Tucson International Airport (TUS/KTUS) is a medium-sized
airport with 3 runways. The airport is oriented from southeast to
northwest along the two main runways 11L/R and 29R/L. A cross
runway, 21/3, is located at the northern end of the airport, and is
used mainly by GA and bizjets, occasionally by airliners if the winds
are strong out of the southwest. The terminal is located midfield
along the northeast side, and most of the GA, maintenance, and military
facilites are clustered around the northwest end. The
airport is quite a distance away from the center of the city, but there
are a number of good-quality motels and a few name-brand restaurants
nearby.
TUS is located 4 miles south of Interstate Highway 10 and 4
miles east of Interstate Highway 19. If driving from Phoenix, stay on
Interstate 10 and take exit 263A - Kino Pkwy South, then follow signs
for the airport. The airport entrance is at Tucson Blvd. and Valencia
Road, and that is the point of reference for the following spotting
descriptions.
A Tour of the Perimeter
TUS can be best described by dividing the airport into
sections. Each section has something different to offer the
aviation enthusiast, and a visit to TUS can be tailored to include or
leave out sections according to your preference.
The following descriptions are keyed to a map on Google
Earth. You can download Google Earth's mapping tool from the
Google website. Once you have Google Earth, please download this placemark file. The file will open in Google Earth and are numbered as follows:
(1) Aero Park Drive - Bombardier Completion Center
Bombardier has a completion center for Global Express,
Continental, Challenger, and Learjet business aircraft. The
center is vast and occupies many hangars. Aircraft typically
arrive at the center fresh from the factory, and can spend several
months being painted and having their interiors and other customer
options fitted. Older aircraft also can be present during
ownership changes.
On the map, it appears as if the center's ramps are
U-shaped. The large part of the U, on the left side, is the main
ramp. The crossing part of the U is typically where a row of
Learjet and Global Express aircraft park, and the right side of the U
is the ramp of the large blue hangar, which is the old Lockheed L-1011
facility.
To reach the center, from the airport entrance, drive west
on Valencia. At the 4th traffic signal (after you cross a
railroad track) - Old Nogales Highway - turn left and drive
south. The 2nd traffic signal is Aero Park Drive - turn
left. Drive east along Aero Park Drive. The completion
center, with various ramps, hangars, and parking areas, is on your
left. You can drive slowly along this road, stopping quickly to
log something, and continue on. Between the parking lots and the
large blue hangar are the paint sheds, take a look here and you can
usually see an aircraft or two on these ramps. The large blue
hangar does contain aircraft, although you cannot see anything from
this road. The road eventually ends at the Raytheon plant
entrance - do not enter the plant - it is controlled by a security
gate. You can turn around and drive back along Aero Park
Drive. Quick visits may be made into the Bombardier parking lots
to see any ramp residents, be sensible here. An especially
notable spot is at the Learjet customer center (the western-most
driveway), where a large gate next to the parking lot allows good views
of the main ramp.
After driving along Aero Park Drive, turn right and head
north on Old Nogales Highway. If you wish to log more aircraft on
the ramp, you can pull off the roadway onto the dirt area, close up
your car, and walk along the railroad track. You will find
relatively good views of the lineup of Learjets just east of the main
ramp, and perhaps an angle or two of the main ramp. However, the
best views of the main ramp can be found from across the cross runway
at the Pima College hangar, see (2) below.
(2) Pima Community College
The local college recently opened an aviation technical
school on the west side of the airport. Donated to the school are
an ex-Fed Ex B727-100 N115FE; ex-DeHavilland DHC-8 C-GGMP; ex-Aero Peru
B727-100 OB-1547 (visible inside the school); and the
fuselage section of Viscount 4X-AVE. The airport's Caravelle fire
trainer is located nearby. The Orient Thai L-1011 that
was here in years past was broken up by the school. The 727 and
DHC8 are easily seen from Old Nogales Highway after leaving area (1)
above.
