Was there an End of Course Exam ? Can't remember one. Of course the MPN-1 was the 'only Truck in town' then: they just taught that.
I did the GCA Course at Shawbury/Sleap in late 66, so many of my memories will be foggy. However, I'm fairly sure there was some classroom Exam to ensure we had absorbed the necessary training. But there certainly was an extensive period on on-console assessment, and of course the famous "Truck Test" on the MPN-11.
Remember those vague internal images of the Truck? I now recall the control positions were at Bay 9, Bay 12 and Bay 15 - on the left side. And of course there were equipment bays all down the right side, as well as others filling the spaces between 9/12/15. So what was the "Truck Test"? In essence, the instructor would go into the Truck and, essentially, screw it up! The Precision cursors would be displaced from their proper positions [aligned with the radar reflectors, etc], display gain/contrast controls would be mis-set [to the extent that nothing was visible] and a whole load of other settings [some requiring the use of a small screwdriver deep inside one the bays on the right] would be incorrect
The student then had to work his way around the Truck, here there and almost everywhere, restoring a semblance of normality. First get a credible radar picture, by fine tuning antenna gain and all the other things like that [I remember the words!]. Then set up all the cursors in their correct positions, sort out brightness and contrast. Oh, and don't forget to check all the radios and landlines!!
The whole process could take up to 30 minutes
On Units, the Ground Radio guys hated seeing controllers with screwdrivers clipped into their shirt pockets. It meant that their precious setting-up could be destroyed in an instant by a controller turning the wrong controls. Indeed, on many Units, ATCO's screwdrivers were banned.
Back to you, Danny42C
