posted 03-03-2007 06:38 AM               

I fail to see why the event couldnt have stayed in the middle of the country... Coventry quite central and easy to find..Heathrow ideal ..if you live South..

Anyone else think the same...????

posted 03-03-2007 06:56 AM               

Neil Armstrong, and all eight surviving moonwalkers in one room with a plentiful supply of photographs...and pens !!!

Northampton was okay..not too near London and you could move around at night time..not stuck in some hotel where the drinks cost as much as an autograph.

posted 03-03-2007 10:40 AM               

Let us keep Autographica down here in London. I'll do you a swap, you can have the Olympic Games if you want it !

Well I had a good time at Autographica, it was good to meet you Rick and Paul, sorry I missed you Derek (I did see you but I was in the Q for Haise at the time so couldn't leave).

Only shame about the show was the no posed pics rule with Lovell/

Adam.

posted 03-03-2007 10:58 AM               

If Heathrow is the price we have to pay for the likes of Lovell, Aldrin, Worden, McCandless and Haise to attend these shows then so be it; I for one am happy to spend an extra two hours travelling to meet these guys.

Hats off to Dave, Garry, Rex and Dave Shayler amongst others for putting on the show; long may they continue. Alas, my visit was a brief one, once again out of necessity but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, a trip made all the more enjoyable by Paul Prendergast, Dave Sixsmith, Brammers, Blackarrow and Adam Bootle.

Don't forget guys, next time bring a flask and some sarnies!

Regards,

Rick

posted 03-03-2007 11:15 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Apollo11cdr:
I would have liked to met the crew of Apollo 13, and sy and the other guests..why have auotgraphica moved the show to heathrow...from the North it takes weeks to drive there...trains are awful (if they manage to stay on the tracks !)

---

For a country that has the luxury of a good rail network (compared to the US), not to mention roadways and air travel, I'm surprised to see so much complaining about traveling 200 miles to see a once-in-a-lifetime gathering (and signing) with Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Sy Liebergot in the same room. I would personally be *THRILLED* here in the USA if I had the convenience of meeting Jim, Fred, and Sy only 200 miles from my home.

(Instead, I'm more than happy to fly 1800 miles to Phoenix to meet the astros in August in 100+ degree heat...and I have no complaints whatsoever.)

It's ironic how we celebrate the voyages of these brave men who traveled 200,000+ miles to moon (not to mention the return journey), yet some of us whine about traveling 1/1000th of that distance to meet them in person.

If it really takes all nine surviving moonwalkers to get you to consider traveling 200 miles, perhaps consider a new hobby.

posted 03-03-2007 12:35 PM               

read this:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6391633.stm

The system is a joke..late expensive services, that jump the tracks at 100 mph !!

I appreciate the distance between the earth and the moon...I would rather make that journey than travel NW UK to Heathrow, personal choice. Im glad I never went Lovell with no posed photographs !

I have travelled far and wide to meet some of my heroes and those living in the south must be pleased at Autographicas liason with the Radission in Heathrow ..me I am not ..and am sure as others will agree not attend the shows...

Unless Neil Armstrong or any of the other moonwalkers who I haven met are there..

Would personally rather travel 1800 miles by plane than travel to heathrow !!!

posted 03-03-2007 12:48 PM               

Well what can i say,i have had a brilliant day,i have returned a happy and content man,my daughter made friends with Fred Haise and Bruce McCandless, ,well worth the 200 mile roundtrip.

I had everything signed that i wanted and more,Bruce McCandless was superb value in my eyes,it was a huge thrill and pleasure to meet Jim Lovell,Fred Haise and as always a pleasure to stop and meet the Russians,who as usual were very warm and friendly.

Nick (Spaceman) i would take for granted that your table is next to David Bryants(The Space Station)?,if so i never realised,but i have visited your stall every Autographica and always walked away with something,may i say what a great flash you both had on today,i myself indulged in the Flown Shuttle Thermal control system blanket from Atlantis,a nice little addition to my collection,so next time i see you will be in October,i myself can`t wait and to be honest even if this event was moved to the Outer Hebrides,i would still attend,i think we owe it to these gentlemen for taking time in there busy lives to come and visit us.

My saddest part of today was coming home,the atmosphere was great and i would of loved to have stayed for the gala dinner,but Johnffoulkes who i met today,i hope you have a great time tonight,lucky sod,lol, .

All the best,
Alex.

