Any Aviation Spotters in the Denver Area? (Broomfield, Delta: car rental, rental)

[TexasExpatAvGeek]

Just moved here from Texas to continue my career in aviation and wanted to know if there are any good spots around the Denver International airport to spot the activity?

[Wheatridger]

DIA is a tough one. It's vast, as big as the City of Denver, and isolated. There are no end-of-the-runway parking spots, such as the east end of the old Stapleton Airport. If you want to be closer than a half mile from takeoffs and landings you would probably do better at Rocky Mountain or Centennial, two large private airports.

[N610DL]

Wouldn't even want to bother with DIA. You could probably do some spotting from one of the remote cell phone lots if you get lucky with how take off and landing patterns are going.

There is a spotting restaurant at an airport near where I used to work in Broomfield but it's mainly small props and private jets. That could be cool if you're into it.

Nothing compares to "The Proud Bird" for spotting near where I used to live in LAX: Home - The Proud Bird

[jamesdenver]

I love to travel and am also an aviation enthusiast (low time private, hobby flying on occasion).

The car rental lots, cell phone lot, and road alongside 7/25 will provide some closeups of departures to the west (and the train), but there's no real place to see landings unless you go find one of the county/dirt roads south of runways 35R/L. If you take the back road from DIA to Front Range Airport (FTG) and meander about (where permitted) you'll see. And even they won't be that close, and you'll be on a two lane road on a windy prairie.

As mentioned above Denver really isn't that fascinating for aircraft/airline variety. I've consumed many hamburgers at the In-N-Out at LAX, and part of the fun there is seeing the huge widebody birds lumber in, with liveries and designs from all over the world. And the little "yard" there is busy with like minded folks as well, or excited local kids with their families. Planespotting in Denver is going to be 4/5 times a United, Southwest, or Frontier 737 or Airbus. There's a BA and Lufthansa afternoon arrival and departure from/to their respective countries, but it's more impressive to see them from the A gates. There isn't really a place to see the sheer awesomeness of them. I'm certainly appreciate of the travel options, frequency of flights, and competition DIA offers, but the bulk of it is solid domestic business-and the aircraft reflect that.

If you're interested in private planes, check out Perfect Landing restaurant at Centennial airport, above the main private terminal. Great views of the runways, mountains, and aircraft operations.

Best wishes in your work here!

[bluescreen73]

I don't know if there's anywhere to park to do it, but I personally think the traffic in and out of Buckley AFB is the most interesting in Denver. We live right over final for Buckley so I've seen all kinds of military traffic - A-10s (rarely), Blackhawks, Chinooks, C-17s, Air Force One, and most commonly F-16s.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by jamesdenver

I love to travel and am also an aviation enthusiast (low time private, hobby flying on occasion).

The car rental lots, cell phone lot, and road alongside 7/25 will provide some closeups of departures to the west (and the train), but there's no real place to see landings unless you go find one of the county/dirt roads south of runways 35R/L. If you take the back road from DIA to Front Range Airport (FTG) and meander about (where permitted) you'll see. And even they won't be that close, and you'll be on a two lane road on a windy prairie.

As mentioned above Denver really isn't that fascinating for aircraft/airline variety. I've consumed many hamburgers at the In-N-Out at LAX, and part of the fun there is seeing the huge widebody birds lumber in, with liveries and designs from all over the world. And the little "yard" there is busy with like minded folks as well, or excited local kids with their families. Planespotting in Denver is going to be 4/5 times a United, Southwest, or Frontier 737 or Airbus. There's a BA and Lufthansa afternoon arrival and departure from/to their respective countries, but it's more impressive to see them from the A gates. There isn't really a place to see the sheer awesomeness of them. I'm certainly appreciate of the travel options, frequency of flights, and competition DIA offers, but the bulk of it is solid domestic business-and the aircraft reflect that.

If you're interested in private planes, check out Perfect Landing restaurant at Centennial airport, above the main private terminal. Great views of the runways, mountains, and aircraft operations.

Best wishes in your work here!

That's very true. The ugly ex-Continental Globe logo seen all over the B terminal is vomit worthy Too many 737s and Airbus and not enough 757 & 777 like in the old days.

Diversity at DIA is Delta 757, an American 737, British 747, and a Great Lakes prop plane

[Careerist]

I used to work down in the south metro and would often see activity out of Centennial Airport. That may be a better option, albeit with smaller aircraft.

[IndyRC]

Originally Posted by N610DL

That's very true. The ugly ex-Continental Globe logo seen all over the B terminal is vomit worthy Too many 737s and Airbus and not enough 757 & 777 like in the old days.

Diversity at DIA is Delta 757, an American 737, British 747, and a Great Lakes prop plane

Also United 757, 777, and 787. There were two United 747's here in December.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by IndyRC

Also United 757, 777, and 787. There were two United 747's here in December.

There's more 777 at DIA from United in quite a few years because of the new high density configuration running DEN-SFO/LAX/ORD/EWR etc. Not a good plane to fly in coach, but nice to see more widebody action in DEN. 787 fly mainly from DIA to Houston and Tokyo. Like 1-2 actions a day.

United 757 is pretty sparse compared to the old days. They retired a lot of them in the last few years and replaced them with 737s (yuck)

[IndyRC]

Originally Posted by N610DL

There's more 777 at DIA from United in quite a few years because of the new high density configuration running DEN-SFO/LAX/ORD/EWR etc. Not a good plane to fly in coach, but nice to see more widebody action in DEN. 787 fly mainly from DIA to Houston and Tokyo. Like 1-2 actions a day.

United 757 is pretty sparse compared to the old days. They retired a lot of them in the last few years and replaced them with 737s (yuck)

They also fly the 777 to HNL and have a few 767 flights. 75's aren't very efficient. I don't mind flying on any of them, but I am partial to the 787 and the E145.