When the McPherson family lived in Las Vegas, Mom and Dad would spend romantic evenings in their hot tub watching the planes overhead flying into McCarran International Airport. Today Mom and Dad and two children live in St. George, UT, but visit Las Vegas often. One of their favorite destinations: McCarran’s Sunset Road Viewing Area. For no cost, the McPhersons can park and watch airplanes, big and small, plain and colorful, take off and land. They are not alone.

Day and night, visitors flock to the viewing area. Once open 24 hours a day, the viewing area will, within the next week, be closed and gated from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. when few, if any, planes are flying. The closing may matter to a few young people who probably should be somewhere else, but the real audience for the viewing area will likely be as loyal as ever.

For 20 hours a day, cars, trucks and SUVs will come and go. From toddlers to seniors, plane-fanciers will watch the activity at the nation’s seventh busiest airport. Flight paths into and out of McCarran cross many neighborhoods, so backyard viewing is common. Nonetheless, the viewing area is always popular. The graceful movements of large airliners, one after another emerging from a seemingly empty sky have a kind of magical appeal.

“People come to our viewing area from all over the world,” says Chris Jones, McCarran Public Information Administrator. “Few major airports are so accessible. I often take my own children out there to watch the planes.”

Jan Boice says the viewing area is, “the best show in town”. Her husband, Bill, spent a working lifetime as a pilot, so when they visit Las Vegas from Utah, the Sunset Road Viewing Area is a must stop. Young Lavelle Owens also likes airplanes. Thanks to his uncle, Paco Triviso, who works at Belz Mall but has Wednesdays off, Lavelle gets an up-close mid-week look at the big planes. Seated atop the hood of his uncle’s car, Lavelle is like a little king of airplane watchers.

Stay-at-home mom Rie Arnopp knows that girls like airplanes, too. She and her daughter, Lisa, “come a lot” to see what her daughter excitedly calls, “airplane, airplane, airplane”. Arnopp also notes that visitors can tune in to the control tower by dialing FM station 101.1. (The broadcast is not continuous, so be patient and soon enough, the tower voices will be heard.)

Flamingo Las Vegas bartender Jose Lopez with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, comes to the viewing area often, just to relax. Two cars down, Dary Llagas watches planes because in Texas, before the recession, he worked for the Dallas Fort Worth airport. A Canadian couple, shy about giving their names, explained their presence in the viewing area. “”We visit a Las Vegas relative three times a year; we don’t gamble, so we come here.”

Manuel Cordero is a single dad with custody of his son, Jaden. He had worked for a sports memorabilia company, but the company recently closed its offices. Cordero admits his unemployment-financed time off has an upside, enabling him to spend more time with his son. Regarding the airport visit, Cordero noted, “Sometimes I think Jaden likes watching the pigeons more than the airplanes.”

Swimming pool technician Steve Myers loves watching airplanes. His father was a pilot, and Myers often stops by the viewing area on his way home from work. He knows airplanes and says the biggest thrill is watching the Virgin Atlantic Airlines 747 that now brings passengers from London.

Every Saturday and sometimes on other days, Steve Patty who works with Chrysalis, an organization providing support and opportunities for individuals with disabilities, brings client and friend Ray Malding to the airport. The two men enjoy talking and seeing some of the airport’s 1000 landings and departures each month.

Bryan McLeod is a set builder for the Las Vegas Little Theater. McLeod formerly built homes for Del Webb, but he loves being busy now as part of his volunteer theater family. He recently spent lunchtime with another kind of live theater — the show of airplanes arriving at McCarran.

Gary Brown works at the US Post Office at 1001 E. Sunset, and he “never” is late to work, a habit, he says, he learned from the military. When he’s very early, he passes the time at the Sunset Road Viewing Area. “I can’t explain why,” he says, “but watching airplanes is always fascinating.”