ORD Airport Watch Newsletter August, 2024 | |
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Greetings, members!
There are some seismic changes coming to the way that memberships will be processed. Carol Baran, the administrative professional at Bensenville Police Department (BPD) who has been responsible for processing all of our new and renewal memberships since roughly 2017, is retiring, and BPD does not have another staff member who can take on this work. What this means for us is that the OAW board will be transitioning all of the membership processing work over to our organization, with the exception of the background checks, which BPD will continue to run for us.
We had an extensive conversation with Carol and Deputy Chief Dooley at BPD in late August, and were able to get a better idea of what the timeline for the background checks looks like for them. It is extremely important to understand that the BPD has very limited staff hours during which the work of running OAW background checks can be done, and that this can translate into membership application processing taking 2-3 weeks to be completed. Though it is possible for OAW to also run the background checks, it is very cost prohibitive and we do not want to ask members to pay for them. It was decided that so long as BPD is willing and able to run the background checks for us (which also means that they pay for them instead of members), that it was in our best interest as an organization to continue that.
Two of our board members, Jackson Skelly and Jackin Jain, have been working on a new membership application/renewal process that is entirely online. We (the board) are working to implement this process as soon as possible so that we are ready to take over once Carol is gone. Her exact retirement date is still very much up in the air, so unfortunately we just do not know when she will finally be leaving. One more very important thing to know about this transition is that when Carol leaves, there may be a lag in the BPD's ability to process background checks while they get a new person trained to take over for her. BPD was unable to tell us at our meeting how much of a lag there would be, but we will do our best to get that information as things unfold.
Please keep an eye on your email, as we will be providing everyone with updates as the pieces of this new process fall into place over the next few months!
Unrelated to the changes at BPD, but just as important, is the fact that we have two open board positions that we will be holding a special election for in the very near future. The board has been very busy managing the critical nature of the staffing changes at BPD but now that we have gotten that mostly sorted, we have the bandwidth to think about the special election. So, please watch for an email about that, which should be going out in the next few weeks.
The board would also like to remind everyone that the primary benefit of OAW membership is our vetting by the Bensenville Police Department. When law enforcement, the Chicago Department of Aviation, or airport security inevitably comes by one or more of our spotting locations, they may ask people who are not background-checked OAW members to leave the area, while OAW members are allowed to stay. This is also why it is so important to always have your OAW badge and your vest when you are out spotting. Without those things, security/law enforcement has no way of verifying your membership and you may be asked to leave. We do not want that! So please do your best to always have those things on you.
Additionally, we would like to remind members that we cannot "police" spotting locations and tell people to leave. Our power is limited to reporting suspicious and/or illegal activities to law enforcement/security by calling the number on the back of our OAW badges when we observe them. Please do not take it upon yourself to personally step in if you should see something nefarious happening. Call the number on your badge instead, and let the authorities handle it. We do not have the authority to address these situations ourselves. If you have questions or need clarification on this, please reach out to the board.
One more thing - we need your help! The board is creating a FAQ page on our website to answer all sorts of frequently asked questions for everyone from prospective members to longtime members to the general public. We want to hear from all of you as we create this page and going forward as we continue adding to it. Which questions do you want to see on this page? Please email Laura Hayden with your suggestions: Laura@atypicaladventurestravel.com
OAW Mission Statement
ORD Airport Watch is a member-driven planespotting organization that exists to enhance public safety at Chicagoland airports in partnership with law enforcement through the observation, recording and reporting of suspicious or improper activities, and to support and advance the hobby of planespotting.
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ORD Tour & Fall Picnic
The board reached out to the CDA in August to get our annual ORD tour scheduled and as of the publication of this newsletter, we are still awaiting their response. Please watch your email, because we will be sending an email out the moment we have a confirmed date! We are also working on scheduling the picnic, but we will not be able to choose a date for it until we know when the CDA can do our tour. Watch your email for this as well!
