Here is a good question. (maybe) What airport would you like to spot at, but never have? I would LOVE to spot at SFO. 
In no particular order:
London (any of the airports but especially Heathrow)
JFK
MIA
ANC
Moscow - any airport. I love to see the old Russian aircraft
SFO used to have a great spotting location at the end of runways 1. Unfortunately, they built a police station there and the spotting is out. The parking lot that was there was no more than 150 yards from the ends of he runways!
SFO used to have a great spotting location at the end of runways 1. Unfortunately, they built a police station there and the spotting is out. The parking lot that was there was no more than 150 yards from the ends of he runways!
That is to bad. The beach is a good place to watch takeoff/landing on 28L & R.
Don’t try quoting someone manually. Use the quote button! It’s your friend.
I did use the quote button. 
So did I. Make sure you do NOT delete the opening quote statement.
Here we go again, lets just forget all about it.
I am trying to forget… 
I was talking to damiross… Lets talk about spotting, shall we?
Yes, which airport is the best to spot at? KEWR, KJFK, KLGA??
Honestly? I’d say KLAS.
Parking area just south of 25L/R on Sunset Road, and they broadcast ATC from the tower on FM radio straight to that area. Since the 25s are the main arrival and departing runways for the commercial aircraft, you get the best seat for departing, and arrivals at least a good 15 miles out on Final.
Outside of KVGT, I still have yet to find an airport that provides a place to spot (and actually promotes doing it), and broadcasts ATC without needing a scanner.
BL.
KPDX, they have two parking areas (with hotdog stands) on River Road that you can park at and watch 10L-28R
I have never been up that way, but I would guess JFK?
Have you seen a map of that area? If not, try looking at one. You won’t be able to get anywhere close to decently planespot there, unless you’re at the southern end of Brookville Park, and even then you’d only see the departures off of 31R (if JFK is in normal configuration). If the 22s are in use, you’ll be right under the flightpath, but more times than not, they’re landing to the west/northwest.
Second, you’re in Jamaica. Not the best of neighbourhoods for NYC.
LGA? Flushing Meadows isn’t that much better, but you’re left with even less places to sit and spot there.
Your best bet out of the three would be EWR, but it’s a PITA to get around. You have the different seaports to the east of the 4s/22s that you could sit at, but you’re definitely not going to see much there, if they let you stay there.
I believe even that is gone now. When I do work in Redwood City, I pass by SFO. US 101 is so close to there now, that not even the police station is there. You pretty much have runway - jetblast fence - access road - US101.
Sandpiper Rd. is now closed at LAX, so people can’t go down there without getting ticketed (Inglewood PD has nothing better to do). The owners of the parking garage off of I-5 call the police immediately if you try to spot there at SAN…
Honestly, the best places I’ve seen have been LAS, VGT, and HND. They encourage it, plus with ATC, it’s hard to beat. Though I’ll have to try that one at PDX. I have to make a trip there soon!
BL.
BL.
Thanks a lot for the information tyketto.
Rob
If you’re wanting to brave the NYC area and do some spotting there, here’s a good reference:
nycaviation.com/spotting-guides/jfk/
nycaviation.com/spotting-guides/lga/
nycaviation.com/spotting-guides/ewr/
This should tell you where you can go, and what to expect.
Here’s what I have at LAS and VGT:
birdandhike.com/Aircraft/Spo … Carran.htm
birdandhike.com/Aircraft/Spo … V/_NLV.htm
Each one has a designated area to spot at. At the one for LAS, the first picture on the left has a green sign on the fence. The sign actually states “Tune your radio to 101.1FM to monitor Air Traffic communication.”
There is a fence at the park/parking area at VGT that says the same, and same frequency at that.
There is a site (URL escapes me at the moment) that lists places to planespot at. If I find it again, I’ll post it here.
BL.
Great sites!! Thanks a lot.
There was police presence at the IKEA lot across from KEWR. They were parked in one spot, so I went into IKEA to shop. They had moved to a different spot when I came back out. Great views from that location though!!!
And Manchester!(EGCC)
Problem with the UK, is that they are really touchy on spotting there, if not just for the sake of monitoring ATC. The British Telephony Act of 1949 (renewed in the 90s/2000s) all but make scanning there illegal. You can listen to it personally with a scanner at a given airport, but you can’t rebroadcast it, like over a LiveATC feed or so, as they state that the only people who can listen to it are the controllers saying it, and the party that needs to hear it. Anyone else, it’s illegal.
Besides… The BEST place to planespot is TNCM.
BL.
You are right, TNCM is the best. Airliners 10 to 20 feet over your head. I said EGCC mainly because they have alot of heavy aircraft, they are cool to watch, but you can get just about that many heavy planes at SFO…