See the link below for the full text of a great article about aircraft = mockups and aviation enthusiasts. Excerpts: "Airliner enthusiast" is a phrase that pops up frequently in this = column, occasionally alternating with "airliner nut." The meaning is = probably lost on most people. Airliner enthusiasts are connoisseurs of = civil aviation. But the "hobby," for lack of a better term, has little = to do with flying per se. What gets our pulse going is not the visceral = thrill of flight, the slipping of surly bonds. Rather, it's the grand = theater of air travel: the color and craziness of the world's airlines; = their route structures and service cultures; the places they go. We're = enamored of planes, of course, but we see them less as technical marvels = than as romantic symbols. The A.E. beholds the 747 or Concorde much the = way an architecture buff beholds the Chrysler Building or the cathedral = at Chartres in France. And beyond any inherent beauty, the airplane is = nothing without context -- the greater point of going somewhere." "...in the eyes of most people, ours is a distinctly lowbrow hobby. It = lacks the cachet of other, more refined infatuations (as I've written = before, we won't be vindicated until the day Ken Burns makes a = sepia-toned documentary about the 747), and we bear the stigma of a = certain stereotype: nerdy, shy and decidedly unhip. Few modes of = transport are more openly reviled nowadays than commercial flying, and = skulking around airports with a camera or a pair of binoculars isn't = going to win you much respect, or a date with that sexy agent over at = the Virgin Atlantic counter. (On the contrary, it's liable to get you = taken in for questioning.) This underscores all that is misunderstood = about air travel, but we're stuck with it. Thus the A.E. keeps it quiet = when among friends or family, usually out of embarrassment. We stay = where it's safe -- in the closet." Found at www.salon.com in the "Ask the Pilot" column by Patrick Smith: = http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/04/27/askthepilot229/index.html <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".