Aviation Collection Four

I do find aircraft inherently interesting. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the idea of defying gravity (I know they don’t really do that but it’s a simpler explanation to what’s going on). I’ve recently mentioned these items at work and searched this site but they didn’t exist here. So this is to make up for that. There are a couple of other communications about the aviation collection, search them by the tags at the bottom of this page.

My first diecast model was a Northrop F5 Freedom Fighter. I bought one of these from a stall at North Weald many years ago. I can’t remember if it was an airshow or just some event I was at. That F5 represented the VF111 Sundowner United States Navy unit. I used to have it on display at work because I would use it for cadet type things, especially explaining the dynamics of aircraft and airflow. This model was lost. More accurately I think it was stolen. It was in my room and then it wasn’t. This was a shame but I knew I needed an F5 because they are cool and also it’s an F5.

I can’t remember which unit this F5 represents. It might be an aggressor squadron. It just looks nice. The second diecast aircraft I bought was from a stall at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2019 (I think). I took my kids there and enjoyed the day I spent watching displays and seeing the static aircraft. I wanted a memento of this trip and so I bought an A400M at, what I thought was, a reasonable price.

The A400M sits atop my NAS drive in one of the tech corners of the house. It looks pretty there, guarding the dining room.

The third and final model I have is tiny. It’s a pretty small model of a small and cute plane. I’ve written about the Baby Bus here. I couldn’t find a British Airways version of this plane, there’s still an Air France version flying I think. But this is a lovely plane.

Those are my aircraft and apart from some trinkets I have from a 1980s Brize Norton that is pretty much it for collections related to aviation.

Tintin

Only a short while longer and I will have collected all the Tintin books for my sons to read. I have been buying about two or three every pay day from Amazon for the last 9 months or so and I think I have two more months before I have the complete collection. Unfortunately, I did accidentally buy one in paperback and so I will give that one away and buy it again in hardcover. In all honesty they might be more for me than the kids but I’m sure they’ll read them eventually.
I already have all the Asterix books as I collected them during my sabbatical year when I was at Imperial College. It was the only time as a student that I had any money and I made sure that I didn’t have any by the end of the year. I put on a lot of weight eating in the Union cafe all the time and bought ridiculous things like a lovely Aiwa portable cassette player (remember those?) and a crazy Casio watch that had a thermometer and a barometer built into it. The watch could even do altitude (based on pressure). Now I guess all of my money for gadgets goes into my phone and it does a crazy amount more. Not just two sides of a C90 but a whole two weeks worth of music!
Possibly a bit of a random communication for you and perhaps I should aim to include more outrageous stories from my university days!

20121017-082113.jpg

Firsts

It’s time to open up some of my darkest secrets! Once upon a time I was a young teenager unsure of my musical direction. I was still searching (although unknowingly) for the style of low density fluid compression waves that would emotionally move me. Here’s some interesting trivia:

The first single I bought on 7″ vinyl was “99 Red Balloons” by the German singer Nena. It was sometime in 1984 so I was 12 years old. I’ve never really been a lyrics man concentrating more on the music but the song fits in quite well with my previous post about nuclear war.

The second single I bought caused some controversy between me and my best friend of the time, Mark. He thought I ought to buy “The Reflex” by Duran Duran but I chose more wisely and opted for “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This was 1984 still. Once again this is a song about nuclear war.

The first album I bought came with a warning from my Mum that I was spending a lot of money and I should be sure that I really wanted it. I bought the Ghostbusters film soundtrack on 12″ vinyl. It is still 1984. I still have it in a proper box in the cupboard ready for future play. I still have a record player set up in the dining room just in case. There is a record on the player, it is Dance With The Devil by Cozy Powell.

I don’t recall what my first CD was but I do know that I didn’t have a CD player on which to listen to it! I think I bought a CD single by W.A.S.P. it might have been “The Real Me”. I’ll have to look in the attic to see if I can find which singles I bought.

I don’t throw music away. This is a potential fault because as my children grow up they might find some of the awful stuff I bought when I was young. I guess that music reflected my tastes at the time. I don’t think there is a record or piece of music of which I am ashamed as it is a part of me at some level.