Can't fly? Aviation enthusiasts say plane spotting is the next best thing
Published on
14 Sep 2021
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE - Under the palm trees and blue skies at Changi Beach Park, a group of people, armed with long camera lenses, gather and wait.
There is a rumble in the distance and they point their lenses skyward. A pair of wings emerges from the clouds.
As the plane approaches, the shutterbugs are able to identify its make and model - from the roar of its engine, the shape of its windscreen, and the angle of its wing tips, which are known as sharklets (on Airbus planes) or winglets (on Boeing ones).
A flurry of clicking follows, until the plane disappears behind them on its final descent towards Changi Airport.
When night falls, these shots will make their way onto social media, proud spoils from an afternoon of photography.
For aviation enthusiasts grounded by the pandemic, this is the closest they can come to taking to the skies.
Spurred by the lack of travel, the plane-spotter community here has grown in the past year.
More people in their late teens are taking an interest in the hobby, says brand manager Malcolm Lu, 38, who has been part of the Singapore Aviation Spotters Facebook group.
Other enthusiasts, such as those who collect model aircraft, are also branching out into photographing planes.
Mr Lu estimates that of the 3,900 members in the group, only 200 to 300 are active plane spotters. The rest are mostly industry professionals who want to learn more about aircraft.
About 15 to 20 new plane spotters have joined them in the past two years.
For veterans like him, who picked up the hobby about eight years ago, the pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities.
The skies are quieter now, with planes landing once every 10 to 15 minutes, rather than every three minutes or so before the pandemic.
The types of arriving aircraft have also shifted. There are fewer passenger planes and more cargo ones, such as the Boeing 747, which is instantly recognisable from its iconic hump where the cockpit is located.
Launched in the 1960s in response to rising demand for air travel, the plane, still known as Queen of the Skies, will end production next year as airlines switch to newer, more fuel-efficient models. But catching it in flight is still special for enforcement officer Jivesh Chander, 26. He first saw it as a child and has never grown tired of its unique appearance.
"She's still my favourite aircraft," says Mr Jivesh, who started photographing planes at age 14 with a compact camera.
His father, a former regular in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), sparked his love of aviation by taking him and his siblings to spot planes in Changi Coast Road.
Like him, many in the community grew up on visits to the Changi Airport viewing gallery with their parents, who pointed out planes, fuelled their dreams of flying and loaned them old cameras to pick up the hobby.
Community effort
And while they all have soft spots for different planes, the community unites in pursuit of new or unique ones.
These include the new Airbus A321neo that budget carrier Scoot received in May, which can carry more passengers and is more fuel- efficient than the older-generation A320ceo and A320neo aircraft.
Visiting dignitaries are another highlight for aviation enthusiasts, who track their planes the way photographers stalk big game in the African savannah.
Some take leave or swop shifts at work, waiting for hours for the aircraft to arrive. Unlike commercial flights, official planes such as the United States' Air Force One cannot be monitored in real time on flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
When former US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came to Singapore for the Trump-Kim summit in 2018, plane spotters waited from 7am until about 5pm at Changi Beach Park to spot the latter's plane.
With so much patience required for the hobby, being part of a community can make the difference between a dull wait and a fun day out.
Ms Grace Wong, one of the few women in a community that is about 95 per cent male, says her boyfriend and fellow plane spotter, Mr Chen Kai Jie, is a source of support on hot days and in rainy weather.
"He is usually the one encouraging me. When planes are diverted to a different runway from where we are waiting, I get kind of disappointed, but he tells me we can catch it another time," says Ms Wong, who is studying aerospace engineering at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
The couple, both 23, began exchanging online messages after they both left comments on the RSAF's Facebook page.
They met for the first time at a RSAF50 @ Heartlands roadshow in Jurong East in 2018 and started dating that year.
Mr Chen says: "It is much livelier to go plane spotting with Grace. We have the same passion and that's what makes our relationship interesting and unique."
For more stories on exploring Singapore, go to str.sg/sg-go-where
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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