------------------
"Why dont you fix your little problem and light this Candle?"

posted 03-03-2007 12:59 PM               

It was a bugger if your number was 250 plus and you were not a Platinum or Gold pass ticket holder; you just had to keep yourself busy, mingle or whatever until your numbers came up.

Once in the respective queue (I'm thinking primarily of Haise and Lovell) the wait was about 25 minutes or so...

Under the circumstances, I thought the organisers did a good job today.

Regards,

Rick.

PS. The wait was all the more bearable when Brammers was on hand with his Apollo 13 hatch decal presentation; I was quite moist with envy!

posted 03-03-2007 02:39 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Apollo11cdr:
For those who think that the UK rail network is good..think again !!!

---

I have traveled by rail in the UK and thought it was just fine. But hey, there's always car, bus, or air travel if you disagree.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Apollo11cdr:
Unless Neil Armstrong or any of the other moonwalkers who I haven met are there..

---

So it's only worth the trip if the guest is a moonwalker? The navigator on the first lunar voyage and the commander of Apollo 13 isn't good enough?

It's probably a good thing you stayed home.

posted 03-04-2007 06:31 AM               

I apologise in advance if I forget anyone here but it was a pleasure to meet up with Yvan Voirol, Frederic Janik, John Masters, Paul Bramley, Dave Sixsmith, Paul Prendergast, Steve Procter, Rob Synge, Oliver, Rick & Florian Noller (first time I've ever met Flo!!).

The rule of "no posed photos" with Captain Lovell during the signings is the only "complaint" I have for the show and even that is not really a complaint. For sure it would have been nice to have a photo taken but he did take time to pose for a really nice photo at the end of signing my items. It was a REAL honour to meet one of the first crew to fly to the moon. One photo I was having signed for a friend he had not seen before. It was an unusual photo of the Captain in his Gemini 7 helmet and he asked "Who is that?", to which I replied "It's you!! and he replied with "Wow, I've NEVER seen that photo before". He was genuinely pleased to see that photograph.

Fred Haise was wonderful to meet... took great care with my inscription on the damaged SM shot and was happy to pose for photo's. Next up it was our fellow list member Sy Liebergot... Sy, it was GREAT to meet you and I really did enjoy your lecture. Sy seemed to really be enjoying himself at the show (huge props to Kim Topley for sponsoring Sy to appear!!) and is one of the happiest guests I think I've ever met.

Next up were the cosmonauts of Anatoli Artebarsky and Salizhan Sharipov. As always, its a pleasure to meet the cosmonauts that Rex Hall works so hard to bring over... both were wonderful to meet (I attended Artebarsky's lecture which was VERY interesting), next was Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown. What can you say about a man that's flown 487 types of aircraft and made 2407 landings on an aircraft carrier (both are worlds records) except that he is an absolute LEGEND in aviation. He was kind enough to remember me (I have written to him a number of times and he called me on the phone once to have a chat!!) and was thrilled to see the signatures of many of the US test pilots he has met and is friendly with and was honoured to sign my book (15th signature). He took GREAT care when signing/inscribing the photos and book and his lecture was (I think) one of the most interesting I've ever attended... he had showed slides whilst talking about the "race" to break the sound barrier. He made some very interesting remarks about the cancellation of the M.52 program and the handing of all the data to the American's... and also laid to rest the claims made by Hans Mutke and others about breaking the sound barrier in the ME-262. He showed some interesting slides including one of the Spitfire PR11 that was flown by Tony Martindale to a speed of Mach 0.92 (the fastest ever achieved by a propeller aircraft)... the Spit had lost its prop and reduction gear in the dive and Martindale had pulled out at 28,000 ft (blacking out in the process) and came to at 40,000 ft!! George Johnson was wonderful to meet too.. and I'd like to thank Dave and Garry for inviting these two guests as it was wonderful I think to recognize the achievements of these two fine men by having them attend the show.

It was as always great to to see Al Worden again.. and was very happy to meet Captain Bruce McCandless for the first time and I mentioned to him I was looking forward to meeting him at the Spacefest show.

And for the record, Mark, Mark and Nick... I got your items signed as you requested... I'll be in touch soon with scans and should get them in the mail to you next Saturday.

So all in all, a great show... hats off to Dave, Garry & Rex for putting together such a great line-up!!

