Things spotters (don't) do

firstly. got to admit i don’t know straight up about trains…., on the subject in hand though. Trinny. your gesture was a great one offering a flight to aircraft enthusiasts. personally i would never turn down a flight, and it would be more than breakfast i’d stump up for. more like a three courser at Frankie and Bennies.;-) i used to go on trips with a local ‘aviation society’ and all they were interested in was darting from airfield to airfield and logging the numbers. on one trip we got to an airfield ( mignt have been at Bourn iirc) there was a type i was unfamiliar with. took pictures but couldn’t see any id apart from the reg, asked one of my traveling companions “what type is that” ( i didn’t have a spotters bible btw) his comment “i dunno, got its number, thats all i’m interested in”. kinda says it all really. incidentally, it turned out to be a Gardan Horizon. on another occasion i helped the pilot of a cessna skymaster pull his aircraft out of the hanger. he said he would take some of us up for a half hour jolly if we wanted. i was all for it but the others said “we havn’t got time. too many airfields to visit”. ho well. never got a skymonster in my logbook. that was the last trip i went on with them. one other thing. sometimes if a pilot is going out of the circuit an extra pair of eyes can be usefull. utilise the spotters and brief them on keeping a look out. just a few views from the other side of the fence, as was.

all the best.

Greg

Hi fella’s!
I was just having a look around the web as you do and stumbled across your site, prety much by accident and i thought i’d pop by and say hello especially as i found you’d been talking about Deltics- theres topic variation for you 🙂 Anyway, thought that i just had to answer this one.

The short answer is yes!
I’l always remember a quote from many years ago.
On a still dark night from a couple of miles away, a Deltic at full speed sounds very much like a distant Lancaster bomber.
So yes, they are very much a sound to behold!!!!
They incidently had 3300hp on tap, may not sound much in aviation circles but they’d hall 500 tons at 100mph all day long 😎

Sorry if ive dragged up a thread thats getting on abit, i’l go back to my own forum now 🙂 😀

And here is a picture of a Deltic number collector and his number from ten years ago.

Modesty (and the fear that Trinny will make some fashion-guru comments about my err his lack of fashion) prevents me from revealing who it is.

Spotters

The trouble is the real entthusiast would have take your opportunity to fly with you. I would have done. because spoting is only part of the hobby. Number crunchers can be a nuisance

Hi fella’s!
I was just having a look around the web as you do and stumbled across your site, prety much by accident and i thought i’d pop by and say hello especially as i found you’d been talking about Deltics- theres topic variation for you 🙂 Anyway, thought that i just had to answer this one.

Never knowingly having heard one, I assume they are/were a sound to behold?

The short answer is yes!
I’l always remember a quote from many years ago.
On a still dark night from a couple of miles away, a Deltic at full speed sounds very much like a distant Lancaster bomber.
So yes, they are very much a sound to behold!!!!
They incidently had 3300hp on tap, may not sound much in aviation circles but they’d hall 500 tons at 100mph all day long 😎

Sorry if ive dragged up a thread thats getting on abit, i’l go back to my own forum now 🙂 😀

still, I have been treated with contempt by volunteers, seemingly keen to keep their clique to themselves (and they are quite welcome to it).
I’d call myself an enthusiast (I get paid to design parts of airliner wings), and a photographer, but not a spotter. Interestingly, work has the same divide……….I heard one guy once say that the company shouldnt employ engineers who had admitted to actually liking aircraft, because they would be rushing to the window every 2 minutes……..ahole. such is this attitude that many people in the company i work for are closet enthusiasts (no………..nothing to do with wardrobes, fitted or otherwise) and whenever we mention somthing about aircraft it must always be qualified with a derisive comment about spotting!

I guess that means /proves there are ignorant txxxxs wherever you go then 🙁
Still I will continue to say hello to all and sundrie and if they answer in kind then thats fine and if they thing I’m an idiot then bxxxxxxxs to them :diablo:
Cheers, Alan.

here’s one general enthusiast that would certainly not say no to a fling in a cessna, or whatever was offered.

So if anyone happens to be in the Edinburgh or Glenrothes neighbourhood sometime… PM me 😀

still, I have been treated with contempt by volunteers, seemingly keen to keep their clique to themselves (and they are quite welcome to it).

I learnt all my aerial habits with a great bunch of forces guys, as a cadet in the ATC, and frankly, flying clubs are places that I just don’t like going to (I did a flying scholarship with one at wolverhampton intergalactic business megaport, which was enough for me).

I’d call myself an enthusiast (I get paid to design parts of airliner wings), and a photographer, but not a spotter. Interestingly, work has the same divide……….I heard one guy once say that the company shouldnt employ engineers who had admitted to actually liking aircraft, because they would be rushing to the window every 2 minutes……..ahole. such is this attitude that many people in the company i work for are closet enthusiasts (no………..nothing to do with wardrobes, fitted or otherwise) and whenever we mention somthing about aircraft it must always be qualified with a derisive comment about spotting!

I have just come across this ,most enjoyable thread and thought I would add my ‘two penny worth’!
When I was a spotter, the only thing I was ever offered was a look around the hanger at Wellesbourne, I saw a guy coming over to me so I turned around and went to go as I thought I might have been standing where I shouldn’t when he said did I want a look in, I must admit I was shocked as it was the first time I had ever been spoken to by some one from ‘the other side’!
After a no. of years I finally admitted to myself that the reason I was spotting was because I wanted to get involved in aviation , so I asked if I could be a volunteer with the Classic Flight at Coventry and since then I haven’t looked back!, even though some of the engineers still call me a ‘spotter’ I can say that I no longer run to the hanger door now when I hear an engine to see what it is , unless its an Electra that is, and if I ever come across some one on the ‘outside’ of the fence I will pass the time of day , but I wonder if I will get a reply?!
Trinny if you ever offer me a flight I would say yes,I think it was very nice of you to ask!
Regards ,Alan.
Ps I do think that some times ,as a volunteer you are treated with the same contempt or at least ignored , by aircrew ,as if you are a spotter, which I think is very sad. Still a case of us and them?

