UK Mil Control Tower designs

[chopper2004]

Looking at pics over the years and being at different bases and airshows, have wondered why our control towers are at the height they are!! I'm not going to the extremeties of comparing say a tower at Waddo to say an international airport style and height oof one at Nellis or Edwards or Holloman AFB as figured the ATC guys and girls have to see above the mountains for take offs and approaches.

Whats the rationale (apart from the obvious Cold War protective and security train of thought) behind our control tower design at RAF, AAC and FAA bases? Would have thought at least figured a few bases with hills around would at least have higher towers?

WOuld it make life easier for the ATCO and SATCO to be sat inside a higher tower?

Cheers

.

[Roland Pulfrew]

Chopper

Most UK mil bases are from the pre-WWII 'expansion era' when airfields, and the stations that supported, them were built to a standard design. Hence when you go into most RAF stations, you will find the guardroom of a standard pattern, with SHQ (to a standard pattern) in front of you. Barrack blocks and messes (to a standard pattern will be nearby) with hangars (to a standard pattern) fronting on to the airfield.

Towers (to a standard pattern) http://www.mildenhall.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/120111-F-BX362-003.jpg did not need to be that tall as they were positioned at a suitable location to monitor flying patterns and taxiing areas. Remember that most airfields started as grass, with runways usually no longer than 6000ft. Only with the advent of the heavy bombers did airfields get concrete runways and extensions to the primary runway. With the advent of the V-bombers some runways were extended to 9000-ish feet, but the airfield could still be monitored from the standard pattern tower. The late 60s saw the addition of glazed VCRs and in the late 70s these were made bigger covering the whole of the tower footprint. In the 80s we started commisioning bespoke designs ie the "pizza hut" at Leeming or the more modern tower at Waddington.

If you want more info see if you can find any of the books in the "Action Stations" series (other historical airfield reference books are available) one of which details the expansion era building programme and the reasons for many of the designs.

[tmmorris]

Also see UK Control Tower & airfield photographs of WW2 (http://www.controltowers.co.uk). A slightly alarming but ultimately rather satisfying site.

[Heathrow Harry]

Like those standard US guard towers that shriek "H-Bomb store" to everyone

[SOSL]

In the late 1970's I flew out to New Orleans on a LXX C130, via Cape Canaveral. Our skipper suffered from vertigo and couldn't climb the external stairs in Cape Canaveral to submit his flight plan for New Orleans because the tower was too high and the stairs were too open - so the Nav did it for him.

When we got to New Orleans there was a "tropical storm" going on, which made the approach a bit tricky. As it happened we had a 38 Gp trapper team on board and they joined with the Sqn crew and eventually we got down. It took quite a number of approaches but he made it, in spite of the weather.

When we checked into our hotel, our rooms were on the 3rd floor (IIRC) and the staircase to the rooms wound round an atrium which went up to heaven. Poor old skip had to face the wall as he climbed the staircase.

Severe vertigo but what an aviator!

And the control tower was usually too high for him.

Rgds SOS

[chopper2004]

Cheers guys, thanks for the ControlTowers link TM, have to say Culdrose, Yeovilton and St Mawgan look good.

The 1973 photo of RAF Molesworth looks very interesting, forgot it had proper modern runway and hangar and tower before being demolished then the modern fixture to this day is the launch / guard tower for the old Tomahawks GLCM which looks like the modern towers at Edwards lol

@Sosl thought you meant your skipper walked up one of the launch pads or the VAB :)

Middle Wallops tower doesn't look like you can't see over the hangars whereas Ft Ruckers tower is quite tall and IIRC it's flat area and trees in that area.

Isn't Akrotiri taller than the ones here and some of the old RAFG and AAc bases in Germany differ?

The USAFE towers appear quite tall though Mildenhall and Lakenheath height wise probably no more than our ones? Ramstein looks tall and so does a Spang and a couple of Army airfields including the former Feucht AAF.

So the rule of thumb in the designs providing you have good view of all the airfield and can see a/c from a distance approach and take off?

[Milo Minderbinder]

story in the local paper was that when the "new" tower was opened at Yeovilton it was too low and couldn't see the runway properly due to obstructions

I don't know the truth but the story was widely believed at the time

[Pontius Navigator]

In the 60s Waddo had three towers.

