Motives and Rewards

The less probable the sighting of a particular aircraft in a particular location, the more excitement will be generated among aircraft spotters and the further they will generally travel in order to see or photograph it. Obviously, many events including low cloud, nightfall, secure fences, buildings and the constraints arising from paid employment or the need to sleep may conspire against someone seeing or precisely identifying the aircraft they wish to spot. This adds a degree of uncertainty and excitement to the hobby.

Because different spotters inevitably see the same aircraft in different places, or at different times in the same place, they need to communicate effectively with each other to maximise their collective enjoyment. Those who listen in on air traffic control conversations or intercept datalinks used by civilian airliners have further sources of useful information that can be shared to mutual benefit. For these reasons, successful participants in the hobby need to be good communicators and may be skilled in the use of reference sources and databases. The social aspects of the hobby generally add to its appeal, although meetings between spotters are often limited to airfields or convenient viewpoints on their perimeters.