Back in August I made my second trip to Birmingham Airport in a couple of months to go spotting and, with the wind blowing in the opposite direction to my previous visit, this gave me the opportunity to try out the other main spotting location around the airport, Sheldon Country Park. Located around the northern end of the airfield, underneath the approach to runway 15, Sheldon Country Park is a public green space and is a great place to watch arrivals when aircraft are using that runway. Completely free to use, although limited in facilities, the park is easily accessible by both car and public transport.

With Bremen Airport having a free Spotters’ Terrace within the terminal building, it would have been rude to spend a couple of days in the city without at least paying the terrace a short visit. I actually ended up visiting twice, once immediately after arriving, to enable me to see my inbound aircraft depart back to Stansted, and once the afternoon of my first day in the city before heading to my hotel. So, is a visit worth it?

I remember visiting Birmingham Airport with my Dad to go spotting a few times during my childhood, and then during my teenage years making the trip by bus and train alone as my fascination of aviation developed. Back then, Birmingham had an indoor visitor centre on the second floor of the terminal building that provided okay views out over the main apron, slightly obscured by the triangular roof of the lower part of the terminal building in front. Unfortunately, as with my youth, this visitor centre is long gone, swallowed up by various airport expansions and developments over the years, however unlike many other UK airports Birmingham Airport does retain an official 'plane spotting' area.

Having had a day unsuccessfully exploring the city of Eindhoven, as well as a jaunt to the Dutch/Belgian border, I was back at Eindhoven airport a few hours before my flight and with some time to spare before heading through security. As such, there was only one thing I could reasonably do, check out the viewing terrace at the airport, and see what aircraft I could spot.

With my trip to Düsseldorf being mainly a rail based one, I had a yearning for some Avgeekery and, with Germany’s fourth busiest airport just a few stops from the city centre, I decided to spend the morning of the final day of my trip spotting at Düsseldorf airport.