posted 11-22-2003 11:17 AM               

Just returned from the Autographica show and happy to say I had a great time. Pavel Popovich is looking very well (and signing beautifully !) Tyurin and Lonchakov were both in their flightsuits and were both happy to personalize (with a little help) and inscribe items. I must say I was surprised at the little amount of English the cosmonauts knew, I assumed that becasue they had been on the ISS and Shuttle that they would have known alot more.

It was my first time meeting Scott Carpenter and he was great, he took the time to chat about my items and congratulated me on finding a picture that he took while in orbit, and happily posed for pictures. Dick Gordon was his usual happy smiling self and laughed when I gave him my pic of him during the "Crossing the equator ceremony", he took a while to read my Gemini booklet as he hadn't seen one before, and loved my Apollo Spacecraft News Reference, he said he was dumb and had thrown out stuff like that years ago and how he wished he had kept it, and told me to look after mine. (I just said I wished I had been able to go through his trash cans all those years ago).
It was also my first time meeting Jack Lousma, who was great fun. When I handed him my Skylab EVA shot of him he said it wasn't fair that I had a better one than the ones he had on his table for sale, and he talked about how Al Bean had took the shot and how he had seen him the other day (Skylab reunion) and he was looking well. He took the time to explain what the background was when I gave him my STS-3 orbital shot to complete the crew sigs. And he also had a quick read of the STS-3 Press Kit (he was reading the Apollo News Reference over Dick Gordons shoulder earlier and commented on how much stuff he had thrown out too) !

Sadly I missed meeting a few of the regulars as I adjourned to the bar to watch the end of the rugby, but all in all a great day,

posted 11-22-2003 12:06 PM               

Just arrived back from Coventry after the second "mission" of the week.

I met Dave, Rob, Ollie, and John at the show briefly.
No hold ups in the departure lounge on this mission, but spent some time orbiting the city of Coventry... Autographica not signposted very well...SUNDAY VISITORS BEWARE !!!

The map supplied by Autographica is poor to say the least.

After finding the venue made my way in and made my way to the Astronaut, and Cosmonaut signing area. Bought some 8 x 10s and went to Dick Gordon`s table. It was the first time I had met Mr Gordon. He signed a suiting up for the moon photo...had a brief chat,- discussed Neil in Dublin with him. He seemed surprised to hear we had seen Neil over in Dublin. Mr Gordon kindly allowed me to have a photograph taken with him.

Met Jack Lousma, got a few photos signed...very pleasant gave me a little chat on the ride into orbit on the Apollo CSM, and the shuttle...again really nice man..another photo taken with him.

Onto Scott Carpenter sitting next to him, had a nice chat with him, he was really pleasant and very interesting to talk too...I asked him to sign a few photos for myself and another board member in the US..also got my John Glenn signed photo signed by Scott as well. He commented that in one of the photos he was checking all the switches in AURORA 7 were in the right places....really great guy...again was kind enough to pose for a photo.
Nothing was too much trouble for him...

Met Pavel Popovich, and the other Russian Cosmonauts, both very polite and friendly.
Both inscribed my photos with their mission numbers, pleased I had the chance to meet them.

All in all a great day, I have had a simply magical week, and am lucky to have met with and talked to the First Man on the Moon, Dublin last Monday, and all the other brave spacefarers at Coventry today.,

Hope those attending tomorrow have a good day,

Best wishes to all,

Regards,

Andrew

posted 11-22-2003 12:46 PM               

I saw you in the lounge where the Space guests where signing...I was distracted and you had disppeared !!!

I have not visited a city with such poor street signing....very poor...

Glad you had a pleasant day otherwise.

Guests where as you say in great form...

Regards,

Andrew

posted 11-22-2003 01:06 PM               

I am driving up from Essex on Sunday morning. Thanks for the warning about the map and the signs.

The last time I was in Coventry it was 1966, I was a little boy and England had just won the World Cup (soccer). I am a bit spooked by the coincidence. The only thing I can remember of that day is the Cathedral and thinking all these people don't know we just won the World Cup!

I know it is a little sordid to talk about the filthy lucre in the presence of our heroes but can someone let me know how hard I need to hit the cash machines?

I appreciate your help. Thanks.

posted 11-22-2003 01:13 PM               

Prices are...

Lousma £20.00 £25.00 for Supplied SP
Carpenter £20.00 each autograph
Gordon £20.00 per autograph

Cosmonauts all £10.00 per signature

Lithos of each guest in various poses, missions £4.00 8 x 10 , or £10.00 for three

Some lithos (larger) £5.00 each...have nice night pic of saturn V on pad

Other guests Non space range to about £20.00 per auto

Hope that helps,

posted 11-22-2003 01:54 PM               

Yes it was a fantastic event..
Not everyday you can say you've met a space group who've covered every eliment of manned space flight history..
Mercury , Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Shuttle, Mir and ISS.
I'm still in awe. I also had a few words with each astronaut. Jack Lousma... signed a WSS.... says the Skylab was by way his favourite... 2 months is much better than 2 days on STS. A very nice fella indeed. Scott Carpenter, again superb.... Mercury silver suit and first edition We Seven book. Dick Gordon... signed WSS.... talk the head off a chicken that fella... be great as a grandad, stories he was pulling out.
Was getting my picie took with Gordon, when the three stood and posed for me...:-)
BUT, the digi camera I'd borrowed went bizerk....:-(((

Got my picies signed by the three cosmonauts.... but by this time had ran back to the car in the pouring rain for a proper camera, and had my photie taken with those three... at this time the NASA men where up to their ****'s in autograph seekers, so never bothered them.

