what developed your spotting...

[dave]

hi,
    having seen Jeff's video, 

so watching those i began to wonder(or as the family say mind wander), what was the order of evolution in our spotting, for me it all started with car numbers!due to seeing a number plate book, then trains, but that nearly died a death after i started working on them, but not completely. Then on holidays to the isle of wight RN pennant numbers due to the section in MAM's, whilst there a short((very short) stint for the IOW hovercraft (x2), Then i started back to cars while walking to from work i started with 1 (which was easy) then2,3,4,etc got up to about 190 in order, but the new year plates did that. So for me aircraft have always been my main motivation to get out of bed...



sorry for rambling, but although its clear blue, there's not much about here,

stay safe, regards,

dave...

[alfred]

In my case when we started to travel abroad on holidays.First holiday abroad was Portugal in 1985.Travelled with Dan Air on G-BJXJ.
Next year we went to my sister in laws in Seattle via Vancouver on a Wardair 747, great airline.
Sister in laws house had a distant view of incoming traffic to Sea Tac, then brother in law took me to the Museum of Flight and my interest grew from there.

[Jeff]

Always been planes for me, living near the Green Man at LHR it couldn't really be anything else 😁 I dabbled with a bit of photography with buses and trains but nothing serious like spotting

[christoff]

It's always been planes for me too, growing up in Cranford and having no more buildings between us and the 28R threshold it just had to be, and I have never looked back. Just knowing that what ever happens, planes will always be there..

[graham]

Not sure how I missed this thread but better late than never.

Started off by going to airshows with my Dad and brother when I was 5 or 6 and this continued until I was about 11 when I started what I suppose you would call daily spotting under my own steam rather than just attending shows. Railways however at this time were my first love as my paternal grandad had been a driver on the GWR and had enthralled me as a child with his stories of piloting Halls, Castles and Manors the length and breadth of the GWR system from his base shed at Taunton.

Most Saturdays were either spent at the western end of the main platforms at Reading General or in London where a 7/6d Red Rover Card enabled unlimited tube travel for the day. We always did everything in the same order once we'd arrived at Paddington. I know we always began with Kings Cross, St Pancras and Euston, after which we worked our way around the tube network to take in Liverpool St, Fenchurch St, Stratford LIFT, Charing Cross, Victoria, Waterloo, Marylebone and a couple I can't remember.

But aircraft became the hobby of choice, trains were sidelined, I remember going to the 1971 Biggin Hill Show where I bumped into old school friends Keith and Dave who told me they were off to Washington in late May 1972 and that was me totally hooked.

I haven't travelled anywhere near as extensively as some of you guys, but my aviation travels have taken me to Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and a few others including several further trips to the US.

I guess that like all of us, it's in the blood after so many years.

[davebasing]

Hi Graham, you've also jogged my memory (or what passes for it). So here's my bit...

Born under the approach to Northolt & grew up under the approach to Heathrow but only started taking a serious interest when invited to join a school mate on a trip to the Queens Building, then one of the most popular visitor attractions in London. Since leaving school I have been lucky in that I have worked in aviation all my life (and fortunately still do, proving the old saying that you can fool most of the people most of the time), work that has taken me all around the world in 91 basic types (e.g. a 737 is a 737 regardless of series), in 813 different registered aircraft to/from 278 airfields in 80 countries and enabled me also to accrue a vast amount of paper on aircraft histories etc, most of which I have been loath to throw away (if only I could remember where I filed them!). No matter when one started the hobby there is always the wish to have started earlier and a regret for the things one just missed seeing, but we can never see it all though. My son, who was able at a very early age to have a go in an airline simulator, to jump seat a 737 and to go hands on in an AN2 with me (although his legs were then too short to reach the rudder pedals), unsurprisingly got the spotting bug and is now a 737 captain with a share in a Cessna 150 which we take on bimbles around the UK and beyond.

The hobby has changed out of all recognition since I began, in an era without internet, mobile phones or things such as Flight Radar, ADSB and SBS boxes. There were no digital cameras and film and processing were expensive on pocket money or low income. You were lucky if your family had a car (mine didn’t till much later) otherwise some places and events were effectively out of the question on public transport. Hitch hiking was however relatively safe in those 60s days which got me to Mildenhall for the first time in 1961 and up to Scotland in 1962 for a tour of the RN storage base at Abbotsinch. My next trip to Scotland was a £5 stand-by fare on a Canadian bound BOAC 707 from Heathrow to Prestwick via a stop at Manchester (with breakfast on both sectors). My connecting flight in a BEA Herald from Glasgow to Edinburgh was sadly cancelled due to fog so ended up on a replacement bus. In those days you usually went somewhere on the off chance, sometimes it paid off with some nice surprises, sometimes not. Gatwick, particularly in the winter, was almost a ghost town while Stansted was virtually devoid of any movements at all, with the terminal building being a nissen hut (great hot chocolate though). These days many trips are often made to see something specific, if it’s there then it’s what you expected, if not it’s a disappointment. 9/11 of course changed things from an access point of view. On a 70s car trip around US Army helicopter bases in Europe we were almost without fail invited in for photos, while being refused entry to the US Marine Corps aviation museum during the Gulf War on the grounds that we were “aliens”.

