Yes it’s the mound off Belmer Road (I didn’t know what the road was called until I read your post). A step ladder is useful but not essential as there a couple of pallets on top of the mound you can stand on. There is a footpath near the end of Green Street which leads into the nearby field’s which is good for photography in the afternoon when landing on 23 as well. Make sure you do not park anywhere near the crash gate at the end of the road though.

Most were taken from the mound near the the fire training place that you describe. The light there is only good for photography in the late afternoon/evening. There is some fencing there which has mostly fallen down. I go there regularly, as do many others and have never been challenged or chased away. Security sometimes take the registrations of the cars parked in the lane but other than that they leave you alone. I know of some other spots for shooting planes on approach to Stansted in the morning near Molehill Green for 23 and Takeley for 05. I can send you more info on these if you are interested.

Great shot, well captured.
Do CargoLux operate in and out of Manston frequently?

Thanks for your comments. As far as I can work out they have a regular slot on Tuesdays operating as CV 7179. It’s due in around 12:30 and departs again between 14:00 and 15:00. Has operated on the last two Tuesdays so seems quite reliable. Worth checking Flightstats.com the day before if you intend making the trip down there to see if it’s operating.

Thanks for your kind comments. The first shot is quite heavily cropped and the second less so as I used a 1.5 extender with the lens. These shots only really come off when the moon is nearly full (I have a calendar which has the phases of the moon) and is rising or setting during daylight hours. There are various web sites that give the rising and setting times for the moon. The sky also needs to be as clear as possible. You need to be in positions when the moon is either rising or setting so that it not too high in the sky. On this day they were using 09R for departures and the moon was due to rise at around 2pm. I guessed that some time during the afternoon the planes would cross in front of the moon as they climbed out, as it happened only a few did so its down to luck really.

All the best, Tony