Did you check out all those Bond Girls, woff, glad the wife never came.

Met a few list members, more faces, now I'm officially known as "the big'un from up north " !

Road signs....from the A45, theres signs for AUTOBAHN... no your not in Germany. head for these and its there. Yep, we passed Coventry ok, but had a nice cloudy tour of Birmingham.

PS... WE WON THE CUP :-))))

A great day, never to be forgotten....Eddie H

posted 11-22-2003 02:02 PM               

Nick, Bryar & Family SHUTTLEBOOSTERS

posted 11-23-2003 09:49 AM               

Bit dissapointed that Jack Douglas had to cancel as I had a Carry On DVD that I was gonna get signed for my brother for xmas, couldn't believe the queues for Val Kilmer (or was it grizzly Adams !)

Anyway sorry I missed all of you, hope to meet a few at the BIS tomorrow.

Adam

I have updated my site with my new items now so feel free to look http://www.adboo.com/auto

posted 11-23-2003 12:04 PM               

Other than that I can only echo what has already been said. Very relaxed atmosphere everyone very chatty and welcoming with loads of time to talk.

The astronauts and cosmonauts were so helpful signing everything and taking there time to speak to everyone. The hotel was pretty good to, lots of room and NO queues -if you have never been to one of these things you must, there is nothing like chatting to these people.

They were all great but Dick Gordon sticks in my mind. He signed "Full Moon" and said he thought it was one of the best books there was because the digital photos were fabulous. He spent ages looking at the photos, especially the photos from lunar orbit!

Great day out. Many thanks to everyone involved.

Paul Littler

posted 11-23-2003 12:48 PM               

The queue move on and it was Cmd Carpenters turn,I asked him about the design of the Mercury capule,he told me how the interior had changed from Shepards flight to Gordo's.
He also spoke about his Sealab days (I thought it was a change)A truly great guy.

Jack Lousma was amazing to talk to,Alice asked him about sleeping in space and he gave (not too difficult for her to understand)a discription on how they slept and kept fit during his flight).
I had loads of photos taken,one of them with all three Nasa astronaut with Alice,(she will be showing her teacher soon about the experience shes had).

posted 11-23-2003 01:48 PM               

Just returned from Autographica and it was much easier to get home than it was to find.

Set off a little later than we intended on Saturday morning due to some little rumble in Sydney :-)and made our way to the outskirts of Coventry. That's where it went wrong and we must have been almost 3/4 hour finding our way to the hotel. At one point we passed a place we had passed 10 minutes before going in the opposite direction (yet we hadn't turned round - work that one out!)

Finally landed about 1.30ish to see Dave 'John Young' Sixsmith disappearing out of the door. He never came back...

Met John F, Ollie and Rob Wood but didn't see anyone else that afternoon, they must have seen me coming and made a run for it!

Got into the show and bought some photos of the space guests and spent the next hour having some items signed by Scott Carpenter and Jack Lousma. Jack in addition to a wss portrait signed by Skylab photo (only Pogue & Kerwin to go) completed a Skylab cover as the 9th. The cover was actually titled 'Skylab's Firey End'. Jack remarked that he had actually taken the photo on the cover and that it was a long way from a 'firey end' at that point!

He also added his signature to my Apollo 13 SM shot with his own famous first words to the 'problem' message as CAPCOM 'Say again please'!

Scott Carpenter was very pleasant and we exchanged greetings a number of times as we passed each other throughout the weekend.

At this point I had the need to visit an ATM machine for more cash. The garage round the corner had one I was told but it was out of order! I made a 14 mile round trip to find another. Managed to get lost again returning to the hotel!

The drinks reception in the evening was excellent with a chance to photograph most of the space guests and be photographed with them on a number of occasions.

A chance also to chat with various friends from this group and others. Late in the evening we found Popovich and Tyurin in the bar having a nightcap and Pavel said goodnight to us with a merry 'Ciao'!

Next morning saw us tour the show with Debbie and Hannah getting a few items signed by the other guests such as Sir John Mills, David Hedison (Dive dive!)and Richard Todd.

Upon returning to the space room I got some items signed by the Russians who as always were very friendly and accomodating.

I was approached on a number of occasions by people introducing themselves to me as they had recognised me from the (possibly)infamous 'Armstrong and the Cheshire Cat' photo on Collect Space sightings !

