JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you live on the Northside, watching airplanes take off and land from Jacksonville International Airport can be a fun leisure activity.
Intrigued by the idea, I decided to check it out myself.
I tried it out for the first time recently with my kids and found out there are people who have turned that into a hobby.
My family and I have lived on Jacksonville’s Northside since moving to Jacksonville in 2021.
I took my 7-year-old son, Israel, and Brielle, my 2-year-old daughter, to the Jacksonville International Airport observation area on Pecan Park Road.
We waited patiently to watch planes take off and land.
“Daddy, I see a UPS plane and a FedEx one,” Israel said, which is something that used to happen when we lived near a regional airport in Roanoke, Virginia.
On that particular day, we didn’t have much luck seeing planes on the runway near the observation area because the wind direction dictates which runways will be in use the most each day.
Spotting planes was new for my family, but it’s been around for a long time in Jacksonville.
Ricky Jusino loves everything aviation.
Jusino has been dedicated to his hobby of spotting planes for the last six years and sometimes does it once a week.
He considers it therapeutic.
“I do it to get away if I had a long week or a stressful week,” Jusino said. “I just come out here. I am on my own just looking at planes land.”
Jusino is a pilot with a private license and has his sights set on becoming a commercial pilot.
Jusino said spotting planes inspires him to continue striving for his goal.
“The sound of the jet engines is like harmony,” he said. “You hear that, you see the flow of traffic and how airplanes take off and land.”
Jusino recalled a trip he took to San Diego where planes would take off and land right above people’s heads from one specific observation area. It was a prime spot to take it all in.
“There is a parking garage on the final approach course of one of the runways,” Jusino said of his California trip. “You have planes landing over you, and you can see them. They are like 50 or 100 feet above you. That was really memorable because the planes are super, super close.”
In Jacksonville, although planes do not get that close, Jusino said it’s just as thrilling for him.
“It kind of keeps that fire lit I should say,” he said.
Whether by yourself or with your family, trying to get a glimpse of a plane leaving or coming is a fun, free activity that can be pretty memorable.