Amongst some of more legal habits that I picked up in my 5
years at Gusses was the pastime of Plane spotting.
Very popular for the Stockport and Wythenshawe classmates but
difficult if you lived far away. Anyway, got hooked in year 2
having been given a window seat in one of the classrooms on the
flightpath side, (runway 2-4). Started with my first CAM (1974)
and copped til the cows came home. My Job was to log the times of
arrivals and after weeks of experience was allowed to identify
Airlines and aircraft types. (more experinced spotters were able
to identify aircraft at 5-10 miles out, just from the smoke
trails.)
The list was then passed on to Classmates who lived in the
Ringway area and they would aquire the Reggies for the log books.
(did have to pay for some of the rarer cops) Some vague memories
of big cops:- Nigerian Lump doing touch and go, Concorde (BOAC
colours?) and the ultimate, Lufty Cargo. We all piled up to the
Airport after school to cop the lufty cargo, only to get caught
using our bus passes in the wrong zones. ( I think Dave Ireland
got away with it because his was a Forged one which gave his
route of travel as Manchester Airport......)
Some members of other plane spotting groups were known to have
invested in large binoculars and Air radios and were known to
have 'copped' Brazilian 'bongs' from 30,000 feet. Not us, we only
copped what we saw with our own eyes ( and in photographs!).
1974 was my first plane spotting tour (now you know why i've left
my name off) which took in London airports and an Airshow.
Distinctly remember a certian class member writing on the wing of
a Ceasors Palace Bong in a hanger at Stansted..."MUFC
...Th??? was here!"
If you were a member of that party please don't identify me in
case my kids get on this Web Site.
Oh, and by the way did you get the number of that Concorde
that was hidden away in the hanger at Heathrow?