It had a very small WW2 (or pre) between 2 and 3 Hangars. This was very small and allocated to HMC. The next tower was forward of that one and housed the approach control. The third tower was built further forward again and housed the visual control.

Coningsby had a tower of the WW2 style shown above. When it was remodelled as approach and local the windows on the first floor were covered over to create the stygian gloom for the radar cabin. The visual control was built on top of that. In the late 90s it was discovered that the covered over windows of the approach control were crumbling never having been built to last 50 years. The new tower became an imperative. It has a virtually frameless visual control room.

The Wainfleet tower was built to a 70s design and its control room was on the 5th floor simply to afford good visibility out to 6 miles or more.

[Wensleydale]

Here are Waddington's three "current" towers. The WW2 tower is in danger of falling down and entry is forbidden. I understand that the only reason that it hasn't been knocked down is the expense (and no, it can't be listed). Picture from the Airfield Information Exchange website.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb198/Flyer719/LINCOLNSHIRE/Waddington/20120515Waddington202-001.jpg

[Roland Pulfrew]

Wensleydale

Just out of interest, why can't it be listed? Any building can be listed if the need is there; the main reasons being uniqueness, architectural value and forming a key part of our history. At the rate the RAF is going we will soon have no preserved examples of our (hundreds of) airfields and their buildings.

Rumour has it that the Officers' Mess at Fenton was only demolished to stop it from being listed :(

[diginagain]

Middle Wallops tower doesn't look like you can't see over the hangars ...You can see all you need to see over the hangars. You can see quite a lot from the VCR, including almost all of the landing ground and approach-paths, but landing on the bit behind the hangars was frowned-upon.

AAc bases in Germany ...with the exception of Detmold's 1980s new-build were what we inherited from the previous occupants.

[FantomZorbin]

The WW2 tower is in danger of falling down

Wyton ATC was/is of a similar design. SATCO wanted to change the office layout so arranged to have an internal wall knocked through. "No probs" said Works chappie "it'll take a morning, day tops". 10 days constant jackhammering later they got through!!!! What have they been doing at Waddo??!

[Wensleydale]

Just out of interest, why can't it be listed?


Ref Waddington's WW2 tower. All hearsay and rumour! My understanding is that there are too many of them in existence and it is not particularly old. The other problem with listing is that there is no money to preserve it! (and yes, I believe that there have been enquiries to English Heritage/lottery etc in the past).

It would be really nice to move it to a position near the Waddington Airfield Viewing Enclosure and use it as a café and photography platform (similar to Wickenby's excellent little watch office) - now that would be really expensive!



Wyton ATC was/is of a similar design. SATCO wanted to change the office
layout so arranged to have an internal wall knocked through. "No probs" said
Works chappie "it'll take a morning, day tops". 10 days constant jackhammering
later they got through!!!! What have they been doing at Waddo??!


The Waddington tower has bushes growing out of the masonry! I have also heard the "asbestos" word mentioned although I have seen nothing written down. At the end of the day, there is no money and seemingly no serious willingness to preserve it. My suspicion is that Station would prefer it to fall down so that money can then be allocated and the space on the waterfront re-used. I must admit, however, that I would prefer any heritage buildings money to stop rain water leaking through the roof into the Waddington Heritage Centre (contained in the old WW2 NAAFI - "the Ravens Club"). This would allow some nice original aircraft paintings to be displayed!

[Mick Strigg]

I do know that Towers should be on the south side of the airfield, so that the ATC'ers are not looking into sun (we wish!)

[tmmorris]

Anyone told Benson? (Abingdon, &c.)

[Cows getting bigger]

That's easily sorted -just fly the circuits to the North and give the controllers a stiff neck. :)

[diginagain]

Anyone told Benson? (Abingdon, &c.) Wallop, Dishforth, Gutersloh, Detmold, Leconfield...

[Davef68]

and Leuchars......

