ATC History

[xpz67]

Ladies and gentlemen.

I am writing the history of the UK ATC system.

I need to contact anyone who was strutting his/her stuff from 1945 onwards, or even a wartime Flying Control officer.

I promise I won't tell the others here how old you are.

Thanks.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Hope it's going to be sensible (none of us are!) but it's an immensely complex subject. If you think I can help in any way you can email me at [email protected]

You may want to contact GATCO - articles on ATC history have often appeared in their publications over the years.

[Atcham Tower]

Get a copy of FTK Bullmore's The Dark Haven, published in 1956. Abebooks have several at low prices. Much on wartime Flying Control and also the origins of what became D&D. (See other thread.)

[BDiONU]

Search of this forum throws up some things (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=309586&highlight=history). If you want to read the definitive account of the early history and development of Radar, get yourself the book "RDF1" by Michael Bragg.

BD

[xpz67]

Thanks guys.

At the moment the book stands at about 140,000 words and covers the development of wireless, radar etc and goes back to the 1922 mid-air which started what we have today.

I have the "Dark Haven", now there was a brave man to fight to get his methods accepted. He saved 100's of lives.

I have contacted the Guild etc. but have lost the telephone number of Berny Brown. He is on the south coast somewhere.

The book has been rejected by 3 publishers because I have named the names of those in Bomber Command who refused to have someone on the ground telling their pilots what to do. As a result they lost so many crews and aircraft who just could find a place to land in bad weather.

Some of the book was published in the CAA house magazine under the title "Heavy weather".

Did any of you work in the "Listed" building at Uxbridge after the war?

Thanks.

[Atcham Tower]

Bernard Brown lived in Bournemouth the last I heard. I worked with him for a while at Coventry. Fascinating to talk to him about wartime Flying Control. He actually did ZZ approaches in anger. I was going to mention the Heavy Weather book project, not realising that you are the author! By the way, I have an original copy of a School of Flying Control (Watchfield) Nav Plotting exam paper from 1944. (Don't ask.) Not so different from the stuff we learned in the 1960s/70s except that types like Wellingtons are in it.

[xpz67]

Hi Atcham.

I'll tell you a funny story about him.

He was the crew chief on TMA North and issued a clearance to a WU departure in Q Code. He told Kath Osbourne, the ATCA that he didn't expect her to understand the Q code but she had been in ATC longer than him.

For the rest of the day she wrote down everything in the Q code and he had to ask her what most of the stuff meant.

Wonderful days.

Just as an aside, I have investigated the mid-air at Harefield and identified the the poor sucker who took the blame. It wasn't him but the inadequate proceedures at the time and I have said so in the book.

I really do want to contact him again.

Thanks.

[xpz67]

I forgot this bit.

Would you ladies and gentlemen use your good contacts to find me a "Flying Control" officer from WW2?

The ones I found have now all left this place for the great tower in the sky.

Thanks.

[canard68]

I look forward to reading your book I wonder if you will include anything on Anglia control and Midland control operated by the americans in the 50s and 60s.

http://twinbases.org.uk/photab/anglow1.htm

[xpz67]

Hi 68.

The thing that surprised me more than anything else was that the RAF and USAF operated their wartime ATC systems as if the other did not exist.

After the war they fitted in with the UK ATC system, on the area side at least.

The American view of ATC in the war was very different to the RAFs' and we could have learnt a lot from them.

Having controlled at EGDM and experienced visiting detachments of US military aircraft I don't know how they didn't have 100 air-misses on every flight.

However, the BBQs were fantastic.