Since the early eighties I have been around airfields taking photography and writing down the tail numbers. Living in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire made days out a major exercise in planning and cooridination, with over twenty military airfields within a one hour drive the choice was often a difficult one. Carefull scrutiny of weather forecasts would have to be made to ensure correct wind alignment at each planned destination.

Often events, rather than weather, would determine the time and location. Airshows were well publisised in the aviation press, others event such as air defence exercises were often only heard about ‘over the fence’ with information being ‘leaked’ by friendly forces within the RAF. But even these exercises soon became common knowlege. More difficult to predict were squadron exchanges and visiting foriegan aircraft.

In the days before the internet and when even mobile phones were a rarity, one had to rely on late night phone calls from friends of friends to say that the latest jet had arrived. Weekend plans were quickly rearranged inorder the see the new arrival, some would make nocternal visits to catch the rarest, just to allow tick to be placed along side a number in a book. We must have been mad !!!