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Runway Controllers and the Runway Caravan

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Runway Controllers and the Runway Caravan

Old 28th Mar 2017, 17:37
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Danny42C

Yup called the Old Tower as we moved across to the new one (Happy Eater) on the Leeming Bar side during my time there. Old Tower was next to the Met Office and Ops WG HQ in front of the Gaydon hangars. Had hours of fun sending soft fruit through the pneumatic tube (Lanson?)when certain Met Observers were on duty. Old Tower had a concrete balcony at the first floor around the side of the SATCOs office and the back of the Approach Room (airfield side). Remember a box van from Menwith Hill (US Listening Base near Harrogate) pitching up to pick up stuff from a regularly visiting C12 (bubblegum run and crypto) and park underneath the balcony. Man gets out of van, he must have been nearly 20 stone and built like a barn door. Van suspension relieved of the weight, promptly jams itself under balcony, man gets back in van but it remains stuck. MT had to rescue him by letting tyres down and dragging it out. By this time the C12 had arrived and bags of Top Secret stuff (now probably freely available on Wikileaks) or Ben & Jerry's ice cream was left on the edge of VAS whilst the big bloke was fretting about the van roof. He never came back again!
Happy Days
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Old 28th Mar 2017, 17:59
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XM 610. Danny was that the Vulcan that featured in the opening pages of 'Black Buck'?
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Old 28th Mar 2017, 18:07
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Crash of Avro Vulan XM610 over County Durham

The crash of XM610
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Old 29th Mar 2017, 13:35
  #64 (permalink)  
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higthepig (#61),

Got the picture now - we were in the "old" Tower ! (when did they move, btw ?). And why would they need a new Tower anyway ?
...Old Tower had a concrete balcony at the first floor around the side of the SATCOs office and the back of the Approach Room (airfield side)...
Which had been put to good use. On the S. side (W. end), this balcony had been boxed-in to create a small room, and a door led into the Approach Room. Leeming was a Master Airfield, so there was a full crew on 24/365. But, though Approach and Local were "waking" Watches, Radar Controller had a bunk in ths cubby-hole where he/she slept the night when not needed (it had a stout bolt on the door !)

"I wonder" mused SATCO to me one day: "how many of our wives know that their husbands are sometimes spending the night on duty with an attactive girl sleeping only feet away ?" ....... (My guess is "none"). But our loyal girls didn't "shop" us - not even in the powder-room natter on WAG nights in the Mess (AFAIK). At least, mine didn't know - or I would never have heard the end of it !

We lived dangerously ....

Danny.
 
Old 29th Mar 2017, 13:38
  #65 (permalink)  
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Danby,Leeming maybe but not at Kinloss, nor was there a door in ASI ops.
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Old 29th Mar 2017, 13:40
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Originally Posted by Danny42C
...with an attactive girl sleeping only feet away ?"
Now that we know the Mode distance, I can't be the only stats nerd wondering what the Mean, Median and (especially) Range were.
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Old 29th Mar 2017, 15:36
  #67 (permalink)  
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Pontius Navigator (#65),

Nor at Thorney Island (1960). Cubby-hole on ground floor along corridor from Met office. No WRAF. Kipped in it many a night (CPN-4 radar was out on the field, but Landy could get me out there in a couple of minutes).

(Leeming [1970] had the AR-1 and PAR consoles in Approach).

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
hoodie (#66),

"Range" immaterial - where there's a will, there's a way ! Always highest standard of professional behaviour when I rostered myself on in those circumstances. On occasions when I was not present, never heard of any untoward happenings during night. No doors ever found broken open. So assume nothing ever happened. Or at least hope not !

But .... "What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over" ........

Once found suspicious new young WRAF Controller closely examining door and frame for drill-holes ! (no, not Section Officer Harvey) - none found !

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Cheers, both. Danny.
 
Old 29th Mar 2017, 18:20
  #68 (permalink)  
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I was posted from Brüggen to Leeming for my second tour there, just in time to partake in two momentous happenings, one was the beginning of Desert Shield and the other, of course, the move from the old tower to the new tower, unofficially christened by the staff as "The Happy Eater", due to its architectural similarity to a travellers rest further along the A1. I suspect that if asked for an opinion, a certain member of the Royal Family may have likened it to a carbuncle. But hey, what do I know about architecture?
One day, not having been tasked with caravan duty and saving flying airmen from themselves,I was otherwise busy, along with a few other tower staff in returning to the old tower to remove items on a list provided by the admin Seargent for removal to the Happy Eater and to scavenge for anything that may have been missed from the list but which might have been "useful" I espied a piece of Gucci looking kit (no, don't ask, I can't remember). Said Gucci piece was obviously mains powered, considering the size of the wire it was permanently attached and which disappeared under the floor of local. Now, I considered myself as a cautious type so, before attacking this mains wire, I asked the ground radio guy, who, like ourselves, was busy plundering things, if the power had been disconnected. Assured by his confirmation that the power was off, I used my trusty pliers (my own, from the tool kit in our beloved Mazda 626) to cut through the mains wire which resulted in, of course, a loud BANG! a bright blue flash and my pliers, having totally shorted out the 240v AC, fell to the ground with a ginormous hole burnt in them, never to cut another cable and my so called colleagues laughing their heads off.
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Old 29th Mar 2017, 18:32
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Hahaha, mine was unplugging a none working fluorescent tube in a vc10 which was still plugged in one end and I will be blowed, it lit up when my hand crossed the other end terminals, it also threw me across the cabin lol.
The other was on nights unplugging the stores printer to plug into my PC and crashing the whole of the stores system.


