Saturday 7th: Snow and ice before a big trip isn't a good start and a phone call first thing in the morning from my lift to say that he couldn't get his car out of the drive meant plan B and I was glad I'd swept the drive to my garage. Once I got up the hill round the corner from home, an easy run down the M25 to Heathrow where I met up with travelling companion Brian who is always far too jovial at that hour.
Again, we were on American's flight 57 (B777 N787AL) which pushed back spot on time at 09:45 and we were airborne off 27L at 10:17. 9 hours and 7 minutes later (2 minutes longer than last year) we touched down on 12 at Miami International.
We picked up the rental car (from Hertz) which this year was a Chevrolet Malibu which did us nicely. As is usual, we stayed at MIA until the light went before heading up to our hotel (Motel6) just north of FLL. Located on State Route 84, just minutes from the I-95, this is a great location and there's a nice eating place next door (Li'l Red's).
Sunday: A quick look at FLL before heading north, stopping off at Boca Raton before hitting Palm Beach for the rest of the day. Seem to be less Southwest flights here with US Aw now using a daily ERJ-190. The usual other airlines although less than last year. Still plenty of QS biz plus CS and FX ones too.
Monday: An easy day today starting with a couple of hours at Exec and then back to FLL. I always enjoy Ft Lauderdale Exec as you're bound to come across some old G2s and 3s plus Sabres and Jetstars. After an exhaustive look round, we ended up in the new Runway Cafe where a mug of coffee went down really well. The view out of the window is straight over the ramp. As usual FLL has a good mix of airliners and biz. Unusual to see a Finnair 757 here which was probably a cruise ship charter. Caribbean now operate in here with B738s. Skybus have gone of course so glad we caught a few of these last year.
Tuesday: A full day at Miami. Denny's on NW36 for breakfast at 7am followed by the biz park. We watched the movements on 08L/R for a while before moving round to the holes in the fence by rwy 12. Brian and his new Dutch friend then drove round to rwy 09 on the south side but I was getting twitchy as there was a Mexican G3 in and I wanted a picture of it. I joined up with them at about 10am next to the El Dorado furniture warehouse where a wonderful view of the runway can be had. Mainly arrivals and a lot of freighters. The sun going in and out behind clouds was a little frustrating but we got some nice shots. You are next to a railway line here where they park wagons so could be awkward if there are more wagons than this day. We gave up at about 3pm when the sun had gone round too far and returned to the north side. My G3 went out at 3:40 and the sight of a DC-4 on the move meant a good day. We retired after 6pm as the light faded.
08R arrival at MIA
Wednesday: North again today, stopping off at Boca Raton where the highlight was a Canadian Westwind, continuing then up to Palm Beach. Have to confess we got a bit bored and packed up at 1pm, stopping off again at Boca where I graphed 2 G2s and 2 G3s from the fence. On then to Exec before spending the rest of the day at FLL.
Thursday: Another easy day today. Started off at Exec and spent a while at the spectators area taking pics of landings which was very enjoyable especially when the based G550 arrived. Headed over to FLL at about noon and spent the rest of the day there. G2B N1CC departing at last light finished off the day nicely.
Friday: Up to Boca Raton to then spend the rest of the day at Palm Beach for the hoped for influx of biz for the weekend. A nice day but a little bit too much heat haze at times. Finished off on top of the car park for what looked like a spotters convention. Much shaking of hands and even found time to look over the ramps. Could count 32 different Gulfstreams parked up and in the hangars.
Saturday: Another easy day today. Started at FLL where a good G4 frame (N671AF) and an arriving Jetstar (N18BH) weren't bad. We'd just missed the Southwest in Sports Illustrated colours arriving but didn't have long to wait for it to go out again. Decided at about 11 that we should head for Exec where a few more biz fell in the book. Back to FLL for the rest of the day where we met up with our German friends from last year who have enormous sets of steps. The day finished with the Jetstar departing at last light.
Sunday: News that there were loads of biz at Naples including 2 Gulfstreams I needed meant that we should try and find this airport located on the Gulf coast of the state. A murky drive along Alligator Alley which is one of the straightest roads I've ever seen got us to Naples about 09:30 as the sun started to come out. A very friendly airport with no scheduled services of any major airlines. The security guard said help yourself when we asked if it was OK to take pictures through the fence. Found the mound at the end of the runway which was a familiar view even though I'd never been here before. Movements were quiet so we headed up to Fort Myers which isn't far away north up the freeway.
RSW is quite a large airport with plenty of the usual carriers but we concentrated on the biz. We had to go past the cargo ramp where there were 2 UPS 757s. The biz ramp is quite easy to access although we kept a low profile and had no problems.
Back to Naples for a couple of hours where movements had picked up and we found another mound at the end of a different runway once they'd sorted out which one to use. Packed up at about 2 and headed back along Alligator Alley, stopping off once but never did see a 'gator, continuing on to Miami where another good selection of numbers were logged. Should have made a note of the mileage today but it was certainly more than 300.
Monday: Started off at FLL but it was very misty and they were on westerlies which isn't much good from the viewing area. Missing pictures of a departing G2 and then a G3 meant I wasn't very happy. Decided to head north and the mist had cleared by the time we got to Boca. Fairly busy for movements here so a good visit before heading on to Palm Beach. A busy day for departures where I'm sure it took 20 minutes from going past us to taking off at times. A really good final bash here.
Tuesday: Our last day and I made the comment when leaving the motel that whatever we got today was a bonus. A G2 with tip tanks on approach was probably going to be N840RG again but it turned out to be N10123 with bumps and sensors so I was happy when I got my picture. A parked up G5 was reported to be one I needed and even got a sneaky shot on the Dolphins ramp. Glorious weather and we finally had to drag ourselves away but I had only just got round the corner when a G550 appeared taxying out which meant doing a racing turn and screeching back in to the car park which must have entertained the locals. Another good frame so I floated down to Miami. Dropped the car off after a while at the fence and it turned out that we'd done 1175 miles this year. Our flight home was on American B777 N782AN (flight 56). Airborne off 08R at 20:55 after an on time pushback (well, 3 minutes late) and bounced back on Heathrow's 27R at 10:35 after an 8 hour 40 minute flight. Same again next year? Yes please.
a great finish to the trip, minus some rubber
Thanks to Brian for putting up with me again and great to spend time with John and Dave who were in the same motel and had meals with us and kept us amused.
A 75 minute flight this year meant we landed at 10:10 (local) on runway 14. Terminal E must have been full as we went straight past, crossed runway 28 and parked on the remote southern stands. Swiftly through immigration and outside the terminal turning right to find where the bus goes to the new Terminal E viewing area. This is usually opened only in the summer but as the old terrace was closed, they'd opened the one on E just for the event. Tickets would normally be purchased from machines but as they weren't working, it was free. Once through security, you are bussed to the central terminal and up in the lift to the excellent terrace which gives great views over the whole field especially runway 28/10.
The terrace closes at dusk when we adjourned to Car Park 6 for an hour or so. Not too late as we needed to check in to our hotel. The Formule1 was closed so we used the Ibis next door. More expensive so Brian and I shared this time. Alex and James joined us at dinner as they had caught the Easyjet evening flight from Luton.
