Spotter trip to Schiphol (AMS)
May 24th and 25th 2003
Photos and report by Kurt Gorm Larsen

This two-day trip to Amsterdam Airport, Schiphol started quite early for me - out of bed at 03:45 in the morning on a Saturday! Since I live out along the Oslo Fjord, around 45 km south of Oslo city center, my first leg was to Asker (25 km). Around 04:45 the taxi arrived and I was off. The Airport Express Train (Flytoget) starts at Asker and the train I had to catch, left at a gruesome 05:36 with scheduled arrival at Oslo Airport was 06:29.

Arriving OSL with the Airport Express Train, this is the view that meets you as you reach the top of the first escalator.

At Oslo Central Station, one of the organizers/participants, Kjell Oskar boarded the train. I had sent him a SMS that I was seated in the second car shortly after I've boarded the train. He found me, and we continued our usual chat about planes, digital versus traditional photography.....
   At OSL we hooked up with two of the other participants in the check-in area. Now we just had to wait for the last participant from Norway - the one with the tickets - Christian. He arrived 20 minutes later.
   Check-in, safety control, ATM to get Euros and tax-free shopping was done in a hurry. Ten minutes before normal departure we boarded the SAS A321-232 for the first flight to CPH. The SAS A321 had nose/belly cameras, and screens fold down from the under the storage bins above us to show taxiing and take off. Did we enjoy it? The rest of the trip down to CPH was uneventful, except for the delicious breakfast served.

Copenhagen Airport
After landing at CPH, one of the participants from Sweden, mr. Savipix himself, met us at the gate - he had just arrived from ARN. The next leg would be with a SAS Boeing 737-683, so we found our gate. The scanners were turned on and a battle plan for the first day at AMS was drafted.
   The flight from CPH to AMS went as expected - arrival on time, but the Boeing couldn't beat the comfort of the Airbus.

Panorama view of the terminal area of Amsterdam Airport seen from the threshold of runway 27 (parking lot outside the McDonald's)

Amsterdam Airport
On arrival at AMS we hooked up with the last two guys - the second Savipix who had flown in from ARN on a direct flight and Martin who had come from HEL. With the group complete, the next item on the agenda was to pick up the rental car - a nine seat Ford Transit which would be our base for the next two days.
   The weather on arrival was typical Dutch-light rain and a very low cloud base. It would be difficult to get any decent photos this day, but we started up by driving to the parking lot along Aalsmeerderweg (B).

Spotter in the rain on the first day - parking lot along runway 06/24 (Aalsmeerderweg)

The parking lot was almost half full of cars, and one meals-on-wheels had also arrived. The first 50 minutes RWY 06 was used for landings. A number of big birds, like those two 747 cargo from Kalitta and El Al with photos to the right, arrived. After 50 minutes the wind turned, and now RWY 24 was used for take-offs. There was little traffic so we decided to drive over to the hotel and check-in.
   We had some problems finding the correct turn-off to the hotel, but that was not a problem since we saw the sign for Luchtvaart Hobby Shop at Aalsmeerderbrug. A quick vote later, we had parked outside. One hour later and many Euros later, we were ready for the Eazires Airport Chariot Hotel at Oosteinderweg 243.


Illustration: Eazires Airport Chariot Hotel

The Chariot Hotel is a perfect choice for spotters - short distance to the airport and the best spotter areas, situated in a residential area, and unique in terms of atmosphere, service and hospitality.
   After having freshened up a little bit, Kjell Oskar and I crossed the road to order a table for eight at Eetcafé-Grill 't Farregat for that evening.

Lelystad Airport and the new Dutch National Aviation Museum
Since it was still raining, we decided to fill up the Transit and drive over to Lelystad Airport, a 50-minute drive from Schiphol. Lelystad Airport is the location of the new Dutch National Aviation Museum. The museum will open its doors sometime this autumn. Sadly most of the aircraft in the collection are hidden away at the old Fokker factory at Schiphol or in hangars at Lelystad. At Lelystad Airport we managed to catch a glimpse of a few of them (an all-white An-2 with red star on tail and a Beaver). With no Connie in sight, we went for a late lunch at the Fly-In restaurant. Outside the restaurant on the tarmac a number of GA aircraft from both Germany and the UK were parked, and inside their pilots had something to eat - so we were not alone.

