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dixi188
3rd Jan 2022, 16:27
On these dark winter evenings I thought this may be a topic for discussion.
My vote is for my local airport - Bournemouth/Hurn, EGHH/BOH.
Over the years that I have known this airport, (1960 to the present day), the variety of aircraft using it has ranged from Piper Cubs to Boeing 747s and almost everything in between, including Airships and round the world challenge types,
It would be too long a list to post here, but can anyone suggest another airport with such variety.
Dixi.

DaveReidUK
3rd Jan 2022, 16:49
Oshkosh ...

meleagertoo
3rd Jan 2022, 19:14
Belongs in the spotters forum - or Beano - not here.

dixi188
3rd Jan 2022, 19:33
OK.
I was thinking "Nostalgia"
Mods. Please deal with as you see fit.

Less Hair
3rd Jan 2022, 19:35
I'd say something in the LA area. From airliners to fighters, helicopters, unmanned stuff, plenty of GA and privately owned MiGs, piston oldies, jetpacks and such.

Pypard
3rd Jan 2022, 22:27
Oshkosh isn't an airport.

LTCTerry
3rd Jan 2022, 22:42
Oshkosh isn't an airport.

Au contraire - KOSH - very much an airport.

DaveReidUK
4th Jan 2022, 06:49
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/276x495/kosh_484cf2217e2c9959a6024421de78f1f3c1a145e3.jpg

Sleeve Wing
4th Jan 2022, 16:04
Nostalgia ? So was I, Dixi. How about Boscombe ? Maybe not now but certainly in the timeframe I assume you're talking about.

Pypard
4th Jan 2022, 16:24
Au contraire - KOSH - very much an airport.
From the Wikis:

On July 16, 2020, the airport began a project to replace the aging GA terminal as well as the old airline terminal built in 1958 and 1971 respectively with a new modern GA terminal. The high cost to maintain both facilities, as well as there is no chance that airline service will return to Wittman as Appleton International Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleton_International_Airport) has expanded to now serve Oshkosh leaving no need for an airline terminal as the primary reasons to replace the terminal. The new terminal is planned to open sometime in early-mid July 2021 in time for AirVenture 2021.

longer ron
4th Jan 2022, 18:46
Nostalgia ? So was I, Dixi. How about Boscombe ? Maybe not now but certainly in the timeframe I assume you're talking about.

Definitely a contender - even up to (say) 2007 there was an eclectic fleet regularly flying + a fair number of interesting visitors.
Just in my section I was qualified to work on 4 different types concurrently (Hawks various,Alpha Jet,Tucano and Harvard [whenever I could escape from the jets LOL]) + partial quals on 2 other types.

DaveReidUK
4th Jan 2022, 19:22
From the Wikis:

On July 16, 2020, the airport began a project to replace the aging GA terminal as well as the old airline terminal built in 1958 and 1971 respectively with a new modern GA terminal. The high cost to maintain both facilities, as well as there is no chance that airline service will return to Wittman as Appleton International Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleton_International_Airport) has expanded to now serve Oshkosh leaving no need for an airline terminal as the primary reasons to replace the terminal. The new terminal is planned to open sometime in early-mid July 2021 in time for AirVenture 2021.

I'm not sure what your point is - plenty of airports don't have scheduled airline services. Closer to home, Farnborough is an obvious example.

SWBKCB
4th Jan 2022, 20:57
If Oshkosh isn't an airport, Boscombe certainly isn't! I'd go for somewhere like Prestwick - regular traffic, deliveries, training, military transits, etc

DaveReidUK
4th Jan 2022, 21:21
And reputedly fog-free, too. :O

jensdad
5th Jan 2022, 00:14
I'm not sure what the answer to the question is, but the old spotter in me yearns for the days before my local airport, Newcastle, became an endless succession of 737's and A320-series.
In my very early years with my dad on the roof at NCL we saw DC-8's, DC-9's, DC-10's, F27's, F28's, 707/720's, 727's, 737's, 747's, BAC 1-11's, Viscounts, 748's, Caravelles, Tu134's, Tu154's... and I've probably missed a few off that list.

