Logging registrations
To those who ask 'why?':
you could ask the same question to those who go to a cricket match or baseball game and fill in their own scoresheet... or like to keep sporting statistics about their favourite teams and players...
or anyone who keeps a personal diary or journal. I've met people who like to keep records of when the apple blossom comes out ('earlier this year than last') or they hear the proverbial first cuckoo.
Me, I like to record the changing airlines and types at Heathrow (regretting that I was too young for the piston era); I can tell you which aeroplanes I saw at Shoreham 30 years ago (5-Aug-75), and feel some pleasure at remembering it (the 'star cop' was a B-25, to save you asking).
My interest in aviation having been sparked by my first passenger flight, aged 10, I was keen to visit my local airfield; by looking up the registrations in Civil Aircraft Markings, I learned to tell an Apache from an Aztec from a Seneca etc, and took some pride in doing so. That useful little Ian Allan publication had a blank column headed 'where and when seen' - so that's how it started.
I have to agree that I've met some borderline-OCD types while practising the hobby over the last 35 years (including 27 while working in the aircraft industry and 12 as a PPL); I've also met many knowledgable, friendly and fun chaps too. I also agree with Omaha that female participants are very rare - more's the pity - though I've met some very nice ones at Schiphol.
Actually, I've always found that you meet the nicest people around aeroplanes - so who can blame spotters, in their own way, for wanting to be part of the scene? And a spotter's logbook preserves those happy memories of days spent on airfields.
Rhys.