What Other Hobbies / Passions Have You Got

[Kim Taylor]

A discussion in another thread drifted somewhat (sorry 911 Hillclimber) and it got me thinking that many of us have or had hobbies other than aeromodelling which others would like to hear about.

So to get the ball rolling, I'll cut and paste a reply I posted on the previous thread and I'll try to attach a couple of images too. I'm not much into keeping photographic records of stuff - usually too busy doing it to take a picture, so I've been scouring the internet for something relevant. The discussion started when I made a remark about gaffa tape and 911 Hillclimber asked what type of racing I'd been involved in..................

 

Karting (running my son) for about 5 or 6 years, including two years doing the 'Super 1' championships. Did that until the homologation changed and they allowed water cooled motors in and I couldn't afford to get three or four new motors to stay competitive. Beat some big names along the way, though - he could be quick, on his day.

Took a year out, then went circuit racing with the Volkswagen Racing Cup running an ex Barwell Motorsport Vento VR6 Cup car. He did well in that old thing, came fourth or fifth in the championship and first Vento Cup car in his first year. I know we got protested a lot, but he was legit, just a decent pedaller. Oh how we laughed as we put the motor back together, or had yet another visit to the rolling road to have the power output checked (it was a power vs. weight class system).

Ran out of money half way through the build of the next car and it just petered out, really. Had an offer from one of the better British Touring Car Champs teams, but they needed a shed load of money on the table and I just couldn't do it.

After that, I took up marshalling and went all over the country mainly following the BTCC but also did World Touring Cars, FIA GT's, DTM and Goodwood Revival and Members Meeting (still had the gaffa tape with me, though). Also marshalled at Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb, which of course you are also familiar with. Had to stop due to a chronic health condition called fibromyalgia, which causes me to be in constant pain and sometimes tired for no apparent reason.

So then I started playing with r/c model aeroplanes again, and here we are.

IF I come out of a forthcoming house move with a bit of spare cash, I may screw together a mod prod saloon to point up Gurston (I live reasonably local) just to prove to myself I still can.

Sorry, long answer to a short question

 

After a long trawl on the net, I couldn't find any images of him during hid karting years but I'll have a look in the loft next time I'm up there.

The car racing pictures below are courtesy of Volkswagen Racing Cup and were taken on a visit to Croft in Yorkshire.

 

So come on - what's your story????????????????

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Kim Taylor
correcting typo in original text

[David Davis]

I used to enjoy gardening and motorcycling but can't do much of either now because my knees are shot. I'm alright stood up or kneeling down it's the transition period which is problematic!

 

I've sold my last bike to a mate but still have lots of motorcycle gear to get rid of.

 

I've always been interested in the Great War and I read avidly on the subject. In 2008, having been made redundant and being well-wedged, I rode my bike to Galipolli for Anzac Day.

 

 

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

I combine my two main hobbies.
Flying and photography.

 

[J D 8]

Cracking pics there Kevin, full size and model.? John.

[Nigel R]

My main other current interest in health & fitness. I'm either running, cycling or in a gym lifting weights. My other half cycles, swims and runs as well (amateur triathlete, she's very good at it); before the boys arrived we would go for cycling holidays, both mountain biking or road biking. Spent a fair bit of time building, fixing, rebuilding bikes as well. Looking forward to being able to do that again when they are a bit older.

 

Mostly these days (gyms closed for best part of the last year, kids preventing long weekends away cycling) that has reduced to going out running (well, plod, I'm not much of a runner)  - its a good way of getting the dogs exercised at the same time, plus I can do it from the front door in a fairly short time.

[Dickw]

See my avatar ?

Martial arts for me - in my case Shotokan Karate.

Since the first lockdown in March last year the club I belong to have been doing it via Zoom twice a week. A fair bit of the exercise value comes from moving furniture to make room for the training session and then restoring the room (and domestic harmony) after!

 

We are hoping to get back to training together in May if the next "opening up" goes ahead as planned.

 

Dick

[Dave S.]

My other passion in life is music - I've played bass in various bands since my teens. Fifty years later I have slowed down a bit, but still play with a couple of bands, one plays the music of the Grateful Dead and the other is a three piece blues/rock band that is great fun to play with.

