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Window Views
View photos taken out of the windows of aircraft. |
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Special Liveries
Want to see aircraft with special airline paint schemes and logos? look no further. |
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Night / Sunset
A range of airliner and aircraft shots taken at Dusk / Sunrise and night. |
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Flightdeck
Check this out for photos of the business end of an aircraft. |
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Spotting With No Car at YMML
Oh well, you cant have it all. But, even though don't have a car, you should still
be able to have a heck of a lot of fun spotting in the terminal at
Melbourne.
There are a number of spots to choose from all, located at different points
around the airport. Probably the most common used to be the recently closed Observation Deck. The Ob
deck used to give a good view of most of the Qantas domestic terminal as well as about
half of the gates of the International carriers.
However, in late 2003 the observation deck was closed to public access. Although we have included photos and instruction on how to get there, you will find that you will be unable to get up to the deck itself.
Rather than explaining
all the spots in one paragraph, we have set them all out individually below. The links you
see below are to descriptions which are still on this same page. Basically all
this means is you can print out this page and get all the info without having to
print out different web pages.
1) Observation Deck
2) Food Court Area Near International Deps
3) Virgin Blue (Ansett) Gate Lounges
4) Qantas Gate Lounges
Observation Deck - Now closed! (back to top)
The observation deck used to be pretty cool. This used to be an area where all walks of the airport life could sit and watch the time away while having a bit of lunch or waiting for a flight. Unfortunately in late 2003 the Airport decided to close the Deck itself to the public, and thus unfortunately taking away one of the prime spots for good photos and a great smell!.
As far as photography was concerned, it was a great place to go, even for those without killer lenses. It was also good for night shots, and the likes. Even though there are hopes the Observation Deck will one day open up again, hopes are slim from all reports. If indeed it does re-open, it wont be the same Observation Deck we all remember.
And another shot taken not quite a
200mm with a 747 parked at gate D3
International Area Food Court (back to top)
The international Food Court area is not too far from the entrance to the Observation Deck.
The food court areas are pretty easy to find. Infact you have probably already seen them if you have been near the intenational check-in area.
From the international check-in area, you need to head up into the semi circle section where you can see all the food shops.
From here you can get some good shots on one side of the Qantas domestic terminal, most of the international gates,
and one side of the Ansett terminal. There are actually two food court areas
here . One either side of the doors the international passengers go through.
Either one os pretty good.
Once again this is good for early morning photos as the sun comes up
from behind the terminals.
The one below is taken from the food court on the other side.
Its in the same area.
Virgin Blue (Ansett) Gate Lounges (back to top)
The Virgin Blue lounges (which used to be the old Ansett stomping ground) are once again pretty easy to get to. Basically you just head down stairs to where there
Virgin Blue departure lounges are. To get a little more technical you want to head in a South - West direction. You should pass a McDonalds and then enter
the Virgin Blue area. Turn right and go down the stairs, continuing on to the departure lounges. (mind the metal detector).
All the way up and down here is good photos of all the Ansett aircraft lines up at the gates, as well as
some good shots across to the "Western" side of the international gates. If you head all the way down to the very
end of this departures annex you will be able to get a heap of good shots of the aircraft taxiing past. Also you
should be able to get some great shots of aircraft taking off/landing from rwy 16/34 (assuming that runway is being used).
The problem with this spot it this is where everyone likes to come and do
fingerpainting on the windows. So if you can fit a small bottle of window
cleaner and a rag in your camera bag then that might be a good idea.
Qantas Gate Lounges (back to top)
As with the Virgin Blue lounges, after
a quick run down by security you are clear to take as many pics as you like from
all round any of the gates. The Qantas domestic lounges can be found by heading
in an Easterly direction towards the far end of the airport. After you go through
the security check you will see a cafe immediately in front of you. From here
you can get some good photos of the inner sides of the QF gates. (see below for
photo from this point) Once finished there, walk right to
the end of the terminals so you can once again get quite a few good shots of
aircraft taxiing past.
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Some of our Photos
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VH-SEARCH
Whether you want to search for VH registered or N registered aircraft, go here!
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ATIS
Get direct ATIS information on any airfield around the country. Current duty runways etc.
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Frequencies
Air Band frequencies for major Australian airfields.
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Newsletter
Sign up for the rwy34.com newsletter and recieve monthly updates about the site!
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YMML Spotting
Detailed information on the best places to spot aircraft at YMML.
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YMML Runways
Take a look at the runway and taxiway layout of Melbourne International Airport.
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Contact Us
Give us some feedback. Let us know how we are going!
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Links
A handfull of usefull aviation links.
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