In a previous existence I was on the crew of one of the RAF’s mobile Ground Controlled Approach units. We were posted to Heathrow to help it cope with the foul weather of the 1947 winter. The new runways were still being built and the terminal alongside the northern peri-track was a group of khaki tents with duckboard floors.
An early version of ILS was installed but it was very temperamental and not many of the aircraft were equipped to receive it. Our new-fangled GCA was regarded with deep suspicion and many pilots seemed to prefer the wartime Standard Beam Approach. Everything changed one murky day when a BSAA Lancastrian made several aborted SBA approaches, helped by a runway controller firing off Very lights. When a shortage of cartridges threatened, the pilot finally agreed to try a GCA approach. Just as our controller said ‘You are a quarter of a mile from touchdown - look ahead for the runway’ the snow providentially cleared and the pilot found himself perfectly lined up.
Soon he came out to our site and shook hands all round, promising to spread the word. Within a week we were working non-stop. Everyone wanted to practise GCA approaches.
I hope these extracts from my album will be of some interest.
The Bendix GCA truck, self- contained with its own diesel generator. When the wind changed, everything trundled off to the new location alongside the upwind end of the new runway.
Clipper America, a Gold Plate Constellation NC86520 which was on its first stop during PAA’s first round-the-world scheduled flight, 18 June 1947.
A Lockheed Lodestar of the French Air Force.
CF-TEQ, a DC 4m of TCA.
Sabena DH Dove.