I trust you carried on unplugging it and helped yourself to it.
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Old 2nd Apr 2017, 15:30
  #70 (permalink)  
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Just Another Day At The Office

Nutloose, yes indeed. Piece of Gucci kit was removed and now over 27 years later, I expect that it is still doing sterling service in the Happy Eater (I wish i could remember what it was!!)

Anyway, enough of this tower talk already… This thread is in recognition of those stalwart fellows who will sit in their caravan 75’ from the edge of the runway and trust in their binoculars and verey pistols to stop those aircraft from taking off that shouldn’t ought to and to stop those aircraft from landing that shouldn’t ought to. (Wheels up landings are very noisy and very expensive, as can be Lightening departures with a ruptured ventral tank. Somebody tried to bollock me on that one, but I stood my ground).

Another time, yet again at Brüggen, one Tonka crew found out who their friends were. Tartan formation (I use Tartan as a generic c/s ‘cos there’s lots of different colours in there) a flight of 4 Tornados lined up on 27 and went through the usual things with the throttles and things prior to departure. As the lead pair got to the bit where they went to full dry and just before the brakes off/ burner in bit, the no2 aircraft port wing tank (the big ones, 1500 litre?) ruptured with an impressive oomph and sprayed Avtur everywhere. I made a call on the R/T - “STOP,STOP,STOP Tartan 2 your port tank has ruptured!”

Well, I tell you, it was like the Tartan 2 crew had rung a bell and called out “Unclean - Unclean” as Lead rapidly moved up the runway and off at the first exit while 3 & 4 managed to turn around from where they were and scuttled off somewhere safe.

Meanwhile our unclean crew had shut down and raised the canopy, discussing, I should imagine, as to whether it was better to drop off the aircraft or wait for Crash 1. AFAIR Crash 1 got there pretty swiftly and got a ladder up to the crew who were taken back to the sqn, 17 or 31, as I seem to remember they came from the north side.

As for me, I managed to convince the DATCO that It wasn’t really safe sitting less than 150’ from 1500ish L of AVTUR and where I was safely able to have a drag on one of my No6 fags. As your man says on the TV program “The Chase”. Just another day at the office.

ACW342 or McG
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Old 3rd Apr 2017, 17:48
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Things seem to be slowing down a little on this thread so come on, lets not turn Danny into a Dutchman. Apart from all the stories from inside the 'van, there must be some stories from outside the 'van, you know, all those drivers airframe and their Directional Advisors in the back seat, or the loadie asking 'why are we going round?' or what was that red firework for? So dig deep for those little gems (and, possibly, confessions) from days gone bye.

Last edited by ACW342; 3rd Apr 2017 at 17:50. Reason: Touched the trackpad too quickly b4 finishing
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 15:18
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Yet again, another day in the office

Yep, yet again just another day at the office, situated, as per “The Book”, 75’ from the runway edge and 150’ from the threshold. The morning waves had been and gone, visitors and PDs throughout the morning and early afternoon, a spotters heaven I suppose. Mid afternoon and a pair of Tonkas break into the circuit, Lead rolls but no.2 calls “No Nose wheel Low light” (Tonka drivers can explain what the means and what the ramifications are). For me it means there’s going to be an approach end RHAG (Rotary Hydraulic Arresting Gear) engagement and I’ll have to visually confirm that the aircraft arrestor hook is in the down position prior to landing. No real drama here, i’ve watched plenty of these.

The tannoy goes out from the tower, “Emergency State Two” etc etc, The fire section races into action positioning themselves at the RV point by the “Deafen Inn” (Air Traffickers own pub on the airfield, near the runway, hence the name). Crash one out onto the runway after the lead aircraft lands and raises the approach end cable up onto its grommets, as the cable normally sits in a slight groove etched across the runway surface. Round about now the duty squadron engineers are arriving at the RV point with a tug and tow bar and some other kit that I can’t quite remember.

All is now set to receive the problem aircraft which calls downwind, three greens and hook down, which I confirm to the tower having checked with my trusty 7x50s, and continue to follow the aircrafts path downwind and onto base, calling finals 3 greens and hook down. All looks good, rolling level, nice approach, right on the numbers……..right on the numbers? Uh oh…..

In my time, on most RAF Airfields, the main instrument runway had a great big net at the runway ends, called the barrier, and while up is usually 12’ 6’ (3.8M) tall. Normally the departure end is either UP or on STANDBY (Like the good old Duke of York, neither up nor down) and, of course, at the arrivals or approach end it is DOWN. That is that the stanchions at either side are level with the ground clear of the runway, and the net forms a nice tidy heap about 2’ tall, with the steel top cable resting on this heap and all of which are the full width of the runway. Normally arriving aircraft float over the down barrier on their way to touch down on said numbers.

