Spotting at Dublin in the early '80s

[thurian]

I started plane spotting in the early '80s and remember taking that long walk in the terminal down to a tiny glassed in area (I suspect Pier D is now occupying that space) where you could watch stuff taxiing to 06 (I think!) and you could see all the light/biz stuff parked up. anyone else remember this? I see one or two persons names on this site who I remember from back then.

[corkspotter]

Hey Thurian,

I remember this well. It used to be called the "Link" building. It's were i started spotting in 1992 and met up with a few spotters who are now close friends and who I still meet up with when I get up to DUB. It's also when I discovered the old Ops office and you could get iut onto the ramp for some photo's!! Back in the day eh!!!

Regards,

Paul

[Irish251]

Here are some images taken from the Link Building or the far end of it, as you mention:

http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1004443/M/Boeing-737-2R4C/LN-NPB/Busy-Bee-A/S/
http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1004593/M/De-Havilland-Canada-DHC-7-102-Dash-7/P2-ANP/Air-Niugini-PX--ANG/
http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1005109/M/Boeing-737-248C/EI-ASE/Aer-Lingus-EI--EIN/
http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1002911/M/Aerospatiale-SA330J-Puma/242/Irish-Air-Corps/
http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1007891/M/Shorts-330-200/EI-BEH/Aer-Lingus-EI--EIN/

[corkspotter]

Nice shots short finals!!!

Regards,

Paul

[Joe McDermott]

Ahhh, the Link Building, memories flooding back. Excellent photos SF ! Any shots from "The Turret" ?

Joe

[thurian]

Great photos indeed. Thanks all.

[Stanly]

Nice shots SF. was the nose of the Carvelle included to titillate the viewers.................

[Irish251]

Joe

I'm too young to have experienced the turret!

Not sure if I have a separate shot of that Caravelle.  I may have been conserving film (remember that stuff?) as there were I think, four Sterling Caravelles and three Conair Boeing 720Bs present that day!

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Conair-of-Scandinavia/Boeing-720-051B/0811906/M/

[Machlooper]

Fantastic images there!! I started "spotting" as such at EIDW as a kid in the early 80's but unfortunately my instamatic camera didn't produce very good images !! Don't know where my prints are though? 
I did have one great head on image of Concorde rotating of R23, wish I knew where it was!
It's a bloody nightmare these days!! That bloody fence is a pain! A short area of reinforced glass at the usual spotters point would have been great. They use this in Sydney much to my pleasure while there and the likes of Manchester has a dedicated spotters area with static display, shops and photography platforms !!
I guess we'll never see the likes here!!
Cheers.

[Tony Kearns]

Ah nostalgia, a thing of the past.
Great pics from Fergal and very atmospheric.
Am old enough to remmeber standing on my bike to see over the hedge at runway Three Zero to watch the Aer Lingus Daks gunning the engines for take off and seeing the wings flapping up and down, it always looked scary to me. You young fellas would not have seen the likes.........except maybe Joe McD
How times have changed , no way would you have access as in the 60's to take the likes of pics attached ( old slides pay no attention to quality) Pics taken in June 1968.
 

[Tony Kearns]

Frank
For you and those there in the Colonies, you may recall a converstaion we had regarding Aer Arann operating from Oranmore, pics of a couple of Islanders operating there.
EI-AUL in the evening April 1971
EI-AWM at Oranmore September 1973

[Frank]

That bloody fence is a pain! A short area of reinforced glass at the usual spotters point would have been great. They use this in Sydney much to my pleasure while there

Miami airport has holes cut into the fence so you can poke your camera lens through while the spotters area at Alpnach in Switzerland is on the edge of the taxiway with no fence in the way!

[Frank]

Nice pictures Tony. That building in the background of the Islander picture looks suspiciously like the building on the grounds of the army firing range in Oranmore, is this the area they used before moving to Carnmore?

[Tony Kearns]

Yep that's it Frank. The old wooden huts were there beside the runway probably gone by the time you first saw the airfield.

[Frank]

Well I was born in 1973 and the first time I would have been on the range would have been in the early 90's.