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Member ID
As always, please be wearing your vest and have your OAW badge on you at all times when you're out spotting. If anyone from law enforcement or security approaches you, please be courteous and comply with any requests they make of you. If you are out at one of our official spotting locations and you are asked to leave, please contact a member of the board so that we can address the situation.
Need a vest? Contact OAW secretary Dave Blocher to get one: dblocher01@att.net
North Hill
⚠️ ⚠️ Access to the North Hill continues to evolve. Please use extra caution when going out to the North Hill, as the route to get there consists partly of the new roadway that is being built, and it is always changing. If you're not sure where the North Hill is, please check out the ORD spotting map. The North Hill is a red pin on the southwest end of the airfield, just north of the threshold of 10L.
Please help us all stay informed about the latest conditions out here! There are two good ways to do this. One, reach out to an OAW board member and we will pass the information along to everyone. Two, join the OAW Discord server and share there. Thank you in advance!
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OAW Member Spotlight: Peter Jovanovic Sr.
How long have you been planespotting and how did you get into it?
Since about 1967. The love of everything aviation lured me in!
When did you join OAW?
June 2012
Which aircraft/s is your favorite, and why?
747 When it came online, it created a flying experience like no other, and still does.
Describe an ideal day planespotting at ORD. What is the weather like? Which locations are you at? Who are you with? What are you the most excited about? And anything else you want to share.
Clear air sunshine dotted with cumulus clouds for a nice background and mid 70's temps.I shoot a lot with my son Peter Jr. and Paul Stevens and getting together with other spotters.I get excited when the perfect picture presents itself. The best part of all of this is that it is a relaxing hobby.
Who are you when you're not planespotting?
I am retired with 43 years of service with United Airlines(the original) Retired 12 years now.
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Photo: Laura Hayden
Taken from the Air Canada Cargo hill on January 4, 2024, using a 70-300mm lens zoomed to 300mm. This aircraft is arriving on 28C.
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Photo: Laura Hayden
Taken from the Air Canada Cargo hill on January 4, 2024, using a 70-300mm lens zoomed to 77mm. This aircraft is departing from runway 22L.
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Photo: Jackson Skelly
Panning shot taken from Air Canada Cargo hill. Aircraft is departing from runway 22L.
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Spotting Location Spotlight: Air Canada Cargo
Welcome to our new series that highlights a different spotting location in each newsletter!
When the airport is in west flow, one of the best places to spot is the small hill on the back side of Air Canada Cargo, which is located just south of the intersection of Montrose and Express Center Drive. Here, you have a completely unobstructed view of 04R/22L, 28C, 28R, and T5, as well as aircraft on final for 28C. Please note that this spot is labeled as "Menzies Hill" on the OAW spotting locations map.
Because this spot is in such close proximity to 04R/22L as well as being some distance from 28C and 28R, you will want to have a variety of focal lengths. For traffic on 04R/22L, shorter focal lengths are better because that runway is quite close to you. Spotters here tend to use anything from 24mm to 100mm. I can tell you from personal experience that larger aircraft will fill up your frame FAST as they pass directly in front of you, so you will want to use a shorter focal length if your goal is to have the entire aircraft in your shots. Smaller aircraft from the A321 on down will be easier to frame here than 757s on up. If you are shooting arriving aircraft on 28C or departing aircraft on 28R, use a longer focal length. Anything from 100mm on up will work well for these shots.
If you want to practice panning, then departing traffic on 22L is a great opportunity for that. Use a shorter focal length (less than 100mm) for best results.
One thing to keep in mind at this spot is that anything beyond 22L runs the risk of heat haze. That being said, I certainly have plenty of shots that haven't been ruined by it, knock on wood! It just depends on the conditions at the time you're out photographing.
Let's talk about light here. Aircraft are generally side lit, but on a sunny day, you will get well-lit shots comparable to arrivals on 10C that are shot from The Hill. As the sun gets lower in the sky later in the day, you can get some nice shots of aircraft flying into the sunset as they take off from 22L.