Pypard
5th Jan 2022, 05:16
Back even in the eighties, LHR could boast an early-morning DC-6 freighter. Plus loads of Tridents, Il-62M and again a few others I'm sure I have missed. And an ex-BOAC Argonaut...

SpringHeeledJack
5th Jan 2022, 10:00
Back in the day any of the largerUK airports could lay claim to a myriad of type and size of aircraft simply due to the many aircraft manufacturers and the less restricted airspace and cheaper landing charges. Add in the size of the RAF/RNAS/AAC and all the training/familiarisation flights they did and it was a 3-ring circus. As times moved on bit by bit by bit this whole scene changed to what we have today. In the UK, probably Blackbushe, Fairoaks, Shoreham have the most variety simply because it's pretty much all private owned aircraft, save for the few private commercial flights.

As always, you don't know what you had until it's gone.

TCU
5th Jan 2022, 10:15
Luton in its 60's and 70's heyday (or perhaps halcyon days to coin a more appropriate phrase), saw a wonderful mix of small, medium and large flying things

Today? Kemble (or is it Cotswold International?) has a very nice mix of light aircraft and heavy metal, although the heavy metal is of course nearly always on its terminal flight.

treadigraph
5th Jan 2022, 11:30
At Gatters in the '70s when there was still a GA terminal, I recall everything in size from a Swiss Jodel up to various 747s. An unusual night-stopper was a Mustang in 1980 (Stephen Grey and Mike Wright ferrying TFC's first fighter from Oakland to Geneva!)...

ATNotts
5th Jan 2022, 14:16
In the UK I think EMA is probably hard to beat with the diversity of cargo and passenger traffic, plus for the time being a fairly active GA scene.

Local Variation
5th Jan 2022, 19:36
In the UK I think EMA is probably hard to beat with the diversity of cargo and passenger traffic, plus for the time being a fairly active GA scene.

....for the time being meaning?

dixi188
5th Jan 2022, 22:17
I guess Oshkosh is probably the winner due to the shows.
In the UK I think Farnborough would also win due to the shows.
My thoughts on Hurn are that in the the 60+ years that I have known the place there have been a great many types passing through, ie, most of the worlds airliner types with the exception of the Eastern Block, a vast array of military aircraft, based, visiting or at the old airshows, most types of Biz Jets and props either passing through or for maintenance and many GA aircraft particularly in the 60s and 70s when it was a favorite customs stop on the way to France or the CIs.(Cheap duty free).
Other places like Biggin Hill would have a vast list but not the big airliners and the big airports would not have much GA.
Dixi.

Buntybunny
6th Jan 2022, 00:14
Is that Boscombe Down, I lived not far for there, remember seeing the Flying Bedstead - as I looked out of my pram! ;0) Boscombe Down was always very diverse and busy in the 1950's. Quite a few Fleet Air Arm planes flew round Boscombe Down.

Stanstead is getting more aircraft, I've been surprised at the increase in private planes, no so many commercial flights - as expected! Seen several private aircraft with unusual livery, been looking at the planes of the rich and famous on Google!

treadigraph
6th Jan 2022, 05:29
Dixie, Biggin has hosted quite a few airliners over the years, I've seen a VC-10 on the ground there, the Orbis DC-8 and I'm pretty sure I remember the Orbis DC-10 squeezing itself in for one show.

DaveReidUK
6th Jan 2022, 07:20
One of the great things about threads like this is that nobody is ever going to come up with a definitive answer.

I'd hazard a guess that few, if any, airports (regardless of how you define the term) even have a comprehensive record of all the individual aircraft that have visited in the last 60 years, let alone the time, energy and patience to sit down and analyse how many different types have been represented.

Carry on, chaps. :O

ATNotts
6th Jan 2022, 08:46
....for the time being meaning?

Don't panic, I have absolutely no inside information, but you only have to look at how GA has been essentially squeezed out of other major airports (and EMA is now a major airport when you take cargo and passenger ops together) then I fear that it can only be a matter of time before the aeroclub Cessna in the circuit becomes a hindrance to the "business plan".

