1960s ATC film

[canard68]

Just spotted this old Min of Aviation film brought back a few memories.

LiveLeak.com - The Controllers

[Red Dragon]

So nothing's changed then..........:}

[fireflybob]

As a pilot it brought some memories back for me - like saving for 2 years to buy the only Aircraft VHF set on the market (made by Shorrock) and listening to the BEA Vanguards et al giving position reports at Lichfield to "Preston Airways" and being handed over to "London Airways"!

Then joined BOAC as Second Officer on B707 in 1970 so the shots of same landing at LHR were quite nostalgic!

Thanks for posting Red Dragon - got any more?

[eastern wiseguy]

So which one IS HD?

[BAND4ALL]

Great find, have walked up those stairs at the start a few times myself :ok:

[Talkdownman]

Excellent! Thanks for that, canard! Seen it before in the School of ATC cinema, but nevertheless a great find! Judging from the 'plastic FPS' and 'HB pencil' it is 'post-metal' flight strips but pre-'HMSO non-retractable biro' which would make it about '64, predating my time at Southern ATCC by a couple of years. I don't recognise the 'performers' as actual ATCOs but the SATCC background scenes are a real memory jerker!

As a pilot it brought some memories back for me - like saving for 2 years to buy the only Aircraft VHF set on the market (made by Shorrock) and listening to the BEA Vanguards et al giving position reports at Lichfield to "Preston Airways" and being handed over to "London Airways"!

125.9 M/cs to 124.6 M/cs. Never thought then that I'd ever get to work at both SATCC and PATCC. Amber 1 at DAV was 10 miles wide then, enough for the entire 707 fleet side-by-side...
Yes, Stan Shorrock converted the 24 quid Decca domestic receiver to receive air band and put a 12 quid mark-up on it. I bought mine from Bob Pooley when I did some work for him in '64. I do believe that the Gauer air band Rx (from agent Peter S. Clifford, Oxford...) pre-dates the Shorrock. Before that I used a DiY 39s 6d Johnson's Radio of Worcester one valve receiver plugged into a Linear Thirty guitar amp. Sowed the seeds big time...

Then joined BOAC as Second Officer on B707 in 1970 so the shots of same landing at LHR were quite nostalgic!

Hamble 691?

[None of the above]

This film is one of six available on a DVD entitled 'British Air Traffic Control 1963-1973'. The DVD was released in 2009 and I have a feeling that it got a mention here at the time. Available from the usual online outlet where it has attracted three reviews, two of them being submitted by ATC staff.
Interestingly, one Air Trafficker gives five stars but the other gives only one.

From the publisher's website:
Five unique archive films exploring the work of Britain's National Air Traffic Control Service.


THE CONTROLLERS (1963, directed by Peter Watkins, Colour, 26 mins)
Filmed at the Southern and Scottish Airways Centres, air traffic control operations are explained to four trainees. A BOAC flight from Prestwick to Rome is diverted to London where priority descent is accorded due to a sick passenger on board. The principles of the holding stack and radio beacons are explained.


WHY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (1970, directed by Bill Mason, Colour, 13 mins)
The operations of the National Air Traffic Control Service within the context of an increasing density of commercial, military and private air traffic. The film explains their division of airspace into lower, middle and upper, and the designation of directed flight corridors for commerical airlines. It also demonstrates 'Approach Control', the localised area of control that is specific to a single airfield. Illustrated throughout by aircraft including the Vickers Viscount, the Concorde prototype, the Vulcan and Harrier.



AIR TRAFFIC UNDER CONTROL (1970, directed by Bill Mason, Colour, 15 mins)
The air traffic control system described in detail, covering airspace layers and zones, local and approach control, and the network of airways. Controllers, receiving the pilot's flight plan and regular radio reports of his position, check the flight on their sector radar display. The film stresses the value of civil and military co-operation in the control of fl ights over the Channel and the North Atlantic.



COMMUNICATION IN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (1970, directed by Bill Mason, Colour, 19 mins)
Visits to the London Control Centre, the Prestwick Oceanic Control Centre, the UK Civil Aviation Centre and the RAF Airmove Network reveal the intricacies and complexities of the then range of communications - ground to air, air to ground and ground to ground - at the disposal of air traffic controllers including VHF and UHF radio signals, radar - both primary location and secondary surveillance variants, Flight Plan Processing Computers and Radar Aerodrome Surface Movement Indicators. The film includes footage of the Trident and the prototype Concorde aircraft.


RADAR FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (1973, directed by Nic Ralph, Colour, 22 mins)
The sophisticated radar equipment safeguarding all aircraft over Britain is the major component of the air traffic control system. Explaining how radar is used, in relation to the network of airways and control sectors, the film shows in detail the stages by which two airliners are guided by air traffic control.



SPECIAL FEATURE: VOLMET (1980, Colour, 5 mins)
A brief insight into the work of London Volmet North (Heathrow) as one of a worldwide network of radio stations that transmit meteorological information for aircraft in flight.

[Widger]

The film is a fake! They are all wearing jacket and tie! Not a faded pair of jeans, dirty t-shirt or pair of trainers in sight. They must be managers not controllers!

[ZOOKER]

Is there a part 2 featuring 'Flying The VOR' and 'The Crowded Sky'?
What about those NATS/Hed Kandi productions that Red used to show at his "Bar Stool Sessions"? :E

[Talkdownman]

The film is a fake! They are all wearing jacket and tie!
If it was hot and we asked nicely Mr Cholmondley-Warner would occasionally permit us to remove our jackets...

