Leeming 69-74
Hi Danny, one of those straight in from school SSC young controllers who arrived at Leeming in Dec 69, aged 19 1/2 to be sent straight on leave for Christmas. Returned in the New Year to be trained by you and other stalwarts such as M Plt Bill Ledsham. A tall lanky young officer criticised by SATCO in my first 1369 for an un-officerly, un-military air and tendency to lean on the nearest wall, door jam or whatever!
I recall being taken to Teesside for a liaison visit in an elderly Peugeot with an electric clutch and shown the repaired hole in the OM wall.
We certainly ran CADF QGHs with all the Speechless NCNG shenanigans etc. I recall one night SCT session when 3 QFIs queued up in turn for Speechless QGHs and by the time the last one was about to be handed over to Director the first one had come round again as Speechless 4. Fun though and a bit of banter was allowed providing SATCO wasn't listening too closely.
Like MPN11, I recall mixed CRDF/CADF times at Leeming, only once, when a Swedish Flying School exchange who brought their Saab 105s to fly with the 3 FTS JPs. the Saabs were on VHF and with altimeters in metres as opposed to the JPs on UHF and flying at FLs. We did benefit from the wondrous "minicoms" system though with proper headsets by my time there.
We were carefully inducted by the "old and bold" as you all appeared to this young man anyway and hopefully were a bit better for it. Certainly I was a Supervisor in 72/3 ish before going back to Shawbury to instruct in 74.
Goodness, memories.