Like most things in life, someone has written a book on the subject, in this case:

http://www.waterstones.com/wat/images/nbd/m/978185/260/9781852604622.jpg

Out of print, although it does go for silly money on second hand sites (Must keep my copy pristine!) it has a chapter on the origins of the Watch Office/Control Tower up until the early post WW2 period

[chevvron]

I seem to recall the towers at Chelveston and Elvington were VCRs on top of a wooden lattice tower which were much higher than the 'standard' RAF VCR. I think it may have been due to the 10,000ft runways at both airfields.

[diginagain]

Elvington's may well have been built to SAC standards when the place was remodelled for the USAF.

I know it's wikipedia, and normal caveats apply;

United States Air Force use

The United States Air Force built a new 3,094 m (10,151 ft) runway, which was the longest in the north of England, and a huge 19.8 hectares (49 acres) rectangular hardstanding apron as well as a new control tower to turn Elvington into a "Basic Operation Platform" which would have operated as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) dispersal airfield.

[sisemen]

The old tower at Henlow was built from Hurricane packing cases.

Not a lot of people know that :}

[CoffmanStarter]

The various changes of the RAF Manston Control Tower

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn128/PNK_album/ManstonTower.jpg

1950's when USAF were based there.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn128/PNK_album/Airfields/Manston/Manston_Aug1974_Tower.jpg

1970's under RAF management as I remember the old place.

http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/da_bish/Manston1.jpg

1980's still under RAF management ... with a few additions and deletions.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn128/PNK_album/Airfields/Manston/PICT0066.jpg

2000 as Kent International Airport ... with tasteful cladding and presumably "elf n safety" required the additional fire escape to be installed :ugh:

Shame they can't afford a lawn mower and strimmer :mad:

Coff.

[dragartist]

Coff, They are participating in the experiment with long grass to deter the birds.

[dragartist]

The story about the jackhammers brought back memories. The structures of the era must have been made of some really good concrete. I worked in 4 hangar at Wyton for 14 years. I wondered for a while in the TACEVAL days what all the black tape markings on the walls were. Someone told me that if it was for real they would be knocked into doorways. Curiosity satisfied!

Must have been after some SALT talks and Open skies goings on and the fear that the reds would be allowed access into areas where the doors were above a certain size. Well as you can imagine there were areas within the hangar where even some of our own were not allowed.

Extensive remodelling took place with several doors bricked up to comply with the requirement. A new door was required at the bottom of some stairs into the main hangar. - Well the jack hammering began but soon stopped as they gave up. A week or two later a scaffold was erected and some specialist guided diamond drilling equipment brought in. the drill was powered through the corners of the aperture. the cores hung around for years used as door stops. they were most attractive ornaments. next a large diamond circular saw was used to join the dots. It too ran on rails and was water cooled. IIRC the operation took a good few weeks. part of the cost was worked out on the wear on the tools. Goodness knows how many blades they got through.

Funny thing is the [Berlin] wall came down not many years after. All that effort and I don't think we saw it coming!!

Then there was the story of the fragile roof - 1982 they built a workshop Annex. (I think it was last the band store or model railway club a couple of years back) I watched them haul in some large precast concrete roof beams. the gaps between them were filled with concrete pumped from a mixer. And a 2ft square section concrete perimeter cast. Great entertainment! they then put some foam blocks and tar on the roof. and appended signs "Fragile Roof use crawling boards" on all sides. As if you were going to fall through it!

One of the foam blocks became the space model for the Puma and SeaKing rear RWR radome but don't tell anyone!! Still flying on the Puma 30 years on.

back to Control Towers - Wyton was green at one time. I think it became a red and white chess board at some stage

[dan eccles]

'back to Control Towers - Wyton was green at one time. I think it became a red and white chess board at some stage'

It did,also ended up with purple,black and green squares care of a few UAS.It's now a peppermint green.

[Warmtoast]

At Gan in 1958 we had no problems - we just built our own.

Lay a concrete base, inset palm tree trunks as uprights to support the roof, cover with woven (Kadjan) palm tree fronds, make simple hinged upwards openings in the wall to view outside and finally install some signals kit and voilà - a working ATC!

