Here’s the difference between spotters & enthusiasts……
On an aviation visit to Poland, we pitched up at a Polish Army aviation base near Gdansk.
It was all pre-arranged and the Poles had laid out a Mi-24 and a Mi-2 – replete with weapons laid out in front, access panels open, data boards in front etc – clearly a lot of effort had gone into presenting their hardware.
The pilots were on hand to answer questions – and we were invited to sit in the cockpits, take as many photos as we liked etc… great detail stuff for a modeller like me.
But this was not good enough for the spotters in the party. They asked that the doors and panels be closed and the data boards moved – just so that they could get a single ‘reference’ photo without, what they called, ‘all that clutter’ !!
We ‘enthusiasts’ said, no, wait until we have finished taking all our photos. The spotters in the party just wanted to get the numbers and then move on.
Our Polish hosts were very bemused and I, for one, felt that we were being very disrespectful. These Polish crews had turned up, made all this effort to make us welcome and all the spotters wanted was to take a number and leave!!
To cap it all, they spotted a row of Mi-2’s in ‘bags’ across the airfield and asked our hosts if they could go over to see them.
The Poles replied that these were exactly the same helicopters as they were being shown in great detail – and why would anyone want to see a Mi-2 in a canvas cover ??
Lots of negotiations followed – the spotters pleading, the Poles adamant. The whole atmosphere was totally soured by these spotters not being satisfied until they had taken all the numbers on the bagged Mils.
We left under a bit of a cloud – and the spotters on the minibus STILL tried to get those numbers by driving around the airfield perimeter and peering over the hedge !!!
I don’t go on aviation visits anymore where there are spotters present!!
Ken
PS – Don’t ask me about the spotter who, when faced with the extremely rare Berezniak-Isaev BI-1 rocket plane in the museum at Monino, blindly wrote down its number, then turned to me and asked – ‘What’s that then ??’
Flanker_Man
Very sorry to read your trip to Poland was spoilt somewhat by spotters,but please……….
don’t tar all spotters with the same brush.
I do the spotting thing,but I also class myself(and also my fellow OAGers) as an enthusiast of all things aviation and not just the registration/serial number of any particular aircraft.
regards
Colin
Oxfordshire Aviation Group
http://www.communigate.co.uk/oxford/oag
Abingdon Fayre Air & Country Show
http://www.abingdonfayre.com
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