At the end of the day we all do this hobby for our own pleasure (and if we can help others along the way then so much the better) and there are basically only 2 rules for the hobby -
1. Collect whatever you want in whatever form you want, no matter how illogical that choice might appear to be.
2. See Rule 1 above
Some collect non-flying replicas which have less chance of becoming airborne than a London bus; some do light bulbs in the night sky; some do preserved noses; some do military, some only civil, some both; some only those they can read with their own eyes; and all sorts of other variations. All are perfectly fine if they give the pleasure that any hobby should. No-one should dictate or criticise what others should or should not collect. In my own case what I collect has reduced over time, I no longer do light civil but the definition of “light” is a bit of a variable feast in my case. It was first just foreign light civil types which I would ignore (my first visit to the US convinced me that logging endless light types would seriously get in the way of what I really wanted to see, and I also like to keep an updated history of everything I log which is time consuming enough as it is), then my former employers began to register microlights in sequence (my only flight in one being in China of all places) so British singles were then ignored, then along came the Cri Cri and that put paid to smaller twins, but even now I still do things like Islanders and Beech Star Ships (just cos I like them – see Rule 1 above) but not things like King Airs etc which I freely admit is totally illogical. Never did anything that was not powered, so no gliders but a visit to the US Navy Test Pilots School at Patuxent River tested that stance as they had gliders with US military serials (recorded and photographed for posterity only). Flew one once but the go-around performance seemed decidedly lacking.

[Deleted]

Really spotting for me started with Steam Trains- from the age of nine about 1960, then I found aircraft, the earliest date I can find was the 01/06/1963 when they had an Airshow at Speke when a KB50J from Burtonwood did a flypast. Although I carried on with trains and dabbled with Buses mainly when I used to get the Ribble to Squires Gate during the school holidays. It did help that all my mates were spotters of some kind. Daily visits to Speke occurred, and my Mum took me to Ringway as a birthday treat.


In 1966 I made my first trip to Heathrow- was with the school, it was an overnight trip and we spent the morning at LAP, before going to Wembley to watch the schoolboy International between England and West Germany. That same year I was a member of the MSAE and went on my first trip to Biggin Hill which included visits to LAP, Luton and LGW. My trips were funded by caddying at my local golf club.


Then in 1967 I started work- and was able to go on more trips with the MSAE, as well as following my beloved Blues whom I have had a season ticket with since the 1966-67 season.


Always wanted to visit Europe and in 1970 I had a week in Paris- used to be able to get a pass from the Aeroport de Paris which allowed you to visit all the private fields. In 1971 I returned to Paris for the Airshow, and in 1972 I spent Easter in Belgium sleeping at Brussels National overnight and in addition visited Grimbergen and its famous round hanger, Antwerp, and Ostend- Brussels at that time was split into two with the Mil and Civil, always remembered the C119’s DC3, DC6’s etc then later that same year I went Youth Hostelling around Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium again visiting Rotterdam, Schiphol, Hilversum, Dusseldorf, Koln-Bonn, Hangelaar, Frankfurt RM , Egelsbach and Trier as well as Luxembourg and Ostend.


In 1973 I again attended the Paris Airshow and like 1970 and 1971 I visited various fields, Airports namely Toussus, Guyancourt, St Cyr, Lognes, Mitry Mory, Villacoublay, Orly, Le Bourguet. In addition have visited various holiday locations in Europe.


Had always wanted to go to the States and I went once with my kids and my first wife, to Orlando, but have been on numerous occasions with my wife, visiting the majority of the top airports to spot from Atlanta, Chicago, Vegas and LAX . But so have a lot of members of this forum.


Always try to get to the majority of the main events each year, Aero Expo, Popham, LAA and Fairford.


Always get the registers each year and enjoy spending hours underlining – and I also dot spot, but draw the line on strobes, I have to actually see the plane. But as Dave says it is down to the individual.


Bucket List:- Would love to go to Oshkosh, and want to return when this nightmare finishes to Atlanta and Orlando. Fingers crossed that will happen.


So the hobby started off slowly then picked up, slowed down again with the first wife, then picked up again.



