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Browsing Tag: SpotLAX

Head’n to LAX for Some Rad Planes and Awesome People

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Catching a 747 landing while eating at Proud Bird by LAX.
Catching a 747 landing while eating at Proud Bird by LAX

I was super excited to be heading once again down to LAX to participate in Dorkfest and SpotLAX. Sure, a big chunk of the weekend was all about watching planes, but for me it was also about seeing old friends and making some new ones. I have to admit that I ended up missing more than one exciting aircraft because I was socializing, but that was not a bad thing (especially since we were mostly talking about airplanes anyhow). 

Extra bonus… while at SEA airport I was able to spot two of Alaska’s 787s. Oh AND a 737… hot damn!

With the combined events, there was a pretty tight schedule from about 4pm Friday until around 11am Sunday. But it was fun and it was not like you had to do all the things. One of my favorite aspects of the weekend is it’s open for anyone and everyone to experience. You do not need to be media, an influencer, or work for an airline. Sure, some things you need to sign up for, but it’s not a huge challenge if you are prepared.

My AvGeek adventure started on my flight down to LAX. I noticed that seat 18A on my Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 had no seat in front of it. I opted to change my assignment to check out that extra legroom (for science!). Being 6’1”, it was nice having unlimited legroom. One downside is my tray table was in the center armrest. That would have been a pain if there was someone sitting in the seat, but luckily, it was empty. Overall, the experience felt pretty VIP (for economy anyhow).

Who’s Going to Dorkfest and #SpotLAX2026?

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Watching an China Eastern A330 land at #Dorkfest
Watching an China Eastern A330 land — feels like you could reach out and touch it!

What is Dorkfest, you might ask? It’s a fabulous event created by our friend Brett Snyder (aka Cranky Flier), where a bunch of AvGeeks get together at the In-N-Out by LAX to look at airplanes, eat some chow, win airport/airline giveaways, and be around a great group of people. Sound interesting? Here are the deets: 

There is no registration required for the main shindig, but if you want to be in the raffle to win awesome aviation-themed prizes or take a possible ramp tour of LAX, you will need to pre-register for those. To learn more about Dorkfest or sign up for the extras (as of publishing, the RSVPs are not yet open), then head to the main Dorkfest page.