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Jordan Naylor, founder of manchesterairport.live, discusses his passion for aviation, the technology behind airplane spotting, and the appeal of .LIVE in this week’s My Side of the Dot™.
Where are you based?
I actually live around 35 miles from Manchester Airport but have set up the equipment on a good friend’s house which is in a perfect position to see the entire approach to the runway at Manchester Airport!
How and when did you get the idea for manchesterairport.live?
I have watched multiple other webcams from around the world but there are a real lack of any at the bigger airports in the UK. I have made many visits to the Manchester Airport viewing park and overheard conversations about how good it would be to have a camera at Manchester so people could watch when they couldn’t make it to the airport. Another thing I noticed with the other webcams were that the camera was either at a busy airport and permanently fixed so you sometimes can’t see what you want either to the left or right, or you have a camera that does move but it’s at an airport that doesn’t have much traffic so you have long periods where nothing comes or goes!
What sort of setup, equipment, and agreements with public officials was required in order to get this operation running?
This was a much bigger task than I initially expected. I required an outdoor camera which had the ability to look upwards—something that it seems not many weatherproof cameras had the ability to do. I eventually came across the Axis Q6115-E, a 1080p capable PTZ camera that has a 20* upwards view. Another component I really wanted was sound, and finding an outdoor-capable microphone was just as hard. We are using an Axis T8351 microphone which is mounted near the camera with as much protection from rain and wind as possible without compromising the HD sound quality.
One of the first things I did when I came up with the idea was to contact Manchester Airport themselves who forwarded my query onto the Greater Manchester Police airport department who obviously had a few concerns to having a live webcam near the airport. After a few conversations we came to the conclusion that the authorities were happy providing the camera could not see the actual grounds of the airport. This does mean we are unable to see the actual touchdown of the aircraft, but I do think we have found a great spot to play to those rules yet still give the viewers a great view of every aircraft that comes in.
What is the appeal of watching planes? How long have you had a passion for aircraft?
I don’t really know what it is, whether it’s the noise, the power that the engines have, or whether it’s just the pure fact that is sometimes boggles the mind how something so massive can soar upwards with no struggle just amazes me.
I’ve been interested in aircraft since I was little, with my dad being an engineer in Hong Kong for a time and my mum used to sit atop the skyscrapers on the approach to Kai Tak airport where 747’s would come just feet above banked tightly to line up with the runway. Although this was before I came to be, my mum kept that passion herself and when she had moved back to the North West UK and I arrived, we had trips to the Aviation Viewing park at Manchester whenever we got the chance. As I’ve grown up and got involved with aircraft more, my best friend is now a pilot for Ryanair and I am an amateur photographer so I go to various points around the airport to get some pictures whenever I can.
What are your goals for manchesterairport.live?
It is still early days as the site went live on June 6, but if the project proves financially viable then I would like to expand to more airports around the UK, offering more great views for aviation enthusiasts around the UK.
Why did you choose Manchester airport as opposed to a different airport?
One of the main reasons is simply that Manchester Airport is my local airport. Although I have Blackpool and Liverpool around the same distance too, it made sense to use Manchester since it is the third busiest airport in the UK behind Heathrow and Gatwick.
Manchester is also unique in its community of plane spotters around it. With multiple Facebook groups with over 8,000 members, people from all over Europe and further afield come to Manchester because of its fabulous spots around the entire airfield that give great views and the viewing park which has a great small restaurant, play area, and often has inflatable slides to keep kids of all ages entertained. The police and airfield security are also a big help, as they keep everyone safe, but they are very accommodating to photographers and spotters.
Airports like Heathrow are difficult to spot at without being moved on frequently by police where Manchester has public footpaths surrounding most of it, allowing you to stand wherever you want to get that perfect view. Manchester also has a very busy painting company called Air Livery which brings many rare and unusual aircraft we would not normally see to the airport. For example a Boeing 727 which was painted for oil spill response, 747s, Iberia aircraft—especially their larger A340 fleet—and other rarities like RAF aircraft such as the E-3 Sentry.
As technology continues to evolve, do you see yourself expanding this operation?
There are features I’d like to implement which are not really available yet, such as a camera that can follow the aircraft in by itself rather than relying on me with my joystick at my computer to move it around. I would also like to be able to constantly record the stream which would allow any activities like emergency landings kept on film. I can record it, but only to a limited capacity and not constantly. As mentioned previously I’d like to be able to expand to more airports too.
How did you hear about .LIVE?
Whilst deciding a name for the website I was looking around domain websites and thinking “that’s not catchy … no one will remember that … hmm, that name is too long.” And then I stumbled across .LIVE. This fits in perfectly with creating a name that is both informative but memorable. We watch Manchester Airport and it is live 24/7. There couldn’t be anything better!
Is there anything you’d like to leave readers with?
We have a Facebook page with over 1,500 members and a growing Twitter page where we post updates on interesting arrivals, general information, and occasional pictures. We also have a live chat on the website where I engage with watchers about aviation and anything else we fancy chatting about, and when I am unable to be on the website when I am at my usual 9-5 job, the watchers are welcome to chat between each other which I feel adds another level of engagement which no other camera site has.
http://news.tldnic.net/live-domain-plane-spotting-in-manchester
Where are you based?