The Scanair.no Travel spotters leaving the terminal building at Lelystad Airport after having visited the Fly-In restaurant

Back to AMS
Another 50 minutes were spent in the Ford Transit, and upon arrival AMS we decided to check out the best spots for the next day. After having covered the east and south side of the airport, we called it a day. Next out was dinner at Eetcafé-Grill 't Farregat.

Photo: Eetcafé-Grill 't Farregat

I will not tell you what each and every had for dinner, but I went for the escargots as "Voorgerecht" and the spareribs as "Hoofdgerecht".

Early Sunday morning
After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel. First spot to visit was the parking lot along Aalsmeerderweg (B). RWY 24 was used for take offs, but after listening in to the ATC, we drove over to the parking lot in front of the Air Holland building (C). They had started landing aircraft on RWY 36R. It didn't take more than a few minutes and the wind changed again - now it was RWY 27 for landings. Back in the Transit, and the parking outside McDonald's along the Schipholweg was the next spot to reach (D). 50 minutes and we had already covered three spotter locations - this will be a great day!
   Out of the car and the cameras were ready. It didn't take long time for the first big bird to arrive - China Airlines 747-4J6. Two minutes later and a United 777-222ER arrived. Big birds and small birds came in with two minutes separating them - and suddenly there it was - the Dutch Government Fokker 70 used for the Royal Flight, unannounced by ATC (did they use military frequencies?), about to land on RWY 27. Was it with prince Willem-Alexander himself in the cockpit?

Fokker 70 - PH-KBX from the Dutch Government (Royal Flight) about to land at RWY 27

At 10:20 it started to rain seriously, and all of use ran into McDonald's to get cover and some few of us also got refreshments. The rain lasted only 15 minutes, and we went out again to get more aircraft onto film rolls or memory chips.
   For the next hour more big ones landed at RWY 27 - the clouds and the rain weren't a problem anymore, but the sun was getting more problematic. Around noon we were back at the parking lot along Aalsmeerderweg (B), and RWY 06 were used for landing the first few minutes. The wind turned again and it was take offs from RWY 24. We decided to move down to the end of the Aalsmeerderweg (A) to avoid the tree to the northeast of the parking lot. From spot A you have unhindered view of the first half of RWY 24, the two cargo aprons R and S, and of course TWY South to get arrivals taxiing to assigned gate/parking space. The area started to be filled up of spotters. We were very curious about this, but a few minutes later we got the answer.

What's that noise? This was the question many of us asked a minute earlier - now we knew - an Antonov-22 - one of three airworthy left of this giant - UR-09307.

After the Antonov had taxied over to apron S, more heavies continued to take off - like Malaysia 747-4H6, Eva Air 747-45E, United 777-222ER, and in between all these came KLM 737s, many EasyJet 737s and even one 737 Go paint scheme. A few Martinair aircraft taxied out from their apron S, like the MD-11 to the right.
   This continued for well over 30 minutes, then a new exotic aircraft taxied out from apron S - a Super 27 converted Boeing 727 belonging to Bahrain Amiri Flight.

Bahrain Amiri Flight "Al Bahrain" Boeing 727-2M7 / Advanced (RE) Super 27 A9C-AB - large photo of this bird, click here

After the Amiri Super 27 had crossed the RWY, the El Al 737-86N took off - still in the colours of North American! Don't they have paint in Israel?
   The next 90 minutes was spent taking photos of take offs - spot A is magic for those type of shots. To get the perfect shots of heavier aircraft you could move down along the RWY in direction of spot B. No trees hinder the sight, you have only to be aware of where the canal is. The water can be wet - one of our guys noticed that. He didn't fall into the canal, but he had a close contact with a small pond - he did save his brand new Sony digital camera though :-).

