Plane spotting

I sat next to a gentleman on a flight departing from Las Vegas on Friday who was jotting down the aircraft registration numbers (tail numbers) of all the commercial airplanes that he saw on the field as we taxied from the gate to the runway.

Interesting, I thought. So I asked him about his curious hobby.

"How many individual aircraft have you seen?"

"About 18,000," he says.

"Wow! How long have you been at it?"

He says he started noting commercial aircraft registration numbers in his native Australia when he was ten years old and has been plane spotting ever since. He appeared to be in his 50s, so that’s more than forty years of plane spotting. "I have a database at home of the airline, type of aircraft, registration number, and date that I spotted it," he says.

I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about his hobby. Is it popular? What sorts of things do people do? We chatted for a while and he opened my eyes to a fascinating sub-culture. No, I am not going to start plane spotting, but I found it so interesting.

He told me about a few sites for plane spotters such as Bruce's Planespotting Guide and plane-spotter.com as well as plane spotting books.

Then I had to ask. “And what kind of work do you do?”

“I’m an airline safety officer,” he says.

Cool. He's been into aircraft since he was ten and now he works in the aviation industry.

OK gang, here's someone who clearly mixes business with pleasure. What a lucky guy. I also manage to mix what I do for a living with what I enjoy. Do you?

Photo: Auter / Shutterstock

Comments

[Toni Anicic]

What a cool hobby. I had no idea something like that exists. I do mix business with pleasure, unfortunately, not in a sexual way...

[Robin Dickinson]

Hi David, that's an excellent example.

BUSINESS IS PLEASURE

Yes, I'm also a big fan of mixing business with pleasure. For me, business IS pleasure. It's just a huge joy to deal with people all day long, helping them to be their best.

Specifically, my business captures three of my super-passions: a) doodling/drawing, b) deconstructing how people communicate and 3) foreign languages.

Best to you David,

Robin

[Jim Stewart]

I learned a few years back now that if I wanted to be successful I had to do what I loved. Everything I was reading at the time told me that. Though doing something you loved didn't necessarily mean you'd be successful. As a professionally trained actor that was one of my passions at which I was spectacularly unsuccessful. The other was computers and technology. So now my business is also my pleasure :-) I get to play with technology & do public speaking & a weekly vlog. Very happy and grateful. You see a few of those plane spotters around Tullamarine, I wonder if it is an export of ours :-)

[Adi @ The Management Blog]

Yes I'm fortunate enough to do a job that I love. It certainly makes getting up in the morning an enjoyable event.

[Jeremy Fischer]

David,

I currently don't. But in getting a Masters degree in Communications/PR, I'm certainly trying to.

If there was anyway I could land a gig doing traditional PR/PR 2.0 work for a sports organization, I would gladly scream from the mountain tops that I mix my business with pleasure! Or vice versa!

[David Meerman Scott]

Jeremy, it is certainly possible. Did you see this post?
http://www.webinknow.com/2009/08/do-you-love-your-job.html

[Roger]

Hi David...nice story, but this is not much different than train spotters or yacht spotters...if we could all only be doing for work what we truly love.

[Amelia Vargo]

I love my job, I wouldn't say that it is my life though...

[xavier izaguirre]

Is clearly related, since you can't success doing something you don't love.
having said that, I reckon most of us learn to love their careers rather than manage to earn a living doing something supercool.

I love being a PR but I guess I'd enjoy better being a "comedy series critic", or a "fancy food tester"....

[MAS1916]

One has to at least like what he/she does day in and day out. After being laid off from my IT position, I got into SEO and SEM work.

I really enjoy working with entrepreneurs and people with a dream. I didn't expect that level of enjoyment, so I suspect sometimes you have to try new things to understand if you'll truly enjoy it.

Thanks!
MAS
http://seoconsultantsdenver.thewebinfocenter.com