76 Course Veterans

[Seaton Approach]

Hi folks,

Looking to catch up with some of my old 76 Course chums from CATC / Bailbrook - in particular:

Anyone who stayed at the 'Harbourne' Westby Road
Any of the 'Blippies' from BT IAL Bailbrook College
'Mincer' Bell and 'Leek-man Reese'
Anyone else who managed to graduate with no less than TWO written warnings from Cadet Mgr in their portfolio....

Seriously, any info greatly appreciated - feel free to PM me!

Cheers,
SA! :ok:

[surface wind]

Seaton Approach,

Used to spend toooooo much time in the 'har bonk' as I remember it!!!!

Ohhhh those people who used to go home with scratches on their back........... insert 'car here' or 'card here' as I remember

......mincer bell....met him a couple of years ago in a bar in Jersey....think he is still working at Costa Swanick

.....Reese man I believe is working for SERCO, but don't quote me on it....

yes and I remember the written warnings all toooooo well.....

are you the one that shagged the owners wife by chance.....

whatever happened to those beautiful students from B'mouth uni?

Surface Wind

...the memories come flooding back!!!!!!:ok:

[Tower Ranger]

Hi Seaton,

Surface I`d forgotten you were on that cours as I only joined it at the Area Procedural stage at Jailbrook.

Yes indeed written warnings, a lecture from Mike Edwards and the Thursday night out banned because Friday morning sim runs became a waste of time. All in all pretty good preparation for the real world of ATC.

Last I heard Reese was with Serco in Gibraltar.

[Seaton Approach]

Surface Wind,

Wasn't me who did the deed with the Landlord's missus - another great sporting moment in the history of 76 Course though!

The Harbonk (aka Harbourne) got it's name coz of some rather entrepeneuristic tactics from the Landlord - 9 rooms in his B+B, 9 ATCO Cadets. Introduce 9 student female nurses from the Uni and hey presto - he doubled his money when we all shacked up! EXCEPT that it all backfired for him when his missus became the next victim....... :E

Amongst others, here are a few classic moments that spring to mind.........

Thursday nights in the Harbourne with a couple of cases of Diamond White followed by a trip to The Academy and Benedicts followed by Friday mornings in the Sims..... :yuk:

Getting totalled in a boozer on the Yeoviltown Museum visit and having to hitch a lift on the trailer of a friendly farmer and his tractor to catch the coach home.

Written warnings for me and Mincer for being so spannered we rolled onto shift at STN (OJT) FOUR hours late.

Written warnings for HALF the course when we realised that Ralf (W)Anchor's lectures at Cranfield weren't worth turning up for in the second week - shame Mr Edwards decided to pay us a visit that same week :\

The HUGE fire-extinguisher fight in the corridors at Jailbrook - Reese man pelting everyone with his paint ball gun and that Thai chap 'Charlie Whiskey' just blasting everyone away when he decided to use the heavy duty fire hose nicely coiled up in a case by the stairs

MORE Thursday nights out followed by MORE 'CLOCK'S OFF' in the sims on a Friday morning due to :yuk: and because some folk were still in their rooms... :zzz:

Getting banned from any more Thursday nights out due to non-transponding 'kebab sized chunks' of traffic appearing on our radar tubes:p

Building a brick wall outside Mincer's bedroom door so he couldn't get out :}

And the piece de resistance......

Replacing the brass 'B' from the plaque of the then soon to be opened new Simulator wing with a brass 'J' so that JAILBROOK was shown to one and all at the Grand Opening - NICE WORK!:ok:

Thanks to all who have PM'd me and posted here - great memories of some fantastic times! Surface Wind / Tower Ranger, PM's to follow shortly......

Any other classis moments greatly appreciated!!!!!

Cheers,
SA!

[hooplaa]

Have just stopped crying with laughter........adding to the memories

'Kate' Armstrong falling asleep during one of the most boring lectures ever, waking with a great snore standing up then falling backwards off chair - lecturer not missing a beat says 'steady on there old chap'........