The college is located just south of Hamilton Aviation along
Park Ave. If leaving area (1) above, drive north on Old Nogales
Highway. Turn right on Teton Road and cross the railroad
tracks. At the 4-way stop turn right on Park Ave. and drive
south. The road terminates at the Pima College parking lot.
For the photographer: the school lends itself for photos in
the late afternoon. Although the fenceline will be in the photo,
it will not be obstructing the aircraft.
For the bizjet spotter: during the week when the school is
open, if you enter the parking lot and continue south towards the
airliner compound, a view across to the Learjet ramp opens up.
Most of the Learjets that are lined up north-to-south can be read off
from here.
Backtracking a little, just to the north and east of the
Pima College hangar is a large, open, concrete area where the Flying
Hospital L-1011 has been parked recently. By parking here, you
can see the main Bombardier ramp across the runway to the south.
With a good scope mostly all of the ramp residents can be read
off. Keep in mind as you view these aircraft that most
primer-colored aircraft have their C/Ns painted somewhere in black, the
location of which varies by aircraft type. Heat haze can be a
problem here.
(3) Hamilton Aviation
Hamilton Aviation is located along Park Ave. just south of
Valencia Road. If driving from (2) above, just drive north on
Park Ave. If coming from the airport entrance, drive west on
Valencia. At the third traffic signal - Park Avenue, turn left
and drive south. Take this road around the end of the runway, and then
on your left the storage yard will be visible. Hamilton's offices are
located near the large hangar. The main ramp and hangar ramp are
along the north and west sides of the complex. An aircraft
maintenance "canopy" is located in the back, along the east side of the
complex. A small scrapping operation takes place on the south
side of the complex.
The main ramp is typically filled with airliners in storage
and in for maintenance. The north row of airliners are very
tightly packed, usually so that only a "tail count" can be
performed. The large hangar can completely house 2 airliners with
the doors closed, the small hangar can not fit an airliner's tail
section inside. Around back can be found more airliners, usually
those destined for scrapping. To reach this area drive east on
Teton Road, and turn left at the end.
For the photographer: Late afternoon is best.
Fencelines are a problem. Aircraft parked near the hangar are
usually good to shoot, IF you can find an opening thru the stored
aircraft & truck equipment to shoot them. Usually 'record'
photos are all that you can expect.
After viewing the main ramp from Park Ave., drive south back
to Teton Road and turn left. Drive east on Teton, past the large
"Tucson Industrial Center" hangars, until the end. If you turn
left here, a good view of the back side of the Hamilton Aviation
complex can be found. If you turn right, you will see a large
open ramp to the right of the US Forest Service office. This ramp
has served many purposes, ranging from a staging area for military
aircraft, to a scrapping area for several widebodies. The Flying
Hospital L-1011 is sometimes parked here, as are larger airliners
that cannot fit on Hamilton's ramp. Always worth a
look.
(4) Base of control tower: executive ramp and G.A. area
This area is used for transient aircraft parking.
Bizjets, light aircraft, transient military, and airliner charters all
utilize this ramp. Photography is good in the morning hours
before 10:00 a.m. Aircraft parked on the ramp can be photographed
very nicely on summer evenings after 5:00pm.
To reach this area, from the airport entrance, drive south
on Tucson Blvd. Turn right on Elvira Road and drive west.
At the stop sign, turn left and drive south on Plumer Avenue. The
road twists and turns and eventually becomes Flightline Drive, heading
west to the control tower. Bear to the right and you will see a
large parking lot, it is in here that you can park.
A location to note is the area north of Flightline Drive
along Airport Drive. The area contains many hangars that house
bizjets, US Customs helicopters, and other twins & light
aircraft.
Driving north along Plumer Avenue reveals several other
ramps containing light aircraft and occasional bizjets. Several
nooks & crannies to explore here.
(5) Air Cargo
Tucson is typically served by two or more Fed Ex A310s and B727s, an
Airborne Express DC-9, and a third-party B727, either Capitol Cargo,
Custom Air Transport, or similar.
