MAN - Diversion Days

[MARK9263]

With this being yet another winter that lacks the diversion days we used to have, mainly probably due to technology more that weather.
I thought I would try and get a thread going to discuss those great weather diversion days of years gone by.....
I have complete lists going back to 1960 to present of all the quality and sheer quantity of the stuff we used to get....It saddens me of those great days we dont get anymore....

One of many,many memories I have was on Saturday 11th November 1978,the day after a good fog session, was getting evicted from the terraces from an over-zealous cleaner for using a sugar cube as a football ! We then retreated to the landing lights to watch several afternoon diversions to arrive before the FOG came down...

Would like to hear any other storeis that you guys might have..

[Davidsoffice]

When I started spottng back in '74 (at Manch), I was informed that the xxth Jan was a common div day. Not knowing what a div day was in those days, or in fact anything about aircraft ops, I turned up at the airport expecting to see loads! Nowt!
Later though, I found its the unexpected arrivals/movements that really created an interest. Many div days at Manch come to mind. Nowadays, nearly everything is known prior to visiting an airport thanks to the internet and the hobby does not have the same interest. Besides, its cleaner and quieter - not good at all!

[MARK9263]

I agree, the fun not knowing what was going to turn up has gone , part of the fun was having a radio tuned into Manchester Control waiting for weird and usually unheard flight numbers descending towards Man.
Although I went to MAN on many div days I preferred to scan the airways listening to aircraft being scattered throughout the country, and for the ones diverting to MAN I liked to see it sail over from 5-miles out over the 7th storey of a block of flats..!.
It is good to read Internet messages to see what is going to turn up in advance but prefer the 'un-certainty' ....

[purplehelmet]

hi guys i know this is an old thread but anyway. i remember the good ole div days in the 70s, alia 747,swissair 747,air india 747,delta and twa tristar,gulf air vc10 and tristar, air malawi vc10,pan am 747 that got parked on the grass and got stuck threre for days.usafdc9,plus many more, happy days.:)