Never knowingly having heard one, I assume they are/were a sound to behold?

Including the prototype, there are seven preserved.

Deltic is on show at Shildon.

The National Rail Museum own number 2 (Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) and it is currently at Barrow Hill undergoing restoration work.

The Deltic Preservation Society based at Barrow Hill own numbers 9 (Alycidon) 15 (Tulyar) and 19 (Royal Highland Fusilier). 15 is on major rebuild while 9 was on show in the NRM having come off rebuild (including a full reskinning) a few years ago. 19 was out on tour just before Christmas and managed to run out of fuel on the way back to Barrow Hill. Oops.

Number 22 (Royal Scots Grey) is owned by the chairman of the Class 40 Preservation Society and is currently on major overhaul and reskinning at Barrow Hill.

Number 16 (Gordon Highlander) is currently stored at Tyseley depot having suffered engine problems and I’m not sure who the current owner is.

They are a bit temperamental and really need frequent running to prevent condensation building up in the generators and traction motors which lead to very expensive flashovers. Also, they have a problem with exhuast tank fires which, under BR days, would have been left to burn out but these days the fire brigade tends to be called and in the case of number 16 can lead to further damage as the fire brigade pump foam into the exhausts which leads to corrosion.

Too much information I know!

Lovely picture. I’m a complete Luddite when it comes to trains generally, although anything old and British, be it train, plane or automobile is fine by me and I don’t live too far from Bressingham steam museum (where I had trips on the footplate of the Flying Scot and Oliver Cromwell in the 60s/70s, I think). Are there any Deltics still running in the UK as museum pieces? Excuse the ignorance.

About half a dozen, though I gather that mechanical breakdown is a problem, most of them are at Barrow Hill near Chesterfield.

A Helicopter Crewman’s whole career is built on not trusting the Pilot and asking to get off……

That’s not fair, the vast majority that I flew with were fine, some just needed reminding of their Port & Starboard when shutting down the duff engine… 😮

Scotavia, your caution does you great credit, but on the day that your ‘driver’ screws up his checks, taxis (briefly) with the fuel still off, uses the radio like a half-wit, attempts to line up on the wrong runway etc etc, would you actually unstrap and de-plane, in the middle of the airfield ? A very difficult decision to actually follow through.

Anyway, if that sort of stuff troubles you, you’d hate flying with me.

I’ve flown with you

but I insisted on driving . . .

Actually Propstrike having had four close calls and now knowing a hell of a lot more about aviating I would now speak up and demand to be let out!!
It was a shocking day when I realised that common sense was not common.

Scotavia, your caution does you great credit, but on the day that your ‘driver’ screws up his checks, taxis (briefly) with the fuel still off, uses the radio like a half-wit, attempts to line up on the wrong runway etc etc, would you actually unstrap and de-plane, in the middle of the airfield ? A very difficult decision to actually follow through.

Anyway, if that sort of stuff troubles you, you’d hate flying with me.

A picture I took at Grantham in 1958, doubt whether you were there Trinny, incidentally, I need a new pair of jeans, what do you reccomend.

Lovely picture. I’m a complete Luddite when it comes to trains generally, although anything old and British, be it train, plane or automobile is fine by me and I don’t live too far from Bressingham steam museum (where I had trips on the footplate of the Flying Scot and Oliver Cromwell in the 60s/70s, I think). Are there any Deltics still running in the UK as museum pieces? Excuse the ignorance.

Trinny and her offer

Very nice gesture Trinny,by now you will have realised that reggie collectors are are mixed bunch. I used to note everything down but after two visits to Heathrow it all was to much paperwork. Then I started historical research for aviation archaeologists ,and very active pastimes Sub aqua rubber suit explorations, gliding,air photography and tons of other stuff so no time for reggies,I had found out that life had far more to offer.(and a family somewhere to fit in )

My oddest spotter encounters were at Heathrow in the car park, 3 old age pensioners with notebooks refusing to tell me what had just landed and a chap in an Uxbridge pub who threatened to beat me up because I glanced at his notebook of reggies.

Now when I am offered a flight I can tell fairly soon from the pilots attitude and pre flight if they are a safe bet,just as Trinny wants to see the potential passenger in person.

No, Deltic (the prototype) used to work the ‘Merseyside Express’ (Liverpool to Euston) and the return ‘Shamrock’ working. After a brief spell working to Carlise from Euston, from May 1957 it would work the 00.37 Crewe to Euston then 07.55 Euston-Liverpool and then 14.10 Liverpool-Euston and finally the 19.20 Euston to Crewe – 703.5 miles a day six days a week, which contunued off and on until 1961 when, with 400,000 miles on the clock it was retired to the Science Museum. The production Deltics rarely left the ECML until late in their life when they started running between York and Liverpool.

You are right, although I do remember seeing that locomotive during its stay in the Science Museum. Very impressive it was too.

As to what I recommend, I recommend a home spelling course. 😉

Get lost, I’m a grammar school boy, we’re all open to make the occasional mistake.
Incidentally Moggy, the Deltic made only a brief appearance on the WCML as it’s intended job was to work from Kings Cross.

My school overlooked the main Liverpool > Euston train line.

The excitement when Deltic appeared on the service, even from those of us who had no interest in train numbers but preferred aircraft, was enormous.

Something akin, I suppose, to the excitement any one of the everyday steam locomotives of the time would generate in service today.

Moggy