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

They're actors unfortunately... good nostalgia in there though.

[fireflybob]

Hamble 691?

692b actually - Happy Days!

[Vercingetorix]

Red Dragon

So nothing's changed then.

The accents and the diction!

[Eric T Cartman]

If it was hot and we asked nicely Mr Cholmondley-Warner would occasionally permit us to remove our jackets...
Still the same in the 80's : I was field member on a rating board @ Hurn - temp outside about 80F & windows shut due to noise of drilling outside ; I was asked to keep my jacket on so we could present a uniform & tidy appearance to the candidates ; good job there was plenty of water available !
:hmm:

[DC10RealMan]

One of the trainees says that "he is interested in aviation", that phrase would immediately disqualify him from selection nowadays.

[Brian 48nav]

The only good thing about the so-called dress code in those far off days was that no man would be seen dead wearing an earring - unless he was a gypsy!

I think I may have been the first person to wear shorts to work at LL - much to Norrie Wales disgust! Mind you my legs are quite nice!

Malc, do you remember when we had 'shorts only days' and the lack of concentration on the job in hand (not sure about that phrase!) when the lovely Flossie wore hers, not to mention Basher etc!

[chevvron]

I remember Pete Wyre being 'spoken to' by the Watch Manager (Tom Hodkinson) because not only did he remove his jacket, but he had the audacity to wear a short sleeved shirt with tie (just like talkdownman).
He told Tom that if it was OK for the chief of New York ARTCC, then it was good enough for him.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

When the air conditioning in Heathrow Tower packed up, JK stripped down to trousers and a cravat! The boss had a word with him and the next time JK was in the tower and the boss came up, he said in a stage whisper "Do you require an acknowledgment to my admonishment?"

[SwanFIS]

When we were doing our original FISO course at LATCC a couple of us had the audacity one day to attend not wearing a tie. The repost from the wonderful TT (and avid reader of Proon).................'I didn't realise it was mufti day today'

For the rest of the course we made sure we were correctly attired :ok:

[coldair]

A great find, many thanks :)

I noticed it was directed by Peter Watkins who aldo made the film 'The War Game'

Was that Kenneth Willliams at the end ?



coldair

[Brian 48nav]

It was amazing that some people used to think that men wearing a jacket and tie were doing a better job than us scruffy types! IMHO ties and bowties are a complete waste of the Earth's resources.
The stench of body odour must have been awful - men who invariably smoked (ugh!) wearing the same jacket,jumper and trousers for years on end! Still, they wore ties and therefore must have been fantastic controllers.
Rant continues, I remember Mike Walton telling me that, when a cadet, he had turned up for work one hot day at Hurn Twr (c1971)wearing open-toed sandals and was sent home to change!
Back to my bathchair.

[chevvron]

There was a controller at Bedford used to wear open toed sandals. He eventually became the boss at ATSD, and still wore open toed sandals.

[Mr_Grubby]

1970's a controller on D Watch at LATCC was spoken to by the Watch Manager about his attire. He was wearing jeans !!!!! Heavens above.

By the next shift he had gone to Moss Bros and turned up in full top hat and tails and a cane.

We all thought it was great. Watch Manager didn't see the funny side though.

C.

[ZOOKER]

I remember an early 80s nightshift when a colleague turned up in a tee-shirt with bullfighters on, purchased on his first holiday abroad since becoming an ATCO2.
Sent home to change.

[Brian 48nav]

I recall at a ATCOs union meeting at Stockport in c'84, a member of the LATCC delegation wore a T shirt with a penis on legs chasing a fanny on legs and written over the top was something like 'Life's one f**king thing after another'. Didn't go down too well with older delegates!

No prizes for guessing which dark-haired short Scotsman called J** it was!

[chevvron]

Did he once get his national insurance paid by HM for a week?

[GAPSTER]

That's the one.Same T-shirt appeared when said fellow was on Flow Control one afternoon duty...into the office for bollocking from,if I recall correctly,Frank Weigheddownwithmoney

[Spitoon]

There was a controller at Bedford used to wear open toed sandals. He eventually became the boss at ATSD, and still wore open toed sandals.Not the boss....but he did wear the sandals on occasion.

[DC10RealMan]

I was told that the boss at Bedford was a highly decorated World War II ex-RAF Bomber Command Lancaster pilot who was one of Guy Gibsons flight commanders. Although I never met him I certainly have heard of him and in my opinion he could wear what he liked and I would call him Sir and mean it.

[Loki]

That was Pete Ward Hunt.....he never wore sandals.

Nice chap, quite often bought me a beer at lunchtime.

The controller in question was someone else altogether.

[DC10RealMan]

Fair enough!

[Talkdownman]

All about Pete Ward-Hunt (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1505400/Wg-Cdr-Peter-Ward-Hunt.html)

[DC10RealMan]

I think Peter Ward-Hunts obituary says it all.

We old timers are considered to be unresponsive and unreceptive to the present day fads and fashions of present day "management".

We had people as managers who had flown Hurricanes and Spitfires, Lancasters and Mosquitos and even though they had many faults and "issues" by and large we did respect them.

Present day "managers" do not have our respect because they have not earned it and an MBA in Business Management does not confer respect.

Treating employees with courtesy and consideration confers respect,

It really is that simple.