hasell
4th Feb 2002, 15:30
Dear All,. .Being one of the lucky ones who attended the GATBASH last June, I attended all the seminars.. .One of which was presented by PPRuNe Radar (Derek). He gave a great talk about ATC. He also stated that if anyone would be interested in a visit to an ATC -he could sort it out. Derek sorted out a visit with a friend (Mike) who works at LATCC.. .Well 8 months on... one cancellation later (due to Sept. 11th) we finally got clearance to go -we being My instructor and I, plus G-SXTY and his instructor.
We met up at LATCC (W. Drayton) around 10:00am sunday morning. Mike was on hand to greet us and show us around. We where given an excellent tour of the facility. It may sound so obvious but it truly is amazing watching those little dots on a screen circling like vultures around the stacks at LHR and then once clearence obtained, moving down the extended centre-line. Whilst there we also met a 'very nice' man from D & D -Distress and Diversion. It gave me a much better appreciation of what goes on.If you should ever get into trouble and dial up 121.5Mhz -these guys are only too willing to help you out! & they don't bit.. .From there we proceeded to LHR Tower.. .Mike could only take us in groups of two up into the tower part, where the controllers sit. So we took the elevator to the top floor. Whilst Mike took Katherine and David into the top part of the tower. My instructor and I waited at the level below. At this level, there is a door which leads out onto an open area. We ventured outside, the view from here is FANTASTIC!!! Despite the rain yesterday, nothing could take the grin off our faces.. .The aircraft where landing on 27R and taking off from 27L. Since the tower is centrally located the panoramic view is stunning. Finally my instructor and I got to go up to the top level. I was amazed at how calm and relaxed the atmosphere was in the tower. There where approx. eight controllers in there, a couple for ground start up, one for departure, one for arrivals, -two manning this board with leds indicating the lighting layout for the taxiways/runways/aprons, and the remaining for a/c ground movements. These guys and gals have quite a view. . .Finally our tour ended with a short visit to the guys manning 'Thames Control'. They (the controllers) handle a/c movements into London City airport and traffic requests to cross London Airspace.. .All in all a fascinating day out. We all learnt so much.. .A very, VERY, BIG thankyou to:-. .Derek -for organising this event. .Mike -for showing us around and awnsering all our questions!!!. .& all the folks we met at LATCC and the LHR tower.
We met up at LATCC (W. Drayton) around 10:00am sunday morning. Mike was on hand to greet us and show us around. We where given an excellent tour of the facility. It may sound so obvious but it truly is amazing watching those little dots on a screen circling like vultures around the stacks at LHR and then once clearence obtained, moving down the extended centre-line. Whilst there we also met a 'very nice' man from D & D -Distress and Diversion. It gave me a much better appreciation of what goes on.If you should ever get into trouble and dial up 121.5Mhz -these guys are only too willing to help you out! & they don't bit.. .From there we proceeded to LHR Tower.. .Mike could only take us in groups of two up into the tower part, where the controllers sit. So we took the elevator to the top floor. Whilst Mike took Katherine and David into the top part of the tower. My instructor and I waited at the level below. At this level, there is a door which leads out onto an open area. We ventured outside, the view from here is FANTASTIC!!! Despite the rain yesterday, nothing could take the grin off our faces.. .The aircraft where landing on 27R and taking off from 27L. Since the tower is centrally located the panoramic view is stunning. Finally my instructor and I got to go up to the top level. I was amazed at how calm and relaxed the atmosphere was in the tower. There where approx. eight controllers in there, a couple for ground start up, one for departure, one for arrivals, -two manning this board with leds indicating the lighting layout for the taxiways/runways/aprons, and the remaining for a/c ground movements. These guys and gals have quite a view. . .Finally our tour ended with a short visit to the guys manning 'Thames Control'. They (the controllers) handle a/c movements into London City airport and traffic requests to cross London Airspace.. .All in all a fascinating day out. We all learnt so much.. .A very, VERY, BIG thankyou to:-. .Derek -for organising this event. .Mike -for showing us around and awnsering all our questions!!!. .& all the folks we met at LATCC and the LHR tower.