Bückeburg Air Base - Spotting Guide

Bückeburg Air Base – Spotting Guide

August 26, 2021 - last modified on December 25, 2022

Bückeburg Air Base (ETHB) is one of the major German air force helicopter air bases called. This airfield serves as an education air base for German soldiers who are about to serve in international helicopter movements, so you will mostly see GAF EC135 training.

General Information
Security	Spotting is okay here, but keep a safety distance from the fence of about 2m and a low profile.
Runway	No real systems as some helicopters fly in from the side, some from the wrong direction. So this is hard to predict.

	Crash gate – All movements
WHERE	Our spot can be found just south of the base, which can be found northeast of the city of Bückeburg itsself, and can be reached best from the south via highway B65 and then Flugplatzstrasse. The position is located at the end of Achumer Str. just at the fence close to a wodden gate to the apron.

WHAT	All movements at ETHB, but mostly the arrivals/departures on the runway/pads in front.

TIME	Depends on how the helicopters exactly fly, but around noon is best; morning/afternoon work most of the times for most flying routes as well.

MISC.	Nothing around. Don’t block the gate with your car and stay a bit from the fence when not shooting. For a handful of pictures you can quickly go there.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm Airport overview = 120mm / EC135 = 220mm