May 22nd and I was back in my home town of Arlington, Texas, host to the next NFL Superbowl. Sure enough I was soon at DFW airport, home to one of the best spotting locations in world — Founder’s Plaza at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport.
Built by the airport operators, in cooperation and with funding from all the airlines, civic bodies, and friends of the airport, the history of Founder’s Plaza is worth reading.
View DFW Founder’s Plaza in a larger map
From a spotters perspective it is pure heaven.
The plaza is a 10,000+ sq. ft. facility with many amenities.
Canopies and benches for families to sit and observe the planes arriving and departing on the western two runways.
Chilled water fountains to give you thirst relief.
Binoculars for close-up views.
And best of all — a very cooperative and understanding law enforcement who patrol the plaza but do not disturb anyone, unless they are making a fool of themselves or in to some mischief.
The plaza is built on a flattened hillock which is ABOVE the fence line for un-obstructed views and photographs. Do observe how the hillock is levelled down and a boundary is provided before the fence to prevent any unauthorised access.
The plaza even has a live feed of the DFW air traffic control tower radio transmissions so visitors can hear while they watch.
With each passing day and with each visitor, the plaza helps the airport strengthen and deepen its relations not just with the business community, but with individual community members.
The plaza is located on Texan Trail just off North Airfield Drive. It can also be accessed from Hwy 114 or Hwy 121. Refer to the map.
The Aviation Photographers of India has received a very high degree of cooperation from the operators of the Bengaluru International Airport, who have erected the first even plane spotter platform in
India. I do hope the new airport owners especially Mr. Sanjay Reddy read this article and during the next phase of expansion, consider making a similar plaza at Bangalore. It will be the pride of Indian spotting.
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