Lastly, here are a couple of helpful notes about the logistics of this location. You will need to park in the northwest corner of the parking lot, indicated in blue on the screenshot below. Then it is a short walk to whichever part of the hill (circled in red) you choose to camp out on. This spot also tends to be less busy than other places like The Hill. As with any of our spotting locations, please be very mindful to park your vehicle in marked parking spots, as we don't want to draw any attention to ourselves by creating issues with Air Canada Cargo parking lot traffic.
If you have any questions about this spot, feel free to reach out to any board member or join the OAW Discord server and ask the many spotters in that group.
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Bookmark This!
Those of you who work at ORD already know about this website, but for those of you who don't, you will definitely want to go explore it! (Note that some areas are not accessible to non-ORD employees.) This website contains a wealth of behind-the-scenes information that any avgeek who spots here would love to know. The link below takes you to the downloads page, where there are several diagrams of interest to OAW members, and from there, you can navigate to the rest of the site. Have fun exploring!
https://www.ordsafe.com/downloads
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Photography Tips volunteers needed | |
We have had some members request a "Photography Tips" feature, and the board would love to make this happen! However, we can only do this if we have volunteers to contribute their expertise. The format will be fairly simple: a few example photographs and then a short-medium length (a few paragraphs) explanation to go along with the photos. For example, a photo taken after dark, accompanied by information on camera settings and shooting/editing techniques used to achieve good results. You get the idea!
You don't need to be a world-class professional photographer to volunteer. All you need is some experience with getting good results and the desire to share your knowledge with others.
To volunteer, please contact Laura Hayden: laura@atypicaladventurestravel.com
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Member Spotlight - We Want to Feature You! | |
We are featuring the members of OAW in the newsletters and on our social media accounts. It is not required, but we do encourage everyone to complete the profile form so that we can feature you. We are very proud of all of you, and we don't want to keep you all a secret!
Questions? Contact Laura: laura@atypicaladventurestravel.com
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Got News to Share?
We need your help creating future newsletters! If you have any content items of interest to the OAW membership, please submit them to Laura Hayden. We are looking for a wide variety of information to include here. Some examples are: noteworthy aircraft visits (upcoming or past); member accomplishments such as obtaining a pilots license or a new aviation job; airline route and service updates; upcoming aviation events; anything else aviation and planespotting related.
Please send all content contributions to Laura Hayden, OAW Vice President: laura@atypicaladventurestravel.com.
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OAW News & Helpful Member Info | |
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President: Dan McInerney - dmcinerney77@gmail.com
Vice President: Laura Hayden - laura@atypicaladventurestravel.com
Secretary: Dave Blocher - dblocher01@att.net
Treasurer: Jackin Jain - jackin.jain@gmail.com
Member-at-Large: Jackson Skelly - skellyflash@gmail.com
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OAW Social Media - Join/Follow Us! | |
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Discord Server
Join the conversation over on the OAW Discord server! Come to chat about planespotting, ORD, photography, or life in general. The Discord server is also a great place to ask about the very latest conditions at our many spotting locations, as places like The Hill are constantly undergoing changes. Click the button below to join!
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In case you haven't heard the news yet, OAW now has a LinkedIn profile!
If you're on LinkedIn, please go to our page and follow us. Following us ensures that you have much better odds that the LI algorithm will actually show you our posts. And when you see our posts, please give them a like and a comment to help our LinkedIn presence grow so that we can make more great connections in the aviation world.
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Spotting Maps on the OAW Website | | |
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Did you know that we now have interactive maps of our spotting locations on the OAW website? Now you can see exactly where places like The Hill are located, and be able to easily link to GPS directions to help you get there.
Big thanks to Jackson Skelly for creating these incredibly helpful maps!
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OAW Member Meeting October 1, 2024 7:00PM | |
Mark your calendars for our next member meeting on Tuesday, October 1st at 7:00PM!
The meeting will be on Zoom; watch your email for the link, which will be sent out a day or two before the meeting.
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