Lucky727 From Canada, joined Sep 2003, 600 posts, RR: 2 Posted (10 months 1 week 19 hours ago) and read 11912 times:
The question says it all... What was your first impulse?
I'll get the ball rolling:
As a child, my Dad travelled a lot. We would be at the old YYZ-aérogare in the early seventies, almost weekly. I was the kid with his nose at the window, (when one could still accompany someone to the departure gate), waving my dad goodbye.
I'd ask: "Is that Daddy's plane?" And then I'd ask: "what's that one, and what's that one??" In those days, they were mostly Allegheny, EA & AC birds. Remember: those were the days...
I have a full set od CP Air, Empress-class-ware, ...but that's another story...
cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7713 posts, RR: 55 Reply 1, posted (10 months 1 week 19 hours ago) and read 11885 times:
I was into transport - buses, ships mostly - but growing up under the flight path in the 70s in Sydney made me aware of something called a "747SP" which Pan Am flew nonstop to Los Angeles, which was the longest flight in the world at the time. My interest was galvanised when my Dad flew on it on a business trip to Texas Instruments in Dallas. My first flight that I remember was Ansett VH-ANA 727-200LR. I studied for it, watching TV in the hope of catching one of their ads (they had rebranded). I remember this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIfN_Nm44ss
When we took our seats (my Mum and sister sat in the row ahead of me), I remember practising the brace position for some minutes. The guy next to me must have thought I'd lost a contact lens (if not my actual mind). Can't say exactly why I was hooked, Ansett's gorgeous "Shooting Star" livery and their corporate style in the airport and onboard, all white and navy blue, had something to do with it; the stunningly fab 727; etc.
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
CXB77L From Australia, joined Feb 2009, 2197 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (10 months 1 week 1 hour ago) and read 11772 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
I grew up in Hong Kong in the 1980s when Kai Tak was still operational. I lived on the Kowloon side, and I regularly saw planes just metres from rooftops on approach into Kai Tak - anything from CX 742s to JL DC10s to CX L1011s. Dad also travelled for work a fair bit, so I went to the airport every now and then, albeit not so much for plane spotting. As a kid, I lived close to Kowloon City Ferry terminal, from where I could get a view of Kai Tak. I remember taking a walk there on some evenings and just watch planes land and take off.
I remember thinking, when CX got their first 744s, that they are such gorgeous aircraft, particularly in CX's green and white stripe livery, and to me, that's still the best aircraft/livery combination to have ever existed. Not long after, in 1990, I boarded my first two flights as my family moved to Australia - on board an SQ 743 and 742 via SIN to PER. That was a wonderful experience as a 9 year old boarding my first flight on a jumbo jet! I decided then that I like flying more than watching planes
My interest waned somewhat during the late 1990s into the early 2000s, but now it's back and stronger than ever!
Ps76 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (10 months 1 week ago) and read 11766 times:
Hi!
I always liked planes and flying but was never really "into" aviation. I grew up fairly normally, studying, travelling, playing music, sport etc. When I got to univerisity I went out with this really hot girl for a couple of years but ended up in a real mess and kinda went nuts for a few years. In the end I kinda ended up mentally sick and moved back home with my parents and that's when I started spending time on the computer and discovered airliners.net and got back into my love of flying and airports and stuff. I have been an airplane nerd ever since!
Braniff747SP From United States of America, joined Oct 2008, 2631 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (10 months 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 11764 times:
I've always been a mass transport fan -airplanes, buses, trains, ships- but aviation has always been at the top of the list. I started flying really early in life, and I've loved it since I was very young.
The 747 will always be the TRUE queen of the skies!
rahulrahul From United States of America, joined Jun 2012, 136 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 11439 times:
I've been following a.net for a long time, until I decided to join. Ever since I was a toddler, I've loved aviation.
SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 695 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (9 months 3 weeks 5 days ago) and read 11398 times:
Well, the first aviation related thing I remember is being 5 years old in a Herpa store, walking to my dad with around 50-100 models in my hands and saying "dad, can I get these. He said I would get 30 if I could name all the airlines on the boxes. As I had been following a.net since I was 3 (yes, I loved planes very early) I could name them all. If it hadn't been for the "all for 5 €" sale on the herpa models in the store, he probably would've went bankrupt!
Another part is that my dad has worked in the airline industry all his life and had already worked for FI for 9 years when I was born. My first flight was at 3 months of age and my dad says I was so excited I sat glued to the window for the whole TATL crossing to Baltimore. Born to fly!
taichen From Spain, joined Jul 2001, 209 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (9 months 3 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 11382 times:
Well, it is something that I grew with inside me .
