2009 Meets

RJdxer · Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:52 pm

I have to start planning for my vacation bid for 2009 in the next few weeks. Anybody know of any good A.net meets that are being planned. If it's a cold, snowy, or rainy place never mind? Has there ever been a meet a SXM? I'm open to suggestion as long as warm breezes and alcohol are involved. bigthumbsup

JRadier · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:05 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Thread starter):
I'm open to suggestion as long as warm breezes and alcohol are involved. bigthumbsup

Kiev, lot's of hot breezes walking by and plenty of alcohol? Wink

RJdxer · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:17 pm

Quoting JRadier (Reply 1):
Kiev, lot's of hot breezes walking by and plenty of alcohol?

I was talking with Nighthawk about this and I think we both agreed that two years in a row is enough.

JRadier · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:29 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 2):

I was talking with Nighthawk about this and I think we both agreed that two years in a row is enough.

Really? Shame, I was planning on doing it another year Wink

I agree though, I've seen it by now. I can imagine myself going back in a couple of years to see what changed but not any time in the near future. I don't think I'll be attending an a.net meet this summer though, I've got my plans already and it will be hard enough to achieve those.

RJdxer · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:31 pm

Quoting JRadier (Reply 3):
I agree though, I've seen it by now.

Up close and personal too on the steps. rotfl

JRadier · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:36 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 4):
Up close and personal too on the steps. rotfl

point taken. You can say what you want, but I really did become one with the country Wink

RJdxer · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:45 pm

Quoting JRadier (Reply 5):
You can say what you want, but I really did become one with the country

I hear they are still looking for some hooligans that tore down a live tree in a park! duck

Superfly · Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:50 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Thread starter):
I'm open to suggestion as long as warm breezes and alcohol are involved.

Bangkok?
Well there isn't any breeze but it is certainly warm and plenty of alcohol.

RJdxer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:37 am

Quoting Superfly (Reply 7):
Bangkok?
Well there isn't any breeze but it is certainly warm and plenty of alcohol.

This is true but Phuket might be a better choice in my book.

Superfly · Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:41 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 8):
This is true but Phuket might be a better choice in my book.

Not in terms of spotting.
BKK gets far more interesting traffic.
Air Koryo IL-62
Aeroflot IL-96
Orient Thai 747-100
Iran Air 747-SP
Lao Aviation YN-11
Occasional IL-86, L1011
Tons and tons of 747-400s and A340s.
Also Airlines from small countries such as Turkmenistan, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Kenya and many other places.

Phuket has nice beaches if you don't mind being around a bunch of other tourist.

RJdxer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:49 am

Quoting Superfly (Reply 9):
Phuket has nice beaches if you don't mind being around a bunch of other tourist.

Didn't do any serious spotting in Kiev, or Edinburgh, or Las Vegas.....I can watch airplanes any day I want here in Houston. Meets should be about more than sitting around the end of a runway. twocents

MCOflyer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:02 am

Can we do a Cocoa Beach meet? Maybe a tour to Kennedy Space Center and Titusville Warbird museum.

Hunter

Superfly · Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:06 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 10):
Didn't do any serious spotting in Kiev,

Shame.
All of those cool Soviet era jets still flying.

ShyFlyer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:12 am

This is the only one I know of:
LHR April 2009
https://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...ms/non_aviation/read.main/1992995/

RJdxer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:25 am

Quoting Superfly (Reply 12):
Shame.
All of those cool Soviet era jets still flying.

In 2007 when we realized we weren't going to get into see Chernobyl we went to the Ukrainian aviation museum and saw a lot of those jets. There really aren't that many Soviet jets flying out of Kiev that I saw and the airport is located out in the middle of nowhere. Also, given the still overcast of security I would have been worried that we would have ended up in jail or at least in a dark room with a bright light being questioned about our intentions.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 9):
Phuket has nice beaches if you don't mind being around a bunch of other tourist.

Nighthawk and I had a couple of great days at the beach in Kiev. There are other types of spotting to appreciate.

skidmarks · Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:44 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 10):
Didn't do any serious spotting in Kiev, or Edinburgh, or Las Vegas.....I can watch airplanes any day I want here in Houston.

I thought the whole point of meets was to see DIFFERENT aircraft as well as getting a good shed on and making a fool of yourself? No point in going anywhere different if you're not going to sample the local traffic along with the alcohol.

Andy old

PS: BKK sounds fun but don't you get arrested if you are caught taking pictures?

JRadier · Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:00 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 6):

I hear they are still looking for some hooligans that tore down a live tree in a park! duck

Wasn't me!