Cornish Jack
6th Jan 2022, 10:12
As a working daily tally it would probably feature Vientiane in the 60s. From Helio Couriers through Beech 18s, Lodestars, C46, 47,123s, Boeing 307 etc.. Mostly Air America crewed and operating off a PSP 'runway'.

treadigraph
6th Jan 2022, 10:28
Carry on, chaps. :O

Later on i might have a crack at remembering how many types I saw at Gatwick between about 1974 and 1988 when i used to visit for reasons other than passenger or meeter/greater... Biggin might be harder especially as i still pop up there once in a moo blune to have a coffee and watch the somewhat fewer movements...

dixi188
6th Jan 2022, 14:18
Dixie, Biggin has hosted quite a few airliners over the years, I've seen a VC-10 on the ground there, the Orbis DC-8 and I'm pretty sure I remember the Orbis DC-10 squeezing itself in for one show.
Yes to those but I don't think Biggin has ever seen a 747 or Antonov 124.

SpringHeeledJack
7th Jan 2022, 11:37
I'm probably imagining it, but I 'think' that one year there was a Virgin 747 that either landed or did a touch and go during the airshow. Perhaps 11 0r 12 years ago. I was at the end of the runway and mesmerised by an F86 Sabre that was yowling past.

treadigraph
7th Jan 2022, 14:23
Yes to those but I don't think Biggin has ever seen a 747 or Antonov 124.
Certainly hasn't - VS 747s and A340s were regulars at the airshows but never landed or TG'd as far as I can remember!

Come up with 128 different types (including Caledonian's Hermes cabin trainer :} ) at Gatwick between 1974 and about 1988/89 from memory, one of the most interesting being a French Electra Junior F-BJJY.

Edit: more Gatwick memories... Army Beaver, Scout and Alouette, RAF Puma, new Hawks do ILS approaches and overshoots out of Dunsfold a couple of times...

TCAS FAN
7th Jan 2022, 15:45
Unfortunately its glory days have long gone, MIA in the 60's & 70's gets my vote, when it provided a daily diverse mix of modern jets/turbprops and a vaste array of large pistons (DC3/4/6/7, C46 and Constellations) from Central and South American countries. Most legally hauling freight, some others not quite so legal!

bricquebec
7th Jan 2022, 15:51
I remember a Laker Skytrain doing a very low flypast during the airshow - probably in the very early eighties

SpringHeeledJack
7th Jan 2022, 16:00
Cue the BA VC-10 photo ;-)

DaveReidUK
7th Jan 2022, 16:23
I remember sheltering under a Vulcan wing at Biggin ...

treadigraph
7th Jan 2022, 17:20
Miami certainly excellent, spent a couple of days in a car at the end of 8L in 1984 - loads of radial but no Connies other than Clipper Dick though... We briefly attracted the attention of the FBI (?) as Sen Gary Hart flew in as part of his Presidential nomination campaign.

I remember sheltering under a Vulcan wing at Biggin ...

Was it airborne at the time? :}

Local Variation
7th Jan 2022, 22:07
Don't panic, I have absolutely no inside information, but you only have to look at how GA has been essentially squeezed out of other major airports (and EMA is now a major airport when you take cargo and passenger ops together) then I fear that it can only be a matter of time before the aeroclub Cessna in the circuit becomes a hindrance to the "business plan".

No panic here at all. And your fears are miss-placed.

jensdad
8th Jan 2022, 05:00
As DaveReidUK says, there probably isn't a definitive answer anywhere, but I'll go for Farnborough in the UK, with Oshkosh as world no.1.

Btw, I missed Tridents and Heralds off my list of airliners seen at NCL in my younger days.

DaveReidUK
8th Jan 2022, 06:38
Was it airborne at the time?

I could run faster in those days ...