My mom claims my first flight was when she was pregnant ... and that when I was 2 years old my grandfather bought me a model plastic plane and I was completely fascinated with it.
I know I have been interested in airlines and aviation since I can remember. Actually, having a binational family helped, at least this meant we had to take planes more often than any other child I knew. This now sounds strange, everyone flies Ryanair and gets a cheap ticket pretty much when needed, but this was certainly not so in ky childhood. Every flight, every airport was a playground for me. As someone said, I was (and still are, to some extent) into all kinds of public transport. I liked everything about planes, even the sound and the smell (at a time when it was far more easy to get into the tarmac or at least some kind of terrace) , I would stare at the FIDS (not LCD screens then) or just the flux of passengers, the crews ... I think part of all this fascination is just related to the fact that these planes came from other places, other countries...
Then, when I was 10 years old, one day, for some random reason, my mother went into a travel agency and asked for an Aviaco timetable. When I got it home, I remember I thought "hey, it would be great to colletc these ! " I was absolutely fascinated by the routemaps, the cabin picures etc. And well, it was just a pretty simple brochure of a pretty basic domestic airline. Still, it clicked something on me. It was pure madness for some years. I have many books and brochures magazines and heaps of timetables at home. When I was a teenager I would occasionaly plan a daytrip just to visit an airport .... again, a pretty unusual hobby for a teenager.
Now, I still collect some items, I actually post many of them here http://airline-memorabilia.blogspot.com.es/ (and btw that particular Aviaco item is already there) and I am really into airlines, my friends sometimes jokingly ask me about planes, airports, airlines ... they think they will get me with "difficult" questions but they are always too easy for me. :p
SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 695 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (9 months 3 weeks 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 11331 times:
Quoting taichen (Reply 9): my friends sometimes jokingly ask me about planes, airports, airlines ... they think they will get me with "difficult" questions but they are always too easy for me. :p
Haha, know that one! When I'm with my friends and a Fokker 50 or Dash 8 of Air Iceland climbs out of RKV they ask: What aircraft is this? and expect me to have no answer. Most of the time I can even tell them the registration of the aircraft.
Once I even saw an aircraft, large one, with a red belly flying over and said to my friend "See, this is the Emirates 380 from Dubai, UAE to New York." He laughed and said "Yeah, right." I answered "We'll see." Well, when home I sat down at the computer, searched flightradar24 and showed him UAE201 was cruising over Iceland. He was speechless.
geg From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 283 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (9 months 2 weeks 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 11007 times:
My Father was ATC in the Air force for 24 years, so I had the opportunity to be around aircraft pretty much from when I can remember. I was also fortunate to be able to spend time in the tower with him and his crew. My love of aviation has waned a bit here and there but I think it will always be with me.
tan1mill From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 68 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (6 months 1 week 8 hours ago) and read 7063 times:
I found this site about 10 years ago if I remember correctly. I was looking for airplane pictures and was blown away by the size of the database (even back then). Eventually I learned how to edit photos, got some accepted (followed by more) and then decided to join the site so I could contribute to the forums. Its been my home page for years and I thoroughly enjoy coming here each day and seeing everyone's stories, comments, questions, opinions, photos and enthusiasm for aviation.
Love many, Trust few, Always paddle your own canoe.
vaus77w From Australia, joined Aug 2011, 141 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (5 months 2 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 6620 times:
I think aviation is something I've always had a keen interest in, even though no-one in my family does. I remember when I was a kid and would go to the airport to drop-off or pick-up relatives, I always had a massive desire to get on a plane and fly. My first flight was when I was 8 years old and my family were flying up to Brisbane for a funeral. I remember that flight well, it was a Qantas flight operated by a B767. After that I was hooked and always enjoyed flying immensely.
I really developed my interest about 2 years ago when I started to get more active and watched aviation youtube videos, read news articles, started listening to aviation podcasts and discovered these forums. I come on daily and enjoy reading and discussing all the latest news and events. I particularly enjoy reading about airlines and new fleet orders.
YVRLTN From Canada, joined Oct 2006, 2096 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (4 months 4 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 5984 times:
I found a.net when I moved to Canada in 2005 and my colleague in the air freight dept was a plane nut too and used to look at this site at lunch time. I followed suit and joined up after about 9 months of lurking.