I actually live around 35 miles from Manchester Airport but have set up the equipment on a good friend’s house which is in a perfect position to see the entire approach to the runway at Manchester Airport!
How and when did you get the idea for manchesterairport.live?
I have watched multiple other webcams from around the world but there are a real lack of any at the bigger airports in the UK. I have made many visits to the Manchester Airport viewing park and overheard conversations about how good it would be to have a camera at Manchester so people could watch when they couldn’t make it to the airport. Another thing I noticed with the other webcams were that the camera was either at a busy airport and permanently fixed so you sometimes can’t see what you want either to the left or right, or you have a camera that does move but it’s at an airport that doesn’t have much traffic so you have long periods where nothing comes or goes!
What sort of setup, equipment, and agreements with public officials was required in order to get this operation running?
This was a much bigger task than I initially expected. I required an outdoor camera which had the ability to look upwards—something that it seems not many weatherproof cameras had the ability to do. I eventually came across the Axis Q6115-E, a 1080p capable PTZ camera that has a 20* upwards view. Another component I really wanted was sound, and finding an outdoor-capable microphone was just as hard. We are using an Axis T8351 microphone which is mounted near the camera with as much protection from rain and wind as possible without compromising the HD sound quality.
One of the first things I did when I came up with the idea was to contact Manchester Airport themselves who forwarded my query onto the Greater Manchester Police airport department who obviously had a few concerns to having a live webcam near the airport. After a few conversations we came to the conclusion that the authorities were happy providing the camera could not see the actual grounds of the airport. This does mean we are unable to see the actual touchdown of the aircraft, but I do think we have found a great spot to play to those rules yet still give the viewers a great view of every aircraft that comes in.
What is the appeal of watching planes? How long have you had a passion for aircraft?
I don’t really know what it is, whether it’s the noise, the power that the engines have, or whether it’s just the pure fact that is sometimes boggles the mind how something so massive can soar upwards with no struggle just amazes me.
I’ve been interested in aircraft since I was little, with my dad being an engineer in Hong Kong for a time and my mum used to sit atop the skyscrapers on the approach to Kai Tak airport where 747’s would come just feet above banked tightly to line up with the runway. Although this was before I came to be, my mum kept that passion herself and when she had moved back to the North West UK and I arrived, we had trips to the Aviation Viewing park at Manchester whenever we got the chance. As I’ve grown up and got involved with aircraft more, my best friend is now a pilot for Ryanair and I am an amateur photographer so I go to various points around the airport to get some pictures whenever I can.
What are your goals for manchesterairport.live?
It is still early days as the site went live on June 6, but if the project proves financially viable then I would like to expand to more airports around the UK, offering more great views for aviation enthusiasts around the UK.
Why did you choose Manchester airport as opposed to a different airport?
One of the main reasons is simply that Manchester Airport is my local airport. Although I have Blackpool and Liverpool around the same distance too, it made sense to use Manchester since it is the third busiest airport in the UK behind Heathrow and Gatwick.
Manchester is also unique in its community of plane spotters around it. With multiple Facebook groups with over 8,000 members, people from all over Europe and further afield come to Manchester because of its fabulous spots around the entire airfield that give great views and the viewing park which has a great small restaurant, play area, and often has inflatable slides to keep kids of all ages entertained. The police and airfield security are also a big help, as they keep everyone safe, but they are very accommodating to photographers and spotters.
Airports like Heathrow are difficult to spot at without being moved on frequently by police where Manchester has public footpaths surrounding most of it, allowing you to stand wherever you want to get that perfect view. Manchester also has a very busy painting company called Air Livery which brings many rare and unusual aircraft we would not normally see to the airport. For example a Boeing 727 which was painted for oil spill response, 747s, Iberia aircraft—especially their larger A340 fleet—and other rarities like RAF aircraft such as the E-3 Sentry.
As technology continues to evolve, do you see yourself expanding this operation?
There are features I’d like to implement which are not really available yet, such as a camera that can follow the aircraft in by itself rather than relying on me with my joystick at my computer to move it around. I would also like to be able to constantly record the stream which would allow any activities like emergency landings kept on film. I can record it, but only to a limited capacity and not constantly. As mentioned previously I’d like to be able to expand to more airports too.
How did you hear about .LIVE?
Whilst deciding a name for the website I was looking around domain websites and thinking “that’s not catchy … no one will remember that … hmm, that name is too long.” And then I stumbled across .LIVE. This fits in perfectly with creating a name that is both informative but memorable. We watch Manchester Airport and it is live 24/7. There couldn’t be anything better!
Is there anything you’d like to leave readers with?
We have a Facebook page with over 1,500 members and a growing Twitter page where we post updates on interesting arrivals, general information, and occasional pictures. We also have a live chat on the website where I engage with watchers about aviation and anything else we fancy chatting about, and when I am unable to be on the website when I am at my usual 9-5 job, the watchers are welcome to chat between each other which I feel adds another level of engagement which no other camera site has.
http://news.tldnic.net/live-domain-plane-spotting-in-manchester