Mincer and the great morning after at Jailbrook - didn't know he had that much in him. Would have hated to have been there when he handed his MATS 1 back........

The football game at Jailbrook over a few barrels of real cider, ooh aaar ooh aar, followed by the burning of a few trees........I believe a tradition was started then!!

Those very hazy nights in the Academy, I remember one night there being 45 out of our 46 students in full party mode, god knows what the locals thought - jesus the Karaoke!!

Fluffy being scared to death his wife ever found out what he really got up to on a Thurs night.........just beers and a kebab

After Chas and Fluffy spending many an honest beer fuelled night out or over at Den and Sams, their wives finding out Den and Sam were girls not blokes .....

Memories - nice one SA

;)

[surface wind]

Just remembered the time I was interviewed by special branch after one of my course members decided it would be a good idea to warn them of the 'irish bast44d' in the strand hotel

cheers mark!

[hooplaa]

... or McKinlays full re-enactment of the great escape whilst rescuing a football

... or a recoursed guys discourse on 'Low visibility operations' turning into an appraisal of the difficulties facing a surgeon during a powercut - even the lecturer was impressed

...or, the course affairs - or was that coarse affairs!!

... and finally - how many planes did our course right-off during flying training?
One in a field, one took out an ILS and the other pulled the choke stick out

[Seaton Approach]

Absolutely p*ssing my sides with laughter! Keep 'em coming guys.

Who remembers this one.......

Nicking Dave R***'s room keys down at Jailbrook in order for a little bugging device to be strategically placed behind his headboard - so when the entire course tuned in on their alarm clock radios we got live action of Dave getting it on with that cleaner chick we all suspected him of sh*gging on the side!!!!!

And those immortal words she uttered... "Let me play with your Silky Meat..."!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately Den saw the ethical shortcomings in this and ordered all our radios turned off at once. EXCEPT she forgot about Arnie (Dean B) who had a couple of tape recorders going.

Hmmm, wonder what happened to those tapes.......;)

[hooplaa]

How about breaking into fluffy's room and boot polishing his toilet seat, he had some explaining to do to Ann as to why his shreddies were a streaky black colour!

Procedural area course dinner, very nice meal shame about Dave Raza fast asleep under the table honking his guts up.

Fluffies aerodrome oral board, third question in "what is the M.E.R. for the aerodrome rating" after a long pause for thought Fluff replied with absolute unshakable confidence "blue". Went down hill from then on.

Deans procedural oral board where Martin "chopper" Sutton said the only way it could have been worse was if that candidate had come in dressed as coco the clown and riding a tricycle.

Recreation was playing the 9 hole approach golf course, who can forget Dave Adams on course to break the record until he had his unfortunate 18 on the last hole.

Everybody buying jet propelled rockets and firing them at the top of the hill until gareth's rocket hit a cow and half killed it.

John White asking Cranfield lecturer Ralph Anchor if his middle name was William.

Bob found crying and naked in the corridor of cranfield college
after a horrific drinking sess, lost and couldn't find his way back to denny's room.

[Tower Ranger]

I think deano gave me one of those tapes for safe keeping, that WAS an absolute classic Dave R had the cheesiest chat up lines on the planet.

What about finding out that the reason Julie?( the geordie lass) was banned from drinking by her boyfriend because she turned into a sex maniac after half a shandy!!
I did assistant on both her area proc exam and the one before it and as I walked round behind the examiners after the first run had a quick glance at one of their clipboards which read, "Wait till you see who`s next".

So much of it just blurs into a haze of alcohol fueled close escapes but it all worked out in the end.

Whatever became of Slasher?

[surface wind]

GOD.....I remember slasher....what a waste of space......

I loved Fluffy...especially the time we got him soooo drunk at Cranfield.......and then he nearly got shagged by some bloke on a teachers course!