As to aviation, long story short, my grandad founded the Datapost division of Royal Mail, so he knew the airlines and the CEO's and the specs and capabilities of the various aircraft types. Living near LTN airport, he used to take me there as a kid as something to do with me in the holidays I guess and make it interesting for me by explaining what the different types were, where the operators were based and where they flew. He also took me to Hatfield, which at the time was still producing aircraft parts but was more of a BAe service centre, plus the GA airfields of Elstree, Leavesdon (now closed), Panshangar and Denham. I was hooked and wanted to dind out more so he got me Peter R March's "Light Aircraft Recognition" book and it was then an easy task for my family to buy be birthday and xmas gifts - aviation books. We then went on further afield trips to LHR, LGW, STN, OXF but mainly we went to LTN as it was 15 mins away from his house. As I got my own independence with my own car at 17, I gradually went on my own without him when I had time. By the time he passed and with the resource of a.net and the internet generally as well as magazines, I became a far more avid and knowledgeable spotter than he ever was.
Gonzalo From Chile, joined Aug 2005, 1677 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 months 4 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 5952 times:
Well, my time-line to be an A.Nutter will be something like this :
While I was in my Mom's belly, in 1972-73, she took a flight across the Andes, IIRC in a LAN Chile's DC-6.
That was probably the first time I "heard" an aircraft engine.
When I was 2 years old, we took a short flight ( less than 500 kmts. ) on board of a DC-3 of "TAMU" ( Transporte Aereo Militar Uruguayo / Uruguayan Military Air Transport ). Despite I was only 2 y.o. I still have "mental pictures" of that flight, the square windows, a small fuel truck on the road shortly after we took off, and a heavy rain when we landed in the city of Salto, in the NW of Uruguay.
Almost all the weekends of my childhood I was in a house of a relative who lived directly under the approach path of the main runway in Montevideo, and I remember at that time MVD was served by several European carriers with wide-bodies, like KLM, SAS, Iberia, Air France, and probably I'm forgetting others. I remember clearly the sound of the old heavies taking off a few hundred feet above my head. During this time I also flew short sectors inside Uruguay in EMB-110 Bandeirante ( I still remember the cockpit panel was visible since there was a curtain instead a door, and was open ), and I flew also in one of the TAMU's Fairchild 227, a "twin" of the one that crashed in the Andes mountains with a Rugby Team and inspired the movie "Alive".
Then, when I was 9, I took my first flight in a jet, when I flew MVD-SCL on board of a LAN Boeing 732 in 1982.
I flew regularly all my life, and I was, I am, and I will be an aviation nut for ever.
With this in mind, I was looking for a collection of tail fin images on the Internet in the early 2000's, when I came across the database ( I have a confession : I had "the other database" in my favourites before A.net ), and I became a real addict to this site in 2002 or 2003. After being just an observer for a couple of years, I joined the community in August of 2005, and through this time I changed my job, I got married, I had many different things and changes in my life, but here I'm, an A.nutter in all its splendor.
WESTERN737800 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 684 posts, RR: 2 Reply 17, posted (4 months 4 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 5945 times:
A few years ago a buddy was looking at pics on anet. We are both airplane nuts. I'm not much of a computer person, but I quickly got addicted to looking at the countless pics on anet. For the longest time I just looked at the pics. After a while I slowly discovered the forums and started reading them after a while I joined and started putting in my comments.
When just talking about Anet and not aviation in general that is how it started for me. I got into aviation through a general passion for transportation and cities. When I was a little kid my cities I made with toy cars and maps needed airports. Airports turned into needing airplanes airplanes turned into needed to know what airlines and where the planes were going.
As I started collecting models I found Anet and it was just about the pictures for me. I used to print pictures I liked the most and put them in albums. I have one for just MIA pictures and one for the rest. I haven't updated that album since about 2002. I still have them though, and its a joy to look at. I remember I used to spend weekend nights just looking at pictures and printing pictures late at night. Then I saw the forums and started to be active in them in June of 2001. I was more active when I was younger. Not so much in replying to more topics, but I had a bunch of questions and loved reading all the people's opinions on things. I enjoy looking back at the old topics I started.
Still enjoying the site very much and learn something new everyday on Anet.
