Unlike today, when interesting movements are known about in advance or can be notified to other people as they appear, it was very much a case of going to the airport to see what was there. I didn't yet have an airband radio and relied on visual sightings to identify aircraft and get their registrations. Sightings from home had to be tied up after the event, assuming that someone else had seen and noted the aircraft involved.
10 March 1975
With an EU summit meeting (probably the first to be held in Ireland) taking place, several interesting visitors were seen:
11+02 JetStar 8 Luftwaffe
16+05 HFB320 HansaJet
CM-01 Falcon 20 Belgian AF
MM62013 DC-9-32 Italian AF
OY-BFC Learjet
PH-PBX F28 Netherlands Govt.
XR397 Comet C4 RAF (this carried British PM Harold Wilson)
141 Caravelle French AF
205 Cessna 172 Irish Air Corps
207 Cessna 172 Irish Air Corps
268 Mystere 20 French AF
Other more typical visitors/residents seen were:
G-ASUG Beech 18 Loganair (This was retired soon after this visit to Dublin, I think.)
EI-ARS DC-4 Aer Turas - now preserved at Frankfurt in USAF colours:
G-ARPE Trident 1 British Airways
G-AVMI BAC 1-11 British Airways
G-BBMF BAC 1-11 British Airways
LX-LGV B707-348C Luxair (this was the former EI-AMW of Aer Lingus and had been the Irish carrier's first 707)
14 March
With St. Patrick's Day approaching, a couple of US charter flights had arrived. A visit by the Canadian Prime Minister brought in a nice CC-137 (Boeing 707), which was parked right outside the window on stand 31.
EI-AWB Bolkow 105 Irish Helicopters
G-APWF Herald BIA
G-AWMS HS125 Rio Tinto Zinc (this was a regular visitor)
G-AXOW PA-23-250 Aztec
G-BBBD PA-23-250 Aztec
N886PA B707-321B Pan Am
N4908C DC-8-63 Capitol
13705 CC-137 Canadian Armed Forces
16 March
D-ABBI B727-30 Lufthansa
28 March
Italian domestic operator ATI appeared with two DC-9s on charter flights. At the time they wore a dark blue colour scheme. I had never even heard of the company up to this, so regarded them as quite exotic!
G-AOHW Viscount British Airways
G-ARPF Trident 1 British Airways
G-ARPN Trident 1 British Airways
G-AVOF BAC 1-11 British Airways
G-AWZC Trident 3 British Airways
G-AYOL Gardan Horizon
G-BCWG BAC 1-11 Monarch
I-ATJC DC-9-32 ATI
I-DIZC DC-9-32 ATI
N8737 B707-331B TW877