The last year or so hasn't been very productive musically - mainly outdoor rehearsals with the Franklin's Tower (the GD band) on the banks of the Thames in Oxford. Managed one Sunday afternoon gig with the three piece, which mainly showed us how much we missed playing live shows.

I have often had to play with sore fingers from prop bites or exhaust burns, or scalpel/razor saw cuts. 

[DaveB1]

Interesting topic - great to appreciate such a range or interests. Wow Kevin, those photo's are amazing. My main passion is dinghy racing. At 18 I switched focus from aeromodelling to sailing and have focussed on that ever since, plus cycling and fitness to support the physicality required. Over the last 2 years I've really enjoyed a return to building and flying and learning all that has changed in the hobby over 40 years. Sailing is such a complementary sport to flying - aerodynamics, weather, building stuff, physical coordination, getting outside etc

[James Green2]

I like to build guitars. This is a recent build.

[Dave S.]

Nice strat.

[Steve Colman]

I also put together the occasional plastic kit and used to draw but not so recently. My other main hobby is photograpy; mainly portrait and landscape and lots of model planes too of course.

 

 

[Tony H]

Nice photos Steve,

 

I also like Reef aquariums, Photography, travelling and Motorsport.

 

 

[Nigel R]

16 minutes ago, Tony H said:

Reef aquariums

 

Very fancy!

 

Must keep you busy with the required maintenance.

[Tony H]

Indeed it does Nigel 

[Kim Taylor]

Well, who'd have guessed what a talented lot we all are!!?

In common with others on here, my current 'other' hobby is motorcycling (but only in the warmer months, I'm too old to get cold and / or wet these days)

My current 'daily driver' is a Moto Guzzi Breva 750 like this one:

It's not very fast, but very torquey so it pulls well through the gears and easily does fast motorway speeds if you want, but I prefer to stay on the minor roads and exploit it's light weight and the aforementioned torque.

I've also got a Honda CBR600f Castrol Honda race replica, the same as this: (but without the racing number)

6

It goes pretty much like it looks as long as you keep the revs up above 6k. I think the motors been worked on before I got it, because it's faster than a 600 should be.

Uncomfortable, though, particularly if you're in town or having to ride below about 60mph. Once you go faster, the weight comes off of your wrists and lower back and it's a lot better. Probably going to sell it this year as I don't use it enough.

As I said in my first post, I'm not much of a photographer, so the above are library pictures which I found of identical bikes to mine, except maybe a bit shinier!!

Kim

[Tim Hooper]

Besides the toy aeroplanes, these days my other main interest is helping to run and lead a couple of local ukulele clubs.

 

I've been strumming a guitar for decades, and always found it to be a fairly solitary exercise.  Fun, but lonely.  A few years ago I stumbled into building a uke from a kit, and sought out the local club - which was a revelation.  It's a complete social world in itself - with festivals, holidays, gigs, charity events etc to enjoy.  The difference it's made to my own self-confidence is phenomenal; I'd never have dreamed of 'fronting' a band a few years ago.  These days, I love it and I'm looking forwards to kicking into gear again.

 

Oh, and the other aspect is that, being a modeller, I've been making my own instruments (in the cigar box idiom).  It's a whole new challenge to produce a playable uke or guitar.  I've even built and sold a couple for friends too!

 

During the last year we've been able to keep the clubs alive via Zoom (not perfect but better than nothing), and a couple of mates and myself have been working on compiling a new songbook for the local club.

 

Tim

Edited April 29, 2021 by Tim Hooper

[Stephen Jones]

What a great topic.

My main Hobby is Radio Control Planes , from Design to build To modify and fly anything other than helis and quads.

I also Hobby electronics ,

Computers i have a vast collection of retro computers from the 80`s to present.

Back the the day i was a bedroom programer and i enjoyed writing games for the Spectrum in Z80 assembly code.  

 

And if any of you can load a z80 program into a emulator here is my Sprite designer.

 

Steve 

SpriteDes4d.z80

[Tim Kearsley]

Well, I've been a licenced radio "ham" (G4WFT) since 1983, and for a while in the early 2000s was heavily into astrophotography.  I still dabble a little in the former but pretty well gave up the astro work due to light pollution and the discomfort of being outside in freezing weather!