Best regards to all,

Derek

posted 03-04-2007 10:24 AM               

I have attended every Autographica show at Northampton, Coventry and Heathrow and always enjoy reading every ones comments about the shows on CollectSpace. It’s always interesting to see if my own impressions of the day match other peoples. I really believe we should try to have a positive attitude and do our best to enjoy Autographica for the great event that it is. For example, we all have to be patient and wait our turn to meet the guests. While queuing I had many conversations with fellow collectors and I thought that there was a great sense of camaraderie. When we eventually reached the guests and had photos taken we all took it in turns to take a quick snap for each other and overall it made for a pleasant shared experience. I found the Autographica and hotel staff to be very pleasant and helpful, despite having a lot on their plates. They made a significant contribution to the success of the event.
The choice of venue is not relevant in my opinion. Not if you want the quality of guest that we enjoyed this weekend. We were in the presence of “Space Royalty” and if the venue needs to be next door to Heathrow Airport to get the likes of Jim Lovell and Fred Haise to attend then so be it. It may be difficult to get to London for some people. I personally found Coventry a nightmare from a travel point of view. But for the sake of a few hours hardship and a bit of patience, we all came away with the autographs the photos and the memories. Job done.
A word about the organisers of the show. Over the years they have quite correctly been thanked for their efforts by many a grateful collector on this forum. They have also and had their fair share of criticism which I suppose comes with the territory. Be it the quality of the website, the relatively late announcement of guests, the venue, travel problems, the signing fees and numerous other gripes. None of this stuff is the end of the world and perhaps we as a group should learn to show them a bit of faith and just let them get on with the job of organising Autographica. One fact is very clear to me. These guys have never let us down. I imagine that the organisation of an event like this is a logistical nightmare and yet year in and year out they come through for us. When you condider that Autographica is held in England, which is not exactly a space hotbed, its amazing that they have attracted the guests they have. They have developed Autographica considerably since its first event in Northampton and we space collectors have benefited as much as any group. Lets not forget that other groups of people with different interests have to be catered for as well. There are some people in this industry who do great things for us space collectors. People like Kim and Sally Poore of Novaspace, Steve Hankow of Farthest Reaches and of course our own Moderator Robert Pearlman. Garry and Dave from Autographica are certainly in that league and we should all be grateful to them for all they have done for us. Congratulations to you lads on a job well done.

posted 03-04-2007 12:17 PM               

The lovely ladies from the ASF were there of course, holding a raffle for seats at Jim and Freddo's tables. To cut a long story short (because I'm sure other cS friends will put a different spin on this!), I won one of the seats at Lovell's table and had a fantastic time chatting with Jim (largely thanks to the generosity of Rob Synge - thank you so much Rob).

It was great to meet so many old friends and a few new ones - Rob, Kim, etc.
In particular I'd like to thank Paul Prendergast for being so "accomodating". Most of all, WELL DONE and THANKS to Garry, Dave and their hard-working team for a weekend to remember.

Finally, this says it all:

Paul Bramley

posted 03-04-2007 01:47 PM               

I actually think the 'no posed' pictures is a good idea, I remember remarking to Bruce McCandless that he was going to be 'up and down' all day posing for pictures and as fit as these guys still are, that's a lot to ask for.

I was in Bruce's lecture at 2:00 so I'm not sure how the photo session went, but that seemed a great alternative for those that couldn't or didn't want to pay the signing fee. What I do know is that we absolutely must support everyone who orgainsed this event - so well done and roll on many more

posted 03-04-2007 02:42 PM               

I agree it would be too much to expect these guys to get up and pose for pictures with everyone who arrives at their table. Thats why the provision of an empty seat on the opposite side to their minder would have been a simple solution to the problem.

They did it for Aldrin last year as I recall.

Anyway, I had a great time at the show and would also like to thank Garry, Dave, Rex and all the other unnamed staff who made it so great.

posted 03-04-2007 03:17 PM               

Apollo 13 Damaged SM:

Moonvoyagers:

Bruce McCandles STS-41B EVA:

R7/Soyuz signed by Sharipov (left) and Artebarsky:

Multi-Signed "Wright to Fly" book:

Eric Brown - 1st Jet Aircraft Carrier landing:

George Johnson - "Dambuster" bomb aimer:

Maybe others could do the same?

posted 03-05-2007 01:04 AM               

Back in Finland and VERY happy after another great week-end in London.

This was a fantastic show, as usual the guests were very friendly and the atmosphere very relaxed.