What did you call the wee jerk from Bournemouth who drove a granada.....last thing I remember was 7 of us pissing on it after a big session :ok:

Oh and Seaton Approach.....just found a picture of you pissing in a saucepan......remember that..........:p

[Seaton Approach]

surface wind,

Didn't we once also 'bounce' somebody's car right across the Harbonk car park one morning so we could get another car out...?

And what about that HUUUUGE cigar that Harbonk Dave brought out one night after returning from The Academy - it fell apart and nearly burned the bloody place down!

Hooplaa and Tower,

Some great moments I forgot about there... Fan-effing-tastic!!!!!

Don't forget Leek-man Reese coming back to Jailbrook at 5am once after a night on the p*ss with only one lens in his glasses - and he didn't even realise!!!! Turns out he spent half the night sleeping in a flower bed.

As for Slasher - maybe he finally plucked up the courage to do the deed......

surface wind,

Oh f*ck - I remember that!

I think it was your missus in fact that came down for a glass of water one night and stumbled across me urinating into a selection of kitchen utensils. :uhoh:

[Fletchers Left Boot]

76 course - my god was that really getting on for 15 years ago?

Cant remember all of you but seeing a few names there I rememeber working with on the sims.. and breathing in the fumes on a Friday morning (some things dont change...)

Was in the CATC (sorry.. DAT&S) library a few weeks back and came across the 76 Course photo's wondering what became of you lot.
Remember seeing "Spike" McKinlay a day or so after the argument with the barbed wire... dont know what happened to the "76 Course Hero" framed bit of barbed wire...

Happy days.

FLB

[yaffs]

scarily 15 years ago, only feels like 5 mins!!!
had forgotten how much fun we all all had
a few more memories
bill dancing with a stool at the academy and falling off the back of the stage
the more tuneful of us belting out crocodile rock and tulips from amsterdam at benedicts
i confess to being a tad heavy handed when pulling out the carb heat knob and handing it, trailing wires and all to the instructor, leading to us having to fly for a while to find a hole in the cloud to descend through - oops!! this was the day before one was crash landed in a field - to be fair not the students fault!!!
i enjoyed many a starter drink in the harbourne prior to the delights of boscombe
poor fluffy's wife though - having to get the kebab "tie" washed off his thursday night shirt every week!
anyone want to get in touch - feel free to pm me!

yaffs

[man friday]

ah, seaton approach( or should that be seaton"bloody"approach)with hommage to don decruz!

all those cider fuelled memories comming back......


......the sight of gareth sipping vodka thru the barrel of a bic pen to numb the pain, cause dave raza had shot his tooth out with a bb gun..by the way who did kidnap his goofy doll from his car and hold it to ransom?

....bob and fluff looking forward to a trip to the thatchers brewery and the sight of the old boy who worked there with his huge blue veined nose....

...dave schofields face when it was explained that not only had dave raza been drunk under the table, but the table in question was the one he was eating off...

and not to forget that plea to a bournemouth pc".. its all right officer, im an officer too, an air traffic control officer..."always a good defence plea in the small hours,when pissed,and when in a fountain!!

ah happy days

man friday

oh and fluffs still the worlds second worst golfer!

[ShyTorque]

Hey, my opinion of ATCOs just went up by a mile!

Shame those nice chaps at Shawbury CATCS used to complain so bitterly about heli pilots doing this sort of thing (not me, of course, I was completed exonerated of the bicycle race over the furniture in the newly decorated OM Ladies' room and those long, burned-into-the-new-carpet black skidmarks past reception were surely an act of God or possibly someone who borrowed my bike).

I take it the brief given to female air traffic students about avoiding CFSH students was just 'cos they wanted a leg over themselves.....

[Seaton Approach]

man friday,

Cheers for the reminder about who shot my front tooth out - I clean forgot! Anyone know what TC Raza is up to now - Tower Ranger mentioned that he had relocated to South Africa....?

Plenty of lions down there but I don't think they like "Silky Meat" so I guess he's probably got a corner shop in Durban selling surf shorts and samosa's or something like that.... :}

One other question....

WHAT the effing hell ever happened to Gary "Och Nooo" Hunter????