UKC

I remember, as a kid, I'd be with my dad in the garden and if he heard an aircraft flying in the vicinity he would invariably look skywards.

Today I was aware of doing the same and then, when I thought about it, I realised I have been doing so for almost as long as I can remember. Did I do it because my old dad did I wonder?

Anyone else got anything similar?

In reply to mypyrex:

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything
Oscar Wilde

In reply to mypyrex:
Probably because that's where the sound of a plane comes from. You'd look daft staring down at the ground trying to locate it...

In reply to mypyrex:
My dad and I both walk around with our left shoulder raised/tense when out and about in public, as if any stresses to do with that end up located there. It happens that we're both left handed too.

In reply to jon:

Though some people aren't fussed about scanning for planes...it could be learnt/absorbed behaviour?

In reply to m0unt41n:


I think that's really profound, as a comment on people's outlook or nature, rather than literally.

In reply to mypyrex:

Apparently, Num Num inherited making a gesture of loving his missus from father Num Num.

In reply to mypyrex:

Me and my dad both have an infective laugh.

In reply to Dave the Rave:


So I've heard. Last time that the pair of you went to see a comedian, half the audience went down with TB. .. You ought to both be culled like badgers.

In reply to Clauso:


Not far from the truth
Badgers are too clever for culling.

In reply to Dave the Rave:

They need to learn a bit more road sense, though.

In reply to mypyrex:

Driving along the road in the car I raise my right hand with fingers still touching the steering wheel to check the speed off the dashboard. There is no real benefit in doing it this way, it is just like my old dad used to do it.

In reply to mypyrex:
Re the original post - did your dad serve in WW2? Mine was in the RAF and right through the 50s and most of the 60s he used to run out the back door to peer up at the unsuspecting Dakota or Comet trundling past. Reckon it came from the need to identify whether an aircraft was British or German.
And of course in the 50s there were a lot less aircraft up there....

And yes, I do it too, at least when I'm in the hills(not at home, I'm on one of the approach paths to Glasgow Airport- I'd be driven mad!

In reply to mypyrex:

Whenever anything flies above I automatically turn into an excited toddler and rush to the nearest window/door to see what it is,the louder it is,the more giddy I become.then when it's flown over and I turn to face whoever I'm with they look/comment in disbelief of how I just acted.screw em though, it's whatever floats your boat.

In reply to mypyrex:

I met a distant cousin of my grandad. They had never met until they were in their 60s or 70s as the different branches of the family tree had gone to different places. However they had handwriting that was the same, and facial gestures as well. Quite spooky.

In reply to mypyrex:

I've always waved my hands around a lot when speaking. My other half and others have often commented. I met my genetic parents for the first time about two years ago and my father does exactly the same. Which weirds me out quite a lot !

In reply to mypyrex:

Always look to the sky and rush out of my house to view too.
Difference being now, that if it's a helicopter, I'm looking to see if I know the company it belongs too and therefore if it's any of my mates flying

In reply to colinakmc:


Not in the military but he was always interested in aircraft. When I had my PPL I sometimes took him up in a Tiger Moth. He loved it.

In reply to Wsdconst:


Likewise. Despite being a bit Mutt and Jeff I can still tell if a distant aircraft is a Spitfire.

In reply to mypyrex:

My son has a lot of my husband's funny faces, especially when quizzical or laughing at me - it's very funny and lovable, seeing the son version of the dad's face.

In reply to marsbar:
I know what you mean. My 46 year old son's handwriting is identical to mine, to the extent that I have encountered documents written by him and thought "when on earth did I write that?"

I did not teach him to write or influence it because I was divorced and he was brought up by my ex and her second husband.

In reply to mypyrex:

Tiger Moths! I bet he loved it.

In reply to mypyrex:

When I drive, I hold the steering wheel so that my hand is on the "spoke" of the wheel and the rim runs between my little finger and my ring finger. I never thought anything of it, but last time I drove Mum somewhere she commented that Dad holds the wheel like that too.

In reply to sbc_10:

I presume your Seat or steering wheel (or both) don't adjust so that you can see the important indicators on the dash. Done once you will never have to move your fingers again.

In reply to mypyrex:

I now do 'Dad Dancing'

Does that count?

In reply to mypyrex:

My Gran died when I was 7. We only saw her for a week or two each year (summer hols & Christmases). We got to see an old cine film of a wedding she was at, and oh my word, it was like looking in a mirror. Hard to exactly describe but something about hands and head movements co-ordinating.

In reply to mypyrex:

A couple of weeks after my dad passed so did my uncle (his brother in law). I went to that second funeral as a pall bearer. My dad had left his home town at 30 , after sadly being widowed not long after his first marriage, to start over and the only people he (and later we after he met my mum and I popped along) visited there after and for the following 40+ years were his sister and their family.

At my uncle's funeral many old ladies came up to me to ask if I was "Johnny's boy?" I was shocked as though I was very close to my dad, physically nothing was the same between us apart from being athletic. I am much taller and have different colour eyes and hair and a totally different accent having grown up at the opposite end of Britain.

Around the 5th time this happened I asked the old lady how she knew and they all started chiming in that I stood and moved exactly as he did. One of the things I do apparently that is exactly the same is when stood talking to someone I shift some of my weight to one leg as I listen. I'd never noticed these things. It was a very surreal experience.