ATNotts
8th Jan 2022, 17:57
No panic here at all. And your fears are miss-placed.
That is excellent to know given the number of GA fields under threat of becoming housing estates, and major airports that make life difficult for private flyers.

paulc
8th Jan 2022, 18:26
At the last Oshkosh i went to in 2019 i logged 219 different types over the 10 days i was there. I did not include the sub types of the same basic frame or any of the types in the museum.

treadigraph
8th Jan 2022, 19:05
Cranfield might be a good contender for largest number of different types visiting over a number of years in the UK - PFA Rally held there for a number of years which I think I'm right in saying often hosted 1000 plus separate aircraft over the weekend, plus the biennial Flight Business and Light Aviation show which also attracted lots of visitors as well as a range of exhibition aircraft. Good range of weird and wonderful types amidst myriad Pipers and Cessnas! Biggest aircraft there that I think I recall was a static Trident used by the Institute of Technology?

Pypard
8th Jan 2022, 23:26
This thread seems to have strayed from 'most types at an airport' to, 'most types at an airshow'. Even if Oshkosh is considered to be an airport (moot), how many different types would you see there on a non-show day?

Maybe the thread should be re-titled, "Airfield with most diverse aircraft types", but this would/should still preclude airshows/displays/fly-ins etc or I'll go with Davis Monthan. If you include Pima and the surrounding yards I doubt you'd beat it, but it ain't an airport, and I suspect derelicts and museum pieces miss the remit as much as fly-in types and airshow one-offs.

DaveReidUK
9th Jan 2022, 06:51
Given the impossibility of establishing a definitive answer, I don't think we should worry too much about the criteria.

For the record, the OP was talking about how many types (however you define a "type") have used his local airport (however you define an "airport") over the last 60 years (however you define a ...). :O

Interesting discussion, nevertheless.

Noddys car
9th Jan 2022, 07:51
SHJ in early 90s - Just about every variant of Tupolev , Antonov and Ilyushin plus all the Boeing's Airbuses and Douglas MD variants

treadigraph
9th Jan 2022, 08:36
My definition of an airport is one that has customs and excise facilities, otherwise they are airfields, aerodromes or airstrips; however most American civil airfields that I have visited seem to be signposted "airport" even if there is nothing there but a dilapidated hangar, a tatty C172 with the prop missing and a herd of tumbleweed galloping down the runway. Military airfields are of course air bases or air stations.

Certainly think it is of interest to consider not only the diversity of size, ie ultralight to 747/AN124, but also the diversity of types, and fly ins such as Oshkosh and the various PFA/LAA and other events still count as far as I'm concerned.

I imagine types Gatwick these days are limited to B737/747/757/767/777/787, A220/A320/A330/A340/A350/A380, 146, the odd biz-jet, ummmm... ATR, Dash-8, ummmm... that tatty old MD80 on the south side which I think is still there... Embraers and the occasional military type.

dixi188
9th Jan 2022, 17:45
Dave ReidUK, thanks for the positive post. I guess any airstrip/airfield/aerodrome/airport/airbase/etc. would count.

My local airport used to have a lot of private/flying club aircraft, it used to host airshows with a lot of military and civillian aircraft, (including a demonstration of an ejection from a Phantom on one occasion), airliners were built there, aircraft maintenance was and is carried out, commercial airline operations have taken place since WWII and continue, military training flights take place, and a variety of other operations.
The diversity of types over the years is enormous.
Dixi.

Liffy 1M
9th Jan 2022, 18:02
If we are talking here about the UK only, I would put Prestwick high on the list. Going back to the 1940s, it has served as a transatlantic stopping-off point, it has long been in effect a dual civil and military airfield, it served as a diversion airfield when other places were fogbound, it was a manufacturing and maintenance site and many airshows have also been held there. So, while the volume of movements has probably been generally low, it must have seen a great diversity of civil and military types over the years.

Dan Dare
9th Jan 2022, 21:43
In the U.K. Brize has to be a current contender with its mix of transport, fast jet, trainer, GA and foreign military types.

Peter Fanelli
10th Jan 2022, 23:09
Au contraire - KOSH - very much an airport.

Oshkosh is the city where Wittman Field (KOSH) is located.