Plane spotting Frankfurt

mosesgun

I had a few hours to spare in Frankfurt airport on Friday evevning. They have a balcony outside Terminal 2 which runs the length of the terminal. Decided to head out and take a look as it was a lovely evening. It is before security checking so you need to be separately checked before they'll let you out on the balcony. Also, there is a charge of €5.00 for approx 2 hours.

It was brilliant. I'm used to parking up at the back of Dublin airport and, although I enjoy it, it does lack a bit of variety. Within an hour I saw four Airbus A380's landing and taking off right in front of me, heaps of 747's, a hadnful of MD-11 and lots of Airbus A340 & A330.

Great way to spend a couple of hours. Have any of you been there? Also, are there any other busy European ariports that offer similar locations for the aviation enthusiast?

When I learn how to I will post up a few pics.

BigGrayKettle

Was in Frankfurt Airport with work a few weeks ago and have never seen such a fantastic array of aircraft. We got a bus from the terminal to our aircraft which brought us just behind the tail of an A380 (never seen one in person before) and it was incredible. Loads of other really cool machines to see around the place.

homerjay2005

i flew through frankfurt every weekend for 6 weekends last year and it was a really amazing place....the runway set up, is sensational.

smurfjed

But its a boring airport for anything apart from watching aircraft...

smurfjed

castie

Im in Singapore and the airport here is quite entertaining as well.

Davidth88

smurfjed wrote: »

But its a boring airport for anything apart from watching aircraft...

smurfjed

Don't know , it used to have a sex shop ( not sure if it still has )

The spotting when I was doing it in the 80's was fantastic at Frankfurt.

We used to sit next to the autobahn bridge on the approach , just to the SE of the airport.

It had the added fun of watching the Germans racing their cars down the AutoBahn , sometimes the speed was unreal

Interestingly we used to see at least 1 if not 2 USAF C130's come in with one engine down a day ! Not sure if they practised this or if it was for real .

mosesgun

Didn't see any sex shop when I was there. I would have noticed I think
It is quite a boring airport, other than for looking at planes - but surely that's enough.

Davidth88

mosesgun wrote: »

Didn't see any sex shop when I was there. I would have noticed I think
It is quite a boring airport, other than for looking at planes - but surely that's enough.

Quick check.. found this I remember it as Dr Mueller's it was very tacky , with apparently little booths ( I never actually went in ! ) ... tha's my story and I am sticking to it

if there is one word for Frankfurt International airport, and for the majority of its shopping offer, it is ‘sterile’. The only notable exception was the old Dr Mueller’s Sex Shop which, while not to everyone’s tastes, at least added a sense of place to the airport • albeit that place was Bahnhofsviertel, Frankfurt’s red light district. Sadly, the store is now altogether less exciting. Under the name of Beate Uhse the videos, lingerie and (ahem) accessories remain, but the fascinating seediness, like the good doctor himself, is no more.

buzzard

Davidth88 wrote: »

Don't know , it used to have a sex shop ( not sure if it still has )

The spotting when I was doing it in the 80's was fantastic at Frankfurt.

We used to sit next to the autobahn bridge on the approach , just to the SE of the airport.

It had the added fun of watching the Germans racing their cars down the AutoBahn , sometimes the speed was unreal

Interestingly we used to see at least 1 if not 2 USAF C130's come in with one engine down a day ! Not sure if they practised this or if it was for real .

Would a rampant rabbit be now considered a dangerous weapon. Wouldn't want it buzzing away......

N7777G

BigGrayKettle wrote: »

Was in Frankfurt Airport with work a few weeks ago and have never seen such a fantastic array of aircraft. We got a bus from the terminal to our aircraft which brought us just behind the tail of an A380 (never seen one in person before) and it was incredible. Loads of other really cool machines to see around the place.

Frankfurt is a fantastic airport - especially for plane spotters. In typical German fashion there are dedicated viewing areas provided in several areas around the perimeter as well as the T2 balcony. Pity other airports wouldn't follow their lead


Lufthansa A380s by eigjb, on Flickr

some more photos:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/eigjb/tags/eddf/

mosesgun

Was thinking of putting up a few of my less than average pics from Frankfurt but your picture has made me change my mind. Lovely picture. Have to say I was blown away with the sheer size of the A380.