Sopley was originally an air defence radar unit like Ash and Wartlling. I don't know when civilian radar controllers started operating there, but I would guess it would be post 1960, well after this accident. In any case, the radar at Sopley was a Type 80, non MTI but with a 'blank' overhead (to cut out ground returns) which would have certainly covered Hurn. Sopley did have height-finder radars but these would only have scanned what the controller asked for, not every aircraft in the area.
Ibsley was closed as an airfield sometime in the late '40s I think.
Last edited by chevvron; 28th Feb 2013 at 11:04.