Quoting Superfly (Reply 12):

Shame.
All of those cool Soviet era jets still flying.

The far majority of aircraft in Kiev is actually western..

nighthawk · Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:25 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 2):

I was talking with Nighthawk about this and I think we both agreed that two years in a row is enough.

I dont remember discussing this - if we had discussed it I would have said the opposite, i'd love to go back this year. Give me Hydropark any day! For the last two years i've been looking forward to the summer so we could go to Ukraine, now this summer we wont be going. Life seems empty.

SXM Sounds tempting, I think its somewhere every aviation enthusiast must visit, at least once. BKK sounds good too, ive flown through there, it would be nice to stop and see the city. Anywhere in Europe would also be good Big grin

MadameConcorde · Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:37 am

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
SXM Sounds tempting, I think its somewhere every aviation enthusiast must visit, at least once.

Good idea... and not far from Barbados to see Concorde!

andz · Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:22 am

We should have one here, JNB gets a good variety and the current exchange rate makes it cheap for foreigners! We have our own (sort of) Green Man in the form of Hi Flyerz bar, you sit out on the deck (less than a mile form the piano keys on 03R) and listen to approach control while sucking down cold ale and watching the planes Smile

It even has an ex-SAA 742 flightdeck in the window!

At the other end of the runway is a football club where you can get pretty close to the action (and it's not normally this busy).

skidmarks · Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:40 am

Quoting Andz (Reply 19):

I'm game for JNB, once I get my staff travel!! And I have "contacts" on the staff.

Andy old

DYflyer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:40 pm

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
I dont remember discussing this - if we had discussed it I would have said the opposite, i'd love to go back this year. Give me Hydropark any day! For the last two years i've been looking forward to the summer so we could go to Ukraine, now this summer we wont be going. Life seems empty.

We could go to other parts of Ukraine. The beaches in Odessa are not bad either, and i would like to see Yalta.

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 10):
Didn't do any serious spotting in Kiev, or Edinburgh, or Las Vegas.....I can watch airplanes any day I want here in Houston. Meets should be about more than sitting around the end of a runway.

Not everybody has a airport with much diversity in the traffic nearby. OSL = 737-"heaven"

ShyFlyer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:58 pm

Quoting Andz (Reply 19):
We should have one here, JNB gets a good variety and the current exchange rate makes it cheap for foreigners!

I wouldn't mind going to JNB. My only concern is the jet lag. fight

But if the price is right....I just might do it anyway.

signol · Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:01 pm

JNB sounds good, and that bar looks cool Smile

We're planning a trip down to SA some time in Jan / Feb, to visit the in-laws in Durban. Not sure if I'll be able to slip away from the wife whilst in JNB though - we tend to head straight to DUR, or maybe CPT this time.

Quote Shyflyer:
At least from Europe there's no jet lag Wink

And a bit of an advance notice - there will be a midnight runway run at NWI - Norwich International, at some point in Sept. If anyone's interested I can supply information, once it's confirmed Smile

I'll be running...

signol

[Edited 2008-10-30 10:05:37]

RJdxer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:48 pm

Quoting Skidmarks (Reply 15):
I thought the whole point of meets was to see DIFFERENT aircraft

In a world slowly becoming A&B with the odd regional thrown in, a museum or airshow is unfortunately becoming the place of choice to do this.

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
I dont remember discussing this

Lightweight. duck

It was at the Hilton with David L just after I showed him my cell phone pic of you blocking the reactor building. We talked about what a nice place Kiev is but that two years in a row was enough and you tacitly agreed.

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
Life seems empty.

If you want to go back for a long weekend I'm game but there's plenty of good beaches between here and there where they understand me! silly

Quoting Andz (Reply 19):
We should have one here, JNB gets a good variety and the current exchange rate makes it cheap for foreigners!

I would love to do this but I just don't have enough years yet to have the vacation time to do it right. I want to take the cable car ride to the top of Table Top mountain. The train across the country. Visit the "Sin" cities as well as the cell where Nelson Mandela was held for such an utterly ridiculously long amount of time.

Quoting DYflyer (Reply 21):
and i would like to see Yalta.

Won't be doing any spotting there my friend because there isn't any airport. The closest is Simferopol and then it's an hours ride across the mountains. However it is well worth the trip if you like history and architecture. Yalta is a magical place and I too would love to go back there. You'll need at least a week to make it really worthwhile and we already have a good friend in PRG that can facilitate connections!

I'd like to do JNB but as noted don't have sufficient vacation time built up with the company to do it justice. SXM though is a different matter. Something to keep in mind.

