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Bird watching...

Well, actually big birds - namely, planes. Hong Kong's present airport (Kai Tak) is notorious for its difficult approach. Less than half a kilometer separates four story apartment blocks from the runway where the planes touch down. Consequently, the planes have to come in very close to the roofs of those buildings. In 1998, a new airport away from the city will replace Kai Tak. My guess is that the people in those apartment buildings are gonna be poppin' some champaigne corks when Kai Tak closes for good.
As you can see, even this close to the airport, the approach vector differs somewhat from plane to plane. This made it quite difficult to capture these pictures. While a deafening noise did announce the imminent arrival of each plane (one about every two minutes), once the planes appeared over the buildings, I had no more than two seconds to take each picture. Alas, for some I was a little too slow...
My first "bird sighting" as I was heading towards the airport. The rare "Virgin" species...
What can I say? I like planes. Funny thing is that while I was taking these pictures, a fellow Austrian (from Vienna) came with a similar goal in mind. Great (mediocre?) minds think alike...

Last updated September 11, 1997 by Michael C. Nechyba