There was no breach in the tradition as it was again late nights in the hotel bar with friends, and we had a very good chat with Sy there on Friday evening.

I am always amazed at the ability Garry and Dave have to surprise us with new guests, and as they have shown again this year they put us aviation and space collectors first on the list. The talks were very good, with the Apollo 13 but also both of Eric Brown's lectures up the list.

The only one thing that was a bit of a disappointment this year was the size of the two main tables at the dinner: we were 15 at Fred's table, and in a noisy place like that it doesn't work. But I understand that the demand is big and it must be a real challenge to set up such a dinner.

I have pre-booked my Diamond Pass for the October show already and can't wait to hear about who else will attend.

Frederic

PS: about the location: I flew in from Finland and I am sure some people came from further away and nobody regrets the effort. Heathrow is very convenient in my opinion, and I am sure it does help in convincing the guests to attend.

posted 03-05-2007 12:04 PM              

As regards the travel to the show, yes, it does make it much easier to get guests to the show, and many of those guest who have attended during the last 3 years, would never have traveled to Coventry or Northampton. The move makes the event cheaper for us to run, because of the logistics, and because it attracts more people. I think almost everyone on here would agree that traveling for a few hours to get there is really no hardship, i know that some would walk a week on the their hands and knees to meet these guys, so those comments about not being able to get a lift were frankly, pathetic. As someone else said, find yourself a new hobby, i suggest you try train spotting.

Posed photos. This was done in consultation with Capt Lovell, and was done to not only make life easier for him, but also tp speed up the queue. The special photo shoot allowed for a far better photo, and as you can see from the posted photo, we even had jackets made for the guys, which were later auctioned at the dinner (as worn by Fred and Jim!). I think the photo says it all.

Dinner tables. I can partly take the blame for that. I made slight error on the bookings, which resulted in my having to increase the size of the tables from 12 to 14. The hotel staff then made them up as 16 instead of 14 ! and there was simply no time to change them. It won't happen again.

Hotel Cost. I do not personally consider the hotel rooms expensive, and cannot understand why so many make so much travel effort for one day. The hotel was £84 per room per night, which included a huge breakfast, which would suffice most people for the day. That works out at £42 per person at a very good quality hotel, sorry, but i don't think that is expensive. This forum is an excellent place to meet others, and share those expenses. £42 to spend an extra day at the event, possibly share breakfast with some of the guests, and certainly have the chance to chat with them over a drink, is definitely a good deal in my book.

My thanks to all those who personally thanked me at the show, and my apologies to all if i seemed a little hurried at times!. I would love to have chatted with you all more, but i always seem to spend my time 'fire fighting' or running some errand for a guest.

I look forward to seeing you all again in October.

PS. if you want a Diamond Pass, 50% of them are already sold!

Garry King.

posted 03-05-2007 01:45 PM               

I phoned the number on the leaflet given out at the show today requesting 2 diamond passes for the next show and the lady said to phone back next Monday.Is that correct ? She said you all need a weeks break .

posted 03-05-2007 05:04 PM               

Gary what is the problem?

You've got people queuing up to to tell you how much they enjoyed your event so why belittle someone on a public forum?

When members of this forum have expressed anything over than abject agreement your posts have been confrontational and condescending. You are running a business not a charity, your constant reminders that it is really hard work are irrelevant. The money we all spend at your show is earned through - guess what - hard work. You think you're the only one who works for a living?

Matt

posted 03-06-2007 04:04 AM              

On reflection, perhaps suggesting that taking up another hobby was a little out of order, for which i apologise again, but i do think he was being a little over the top when it came to reasons why he could not make the show. Life is for living, and we should all try and live our lives for ourselves, and not become slaves to our bosses or wives or girlfriends, or even the transport infrastructure.
I am always happy to listen to any constructive comments, but not always on here, as i rarely have time to check all the forums, and it just annoys me that people leave questions on here for me to answer. I have a phone, several email addresses etc, and would much rather discuss any problems in that manner.
'You think you're the only one who works for a living?' No, but there are about 3 million that don't, and i am having to work damn hard to keep them in benefits!
See you all in October.
Garry

posted 03-06-2007 10:24 AM               

BTW if anyone is interested in the DVD sets I gave to the astronauts (which contain Ed von Renouard's HSK 8mm footage, and currently the best quality footage of Armstrong's step on the lunar surface, PM me.