Bob

[gtf4j2m]

I grew up in St Helens, Lancs, with no airfields near. When my older Brother left home to join the Army in the 1960's, he left 2 aircraft books in the bedroom that he shared with with myself and my younger brother. They were the Dumpy Book of World Airforces (I still have it) and The Observers Book of Aiircraft (1960 ish). That got me interested in anything aviation. During the school holidays my dad would take us to Speke airport occasionally which kept up my interest, although my younger brother never did get interested in aircraft. In 1968 I went on a school holiday to the IOM and bought my first CAM at Speke prior to flying out on G-ALWF Viscount of Cambrian AW. I was now a spotter (although I didn't now it at the time). In secondary school later that year I met a lad who said he went to Speke every Saturday. I tagged along and have never stopped since. I was able to get to Manchester by train and bus and used the same bus as Mr Bluesky to visit Blackpool. After leaving School, with no jobs in the area except the Pit (in decline even then), or the Glass works I joined the RAF as a mechanic and later as an airframe technician. Spotting wasn't encouraged, but that didn't stop me and I still see some spotters from that era today. I got married, divorced and remarried and carried on spotting. Today I still work with aircraft and continue spotting and photographing all I see. I have many other interests, Aircraft is No1.

Graham
GTF4J2M

[graham]

What some interesting stories guys, thanks so much for taking the time to share them

[michael]

Living in Paisley in the 70's I only had to look out our upstairs window to watch inounds(on easterlies) and outbounds from Glasgow (in fact the airport is more in Paisley doesn't quite sound right).

Then by late 70's my mates and I needed something extra to do during the summer holidaysso as a 12 year old (imagine that now)we got the bus to Glasgow Airport most days as the bus left with a short walk from my house,with Saturdays being the long day waiting till the 2 Aviaco DC-8's came in .

A normal Saturday day trip

Tarom B707 and Tu-154 x2
Balkan Tu-154
Aviaco DC-9,Caravelle and DC-8 x2
Inex Adria DC-9 x2
JAT DC-9
Loftleidir DC-8
LOT IL-18

Then on 12th May 76 ,saw Glasgow hosting the European Cup Final,and for a 14 year old getting 3 x B747's,6x DC-8's,12x Caravelle's although I didn't get to Prestwick (to young caught me out !!!)

The west coast airports EGPK and EGPF saw many deliveries in 70's and 80's and diversions,and in those days you never knew what ex registrations an aircraft had, had in these days the CAM was not that good.


Other regulars were Russian types for Russian and Eastern block factory ships-fish in Ullapool

Interflug Tu-134 and IL-18's
Balkan IL-18's
Tarom IL-18's

Also included on the delivery front over a short 8 year period saw 32 AN-26's delivered through Prestwick.Other deliveries included over 60 F-5's going to Tunisia,Sudan,Saudi Arabia,Malaysia,Morocco,Bahrain,Sudan and Kenya.

I of course got a job in Air Traffic Control (well what else !!!)

As you can see once you got the bug it was difficult to get rid off ,and that with Air Scotland organised trips 3-4 times a year to the Airshows at Greenham and Farnborough and frequent trips to Mildenhall and Lakenheath and all stops from the age of 14 from a Friday night to the return on a Sunday to Johnstone/Paisley, with hardly any sleep (or a toilet onboard)

Fantastic or sad hobby it kept me of the streets and career to boot,AND YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO SEE

[gtf4j2m]

Amazing how many people had /have careers in the aviation industry having first got the 'bug' as spotters.

Graham
GTF4J2M

[davidallum]

Like many others I started off with trains and being brought up in Reading it was Saturday's spent @ Reading General station and late 50's & early 60's it was 50% steam (Halls,Manors etc) & 50% Diesels (Warships,Westerns,Brush Type 4's & Hymeks).At this time I also got into bus spotting and like Graham (Admin) has already stated we would spend a lot of time visiting the London terminus stations but we would walk from Kings Cross/St Pancras to Euston in order to log as many Routemasters as possible.

My first encounter with plane spotting was on a school geography trip to Cheddar Gorge and after visiting other places we passed Bristol-Lulsgate on the way home and there were about 7/8 light aircraft parked by the main road which some of my school mates logged,I guess that there were some 4/5 spotters on the coach and one of them keithh is a member of this forum.I also made a note after I was invited to go Heathrow with them one Saturday and that was it,I was hooked,this would have been in 1968.

This hobby has enabled me to visit many places around the world including 24 trips to the USA and I can't see me stopping this hobby until they park me in that great hangar in the sky.

[graham]

You've jogged my memory there Dave, as I distinctly remember now going to the bus depot in Reading, usually after school and having a walk around logging the buses. I can't remember where the depot was though, I guess it had to be within a short walk of St Mary's Butts where the buses from Tilehurst all stopped.

