So then for anyone that's not been up the tower at Heathrow I can highly recommend it! You are so high up the planes look like toys on the ground! Got a fascinating insight into how everything works, saw all the different screens they use to track aircraft and learned about some of the new technologies they are using.
I was listening in to a ground movement controller today and it totally changed my view of them. I though they had the easiest job but it actually seemed harder than anything else. A few things went wrong while I was up there (planes breaking down, pilots turning where they shouldn't etc) and it was good to see how he adapted things. I understood what was going on but the speed at which everything is handled made my mind boggle.
I also learned that more about the shift patterns and how they swap roles every so often to keep their skills fresh (ground one day, take off the next) and met lots of people who support them while they do their thing.
It's a very close knit team and they said if I wanted to join them that I would need to be top of my class to stand a chance.
An absolutley fascinating day, even if I did have to get my security rub down by the 50yr old guy rather than the hot blonde they had!
Roll on stage 3!