Growing up in the village of Stansted Mountfitchet, my school holidays, more often than not, resulted in me jumping on my Puch 5-speed and cycling the 4 miles to the airport and loitering (as one could do quite freely in those days) with my CAM, bins, log book, air radio and salmon paste sandwiches, in various perch spots in and around the old terminal, carparks and grass viewing area.
Save the odd exotic 707 or DC-8 arrival for ATEL, Thurstons G-ASMY going round and round, Transmeridian (TAC) dispatching exotica around the globe in their diverse fleet, the comings and goings of the CAFU 748's and Ford 1-11's, it was always nice to enjoy the trials and tribulations of budding BA pilots being let loose on the big jets including 1-11's, Tridents, Tristars, 707's, VC-10's and 747's. I am sure the BAC Type 102 also made the odd training visit
I seem to recall Air Europe and Orion using Stansted for training during their early days
Very, very happy days.