[davidallum]

Graham,if you walked down Broad Street and turned right by the George Hotel (opposite Jacksons) and then walked over the hump back bridge over the Kennet and then right again into Mill Lane and that's where Reading Buses depot was.Alder Valley had a bus station at the bottom of Station Hill.

[rh226]

It's a long time ago, Graham, but I think there used to be one down Duke Street on the right just before one crossed the Kennet. I do remember the tram lines still in the road at the turn into the depot.

Do you remember the "not before" whistle (by the duty inspector) for the last bus departures timed at 23.00?

[davidallum]

May 20, 2021 10:53:07 GMT rh226 said:

It's a long time ago, Graham, but I think there used to be one down Duke Street on the right just before one crossed the Kennet. I do remember the tram lines still in the road at the turn into the depot.

Do you remember the "not before" whistle (by the duty inspector) for the last bus departures timed at 23.00?

The same place,I couldn't remember the name of the road that led to Mill Lane and I'm indeed old enough to remember the "not before whistle",seems such a long time ago.

[Deleted]

One thing that stuck in my memory from my 1972 trip to Belgium- was being in a bar in Brussels having a cheeky pint, and hearing "Morning has Broken" by Cat Stevens for the first time, and on getting home bought the LP- have liked him ever since.

Happy Days

Bob  

[chalkyboy]

I started aircraft spotting on the 10th May 1972 . A 12 seater coach trip to the heathrow/queens building.There i saw my first jumbo G-AWND and was amazed how that thing got in the air. Living next to the Guildford-Redhill railway line was interesting in the late 60,s early 70,s with memories of the stone trains going towards Redhill, making the M23 , the rumble at all hours of the night it seemed. Memeories of the organised trips to Swindon works seeeing withdrawn diesels in the mid seventies are great memories. But as time went on trains became sameold, sameold and watching planes was far more interesting. I used to supply the RAE gardening club and i have seen Farnborough grow from the odd movement to where we are today. I went to Johns Field last week to spot and will go there to stay when it is open for showers not having one in our camper. John and his cat are well and doing lots of cycling (not the cat). Met RH226 there a couple of years ago and hope to meet again sometime.. We have a really smart Routemaster at Dunsfold which always brings back memories .
Chalky

[graham]

Thanks Dave and Bob, seems a very long time ago now. Drop me in the middle of Reading now and I wouldn't have a clue where I was. A far cry from the mid/late 60s before the family upped and moved to Wiltshire, walking into town on a Saturday morning, buying a box of stink bombs in the Dolls' Hospital and letting them off in the local shops.

[davidallum]

So that was you was it Graham?The last time I went to Reading was when you,me and Keith met up for a pub crawl & a "ruby murray",how many years ago was that?I got lost just coming out of the station.

[graham]

Yes Dave, we went to a Nepalese curry house if you recall, and a darned fine meal it was too. Must've been at least ten years ago. But, we met up about three years ago if you remember, you, Keith and me, for another pub crawl and you kindly put me up for the night. Didn't we get the train into Reading?

[davidallum]

Yes we did,my future son in law dropped us off @ Theale station and on the return journey we had to get a coach back to Aldermaston where the good lady picked us up,I'm guessing three years ago minimum.

[graham]

Well, I use a phone app called "Untappd" to record all the beers I have guzzled. I checked in at the Alehouse in Broad St, The Back of Beyond in Kings Rd and The Hope Tap in Friar St on 25th May 2019 so that was the date Dave

[davidallum]

So two years ago on Tuesday then.

[keithh]

May 18, 2021 8:57:33 GMT davidallum said:

Like many others I started off with trains and being brought up in Reading it was Saturday's spent @ Reading General station and late 50's & early 60's it was 50% steam (Halls,Manors etc) & 50% Diesels (Warships,Westerns,Brush Type 4's & Hymeks).At this time I also got into bus spotting and like Graham (Admin) has already stated we would spend a lot of time visiting the London terminus stations but we would walk from Kings Cross/St Pancras to Euston in order to log as many Routemasters as possible.

My first encounter with plane spotting was on a school geography trip to Cheddar Gorge and after visiting other places we passed Bristol-Lulsgate on the way home and there were about 7/8 light aircraft parked by the main road which some of my school mates logged,I guess that there were some 4/5 spotters on the coach and one of them keithh is a member of this forum.I also made a note after I was invited to go Heathrow with them one Saturday and that was it,I was hooked,this would have been in 1968.

This hobby has enabled me to visit many places around the world including 24 trips to the USA and I can't see me stopping this hobby until they park me in that great hangar in the sky.

I could repeat this virtually word for word! I would add though that our school friend Terry Clough also had a big hand as he took an airband radio into school and we spent breaks dot spotting. In those days of course, trans Atlantic charter airlines used registrations.