 

2003-11-27-01.tif 2003-12-17-01.tif 2005-09-17-01.tif

[leccyflyer]

Like Tim I was a bit of a guitar strummer, but not to the levels of public performance that Tim's ukelele wranglings have taken on, and certainly with no luthiery skills to consider building my own. My one public performance in over 40 years, at a compulsary new start Christmas turn at work,  my fingers turned to jelly and even my mediocre playing fell in a heap.

 

Still, I've been playing guitar and bass since the mid-70's and reached the peak of my playing prowess about a couple of years after starting, at a very basic level and haven't got any better since then. I do enjoy a wee jam with a couple of pals on occasion, mainly on the bass and my son is an accomplished multi-instrumental talent, so we've had some good nights. Mediocre playing skills doesn't stop me collecting guitars though and I'm accumulated quite a few favourites over the years. Just last week I finally got a Rick Parfitt replica Telecaster, which needs some work, but which completes my Rossi-Parfitt pair. Since it was Status Quo who prompted me to first pick up a guitar, that's a long held ambition fulfilled.

 

I used to do a lot of parody songwriting, mostly whilst on the bus, but latterly on long car commutes from NW England to NW Scotland. I rarely indulge in that these days but it used to be great fun and if asked I can usually come up with something on a given topic in short order. It was a laugh on field trips back in the day.

 

My other main hobby, aside from aeromodelling, is military history, especially military aviation history and, pre-internet, I have amassed a substantial library. There's nothing I like better than researching a new model and that definitely comes from a lifelong fascination with military history. I do a small amount of artifact collecting as part of that and am slowly assembling a Spitfire IX instrument panel, for which I now have most of the bits, with most of it being original parts. I plan to mount it on the wall of my music room.

[J D 8]

4X4 competitions, trials event's. All slow speed stuff the aim being to get from one end of a marked course to the other with out stopping, getting stuck, hitting a marker gate or doing something silly like rolling over.  

  My mate Alan signals the camera man from our orange machine.

[Kim Taylor]

23 hours ago, Tony H said:

Nice photos Steve,

 

I also like Reef aquariums, Photography, travelling and Motorsport.

 

 

 

 

 

I think I was marshalling at this meeting. iirc I was out at Church (assuming I'm correct and this is the complex at Thruxton). If not, please ignore!!?

[martin collins 1]

My other main hobby is Classic cars, all sorts really but my collection is mostly Fairthorpes, these were kit cars which were sold from the mid 50`s through to the early 70`s. The company was owned by Air Vice Marshall Donald Bennett of Pathfinder wartime fame. My father was one of the three original works race team drivers with his Electron Minor which he built in 1958, they were designed with an occasional centre third seat, when i was very small i used to ride in that. When my brother came along in 1962 an extra seat was needed and the car was sold. Roll on to the late 1980`s, my father and i were restoring old fibreglass cars and were showing the latest Fairthorpe restoration on a stand at Bingley Hall in Stafford, a chap came on saying he had one that he was going to restore. I keep a list of survivors so i asked him the reg number, can`t remember the letters he said but the number is easy to remember it is 789............ My fathers car was 789 ERO, yes it was dad`s old car which we had assumed had long since gone. It took me a year of pestering the guy to sell it but in the end he did. After i restored it dad and i got to do a number of events together before we lost him to the big C. I have a number of other Fairthorpe projects on the go and it is always a case of a toss up to decide if it is planes or cars on my days off!

[DaveyP]

I'm going to be boring now and say look at my avatar, the 4th aircraft I've owned or had a  share in.

I'm also looking at a new (to me) motorcycle for the summer but a cruiser this time as age is catching up with me ?

and race reps are just too uncomfortable now.

 

[Tony H]

6 hours ago, Kim Taylor said:

I think I was marshalling at this meeting. iirc I was out at Church (assuming I'm correct and this is the complex at Thruxton). If not, please ignore!!?

I think this was BTCC Thruxton August 2019.

[Kim Taylor]

57 minutes ago, Tony H said:

I think this was BTCC Thruxton August 2019.

Thought so, yes I was out at the back of the circuit where spectators can't get to!!

Kim