The first lot to return home
Shortly before three our three guys from Sweden and Finland decided to return to the airport to catch their return flights. The Ford Transit was boarded of us all, but the muddy parking surface was a problem. A small push corrected this, and then it was goodbye Aalsmeerderweg for this time.

Search for a new location
After having delivered the three "foreigners" at departure level, the remaining five saddled up for the search of a good spot for RWY 18C landings. With all the construction work going on west of RWY 18C/36C, finding the Hoofdweg proved a little difficult - especially when you try all available side roads.
   And there it was, the new satellite tower and the Hoofdweg. We crossed under the newly built TWY for RWY 18R/36L, and a kilometer or so down the road we were right under the extended center line of RWY 18C. We took to the right just after this and found spot F - a small widening of the Tweeduizend Ei. It was exceptionally silent at this time. Not surprising really as the arrivals schedule stated the same - a lonely ScotAirways Dornier 328 was scheduled to arrive in the next 15 minutes. I got a shot of it, but shortly after this it started to rain. The rain came down in buckets, and we decided to call it a day - back to the airport to return the Transit.

Observation deck and Dakota's Café & Bar
The Transit was now returned, with the tank filled up to the rim with diesel. Next out was check-in at the SAS/Star Alliance counter. With our boarding passes in hand, we were off for our next spotter location - the observation deck (H). The area that the observation deck covers on the roof of the terminal is huge. Easy access to all aircraft parking from finger C, D, E, eastern part of F and aprons in between. Construction work is also ongoing to even widen the area of which the observation deck covers.
   Close shots of heavies can with easy be accomplished. To the right you'll find a picture of a KLM Asia 747-306 Combi getting ready for a new trip to Asia. After almost half an hour out on the deck, we were getting hungry. Just inside the entrance to the observation deck you'll find a must for all plane spotters - Dakota's Café & Bar. A Club Sandwich and glass of beer were ordered, even our excellent driver for these two days, Kjell Oskar, could relax with a cold one - mission accomplished. If you want to learn more about the Dakota's Café & Bar, click on their logo under.

Illustration: Schiphol/Dakota's Café & Bar

Bye for now Schiphol
After having finished our meal at Dakota's, we went through the security control. Of cause I got some questions about a strange metal object I had in my cary-on suitcase. I told them that it was a 747 in 1:400 scale, and they shook their heads and said OK.
   For all Norwegian traveling abroad it's a must to get the tax free quota of alcohol and cigarettes. I ended up with a rather nice Distillers Edition double matured single malt whisky from Talisker, a bottle of a good red wine from Rioja (for my neighbor as a thanks for all his help) and the usual box of Dunhill Lights.
  As I came out of the shop, I felt a light picking on my shoulder. I turned around, and who else than a Finn I met on a Norwegian domestic flight one month earlier stood there. Hand shakes were exchanged and we talked a little bit about the difficulties the flight one month earlier created - we had to land at an alternate airport due to fog, and this lead to almost three hours in bus and on the ferry to cross a fjord. We arrived the destination airport half an hour after midnight, and the Finn, poor man, had to drive his rental car for another two and a half hours. I was happy he was still alive, but he said he had to take some risks with over 200 days on travel a year. His next destination was Morocco and a well deserved holiday. Until next time then, new hand shake and he was off.
   For me it was to find gate B19 - 20 minutes until boarding started. Underway out to finger B I got a nice shot of an Agean 733-400 and an Austian Fokker 70. More photos of aircraft taxiing down the inner TWY were taken.
   Boarding of SAS 737-683 had started, and the travel back was uneventful - a light meal, a small bottle of white wine, and the Calvados together with the coffee. I was home quarter past midnight, and I had to have a quick look through the photos before I ended up in bed.

Thanks and conclusions
I will now like to give my many thanks to the two organizers from Scanair.no Travel - Kjell Oskar and Christian - for this memorable spotter trip to Schiphol.

For you readers of this report - AMS is must for serious plane spotters.
Have a nice trip to Schiphol!