We (the RAF) did the hard bit whilst a Maldivian local wove the Kadjan for the walls and roof.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/GAN/ATCampSignals2_zps739633da.jpg

ATC is the nearest hut

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/GAN/ATC_zpsd69fde7b.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/GAN/KajunMaking_zps82d33144.jpg

P.S.
FWIW below is the RAF Thornhill (5FTS) S. Rhodesia, ATC as it was in 1951 - 1953.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/ThornhillATC.jpg

[Wensleydale]

Lay a concrete base, inset palm tree trunks as uprights to support the roof,
cover with woven (Kadjan) palm tree fronds, make simple hinged upwards openings
in the wall to view outside and finally install some signals kit and voilà - a
working ATC!



So that's why we practised with pine-poles all those years ago......:)

[Al R]

I experienced a couple of things in the Greenham Common tower at night in the early 80s; my first experience of the internet as I chatted with a met office in Alaska for instance. Time to save it?

Greenham Control Tower (http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/Greenham-Control-Tower&petition=success&id=1497&lang=eng)

[Aussie Dave]

RAF Gaydon had a tower which was a two storey brick with glass cupola on top. Ground floor was radio/radar equipment with tech crew. First floor was radio/radar control room. Glass house for visual control. There was also a control/visual inspection caravan at the end of runway.
Gaydon was the only airfield that I worked on that had I.L.S. at each end in the '60's with one set of 'markers'
RAF Gaydon airfield (http://www.controltowers.co.uk/G/Gaydon.htm)

[teeteringhead]

And you can always convert one into luxury housing, as frequenters of LFA9 will know.

This used to be the control tower of HMS Godwit aka Hinstock Airfield near Market Drayton

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01064/property-graphics-_1064110a.jpg

Went for about £2M a few years ago IIRC, along with 90 acres and a commercial stables.

[dkh51250]

Before handing over RAF Catterick, the tower became a listed building. Much to their annoyance the Army at Marne Barracks are now the owners. Wensleydale, the heritage centre you refer to at Waddo, is there any public access? Also, where in the club is it located? I have many happy memories of a misspent youth in Constance Ravens legacy.

[Wensleydale]

Wensleydale, the heritage centre you refer to at Waddo, is there any public
access? Also, where in the club is it located? I have many happy memories of a
misspent youth in Constance Ravens legacy.


The Heritage Centre takes up the four ground floor rooms on the left of the old NAAFI building as you look from the car park. They used to be used for the NAAFI Shop, the bar, and the snooker/TV room at the back.

To get a tour around the Heritage Centre, one has to book in advance. Look us up on the Waddington Website and contact via e-mail or phone. Our visits coordinator will arrange a date and time and we will meet you to get you through gate security etc. Please give us a few days notice if possible - it is all run by volunteers/secondary duties and we have to make sure that a tour guide is available for you.

The photograph shows the building after the Luftwaffe visited in May 1941, killing 11 personnel including the NAAFI manageress, Mrs Constance Raven - hence the name of the club. It has been repaired a little since then although water leaks through the ceiling!

We will have a stand in Hangar 3 at the air show (with a few bits of our Lancaster wreckage, etc). Happy to talk visits etc then.

[Al R]

What's it worth..?

For sale: Bids invited for Greenham Common control tower | NewburyToday.co.uk (http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2013/for-sale-bids-invited-for-greenham-common-control-tower)

Good memories of this place.

[Awat]

Interesting photobooks from Narwal concerning remaining WW2 Control Towers in the UK. in 2 volumes 119 Towers are gathered.

ALL ALONG THE CONTROL TOWER (http://www.controltowers.eu)

Volume 3 seems to be prepared

[langleybaston]

The old ATCs with Met. underneath used to have Lamson [?] tubes connecting them, for the passage of obs. and warnings and Local Area Forecasts. These operated on air pressure, very appropriately!

Depending upon time of day and the WAAFs upstairs, other things were passed. In both directions.

If ATC were idle, we ran out of carriers, needed to ask for them back, followed by whooshing and crashing for 5 minutes.

ISTR that ATC/Met at Acklington had no running water .........the tea swindle was supplied by an urn of cold water delivered daily, and the processed water went into an external khazi, again no water. Nicosia had water but no khazi.

The sexes were not equal. Women were deemed unable to serve in such uncouth places, nor on night duty with men, unless two women were needed. This provoked a lot of mirth, as all young weather-guessers were sure they could tackle two at a time.

At HQ 1 Gp Bawtry there was [and I have seen it] bitter controversy over the "no women" ruling, led by the women, who won the battle to the extent that we had some real beauties in due course.

B G the TV guru told me that "in those days" with the bevy of talent available, that he arrived for a 6 week attachment aged 19 and left aged 90. The rhodadendrons on the south side of the park were said to be the RV.

By the time that I arrived in 1981 there were SAID to be no such goings-on.

"I do not believe it!"

[Rallye Driver]

The Tower at North Weald is on of seven Type 5223a/51 control towers, which were built to a standard 1951 design featuring a central, two-storey tower surrounding a steel frame with an octagonal steel-framed and glazed visual control room (VCR) on top of the flat roof.

It was linked to Kelvedon Hatch, which was one of four Rotor Sector Operations Control Rooms constructed for Fighter Command, and known as SOC-R4. This was designed to provide command and control of Fighter Command’s Metropolitan Sector,

North Weald’s Tower is now a Grade II Listed Building along with two others at Greenham Common and Upper Heyford. The one at Mildenhall has been demolished. The other remaining examples are situated at Brize Norton, Fairford and Biggin Hill, which has been much modified.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider083/Tower-1000_zps13hgbbme.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider083/Tower%20VCR%20-1000_zpsuovcprhj.jpg

[NutLoose]

Odiham had three, one which was the map store was the original and to small, the later one which I think had the met office in it when I was there was closed and a new one built over at RAF Long Sutton after an accident on the OCU site when two helicopters collided, the tower had cleared it to take off but with the layout of the airfield meant they could not see the apron, so the "new" tower was built that could see all the aprons.

[Mechta]

Odiham had three

Still does, and possibly unique in doing so.

[NutLoose]

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/515870-uk-mil-control-tower-designs.html

[salad-dodger]

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/515870-uk-mil-control-tower-designs.html
A link to the start of the same thread, neat Nutloose, neat.

S-D

[Wander00]

Mention of WAAFs in towers reminds me of a story of the 60s, and a plan to introduce a limited number of WAAF post at Cranwell. ATC was selected because the tower was away from the nasty cadets. Cue big meeting, at the end of which the stumbling block was only 2 loos, "Officers" and "Airmen". "OK" says SATCO, "we'll put a tent outside as a loo for the girls." "That's no good" says Command WRAF Officer, "My girls like permanent erections"

[Pontius Navigator]

Waddington's oldest tower was used by Customs and Excise in the 60s, the next house Approach and the third was Local. The oldest has now gone, Approach, as WD said, is condemned, and yet another was built.

You would think that after 4 attempts . . .

[langleybaston]

QUOTE

" "That's no good" says Command WRAF Officer, "My girls like permanent erections"

Whereas RAF Finningley had "Officer i/c Temporary Erections" in the supplement to the station phone directory for B o B Day. And yes, Met had a large temporary erection, a chestnut paling fence to cover the long but thin zone swept by the nodding beam cloud base recorder.

[Pontius Navigator]

And then there was Coningsby, standard tower, radio room on ground floor, approach above and local on top. Ops HQ scabbed on one side with Met below and GRSF round the back.

Then, doing some maintenance, it was discovered the Approach windows had simply been filled in with a single layer brick infill - no structural strength and no load bearing for the concrete built local above.

Given that some airfields had remote towers, Cottesmore, Finningley and Dishford amongst others, I wonder why others were sited in the main target area.

[MPN11]

Waddington's oldest tower was used by Customs and Excise in the 60s, the next house Approach and the third was Local. The oldest has now gone, Approach, as WD said, is condemned, and yet another was built.

You would think that after 4 attempts . . .
One of the problems was getting the Local Controller to actually have a view of the runway. So the WW2 Tower begat the Remote Local, and the crumbling WW2 tower later begat the new NATO-funded one out near the runway.

[Pontius Navigator]

MPN, quite. From a short grass runway whose ends were visible from the hangar line, to a 6,000 ft strip, to a V-bomber 9,000 ft to a . . .

Now if the tower had been built on the other side of the runway. OK, I know that would mean traffic flying behind the tower.

[MPN11]

PN, during my time we constructed an Alternate Local, using a redundant dispersal caravan semi-buried in the grass. Naturally, that meant the controller's eye-line was only a few feet agl. After a lot of walking about I found a spot where, even from that low altitude, you could see both ends of the rw.

Looking at Google Earth, it seems to have been developed. It's at the end of the stub road running NE from F Dispersal, with a proper bund around it. There's an unclear image of something semi-buried you zoom to ground level view in GE. Can anyone validate that?

(Curiously, there's a lot of detail in Ground Level view, which I wasn't expecting to find at an MOB)

[sitigeltfel]

The old ATCs with Met. underneath used to have Lamson [?] tubes connecting them, for the passage of obs. and warnings and Local Area Forecasts. These operated on air pressure, very appropriately!

The tower at Manston had a dumb waiter connecting the Ops room with the Comcen below and Met on the ground floor. A system of bell rings indicated who was to bring the carrier to their level and a long ring was used to warn others that you were about to winch the thing up or down. Occasionally this would be forgotten and someone would have their hand in the carrier as it began to move. A torrent of abuse would then be directed down the lift shaft at the miscreant.

[spekesoftly]

Landing fees (for civilian aircraft) at RAF Elvington were collected by lowering a plastic bucket on a long rope from the VCR balcony. The improved Mk2 version included half a brick in the bucket in an attempt to counteract drift on windy days!

[Danny42C]

Leeming ('67 - '72) and (I'm nearly sure) Thorney Island ('58 - '59) had the "Gaydon" pattern Tower. Nicest of the lot INHO.

Strubby ('55 - '58) had wartime cube with draughty, leaky, cold, garden shed on top for Local (access by external iron stairs).

Geilenkirchen ('60-'62) had a sort of single storey terrace between S taxiway and Camp main drag.. Most of it was Flying Wing and Sqdn offices, but in the middle ATC had a slice projecting forward a bit (?) with a rudimentary glasshouse on top. May have been standard for the "Clutch" ?

Forget what they had at L-o-O ('62-'64) or Shawbury ('64 - '67).

"Kutcha" strips in India/Burma best of all (No ATC [who needs it ?] = no Tower - no nuffin'). Every man for himself !

Worked like a charm. :ok:

Danny42C.

[MPN11]

ATC Gemas, 1969 :D

http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm468/atco5473/PPRuNe%20ATC/Gemas%20strip%201969.jpeg

[papajuliet]

Danny [ and anyone else interested ] have a look at the "airfield control towers" website - lots of info. and images.

[Awat]

do you mean ALL ALONG THE CONTROL TOWER (http://www.controltowers.eu) ?

[ricardian]

How about booking this for your holiday? (http://www.forces.net/news/raf/watch-tower-view-former-raf-weapons-base-transformed-holiday-let)

[Pontius Navigator]

This site gives a better impression:

RAF Wainfleet - The Tower (ref UKC1178) in Friskney, near Skegness, Lincolnshire | cottages.com (http://www.cottages.com/cottages/raf-wainfleet-the-tower-ukc1178)

[Danny42C]

Pontius N. (#55),

...This site gives a better impression:

RAF Wainfleet - The Tower (ref UKC1178) in Friskney, near Skegness, Lincolnshire | cottages.com ...

Nice conversion, but don't think I'll be booking anytime soon ! In its heyday, would look like my favourite Towers: Thorney Island ('58-'59) and Leeming ('67-'72), both were examples of what I think were called the "Gaydon Pattern" Towers. The plus point was the big octagonal VCR ("Local") on top, wonderful visibility.

Danny.

[Pontius Navigator]

Danny, we even had the windows replaced about 4 years before we closed at a cost of £17k, then immediately replaced as they weren't toughened, then half again through condensation.

[Danny42C]

Pontius N. (#57),

A depressingly familiar story ! But at that, they were better than what had gone before - wartime wooden shacks stuck on top of the main structure, cold, damp, draughty, leaky and accessible only by an outside iron staircase (eg Strubby '55-'58).

But they were good days ...........

Danny.

[taxydual]

Dishforth tower.

Wonderful views, could see everything on the airfield. Until.......

Monday morning, switched on the air con and and 10 million* bluebottle flies were pumped into the VCR.

We discovered a number of rats had invaded the air con working parts and some of them had 'gone to meet their makers'.



*OK, it may have been a few million less, but the bu*gers wouldn't stand still to count them properly

[Danny42C]

taxydual,

Know the place well (Leeming 1965 - 72). In my long and inglorious career have been troubled by ****ehawks, elephant (1), snakes, tiger (?), crows, rats, goats, racing pigeons, hares, wasps, and an Unidentified Flying Object - but blue-@rsed flies are a new one on me !

YLSED ! - what did they do, hang sticky flycatcher rolls up in Local and issue fly-swats ? (Possible solution: a few lizards borrowed from Zoo and parked on windows).

Where do they go in the wintertime ?

(Google "Bobby Comber ♫ The Flies Crawl up the Window ♫)

Danny.

[MPN11]

Insects in Local ... I have a phobic fear of wasps. Fortunately, on the occasion when somehow a couple got in to Local, it was quiet and the Assistants were very kind in swatting them for me as I (figuratively) hid under the desk in terror.

[Pontius Navigator]

Danny, nerve agent works a treat. Remember the white canisters of instant death for mozzies etc? Issued at something like 1:100 and acquired for 1:1 personal use and guarded better than secret files

[taxydual]

In Dishforth's case, Leeming's OC Station Services Sqn (OCSSS, remember them) let me LPO (Local Purchase Order, remember them) every pack of Vapona to be had in Boroughbridge.

24 hours later every bluebottle was dead.

The snags then arose,

Snag 1. Walking across the carpet tiles was rather akin to walking on a shingle beach, very crunchy. Trusty vacuum cleaner sorted that.

Snag 2. I may have overdone the Vapona. After an hour or two's exposure to the fumes, the staff were also feeling a bit crunchy.

Snag 3. Trying to obtain a volunteer (with strong stomach) to dispose of the various dead rats/pigeons and other wildlife that had set up home in the ATC Plant Room.

Danny, you asked where do flies go in winter. The blo*dy Plant Room at Dishforth ATC, that's where.

[Danny42C]

Wander00 (#41),
That was the situation when I arrived at Leeming in the autumn of 1967.
The WRAF were just starting to come in. The girls put up with it, but they didn't like it. I put a memo in through SATCO to Flying Wing (where there were separate loos, but fifty yards away - fine on a sunny afternoon, but not on a winter's night with howling winds and thrashing rain).
After summarising the problem, I added: "I cannot but believe that Group Caption Paul (Command Queen Bee) does not know of this arrangement and would not like it if she did".
A little quiet blackmail works wonders. The first pack of bricks was outside the back door the next Monday afternoon. The "erection" was a little square extension on the SW corner (of the "old" Tower). For years you could see in on Google Earth.
I suggested that a little blue plastic plaque might be attached, crediting my part
in the affair, but strangely the proposal did not gather support.


Pontius Nav (#62),
Never had anything to do with Nerve Gas. Mustard (used as a corrosive liquid) more my line.

[MPN11]

Danny42C ... always the gentleman. I'm sure your erection was appreciated by the ATC WRAF :)

Meanwhile, at Leeming much later, I've seen much reference to the "Little Chef" tower at Leeming, but apart from stuff on file at NATS which I perused I've never seen a public photo. Designed, and built, to be a bit 'war-proof', with proper arrangements for NBC decontamination and the like.

Has anyone got a photo? Or anything?

Sorry this is a bit 'modern' for this Thread, but WTF.

[taxydual]

MPN have a look here

Air Traffic Control Tower, RAF Leeming (C) Frank Glover :: Geograph Britain and Ireland (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/364318)

[MPN11]

MPN have a look here

Air Traffic Control Tower, RAF Leeming (C) Frank Glover :: Geograph Britain and Ireland (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/364318)Ah, thank you :ok:

[Pom Pax]

No wonder Danny liked TI's tower it was barely run in when he took up residence. I observed the complete construction of it as we u/t navs crossed and recrossed the airfield in crocodile fashion in wind and rain during the winter of '57 - '58.