Engineers to the rescue!?!?!?

[All Systems Go]

This might have posted twice, so I apologise if it has.

Hi folks.

This is my first post, so please be nice!!

I'm a Systems Engineer at Swanwick, working next door in Systems Control. I was wondering what you ATC types think of the service we provide to you on a daily basis? Is it any good? Is it what you expect? I worked in Systems at West Drayton for 2 years before moving down to Swanwick in October of last year. Is there any difference in the service you received at LATCC? Is it any better, worse or the same? We're a small band of merry-ish men and we do our best, so tell us if we could do better!!

All comments are welcome as we don't get much in the way of feedback from ATC OPs as to how we are doing.

Cheers folks.

[Loki]

V good so far,keep it up!

I was amused recently , when there was a triple WFD failure on Lakes to see all the sys eng people lined up at the windows watching the fun.

[BEXIL160]

ATC Engineers are a truly marvelous breed and the ones behind the Glass at Swanwick are no exception. Always helpful, often humorous and always ready with a full explanation of the intricacies of the equipment.... sometimes I even understand them :)

Yes, I am very grateful to "our" engineers and I have great admiration for them.

Just one thing. I'm told that you are most of you are forbidden to posess your "badge of Office", the Hot Soldering Iron, on the Swanwick premises. True or False?


Rgds BEX

[All Systems Go]

Perfectly true Bex. Have you ever seen an engineer using a soldering iron for what it was intended? We're not actually allowed to use a whole lot in the "EUZ". Hey ho.

[Flight Plan Fixer]

During one boring three-week-long night shift, a couple of us worked out...using the Functional Directory ( funky dick to its friends) and taking our shoes, socks and trousers off so's we could count to 21...that out of the 1247 NATS engineers, over a thousand of those haven't opened their toolkits (if, indeed, they were ever issued with one) in the past five years.

And those of us that do use a screwdriver as well as a keyboard would probably be sneered at by the rest as being 'technicians'!

Have to admit that my soldering iron (issued in 1979, when it was a 100 watt thermal lance) was last used to install a car alarm...

Back on topic...yep, you guys do a good job down there, and I bet you get as frustrated as our air traffic pals at the equipment and what it CAN'T do...:( ...

Sad, tho', that nobody tels (pardon the pun) the operational ATCOs, ATSAs and ATCEs how good they're doing until there's a failure, FLOP or f*ck-up.

[Cavemonster]

Personally I've found the service at Swanwick to be better than at Drayton but that's probably because we have a lot more to do with you.

We're forever calling on you to fix something that - much of the time - isn't actually broken and you deal with our problems getting to know our kit without putting us down.

[Steep Approach]

I remember Flight Plan Fixers Soldering ...like a releif Map of Wales! They only let him press buttons nowadays.

All those days at Bletchley Park having ones work examined by jewellers magnifying glasses wasted eh FPF?.

Some of us more regional engineers are still able to weild the Precision temperature controlled Soldering station on increasingly rarer occasions.

Playstation Modcip anyone??:D :D

[Flight Plan Fixer]

At leased I kan spel, Womble...
And I never said that the car alarm actually worked after my soldering!

Better get back to the mainframe before this descends into an engineer's chatroom, or a fishing for compliments session for Swanwick tels.

Keep up the good work - EVERYBODY.

[All Systems Go]

You boys ought to come to the future where the air is clean and the screwdrivers untouched!! No, seriously, NERCland is great - fluffy pillows, long hot showers with supple young temptresses to scrub your back, and a wonderful system that only needs the odd tweak!! Ahhhh........I long for the good old days....wait!! what am I talking about? I can't remember the good old days - I'm but a nipper!!!