SAA380 · Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:00 pm

Quoting Andz (Reply 19):
We have our own (sort of) Green Man in the form of Hi Flyerz bar, you sit out on the deck (less than a mile form the piano keys on 03R) and listen to approach control while sucking down cold ale and watching the planes It even has an ex-SAA 742 flightdeck in the window!

Hey Andz, where is this 'Hi Flyerz' bar you are talking about? Is it near the East Rand Mall?
I live in the Roodepoort area and don't come there often. It looks like an interesting place.

SAA380 airplane

srbmod · Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:53 pm

Quoting Skidmarks (Reply 15):

I thought the whole point of meets was to see DIFFERENT aircraft as well as getting a good shed on and making a fool of yourself? No point in going anywhere different if you're not going to sample the local traffic along with the alcohol.

Plane spotting during the previous LAS Meets:

Oh look, a US Airways A320/319

Oh look, a Southwest 737

Oh look, a Ted A320

Being the geeks we are, some of the group at the 2007 LAS Meet were delayed (Actually I should say extended their delay) getting to the railroad museum because they had to snap photos of a VS 747 while their vehicle was making a pit stop at the Jack In The Box on the Strip by LAS........

The first LAS Meet back in 2006 did have some spotting going on, as part of the group split up to go spotting while the rest went to Hoover Dam. Some decided to stay behind to drink, gamble, and in the case of one attendee, smoke cigars....... cheeky

Not all A.net Meets are about hanging out at the airport watching the planes go by. Some are simply great excuses to go out of town for a few days and blow off some steam and socialize with folks that you typically only talk to while sitting in front of a computer monitor. The two LAS Meets that have happened were pretty damn fun. The 2007 LAS Meet was a lot of fun despite many of the activities being done on the fly. Even though not everyone who attended both LAS Meets gambled, they seemed to enjoy themselves by watching those of us who do like to gamble.

RJdxer · Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:26 pm

Quoting Srbmod (Reply 26):
The two LAS Meets that have happened were pretty damn fun.

Every meet I've been to has been fun. In Iceland we didn't do any spotting and in LAX we spent the entire day within sight of the airfield. A lot depends on the location and amount of time the meet is going on. If it is an entire weekend, well I like airplanes but there is a limit. If it is just the afternoon then that's another story. But I've had a good time at all of them. I've met some wonderful people and I think as long as the basic rule of no political or religious discussion/argument is adhered to you get to know the other person whom you might have had a disagreement or two with and maybe have a new insight into their thinking. It really has made a positive difference on how I view some of the members posts.

HT · Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:08 pm

Would anybody be up for a meeting at BCN (again) or LIS between, say, March and May 2009 (tentative dates) ? Or a meeting at MAD again ?
All three cities can contribute both "aviation" and "non-aviation"-elements for a A.net meeting ...

If booked in advance, we could funnell in another daytrip from one of these airports.
A sameday-return roundtrip MAD-FRA-MAD on a LA A340 on random dates in April I could find as low as 86 EUR incl. all taxes and fees.

From LIS we could fly to FNC.
_______________________

I have plans to be in Georgia & Tenneessee the two weeks before Easter 2009, so if anybody were interested in (mini-)meets at MEM, BNA or ATL in that period please feel free to say so.
_______________________

Places for Summer meetings:
CPH
ARN
HEL
And I would not mind to go back to OSL (and downtown Oslo) and some more places in Norway: Maybe BOO and include a visit at the aviation museum.
_______________________
During this years ZRH-meeting we floated the idea to hold a meeting in HAM including a visit at the Airbus factory at XFW. This best would be in summer to make the most out of some nice weather.
_______________________
And a ZRH-meeting is almost certain for 2009; maybe in combination with a meeting at FDH & some tour of (or "on") Lake Constance ...
Flights in a blimp could be an option here, too, but these are in high demand and rather expensive.

Quoting DYflyer (Reply 21):
The beaches in Odessa are not bad either, and i would like to see Yalta.

Could become a plan. As I had said in earlier threads, I was considering Yalta (via SIP) for my parent's Golden Wedding Anniversary in Sept 2008, but we went to Jersey instead (was a very good choice).

All in all, I will have to see how my father's memory problems evolve before making arrangements for a longer trip. Therefore, a series of shorter trips is more likely for me.
-HT

Superfly · Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:18 pm

Quoting Skidmarks (Reply 15):
BKK sounds fun but don't you get arrested if you are caught taking pictures?

No.
I've done it there myself.

