tinek6 HD aviation: Prague spotting, Antonov 225 arrival LKPR/PRG 2016.05.10

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Prague spotting, Antonov 225 arrival LKPR/PRG 2016.05.10

The moment news about the Antonov 225 "Mriya" coming to Prague spread out I started planning and scheduling a visit in the Czech capital. Together with three other friends we made up a team and planned everything. It ended with three nights and two full spotting days, plus one short, just for the departure of the 225. Everything will be divided in three entries, link to other parts are available at the end of the entry. This was my first visit in Prague for spotting, and I must say, that the spotting locations are good! sometimes you need to walk a little, but hey, that's all in it!

The first day we had to choose a spot from where to catch the landing of the giant. We had to gamble a little. At first we decided to go to the "safest" place, which was beside the crossing of both runways. After deciding that the heat haze was very unsatisfactory for us, we returned to our car (quite a walk) and switched for the approach to runway 12. The entire operation of landing and later taxiing of the 225 was complicated. It could taxi only via the runways and had to park next to the threshold of runway 24. Winds were not favorable either. We risked, but had it worked out, the photos would be phenomenal. (it didn't). The Antonov landed on runway 24, made a u-turn and backtracked, despite the winds. Though luck. We had to get on with what we had.
My highlights for the day (excluding the 225): Delta 767, Emirates A380, CSA A330, Swiss 777, all the shots over the canola fields and the night panning training session was also fun. Especially the Czech A330 was something I wanted to catch. Take a look on day 1 at PRG: