Airplane Watching

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Bandit Bill said:
I live directly under the flight path circuit to the Hamilton International Airport main runway - home of the Canadian Warplane Museum. Watching the Lancaster, Mitchell, DC-3 as well as the smaller vintage types flying overhead at less than 500 feet on a routine basis never gets tiring for me. Additionally, i now try to attend a (non-motorcycling related) recreational event in Mount Hope every couple of Saturdays - more low level vintage aircraft spotting opportunities open up there. People wonder why i stop in my tracks and gaze upwards until the aircraft is beyond view - the sound of those Merlin engines is beyond mesmerizing to me.
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The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is one of my favourite haunts. I'm there at least three or four times every flying season to watch the Lancaster and you are correct - the sound of four merlins roaring overhead is beyond description.

I am also a member of the Canadian Air and Space Museum in Downsview - http://casmuseum.org/

If you have not seen the life-sized replica of the Arrow at Downsview, I highly recommend it!
 
Very cool thread. I too love the airplanes. I live in Brampton and ride to Pearson, park the bike and watch those babies come in and take off. Many people don't realize this there are a lot of places by Pearson where you can get a very close up look of the planes. There are always a few bikers also hanging out.
 
Many years ago I was an air cadet in the UK I stayed on a couple of RAF bases for camps, one was the one where the memorial flight was housed and one was an active jaguar base. The jaguar base was interesting...we'd be outside and a jaguar would suddenly appear at the end of the runway and take off. We found out later they were housed underground and were raised up on large elevators to the start of the runway...hence the magic act. I did aerobatics in a single engined chipmunk aircraft with one of these pilots. Fairground rides have been boring for me ever since.
 
daisoman said:
On Britania rd go east past Dixie. It will look sketchy and not open to public but trust me it is. It is where you pick up animals that air Canada ships. There is a little opening right by a runway where u can park at least 20 bikes. Would be a cool shot while the planes are landing
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Thanks for the heads up - I'll be sure to check it out.

I usually go on convair just past britannia (where there's gravel emergency lanes). Just make sure when you've got a good excuse when they come up to you (since it's a no-park zone).
 
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My dad was in the air force and is a huge plane buff. As kids we went to tons of air shows; I had a permanent crick in my neck till I was 12 or so, lol.
I don't share his passion for aircraft but I do understand it. Couple years ago he was here for a visit and I took him to a show in Oshawa; it was great to see him enjoy himself so much.
 
growing up we did not have a lot of money - I remember a saturday activity with my dad was going to the airport to watch the planes take off and land - great childhood memories of "Malton" - can smell the fumes!!

my sister ended up working at mcdonnell douglas building airplane wings and she even worked on the f18s!!

thanks for the thread - great memories of my dad!!
 
My office is right near the airport and there is a road that runs by one of the main runways. You can pull off to the side and the planes come sailing in right over your head. I'll grab the name of the road on my way home tonight, but it's right off Renforth.
 
guess I have to be contrary ........
I ride a bike and have flown a 'plane.
Cruising a plane is not as thrilling as cruising a bike - you are just hanging in the sky
Ofcourse, takeoff, landing and swinging the wing will get the adrenaline going.
Caveat: This opinion applies to the single prop Cessna
 
I'll be contrary too..I've done aerobatics in a plane a few times with fighter pilots and that beats just about anything else I've ever experienced. Going from several G to zero G in a few instants is something I'll never get on my bike. I've also done aerobatics in a glider but that was just weird. Riding the bike is a different kind of experience, I think you're more connected to your environment and the ground speed rush is more evident.
 
micah said:
guess I have to be contrary ........
I ride a bike and have flown a 'plane.
Cruising a plane is not as thrilling as cruising a bike - you are just hanging in the sky
Ofcourse, takeoff, landing and swinging the wing will get the adrenaline going.
Caveat: This opinion applies to the single prop Cessna
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You've never been in a Cessna doing an emergency collision avoidance maneuver, and thinking that the wing rivets are gonna start un-stitching any second, lol. That has beat hands-down any hairy moment that i've had on the bike, fur-shure.
 
whywhyzee said:
Hey unL33T

I think we share a parking spot! I ride the silver V-Strom with the topcase and tankbag.
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That explains your name pretty good. You ride in a lot. I ride the banged up (on the left side) blue 650R missing it's lower fairings. I don't get the opportunity to ride into work very often though. Are you a controller? I'm in the engineering cubicle area. Guy a few desks down from me rides the white Hyabusa. He used to have the silver SV1000.
 
unL33T said:
That explains your name pretty good. You ride in a lot. I ride the banged up (on the left side) blue 650R missing it's lower fairings. I don't get the opportunity to ride into work very often though. Are you a controller? I'm in the engineering cubicle area. Guy a few desks down from me rides the white Hyabusa. He used to have the silver SV1000.
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My riding is done for a bit it seems. Riding in today my rear brake was feeling "odd". Turns out my rotor is chewed up - rear brake pads weren't sliding properly and wore down quickly to the rivets.:( It may take a short while to find a replacement rotor - so looks like I'm caging it for the next week or so.

I was wondering about the blue rashed 650R. Hadn't seen it in a while and thought the Hyabusa had replaced it....
 
Great thread. Been to the war plane place in hamilton and loved it. I'm from the Kitchener Waterloo area and would love to see the planes. But man I hate driving in the GTA. Don't know my way around and right now and cant afford a gps this year. Always next year.
 
Prince said:
Many people say there's a correlation between sportbike riders and fighter jet pilots.
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Many pioneers of aviation - test pilots and such - came from a motorcycle / auto racing background in the early 1900s before they became amateur aeronautical engineers. Everything to do with aviation has historically been about trial and error. We learned from each others' often deadly mistakes as the skies were still a mystery - so yes, airplanes have always attracted the same type of daredevil audience as motorcycles do. Typically young, male, and adventurous. The 2 activities are correlated without a doubt.
I'm an avid motorcyclist and amateur pilot myself. So if you guys get a chance to go flying in a small plane I'm sure a lot of you will like it.

Airplane watching is awesome - makes a cheap date too.
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