B747forever · Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:27 pm

Have about a meeting at LAX??

stasisLAX · Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:33 pm

Lots to cool things to do here in Los Angeles - including spotting from the infamous In-N-Out Burger right next to LAX! bigthumbsup

B747forever · Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:31 am

Quoting StasisLAX (Reply 31):
Lots to cool things to do here in Los Angeles - including spotting from the infamous In-N-Out Burger right next to LAX!

True. We should have a LAX meeting soon.

FlyDeltaJets87 · Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:27 am

Quoting StasisLAX (Reply 31):
Lots to cool things to do here in Los Angeles - including spotting from the infamous In-N-Out Burger right next to LAX!

My cousin and I are looking to do an out west trip to Vegas and then over to Cali to hit up Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm, and possibly Disney. I told him at least part of one day will be spent at the In N' Out at LAX spotting. biggrin

Quoting Srbmod (Reply 26):
Not all A.net Meets are about hanging out at the airport watching the planes go by.

Like the BHM Meet. I still need to make it to that one.

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
SXM Sounds tempting, I think its somewhere every aviation enthusiast must visit, at least once.

My Spring Break 2010 trip - what I will call my "graduation present to myself".

How about DAB for a meet? silly

andz · Fri Oct 31, 2008 5:45 am

Quoting SAA380 (Reply 25):
where is this 'Hi Flyerz' bar you are talking about?

It's in the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, very close to East Rand Mall. If you have Google Earth it is at 26°10'29.99"S 28°14'54.17"E

http://www.birchwoodhotel.co.za/hi_flyers.htm

fxramper · Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:28 am

I vote for DFW or IAH. There are plenty of members in and around these airports and a lot of us work for airlines and can fly for free into the two listed. twocents

nighthawk · Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:38 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 24):
If you want to go back for a long weekend I'm game but there's plenty of good beaches between here and there where they understand me! silly

Not being understood was half the fun! Sitting on the beach and being the only foreigners there had a great feeling to it. Beats Ibiza any day!

Quoting HT (Reply 28):
If booked in advance, we could funnell in another daytrip from one of these airports.
A sameday-return roundtrip MAD-FRA-MAD on a LA A340 on random dates in April I could find as low as 86 EUR incl. all taxes and fees.

Now THAT sounds tempting!

skidmarks · Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:26 pm

Quoting Srbmod (Reply 26):
Plane spotting during the previous LAS Meets:

Oh look, a US Airways A320/319

Oh look, a Southwest 737

Oh look, a Ted A320

Being the geeks we are, some of the group at the 2007 LAS Meet were delayed (Actually I should say extended their delay) getting to the railroad museum because they had to snap photos of a VS 747 while their vehicle was making a pit stop at the Jack In The Box on the Strip by LAS........

The first LAS Meet back in 2006 did have some spotting going on, as part of the group split up to go spotting while the rest went to Hoover Dam. Some decided to stay behind to drink, gamble, and in the case of one attendee, smoke cigars.......

Not all A.net Meets are about hanging out at the airport watching the planes go by. Some are simply great excuses to go out of town for a few days and blow off some steam and socialize with folks that you typically only talk to while sitting in front of a computer monitor. The two LAS Meets that have happened were pretty damn fun. The 2007 LAS Meet was a lot of fun despite many of the activities being done on the fly. Even though not everyone who attended both LAS Meets gambled, they seemed to enjoy themselves by watching those of us who do like to gamble.

If I pay a lot of money to go to a foreign country in order to meet other enthusiasts and enjoy myself, that WILL include plane spotting. Southwest, Delta, Continental etc might all be "boring" and "routine" for you, but there are not many of them over here, and I certainly wouldn't waste a visit to LAS spending money on the strip and getting so pissed I couldn't stand up - not until I'd taken some pictures at McCarren and Las Vegas North first!!

There are hundreds of places in the world I want to go to and not all of them involve aeroplanes but I can guarantee I will take pictures wherever I go whether the rest of the crowd want to or not.

I am not getting any younger and time is running out. Big grin

Andy

Sketty222 · Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:13 pm

Im definatley up for some sort of meet, preferably outside of the UK.

SXM sounds good but so does LAX, I'd also be up for a LAS meet. JNB isn't too high on my list of places to travel to but if everyone else os going there, why the devil not.

RJdxer · Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:49 pm

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 36):
Not being understood was half the fun! Sitting on the beach and being the only foreigners there had a great feeling to it. Beats Ibiza any day!

After our bid is done and I have an idea of my schedule and 3 day off rotation for next year we can talk. Maybe Odessa might be a better choice. The beaches are better and it's more of a vacation destination so the variety is better if you get my drift.