The cargo area is reached by exiting the airport east to
Country Club Road. Turn right and drive south on Country Club,
the road eventually turns west and becomes Los Reales Road. This
road crosses Airport Drive and ends at the active taxiway. A left
turn down Airport Drive leads to the Fed Ex and Airborne Express ramps
and also ends at the active taxiway.
Both locations are good for taxiway/runway photography in
the early morning hours.
Photography Locations
Terminals
Photography is fairly acceptable in the morning hours.
Currently access to the concourses is limited to ticketed passengers
only. There is occasional tinting of the windows, and most gate
areas offer good views of the active taxiway. There is a large
open area in the center of the ticketing area, accessible to all
people, that overlooks the Delta/Skywest ramp. Fairly good shots
of a parked CRJ can be taken through the glass here.
Perimeter - Runway 11 in use
Note that numbers in (#) below correspond to the airport map.
Spot (3) Hamilton Aviation - Use for photography after
12.00pm. Follow the directions above to Hamilton Aviation. Continue
past Hamilton on Park Ave. Turn left at the first stop sign, drive east
on Teton Drive for a block, past the large "Tucson Industrial Center"
hangars on the right. At the yield sign, turn LEFT and follow this
around past Double Eagle back to the east. This road will end at an
airport-controlled gate. This spot will give excellent photos of any
arriving aircraft on 11L, however, any departing aircraft will be
missed.
Spot (4) Base of tower - Use for photography before 12:00pm,
and after 4:00pm on summer evenings. A large parking lot is located
directly north of the tower, which overlooks the active taxiway and
threshold of runway 11L. Sun will be over your left
shoulder. This spot is accessible by walking from the
terminals. For an example shot, click here.`
Spot (5) Air Cargo - Use for photography before
12:00pm. Offers views of the active taxiway. The Fed Ex
parking lot is closer to where aircraft will turn off the runway after
landing rollout, and a large light pole foundation in this lot offers a
place to stand to photograph over the fence without attracting too much
attention.
Perimeter - Runway 29 in use
Spot (5) Air Cargo - Use for photography before
12.00pm. See above.
There are not any good spots for photography after 12:00pm
if runway 29 is in use.
A Spotter's Checklist
- Base of tower: contains transient
executive parking, a few T-hangars. Trajen FBO also has bizjets.
- North of tower, hangars along runway 03-21:
a few resident bizjets, many light aircraft
- AZNG F-16 ramp (for those interested):
contains several dozen F-16s plus assorted other military aircraft. Can
be spotted from the ramp at Hamilton Aviation, and from Valencia Road
west of Tucson Blvd.
- Hamilton Aviation: stored airliners,
airliners in maintenance
- Flying Hospital L-1011 ramp stored
airliners, pistons
- Pima Community College ramp: view of
Bombardier ramp bizjets
- Bombardier complex: bizjets at the
finishing center
- Air Cargo
The large blue hangar, which is now owned by Bombardier,
contains bizjets inside being finished. If the hangar doors are
open, try the area at the base of the control tower for a view across
the runway into the hangar.
The Raytheon hangar, southeast of Bombardier and across the
runway from Air Cargo, contains Convair 580 N580HH. It rarely
comes outside, usually only for a flight.
Scanner Frequencies
Tower 118.3
Approach - East: 124.00
Approach - Northwest: 125.10
Hotel Accommodations
(1) Best Western Inn at the Airport: Closest motel to the
airport, about 50 yards from the terminal.
(2) Red Roof Inn South: Located approximately halfway between Tucson
Int'l and Davis Monthan. Next door to Denny's.
(3) Motel 6: Located on Interstate 10 at exit 262. About 4 miles north
of the airport on Park Ave.
Other
(1) Denny's, Burger King, and McDonald's are located near the
airport entrance (Tucson Blvd. and Valencia Road).
(2) Food markets and stores for film can be found west of the airport
on Valencia Road.
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