Madrid - 19/11/09

[Hammerhead]

Where have all the clouds gone???                                                                                                                                           Spotters at work.....                                                                                                                                                            Local wildlife.. The worlds most photographed butterfly....                                                                                       The local forklift driver thought we were there to take his pic....                                                                        And finally .. Can you tell who it is yet???                                                                     

[Squad 701]

Don I think I did a bit better with the local wildlife, I got a Greater Forklift-Driver Snr,
I think yours is a Lesser Forklift-Driver Jnr/Juv.
The Painted Lady (Butterfly) is doing well after being relocated to Dublin 
My good-lady was surprised to see that Tony from Coronation Street was there !
I told her he came with the Portuguese Spotting Societie's trip.
And don't forget Scania, the smoothest gearbox in the trucking world 
Sorry about the Paparazzi at the bottom,
but Have Paparazzi Will Travel 
Cheers.
 

 

 

 

 

[Dave]

More than just plane spotting was going on 
 
Some nice use of the cloning tool going on with regards to the lamp posts!
 
I've only edited a hand full as the sick moggie has taken up most of my time, heres the interesting stuff so far;
 
1. Whilst circling in the hold pattern, woody noticed an aircraft joining the pattern, coming right towads us.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122111480/sizes/o/
 
2. When landing, the cargo ramp where a DC-8 could be seen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122112034/sizes/o/
 
3. When taxing to the gate, we passed these 3 aircraft, possibly Grumman aircraft, which have been sitting there for years.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122112398/sizes/o/
 
4. One of the few pictures of an aircraft after landing, the rest exited the runway out of sight.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4121340613/sizes/o/
 
5. The Portuguese cheered when this went past

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122113466/sizes/o/
 
6. First heavy heading for departure

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4121341687/sizes/o/
 
7. Soon followed by the next heavy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122115104/sizes/o/
 
8. And the enxt...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122115652/sizes/o/
 
9. A good few South American airlines appeared

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4121343929/sizes/o/
 
10.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122116914/sizes/o/
 
11. Recently retrofitted with 11 foot winglets

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122118222/sizes/o/
 
12. Air Europa's Spanish football logo jet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4122117558/sizes/o/
 
13. Air Europa's Disbey jet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4121347099/sizes/o/
 
14. Finally one of the few photographable A340-600's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22682700@N02/4121346509/sizes/o/

[casper]

Fantastic series of photos all, but Dave that first one is stunning. Kicking myself now for not making it - hopefully next time. My wife even suggested she could come along, setup a deck chair and soak up the sun lol

[Dave]

I just checked the weather stats from the day and it seems it was the hottest 19th November ever recorded in Madrid. The hottest temperature previously on the same day was 16oC... we reached 19oC on the day

Fantastic series of photos all, but Dave that first one is stunning. Kicking myself now for not making it - hopefully next time. My wife even suggested she could come along, setup a deck chair and soak up the sun lol

Well thankfully Madrid is one of those crazy Ryanair destinations where if you look far enough ahead, they will always have 20 euro flights during the weekdays. I'm already thinking of heading back in Feb/March to take advantage of the better winter light and more bareable temperatures.  Anyone tempted to tag along? 

[casper]

I'm going to have to leave it until after Christmas before booking anything - Santa's list is getting bigger and bigger

[String]

Looks like you had a great time gald the weather was good and that you also managed to get some brill pic's as well 

[Dave]

Don, Conor, did either of you notice that two tree's had been chopped down since your last visit? Somebody cut down the trees to create a new space to capture aircraft through.. I wonder if the local authorities were responsible or whether a sneaky spotter was...  The remains can be seen in the picture below, of our aircraft departing an hour after arrival... slow turn around for Ryanair.
 

 

[Angry Turnip]

Grumman 159`s I think. At least one is registered to a UK company.

[Dave]

Grumman 159`s I think. At least one is registered to a UK company.

Thanks, I've never really heard of or seen this aircraft before.
 
Following the trend, some people pics. As you can see, the Irish duo were natural's infront of the lens 
 

 

 
I focused on everything but the butterfly!

 
Don and his cars/gearboxes!

 

 

 

 
Spot the odd people out!

 
Woody!

 

 

 
Dave

[Hammerhead]

Well thankfully Madrid is one of those crazy Ryanair destinations where if you look far enough ahead, they will always have 20 euro flights during the weekdays. I'm already thinking of heading back in Feb/March to take advantage of the better winter light and more bareable temperatures.  Anyone tempted to tag along? 

I have just been checking the Ryanair website and it looks like therewill be no more day trips to madrid for a while as they have reducedthe flights on the route to one a day each way with the return flightleaving 20 min after the outbound flight arrives...    However i think a trip here might be in thepipeline..http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18396&p=186343&hilit=airbus+factory#p186343       anyone else interested???   

[Merlin]

However i think a trip here might be in thepipeline..http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18396&p=186343&hilit=airbus+factory#p186343       anyone else interested???   

I assume it would be a day trip, same as Madrid?
If the price is right I'd certainly consider it, what time of year were you thinking of?

[Dave]

A bit of a shame about Madrid as the place made an cheap and interesting place for a day trip. I really enjoyed our trip back in November despite the lack of sleep!

The trip to the Airbus factory looks interesting. I recommend Amsterdam of course for a future trip