the scope dopes
as an ex raf flight ops cpl let me have a dig at alpha control and all the scopies. if your going to come on here having at go the raf atc branch be prepared to get it back with both barrels. i had 3 tours at leuchars between 85 an last year, my feelings towrds the whole scope dope empire are that you feel you are something special in reality you are in my opinion incompetent. i'll give you a few examples. starex ex priory 1986, i had to pass the entire leuchars orbat to 5 different people in 5 minutes. on various exercises and even on qra i found that the allocator wasnt talking to the fighter marshal, the idro wasnt talking to the maritime marshal and the mc wasnt talking to anyone! although i must say that the female mc at buchan 2 years ago did seem to know what was going on, perhaps she was an ex atco! and what really put the tin hat on it was one saturday morning, one of the q crews doing the daily telebrief checks from the cockpit. he calls me up"loud and clear stand by for neatishead" i ring neatishead to tell them the aircraft is on telebrief and ready for check and sitrep"oh the controllers not in the bunker, hes gone to move his car and wont be back for ten minutes" with great delight i told the airvraft this, the nav just happened to be my boss! the phone line to neat was red hot! oh and finally here a brilliant one from neat on a morning brief" all radars to the north are serviceable except for buchan saxa vord and benbecula" and in closing my i say alpha control that i never did a tour at area radar depite 23 years in tg9.