My vote goes to SXM for a meet. I'm not an organizer so I will leave that to others.

sean377 · Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:03 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Thread starter):
Has there ever been a meet a SXM?

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
SXM Sounds tempting

Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 18):
Good idea... and not far from Barbados to see Concorde!

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 24):
SXM though is a different matter. Something to keep in mind.

Quoting FlyDeltaJets87 (Reply 33):
My Spring Break 2010 trip - what I will call my "graduation present to myself".

Quoting Sketty222 (Reply 38):
SXM sounds good

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 39):
My vote goes to SXM for a meet.

The only way I'm ever going to get to SXM is an A.Net meet. I find it hard to believe that there has never been a meet at one of the most 'desirable' places on all our lists!

Put me on the attending list!

ShyFlyer · Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:18 pm

Quoting Sean377 (Reply 40):
I find it hard to believe that there has never been a meet at one of the most 'desirable' places on all our lists!

It's one of those things that has been talked about, but no one has actually stepped up and got things rolling.

RJdxer · Sat Nov 01, 2008 2:34 am

Quoting ShyFlyer (Reply 41):
It's one of those things that has been talked about, but no one has actually stepped up and got things rolling.

Well maybe it's time. Anybody know when low season starts so we don't get rolled for a hotel room? At least then we could start looking a some sort of time frame.

ShyFlyer · Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:20 am

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 42):
Anybody know when low season starts so we don't get rolled for a hotel room?

My brief research says the off season starts about June.

HT · Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:15 pm

Quoting ShyFlyer (Reply 43):
My brief research says the off season starts about June.

I can't say that I would prefer to go to SXM during Hurricaine-season, but maybe it's just me ...
Some time during winter would also mean that I could exchange misty winter weather with some Carribean sunshine ...
-HT

Leezyjet · Sat Nov 01, 2008 4:06 pm

Quoting Srbmod (Reply 26):
Not all A.net Meets are about hanging out at the airport watching the planes go by

Exactly, nobody did any spotting at the Iceland meet a couple of years back and that was one of the best meets I've been to.

I'd definately be up for a JNB meet. I normally just pass through on my way to PLZ, DUR or CPT. I also have a SA PPL so could hire out an a/c and do a bit of sight seeing from the air too if any of the locals know any places in the area to rent one from. We could also pay a visit to Rand too to see the SAA 747's on display, and take a side trip to CPT as there are flights every hour and the night life is good - Teaser's anyone.. drool

Sketty222 · Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:49 pm

Quoting Leezyjet (Reply 45):
Teaser's anyone..

If its the same as Teasers that was in AMS then count me in checkmark

DYflyer · Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:39 pm

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 24):
Won't be doing any spotting there my friend because there isn't any airport.

I wasn't thinking about going there for spotting (at least not for planes Wink

)

Quoting HT (Reply 28):
Would anybody be up for a meeting at BCN (again) or LIS between, say, March and May 2009 (tentative dates) ? Or a meeting at MAD again ?

All sounds good to me.

Quoting HT (Reply 28):
If booked in advance, we could funnell in another daytrip from one of these airports.
A sameday-return roundtrip MAD-FRA-MAD on a LA A340 on random dates in April I could find as low as 86 EUR incl. all taxes and fees.

A nice flight. Did that one flying to the FRA-meet this year.

Quoting HT (Reply 28):
Places for Summer meetings:
CPH
ARN
HEL
And I would not mind to go back to OSL (and downtown Oslo) and some more places in Norway: Maybe BOO and include a visit at the aviation museum.

It's been a while since the last Scandinavian meet. Maybe it is time for one again.

kmh1956 · Tue Nov 04, 2008 12:34 am

Quoting Nighthawk (Reply 17):
SXM Sounds tempting, I think its somewhere every aviation enthusiast must visit, at least once

Quoting Sketty222 (Reply 38):
SXM sounds good

Quoting RJdxer (Reply 39):
My vote goes to SXM for a meet.

If I can muster up the bucks, I wanna go!!!!

RJdxer · Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:03 am

Quoting DYflyer (Reply 47):
I wasn't thinking about going there for spotting

You might be disappointed my friend. The beaches are all almost smaller than the ones at Odessa and consist of small pebbles. If you can hit a hotel that has some nice looking people staying there your in business but the public beaches weren't anything to jump up and down about. I was much more impressed with the palaces and other points of interest in the area. The cable car ride to the top of Ai Petri is a must.

Quoting Kmh1956 (Reply 48):
If I can muster up the bucks, I wanna go!!!!

After we do our vacation bid next month if someone has not started a thread for an SXM meet then I will. Figure low season sometime in June or July.

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