East Midlands

Saudi Herk

Pretty rare I should think, a Saudi Air Force Hercules on final to East Midlands! Backlit unfortunately because I was already back at the car when I saw the exhaust trails heralding the imminent arrival.

Centreline

A DHL 757 is a rare beast in the daytime, this one spent an hour or more in the visual circuit at East Midlands. The localiser and approach lights sit below the aircraft as she flares for another approach.

Ryanair B738 EIDAE

Vapour trails from the flaps as this Ryanair flight makes the final approach to East Midlands,

Rolling

Strobe lit, Birthday Girl begins her take-off roll heading back north to Edinburgh to continue crew training.

Virgin Dreamliner

Lined up on Runway 27 ready for departure is Boeing's newest aircraft, and the first for Virgin Atlantic - crew training flights abound at the moment before she enters service properly from Heathrow soon.

Birthday Girl

Virgin's first 787-9 on a crew training flight at East Midlands, people rave about the livery and while I like the metallic red the plain fuselage isn't exactly exciting. The aircraft on the other hand is something pretty special.

New Virgin

The tail of Birthday Girl, resplendent in red metallic paint and the sunshine at East Midlands while on a training flight.

THAT Wing

The 787-9 wing, complete with Virgin painted wingtips, looks stunning even before it starts flexing. Couldn't really get the right angles without the fence in the way here but nice to see the machine close-up. So quiet!

Vapour on Finals

A Ryanair 737-800 on short final, vapour pouring from the wings as it emerges into the sunlight. Unusual winglet on this one, all the other Ryanair machines had the company name emblazoned on the winglet.

Eastern JS41

An Easter Jetstream 41 rolls down 27 on departure shrotly after the fog lifted.

Atlas Heavy Rolling

Just like that the fog cleared and the runway became visible, the Atlas 747-400F rolling down 27 for a short hop to Brize Norton.

Atlas Tail

The winglet and tail of the Atlas 747-400 Freighter that sat at the holding point for ages while the fog ebbed in and out at East Midlands.

Thomson

A Thomson 737-800 sits at the holding point in the fog.

BIG Cargo Lifter

This is as close as I've ever been to a taxiway without being on the airport itself - less than 60m from the taxiway separated by a fence, and with the wingspan of this giant Antonov AN124 I was probably no more than 30m away from the wingtip. The fog was rolling in and out as this beast sat next to me, this was a relatively clear moment.

UPS B763F N318UP

Another long haul freighter landing at East Midlands, this time UPS arriving from Louisville.

Jet2 Cargo

A Jet2 cargo 737 on short final for East Midland's Runway 27. This spot was just off the A50 and had parking by an RVP, so possibilities exist here. I reckon this is where you can walk beneath the threshold and round to the south side for side-on shots.

New Livery

Flybe have gone for a new livery. It seems quite negative - as in it is a negative. I'm sure the fuselage should have been white, and the tail purple. Quite honestly it's just too much purple and will no doubt be the subject of a variety of jokes as time goes on.

Someone got a closer spot

This was my first attempt at shooting at East Midlands and was more of a recce than anything. This shot was taken from near one of the hotels, and at full zoom. The two with the ladders will have gotten a much better view, I need to find out how they got there...and if I need a ladder or not, not entirely sure I can be arsed to lug a stepladder around!

DHL above Power

A DHL 767-300 Freighter about to land at East Midlands after a flight from Cincinnati.