MPN11,
I quote your: "(I see that on 21 Apr 83 I was endorsed for RA (Radar Approach) on the new AR15 radar by my 2nd LEO at Waddington - I wonder who had endorsed him on the new kit?? Must have been an ATCEEB special visit.)"
A case of "Quis custodiet custodes ipsos ?" - or, "which came first, the chicken or the egg ?"
Seriously, delighted to have you on board ! Another contributor is always as welcome here as flowers in Spring; gives us all something new to "get our teeth into". For a start, it's been fascinating for me to read how far later ATC training policies had developed from the rude practices of my day. Makes me wonder how we ever managed at all !
I can relate to your opening remarks about Shawbury in the '60s. In my years there, I came to three distinct conclusions about what the place was for . First, I adopted the Received Wisdom that it turned out Air Traffic Controllers. After a while it became clear that that was complete nonsense. What it did was to turn out the skeletons of ATCs, who later would be clothed by the flesh of experience. At the end, the truth dawned: it was no more than a giant Aptitude Test. If you could hack it there, you could learn to be an ATC on your Station (and vice versa !)
Now I leave the field to others, and await your "Funny Things which Happened to Me on the Way to the Theatre" (aka Early Flying Days in the True Blue, stude at Shawbury, and all points up the Greasy Pole).
All the best, Danny.
BTW - has anyone else noticed the enormous jumps in the "Views" totals on this Thread over the past week or so ? (we must be doing something right)...D.