Hi Guys:
          I was thinking about trying to organize a Get Together in England in the Spring (April,May, June maybe) just wondered who would be interested? I thought we could maybe make a weekend of it somewhere quite central and have some competions, swap and trade things. Who's Interested? Once I get a rough idea of numbers I can look for a suitable location.

                                      Thanks J41

be smart, and do it during an airshow! 

i think some members here already planned a meeting at Duxford...ask one of the oldies around here 

Or 14 year olds

Which airshow in Duxford because i can do Duxford.  That is only in Cambridgeshire, I live near Reading.

Which one though:
Autumn Air Show - Sunday 10 October
Duxford 2004 Air Show - Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 September
Flying Legends Air Show - Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 July
D-Day Anniversary Air Show - Sunday 6 June

I think an airshow would be impractical. What with traffic problems & crowds inside the actual airfield you might never meet. This would be almost impossible at my local show let alone somewhere like Duxford. It might be better to arrange a visit on a non-show day to Duxford or another museum. Then you could all meet up in the car park at a pre-arranged time. Just a suggestion.

PS. Don't forget the Farnborough Air Show is on this year.

Or I could wear an overcoat with a red carnation, carry an umbrella and the Times paper.

The code word will be "Sheep retreat when they hear Fozzer coming"

And the reply "If Ozzy flew any lower he'd be chatting with Satan"

I'll be under the clock at St Pancras station......

Will

I can't speak for J41 but I got the impression this would be a get-together for members of this forum. People we know as friends. The main problem would be recognising each other as we've never met in real life. From my own experiences at air displays, even small ones, it's very difficult to meet people you know well & you could waste a lot of time looking for them rather than watching the show. I've done this myself at Farnborough on a trade day when there are far less people there than on public days. Missed half the display & never did meet my friend although he was doing exactly the same thing looking for me.

Of course, you could all use Will's suggestion.

PS. A few months ago I did a job as a courier for my old company. I took a small, urgently required item to CDG Paris & arranged to meet an airline rep in the terminal to hand him the package. Although we were both at the airport & talking to each other via mobile phone it was something like 45 minutes before we finally met up.

As for Brad's suggestion of walkie-talkie radio or mobile phones, these are not encouraged at air displays for obvious reasons.

Hawker Tempest knows Duxford better than anyone here so I would take his advice.

From bitter experience I would never go there again on a display day. Despite having priceless advance tickets we were not allowed off the nearby M11 motorway onto the road running past the airfield as it was already full before we arrived. This was even more frustrating as you can see the airfield clearly from the motorway.
All we got for 12 hours on the road was a glimpse of a Spitfire taking off over our heads. I arrived home exhausted & disappointed. This might have been a rare & unfortunate cock-up on the part of the organisers but it put me off the idea for life.

How about the newly reopened RAF museum... and its free, so once you've paid to get there, its easy...

Charlie

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Just the London Underground (think the car might come in handy). I'd love to pop along, as long as its before the 8th Feb!!!

Charlie

brad,why using a walkie-talkie,when there are cell phones?

umm...get me a cheap offer for a flight from stuttgart or frankfurt to london and we could talk about that meeting.
i'd need some place to stay,too. umm....forget that. a sleeping bag and a tent should be enough.

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I should point out that this was a special event. The Spitfire 60th Anniversary show. 1998 I believe - was it really that long ago?
Apparently it was far more popular than the organisers expected or catered for. The car park was full to capacity long before we got there & the M11 was jammed solid for miles with people trying to get in. We ended up in Cambridge about 1 hour after passing the airfield before we could turn round & go home again.

It was a very disappointing day for me as I had special complimentary tickets from the OFMC. Despite this the police would not let us off the M11. There was no way we could have got through anyway.

Ok guys why dont we set a date for May/June time at Duxford a Weekend when there is no shows as thats probably a bit busy. If we have quite a few people they may even open an hour early to let us in (So Im told by a friend who works there).

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I think this is intended more as a small informal get-together. What Avsim do is neither here nor there & up to them.

how about the RAF museam in Hendon?  it's out of the weather, not too large as to get lost in. underground accessable, and a pub not to far away.

I won't be coming. You guys wouldn't want an old codger like me around.

May I add a word of caution. I don't know how old you are but don't arrange full details on this forum. You never know who's watching. Even then, please be careful who you agree to meet up with.

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ah,c'mon,chap. as long as you don't use your ultimate weapon (big mouth of boredom!  ), you're welcome at the "SIMV get together".

if i just get enough coffee,i'm sure we'll have a very nice time together...

Maybe we could talk Pete into putting out for first class tickets for all of his American forum members.  After all, he could take it out of petty cash or maybe the advertising fund.

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lmao sounds like a right bash

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Thank you Scania old friend. It would be nice to meet you too. We could sup that pint we talked about some time ago..

I suspect that meeting me might be a big disappointment for most of you. I would bore the pants off you - believe me.