You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : Social

There has been talk and discussion to hold a meeting in Manchester (U.K. = MAN, in case some clown comes up with booking flights to MHT) in order to get people "from the continent" access to really good Indian Food.

Idea is to have dinner at our venerable - and hopefully still excellent - Cinnamon Tree restaurant located in Heald Green on a Saturday evening.

Initial orientation of possible dates has been given by Martin in the HAM-meeting thread:

mhodgson wrote:As for a reciprocal MAN gathering, 7th September is definitely doable, 31st Aug and 14th September are likely to work subject to my shift on the day (I'm showing as early shift for both, but that could finish as early as 9am or as late as 5pm) and the remaining dates would see me on late shifts which are highly unlikely to work due to times, lack of annual leave remaining and oddly, not many people volunteer to swap shifts to a Saturday late shift.

So, Saturday, 07-SEP-2024 is the day to look into.

Spending Saturday noon to afternoon at the Airport Pub located close to the threshold of runway 23R is optional, but the normal treat for those already around by then, weather permitting.

Hotel Premier Inn Heald Green is within easy walking (and crawling) distance fron the Cinnamon Tree, but be warned that hotel rates are not the lowest by now.

My flight options**) are somewhat limited, so I likely will fly in on LH HAJ-FRA-MAN on Thursday arriving around 5 pm, and depart early-afternoon on EW nonstop to either HAM on Sunday (likely), or to DUS on Monday (less likely), each followed by a couple of hours of train ride home.

**) taking factors like departure & arrival times, not too short connections at AMS, recent record of on-time performance and rate of cancellations (especially in case flights are the last ones of the day on any given route), and seat availability into account.

Participants:
HT

Flights from/to HAJ are booked, but on slightly different days:
Arrive: Friday 06-SEP at 1700h via MUC
Depart: Monday, 09-SEP at 1315h via VIE

Fingers crossed but for now it's going to be difficult. I'm scheduled to work on that weekend, and I have a surgery on the week following the meet that will likely put me off from work for a couple of weeks. I'll see how strong my negotiating skills are to have the weekend off

Participants
HT

Maybe
airtrainer

Naturally I'll be around, either driving or on the train

Participants
HT
mhodgson

Maybe
airtrainer

Hard to make it for me that weekend as I have to work. One week later I´m on holiday...

That is Mrs M's birthday weekend so I can't make any promises, but I will try my best. Should be a good time to visit the UK as it's one of the two English schools back to school weekends, and it is generally a lot quieter.

I'll contact some of the old faces from the area and ask if any would like to join too.

Participants
!!nastt!!HT!!nastt!!
mhodgson

Maybe
airtrainer
JLAmber

JLAmber wrote:I'll contact some of the old faces from the area and ask if any would like to join too.

Appreciated.
Thanks
-HT

I've morphed from a No to a Maybe. Any further movement?

Participants
HT
mhodgson

Maybe
airtrainer
JLAmber
centrelinephoto

JLAmber wrote:That is Mrs M's birthday weekend so I can't make any promises, but I will try my best. Should be a good time to visit the UK as it's one of the two English schools back to school weekends, and it is generally a lot quieter.

I'll contact some of the old faces from the area and ask if any would like to join too.

Participants
HT
mhodgson

Maybe
airtrainer
JLAmber

CentrelinePhoto wrote:Any further movement?

Probably and apparently not.
And with the weather forecast changing constantly, aircraft photography from the Airport Pub will not be too good either, taking the expected winds from the east into account that likely will mandate runway operations in direction 05.

While it surely would be appreciated to see & to talk to some familiar faces, I also would't die if I would have to spend Saturday somewehere between Heald Green and the airport on my own and / or have to dine at Cinnamon Tree alone.
-HT

I'll still be there Holger - not sure how I'll be arriving as my plan for public transport has been shot down by the dreaded engineering work but I can either drive to an alternative station or take the chance of being able to park at the Airport Pub (though it may open up south side if 05s are in use)

Barring any bizarre happenings, I'm in. Staying in Manchester with some family on Friday night, and have a room at Premier Inn Heald Green for Saturday night. Will be able to join you on Saturday morning. Remarkably, the weather looks pretty good!

Will have a car too if we want to go Southside or anywhere else. I'll bring the L200 twin cab that's very roomy. No more little blue Panda

Participants
!!nastt!!HT!!nastt!!
mhodgson
JLAmber

Maybe
airtrainer
centrelinephoto

Kept my fingers crossed until now but sadly I won't be able to join you guys
My apologies, after the very limited participation in HAM and now MAN I hope the spirit is still there for future meets.

Great news John ! I will PM you my new cellphone number.
Sad news Jeff. And all the best for the upcoming surgery.

-HT

I made it to my hotel by 7:30pm last night following a substancial delay of 1.5h out of Munich after the originally assigned, 30y-old aircraft went tech before boarding (no specifics were disclosed). Immigration at MAN was a breeze, and my suitcase already was on the caroussell.

Weather looks okay this morning, and until late afternoon. Operations at MAN are 05 and likely to stay that way.
-HT

Thanks Martin, and John for a great meeting!

I made it back home on Monday evening on time after a very wet transfer at Vienna (VIE) which even soaked some clothes in my checked luggage.

After the weather unexpectedly turned to the better late on Sunday morning I decided to walk to the southside spotting location. A 20-minute spell of rain, during which I had to seek shelter, held me up in my rather slow progress, so I arrived by 1 pm just in time for a change in runway use from 05 to 23. The first aircraft departing on 23L left quite some spray!

After having walked back to the hotel I needed some rest before making a return visit to the Cinnamon Tree restaurant, which was quite busy at 7pm: One party of 6 people, and another of 4 left soon after, while a birthday party of 10 received their main courses just after me (Chicken Tikka Chom Chom for me).
If only it were easier for me to get to Manchester from my place and back ...

Hopefully the idea of a meeting in Lisbon next spring is something that can be realized.

Thanks again,
-HT

Was greet to see you. Shame we were the only three and Sunday weather really didn't play ball but always good to get to an airport and have a good curry or two!

The drive home was fairly spectacular. Saw a large crash in my rear view in the heavy rain. Thankfully, and somewhat surprisingly given recent misfortunes, I was safely ahead of the carnage.

HT-ETNW wrote:Hopefully the idea of a meeting in Lisbon next spring is something that can be realized.

Definitely! Would be great to get a meet going for spring 2025.

JLAmber wrote:

HT-ETNW wrote:Hopefully the idea of a meeting in Lisbon next spring is something that can be realized.

Definitely! Would be great to get a meet going for spring 2025.

Anybody want to throw some dates for LIS in to the mix?

CentrelinePhoto wrote:

JLAmber wrote:

HT-ETNW wrote:Hopefully the idea of a meeting in Lisbon next spring is something that can be realized.

Definitely! Would be great to get a meet going for spring 2025.

Anybody want to throw some dates for LIS in to the mix?

I'll start a thread, see when people are available.