"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)
PHX787 From Japan, joined Mar 2012, 4989 posts, RR: 14 Reply 19, posted (4 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 5656 times:
I really got into aviation when my 5th grade class went to the USAF Museum at Wright-Pat AFB in Dayton. Amazing trip, and I learned so much. I joined A.net originally in 2005 with a photography account but I absolutely SUCKED at photography and I soon gave up that account....attempts to get the account back kinda shredded when the email the account was linked to was shut down when I changed computers a few years back....plus, it was a very stupid name
I had no time to be on A.net for a few years until around August 2011 when I got back from japan, I found myself with a lot of spare time on my hands, because my band broke up....so since I lived right next to Sky Harbor i decided to follow the forums a bit until I eventually coughed up the $15 for Premium membership in March of 2012. Best $15 ever spent
In the short time between March and December, I think I rose to prominence in the local aviation scene...maybe it's because I posted a lot.... and I have met many people around here in PHX, and have made good friends with some other members. In December, JBong from PHX Spotters (You'll find their work both on here and on jp.net) made me an admin for their FB page....so in the short amount of time on the scene, I've made quite an apparent splash
I hope to get a DSLR soon and hopefully I can upload to A.net soon too. Until then, I upload videos to YouTube (Same username, PHX787)
ocean773 From Australia, joined Sep 2007, 96 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (4 months 1 week 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 5312 times:
I have been interested in Aviation since the age of 13 and love it. Became Airlners.net member in 2007 through a random online search. Love this website and hopefully one day I will have ONE photo uploaded. Would love to have more A.net friends on facebook. Feel free to add me.
135mech From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 357 posts, RR: 2 Reply 21, posted (3 months 4 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 4670 times:
I was that kid too! My Father flew for UA for 32 years, so we flew quite frequently (compared to my schoolmates) and I would always be excited to just be at the airports and moreso actually flying thru the skies!
When I joined the Air Force, I tried to be a back ender on the E-3A AWACs but couldn't get the T-S clearance. So, they handed me a list of other jobs and aircraft mechanic was the only interesting thing on that list! I was sent to the work the KC-135's (many variants) for 21 years and it ended up being a "dream job"! Thanks to that job, I have circled the globe repeatedly and actually seen many of my "dream locations" worldwide, along with others I never even thought of... SIMPLY AMAZING!!!
So, it's pretty much "in my blood" to be a a.nutter! LOVE every aspect of aviation, preferably heavies, and when driving across country (which is OFTEN) always pull over at most any little to large airport, old airports, old air bases, etc to "spot" whatever I can and have found a lot of interesting stops on the way!
In this photo, (Mildenhall Air Fete '91, I'm the sknny kid with the overly excited grin standing in front of the door). I was actually given this flight (as the assistant Crew Chief/Mechanic) to fly in...they put me IN the boom pod (looking directly at the ground) for the initial "Max-Climb Take-Off" and holy cow...it was the greatest thing to this day I have ever done!!! Once you have done something like that, bungee jumping and sky-diving are "meh"... LOL
Thank you for starting this thread...great/fond memories!
135Mech
p.s. Apologize for the multiple edits, couldn't get this all to turn out right at first! LOL
Mildenhall Air Fete EC-135H Demonstration Crew 1991
VTORD From United States of America, joined Dec 2012, 41 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (3 months 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 3805 times:
It was 1986 and my mom's brother left India for graduate studies in the US. This used to be a big deal then and so we all trooped to the Sahar Airport as BOM was popularly known then. At the time the viewing gallery that opened over the gates from the 3rd or 4th floor was open to the public and my uncle's friend had taken me there to see the tarmac. I have to this date not forgotten the site of the BA and LH 747s sitting side by side and later the LH jumbo taking off in that rainy night with my uncle onboard. I was hooked and years later I stumbled on to A.Net on the internet and there in lies a tale.
Get your facts first. Then you may distort them as you like.
fshplns From United States of America, joined Oct 2010, 80 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (3 months 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 3733 times:
I think my love of aviation was hereditary. My father was a pilot in the USAAC/USAF. Vaguely remember flying a bunch whenever he transfered to new stations. After retiring from the USAF, he went to Boeing, ending up as the senior flight crew instructor back then. After moving to El Paso when I was a little kid, I remembered my head was always in the clouds, spending many afternoons watching aircraft take off from El Paso International and cruising over at altitude. The love for aviation continued, until I got a job at CO back in 1987, starting my non-rev experiences
HH65MAN From Australia, joined Feb 2013, 19 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (1 month 3 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 2224 times:
Growing up on US Air Force bases watching fighter jets, bombers and transport aircraft pretty much sealed it for me. Years ago I came across the iconic photo of the KLM landing over the beach, and that lead me to this web sight.
25 CPH-R: Flew with BA to LHR on an A320 and couldn't work out why there weren't any wingfences on either wing. I had seen some links to a.net, so figured I'd a
26 TWA772LR: My dad worked for Fedex from the time I was born until 1999, and my mom was a travel agent. We used to live in MEM and always flew NW, where my love f
27 baw787: Got interested in aviation after living close to Heathrow, moved into ACARS decoding and now later the ADS-B side of things. Amazing how sites like ht
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