Is this my famous for 15 minutes moment perhaps? I did turn down a number of autograph requests. (yeah, as if !)

Ian as you said I hadn't thought of being one of the posessors of the 'hand that shook the hand' !

Anyhow time to go home. Said our goodbyes to the guests, Rex Hall and Lynn and the various members of the clan Shayler, climbed into our chariot and headed North.

Great weekend, look forward to the next one !

posted 11-23-2003 04:42 PM               

Mikhail Tyurin: A big thank you has to go to Mikhail, what a fantastic guy. I sat with him at the dinner on Saturday night, he was so friendly and shared many of his stories and experiences of life on the ISS, he also told us all about his training and how he had become a cosmonaut. Throughout the dinner he exhibited a fantastic sense of humour and a great sense of fun.

The following morning he actually said to me how much he had enjoyed our discussion at dinner, I was totally gobsmacked. I really hope to meet him again, what a fantastic guy.

Another big thank you must go to Rex Hall and all the staff at the Astro Info stall for answering my many questions and for being all round great people.

Jack Lousma: Another absolute Star of this event. When he signed my (many) photographs he took the time to explain exactly what was going on in every shot. His talk this afternoon was incredible and on its own would have been worth the price of admission.

Dick Gordon and Scott Carpenter were great also, Scott Chuckled when I gave him a Mercury 7 picture to sign (the one of all the guys standing in flight gear in front of a jet) and said "this picture really has got some mileage."

Another big thank you has to go to Garry and the organisers, they really did work their tails off!!!

posted 11-23-2003 06:41 PM               

Let's start the rumour mill....

I cannot remember where I saw it or who said it but.....Charlie Duke for 2004....in April...and no more Northamptons?.......a new venue in West London?

Anyone heard anything along these lines?

posted 11-24-2003 12:43 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Paul Littler:

So that was Coventry....

Let's start the rumour mill....

I cannot remember where I saw it or who said it but.....Charlie Duke for 2004....in April...and no more Northamptons?.......a new venue in West London?

Anyone heard anything along these lines?

Paul Littler

---

Paul: Where do I sign?

posted 11-24-2003 07:46 AM               

HAD TO GO TOLD THE WIFE I WOULD BE BACK AROUND LUCH TIME BUT GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE LIVE AUCTION SO I WAS IN THE BAD BOOKS WHEN I ARRIVED HOME AT 16.00
I ALSO SPENT 45 MINS TRYING TO FIND THE PLACE THE MAP SUCKED...

posted 11-24-2003 03:00 PM               

I was having lunch right at the far end of the hotel (as far from reception as you could get possibly get). Jacket Spud and baked beans if you are interested.

And then in walk Dick Gordon and Mr & Mrs Carpenter! There was a VIP area near reception but they seemed to prefer the calm of the lounge (there was only me!). I found it a bit strange to see Dick Gordon asking for Tomato Soup but I guess that's what these events are about, finding out that these people are real!

A bit earler..

posted 11-25-2003 06:02 AM               

I belive that Chelsea Football ground is a venue Autographica are considering..they also state Charlie Duke likely to attend the next show.

I have to agree with the concensus most of us can comfortably make Coventry, Northampton even...London will be a pain...(I`m not knocking our capital by the way.)
Traffic is awful, clampers and traffic wardens, abound.

May write to Autographica myself.

I understand however some guests reluctant to visit places such as Coventry, Northampton...preferring a London venue.
That was even the case for a morning TV show closing studios in Liverpool and moving to London. VIP`s and Guests simply would`nt travel out to the sticks.!!

Regards,

posted 11-25-2003 09:23 AM               

Given the ownership of the club by a Russian "plutocrat" maybe he can pull some strings and get a few more cosmonauts? How
about Tereschkova and Bykovsky?

As a Northerner living in London I can say it's not THAT bad guys. Mr Branson runs nice new trains from "up north" which are sometimes on time when Network rail permits - and on the odd occasion when the tube workers aren't on strike it's really ok to use public transport.
Living 4 miles from Chelsea's ground I can provide parking advice!

Roll on Chelsea 2004!

posted 11-25-2003 09:39 AM               

Yes, I too heard that a London area venue was being considered for Autographica next year. I'm not sure when it will be as I got the impression that this year with two events was a one-off.

A Northern venue would be nice! I can say that the Royal Armouries in Leeds would make a superb venue. (Live jousting between guests - now that would be worth seeing!)

However I can see the logic of a London event to which we would most likely get the train down from Leeds (it's about 2 hours 20 mins).

They would have a bigger potential audience 'on the doorstep' and I guess it would be an attractive proposition to many guests.

Also I would think judging from a few comments I've seen that they would pull attendees from across Europe who would be able to get to London fairly easily even if they couldn't find their way up't north!

I should think it would probably be a bigger gig than we've seen to date although on the flip side I would hope it wouldn't become so big it would lose a lot of the reasons people go. (friendly,accessability of guests, nice informality in the way things are done, no heavy security etc)

Just a few thoughts

Steve