Types of enthusiasts

[Knife 04]

The Collector.
In addition to spotting the collector has wide knowledge of air force memorabilia. Often seen at Air shows and Aviation Society events, the collector trades and deals in rarer items and of course “they never cost you very much”.

Oi!!! - is that aimed at me?

Untitled by Darren Currie, on Flickr

Absolutely brilliant thread - love it and met some of those before!

[XWP29]

The Collector.
In addition to spotting the collector has wide knowledge of air force memorabilia. Often seen at Air shows and Aviation Society events, the collector trades and deals in rarer items and of course “they never cost you very much”.

Oi!!! - is that aimed at me?

Untitled by Darren Currie, on Flickr

Absolutely brilliant thread - love it and met some of those before!

If the side cap fits and apart from the lack of a moustache? I couldn't possibly comment

[blakey]

Then there's the online spotters all of which consist of the below

The Cliques aka the bullies aka 'staff'...... If you're not in the clique and you disagree with one of them, your time on that particular platform is numbered. And if you've really disagreed with one of them, they will have your forum name printed on T-shirts and worn around air shows to really cement that they really are truly pathetic!!!

The Sheep...... they want to be in the clique so (when it all kicks off) they will try and suck up and agree with clique members even though they don't agree with what they are saying.

The Headless chicken..... (when it all kicks off) hasn't got a clue who to side with, agrees with one side of an argument then prefers the counter argument.

The Moaner......reads all the heads up section and all the information provided in advance, then moans when something is expected but doesn't turn up. All the while not providing any information himself.

The Lurker.... just like the moaner but hasn't signed up to the forum so cannot express online his disgust that something he read was inbound but hasn't turned up.

The Teacher...... corrects everyone, only reads threads to see who's spelt something wrong or posted something in the wrong section. Then gets frustrated because admin haven't done anything about it right then.

The Walter.....Every forum has that one person that been there, done it and got the PPL.....He's been in space and his neighbour is an ex Concorde pilot.

[Blackcat1]

What about the sad t””t (I’m being polite ) enthusiast that my late Grandad and I were called by a ground crew at an airfield once when I was a nipper

[raptor9]

Ah, but you got me wrong Lee. Not quite in space, but higher than most, and my next door neighbour was a 767 Captain, not Concorde. And not a Walter, but I know some who are!!.

[Seacat192]

Great thread, bringing some light hearted banter to the fore.

Long may it continue!

[roughcutter]

Rivet counter -The long experienced modeller/afficianado who is pedantically obsessed with every minute detail of an airframe or the squadron markings etc

Personally, at my age I see myself as a lazy quarter master. Hoarding allsorts over the last forty odd years, USAF patches, slides, books, diecasts, framed aviation art prints....

[roughcutter]

The magnet: Tries to have a peaceful couple of hours listening and watching at the fence when some pile of sidles up to him/her/it and starts to vomit a cascade of bibble-babble and factless junk much to the annoyance of said magnet, and despite their best efforts to ignore the moron, he sticks like to a blanket, thus ruining the magnet’s trip

Hang on

I am a magnet

Afraid that's definitely a sign of old age creeping up on you Patrick, you're becoming a Victor Meldrew. Welcome to the grumpy old gits club

[paddyboy]

I’ll take that as a compliment, buddy

[roughcutter]

I’ll take that as a compliment, buddy

Welcome aboard colleague

[reaperops]

Brothers

Groups of 4-6, usually millenials who carry their ego's in Peli cases and have social media profiles that state ' Published Military Aviaition Photographer' forgetting that nobody really cares because they are just 'spotters like everyone else!!

[blakey]

The Hashtag Attention seeker..... he'll post a mediocre side on shot of a common airframe with the bottom of the image full of the facebook/Instagram/snapchat/pornhub logos with his name wrote out in Shakespearean calligraphy he could only dream of signing in real life.
Then write under the image
#avgeek #aircraft #ibelieve #rathernice #airforcesmonthly #editor #geek #topgun #aviation #lookatme #ifeeltheneed #

[Blackcat1]

What about the Big headed show off b*****d enthusiast ? I’ve known a few

[TonyO]

Jonny come lately. Discovered the hobby during lockdown. Desperate to be part of the crowd. Asks questions easier to google. Drops the term ‘Reapers’ to show they’re in the know.

Jonny not so lately. Has visited Lakenheath and RIAT. Has a shrine to the 493rd comprising a model, a print and a patch. Now drops ‘Bolars’ and ‘Panthers’ into convos although still not sure which is red and which is blue. Or is it green?

Semi pro. Had an image published in AFM. LinkedIn profile states ‘published aviation photographer’. Has Twitter account with 37 followers. Has a sling for the camera. Saving up for a COAP air-air shoot.

Grizzly. Constantly mutters things are rubbish now but can still be found on the fence most days. Mentions the sounds made by KC-97s and Cargomasters regularly. A member of the spotter equivalent of the Illuminati. Wears jogging pants and lace up shoes.

All of this...

[B58Hustler]

The 'Claw'.

Holds the camera lens from above or from the side instead of cupping it for support.
Then asks in the photography section 'why aren't my photos sharp?'.
These types are extremely prevalent......

[blackbird60]

Then there are the ciling ons.

[raptor9]

I've never encountered a ciling on. Which planet are they from?

[eagle driver]

The doubting Thomas he has to ask everyone in sight. the same question just in case someone has a different answer.
Will not believe your answer unless you have photo proof [German spotters at Albecete springs to mind)

[reaperops]

The Trog

Someone you met once at a fence line in 2014 who later insists on claiming you as there best mate and shouting some kind of greeting at you in a language only they understand the next time you see them, normally at a future RIAT after you have erased all traces of them from your memory and classified them as 'Avoid'.

[adderman]

Hi All.

Love this thread and see a bit of myself in some(NOT all) of these.
Probably a loner myself though I have travelled extensively with others in the past(Boaster?)

An addition might be the 'Heritage Logger'
This is a serial collector trying to get the old logs up to date with additional frames.
Who visited a base in the distant past with his parents(when aged 5) and 'might' have seen the last vestiges of the B/C/F/T1(insert pre 1970's relic') that was on the fire pit at the back and 'just' visible having tramped miles through the forest/field to get there.
We've all got those annoying 'missing' dates for frames when we first started and just 'ticked them off in MAM', but no idea when/where they were seen.

Keep them coming.
Mike.