However, with the hook down the bottom most part of an aeroplane is now several feet closer to the ground and which meets said ground many many feet before the wheels touch down. That is why pilots are instructed to land, IIRC, 1000’ or so into the runway in order to ensure separation from the barrier. In this case however, our hero was right on the numbers and as Murphy would have it, the hook touched down just short of the barrier and picked up the net and, disastrously, the top cable.

Sat in my office and with the realisation that “Uh Oh” was about to turn into “WTF” and my right hand only half way to the roof mounted Verey pistol, I could only watch in slow motion as 16 tons of Tornado at a speed of 146 Kts. proceeded to totally destroy the barrier, catching the net and the top cable, which snapped both stanchions out of their mountings, and ripped out cable drums and break units and their associated concrete foundations and scattered them all over the airfield and down the runway before the top cable snapped, leaving the Tonka to continue on its way to the RHAG.

As the jet went past me my eyes were drawn to the nearest bit of barrier kit, a piece weighing several hundred pounds, which managed to reach a great height and accelerated almost to the arrival speed of the aircraft and was describing a parabola that looked like it was about to arrive at the caravan, just about where I was sitting. Fortunately for me, and my Wife and children, it hit the ground just short of the ‘van and stopped about 3’ away from my pink and trembling body.

As for the Tonka, it engaged the RHAG as per normal and came to a safe stop. Once stopped the pilot made the usual call giving the speed and weight of the aircraft on cable engagement and made a comment saying “ I felt a retardation just before the RHAG, did I catch something?”

Now that his airfield was “Black” and the barrier scattered all over the runway and other station aircraft diverted, the Station Commander came out to survey the damage and, most unusually, paid a visit to the ‘van where he realised how close this incident came to being a fatal accident. Shortly thereafter I was relieved and after making a statement as to what I had witnessed, was stood down.

Strangely enough, when I was describing the days main event to my family over dinner that evening, downplaying things, as you do, my wife thought it was quite hilarious. However the following day she was quite perturbed to find out from her work colleagues that she was almost widowed. The other strange thing was that in place of the normal gift of something alcoholic, the pilot sent me a multi pack of new underpants.

Just another day at the office?
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 16:00
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Good tale ... glad you're still here to share that

Those Barriers and RHAGs were nasty things, best kept a long way away from.
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 16:10
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ACW342 (#72),
...Shortly thereafter I was relieved....
I'm not surprised ! (but a miss is as good as a mile).


The Y-fronts were a bonus !








[/QUOTE]
 
Old 17th Apr 2017, 18:20
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You might also remember that our "Goldstar" hero took the opposite end barrier whilst trying to do another RHAG engagement to the opposite runway! D*** D*****!

3P
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 18:31
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In another era and whilst a young Plt Off ATC type at Lyneham back in 1970 ish. I was on duty, in local, one Saturday afternoon (very quiet shift) when I had a call from either Crash 1 or the caravan controller (can't remember if we had one or not, anyone remember?) saying that there was a car and caravan combo parked by the marshalling point! Told him to get owner of said combo up to local pronto. Turns out the bloke was from Birmingham, en-route to Cornwall, with his family and had decided to take a break for lunch and though it would be a good idea to watch the aeroplanes at close quarters.........he said that nobody queried him when he drove onto the camp!

3P
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 18:39
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Hmmm ... who are you? I shall consult OH, who was Adj of 216 around that time.
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 19:02
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Originally Posted by MPN11
Good tale ... glad you're still here to share that

Those Barriers and RHAGs were nasty things, best kept a long way away from.

While on the subject of Barriers I seem to remember that around the mid 90's they started a nasty habit of popping up of their own accord without any input from the local controller.

We certainly had to disable the remote for the barrier at RAF Leuchars to prevent any chance of it doing it's own thing.

Was the true cause ever found?
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 19:03
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After my time, Sir. I was NATS or MoD by then. Last airfield was Stanley in 83
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Old 17th Apr 2017, 20:31
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Sapper.

Leeming's southern barrier picked up the 'habit' of raising itself. Finally diagnosed as water getting into the electrics.

Speaking of the southern barrier. After a 4 ship Vulcan scramble (the V's had dispersed on exercise) the southern barrier had taken a bit of a jet efflux beating. I informed the Local Controller who cycled the thing. Sure enough it was tangled to hell.

"Could you nip out of the Caravan and see what you can do to untangle it?" came the reply from the young Flying Officeress in Local.

Being young and keen (and an idiot) I obeyed.

After 5 minutes of unravelling what I could, herself promptly dropped the barrier netting on me! After extricating myself from the nylon? (and learning the hard way of how a North Sea Haddock feels after an encounter with a Grimsby trawler) I regained the safety of the Caravan.

"Oh sorry" herself apologised, "but I've traffic joining".

The traffic was a Gazelle helo joining visually at the mid point of the runway.

Such fun.
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