on a number of phone cameras to produce images that to me were not good enough, you may have more luck – experiment.

Addon Smartphone Lenses.

I have not experimented with the addon lenses for phone cameras , I actually still use a dedicated camera for my photography most of the time. But I have seen some excellent results, although in most cases a tripod was used – don’t let this deter you if you feel that that is the way to go.

Online Logs.

It is possible to log directly into some of the online logging apps, however a word of caution here – even the paid for sites tend to severely restrict what you can download from the site once you get home. But effectively you can use your smartphone to log directly into one of these, which does mean that you have your personal log available wherever you have mobile data or WiFi.

Anyway, Happy Spotting!

Spotting Goodies!

by | Jun 29, 2022 | Camera, Equipment Reviews., Optical Enhancement, Spotting

So you’re thinking about being a plane spotter, what do you really need to start in the hobby? Actually very little and to be honest no investment in technology, although because almost every one has at least some suitable technology already – I’ll deal a bit with that later in the post.

The absolute basics to start as a plane spotter, well as I’ve already said elsewhere on the site – it’s a pencil and a note book. The information and the format that you record it in, does to some extent decide what type of notebook, the pencil bit though is pretty standard ( I should add that having a spare is handy sometimes ), they can be acquired from some shops.

There are any number of reasons why people become plane spotters, for some it was because they lived closer to an airport than say a train station or a bus depot. For most though there was a genuine interest in aviation and of course whether they had seen that plane before, in truth the only way to know that for sure is to record the identification of the aircraft.

Simply recording the date, location, aircraft type, operator and the registration, was probably where we all started. For some, this is as far as the hobby progresses. For others, there is a need to record so much more. This can lead on to Airshow trips, trips abroad, photography and in many cases because of the interest a career in the aviation industry.

It is all down to you and what facets of the hobby you find interesting, the more interesting – the more you are likely to invest in some form of technology.

Probably the first addition that most people go for after a second notebook for a master log is an optical device of some sort. Buit it could be any of, binoculars, telescope, computer, radio or camera again down to personal interest.

What to buy, that is a personal preference but suffice to say that most people have a smart phone and most of these have pretty decent cameras nowadays.  If you have even an entry level smart phone, you will be able to photograph, record video and audio, write notes and install an App like flight radar which will fulfill most of your needs.

There is no need to invest huge sums of money in the hobby, you can start with the basics and add to your equipment remember a notebook and a pencil is all it takes to start. Plane spotting has probably been around since shortly after the Wright Brothers made the first flight, the basics have not changed. The spotter can be someone who just goes to an airshow once a year, or someone who spends all their available spare time watching aircraft – or anywhere in between.

At the extreme ends, there are people who take little more than a passing interest and there are people who invest many thousands of pounds and will make significant efforts to be at an airport or airbase when something unusual is about to appear. This is not much different from the football supporter spectrum, where someone will just glance at the results to someone who goes to every game home and away.

So over and above your pencil and notebook what goodies do you need, the answer to that is actually none. What goodies are good to have, well the aforementioned smart phone is a great place to start. The next goody that I would buy if I was starting again would be a pair of binoculars, I’d probably stay in the range of 7X50 or 10X50 due to the cost. Or a telescope, these are very dependent on the depth of your pocket.

You’ll notice that I don’t leap into the camera arena, for information – you can take excellent photographs on your smart phone either on its own or through binoculars or a telescope. But to be fair, a camera would probably be the next goody to purchase. But whatever goody you are going to buy, within the bounds of affordability – buy what you want. Buying something not to the standard that you want is a false economy, you will probably be unhappy with it and end up replacing it – so you might as well have bought what you wanted first time round (Personal Experience).

A computer or tablet, will give access to a wealth of data – both current and historical. Where you can communicate with like minded people through forums and user groops, a simple search for your local airport may be enough. This will give access to social media where there are large numbers of active groups, sometimes several at the same airport.

An Air Band radio will, depending how close you are to the airport give access to ground to air communications. At any rate even if you live some distance from the airport you should be able to hear the communications from air to ground even if you cant hear the other side.

 

Prestwick – 2021 Log

by | Jun 28, 2022 | Airport News, Aviation News, Book Reviews, Online Logging, Spotting

So the testing of the tables and the search facility continues, this data set now comprises a full year of visitors to Prestwick. The based aircraft are not incorporated in the log, mainly due to the fact that each one would add 365 rows to the table – and a search would likely return 365 rows of data.

In order that the table is displayed properly it is at the bottom of the post, where it should be out the way of the rest of the post. The next test will be to break the year down into individual months, I’m going to experiment with various layouts and content to see what works best.

Some additional search and filtering tips, there is now a dropdown at the right hand side if the search bar. This allows the fields searched to be toggled on or off, this will allow more controlled searching and should make life a little easier.

It is possible to order the data by any of the column headings, simply click on the heading to order by alphanumeric ascending or decending – this will work on search results if required.

The data comes from a number of public sources, I have automated some of the data collection and hope to improve it over time.

Additionally I have started on the automation of the building of the logs but there is still some manual intervention required, it is still a manual proces to put it in the database – but eventually I may be able to automate some of the steps.

Visitor Log Prestwick (EGPK) 2021

Outsourcing Aggressor Training!

by | Jun 28, 2022 | Aviation News, Spotting, Spotting News

So after 100 years, 100 Squadron has gone West – maybe not forever. But it has gone West and it’s function will now be outsourced to Draken, probably with their L-159’s or if we are lucky maybe some of their A-4’s now and again. If there is a Joint Warrior exercise later in 2022, the spotters at Prestwick might be in for a treat – although most of the aircraft have probably already been Prestwick visitors.

I for one will look forward to Joint Warrior later this year, that is if it does happen with the resourcing requirements for the new NATO commitments that have followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 Draken Europe has been awarded a six-year contract by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide Agressor aircraft for training the Royal Air Force (RAF).

In replacing the 100 squadron Hawk T1A’s Draken will provide a squadron of L-159E Honey Badger aircraft these will be the “Bad Guys” as part of the Interim Red Air Aggressor Training Service (IRAATS) program. Fullfilling the role previously carried out by 100 squadron and it’s BAe Hawk T1A’s.

The aircraft will operate out of Teesside International Airport (MME/EGNV) from July 2022. It is probably with increased urgency that the RAF will increase the intensity of the training, given the current state of play in Eastern Europe and the bellicose noises eminating from Moscow.

Testing a bigger Log

by | Jun 17, 2022 | Airport News, Database, Spotting, Spotting Locations

So again some testing of a log file, this one is for Prestwick, for January and February 2021. This doesn’t include based stuff, that would make the file pretty large and to be honest a registration search would return 365 hits – so not practical.

The data has been sourced from a number of places, it is somewhat limited and would be the type of data that a spotter with a radio and a pen and notebook would typically collect on a visit to the Airport – so does kind of reflect a personal log.

 

Putting the data together was a little time consuming, however I will automate that as much as I can and should be able to speed the process up significantly. The sample data set was created manually, so there may be some typo’s in it – anyway here is the first largeish table with a little guidance as well.

The table can be sorted on a column, by clicking on the heading – obviously the usual constraints apply for date formats. You can sort by date, but the first of January will be followed by the first of February – so please bear that in mind.

There is a free text search, this will return matching values as a guide – searching for “135” will return all matching rows and as an example 12-135(Serial), KC135(Model), AFR1135(Callsign) and ERJ135(Model) would all be returned. It is possible to combine search terms, these should be separated by a space as an example “Boeing 747” without the quote marks.

Prestwick Log January and February 2021