Gatwick tower visit.

[BRL]

Hi all. After seeing an interesting thread develop recently, I am sorting out a visit to the tower at Gatwick. If you want to go and see what its all about and ask a few questions then let me know here. Date and time to be arranged. :)

[Evo]

Count me in :)

[Who has control?]

Yes please,

Can I fly in??:) :)

[FlyingForFun]

Definitely count me in (as long as the date is suitable, of course).

For anyone who didn't go to the Swanwick visit which Paulo organised a few months ago, you missed a fascinating day out. I'd love to see how a busy tower operates, especially since I'm more likely to use the services of a Tower (although maybe not Gatwick!) than the guys at Swanwick.

FFF
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[dodgylanding]

Yes please!

[spils]

Yes please (date dependant).

[rustle]

BRL,

Count me in too, please.

[Lawyerboy]

*puts hand up as straight as he can get it, hopes teacher sees him*

Yes please.

[Lan Ding Gere]

Oh yes please count me in.

I'll promise not to talk about flying my car and taking instructions from ATC :D

LDG

[sennadog]

Definitely in. Good idea - cheers.

[AerBabe]

And me please :)

[N Reg Aztec]

Another one for the list please!

[The Nr Fairy]

Fallback plan is to look at the the tower from onboard a Thames Train piloted by said moderator as it wends it way past LGW.

[brockenspectre]

but I am not so keen on the fallback option Mr NR Fairy as I have that option every evening mon-fri if I don't get off one of the trains I commute on !!!

:D :D

[Fly Stimulator]

And me please. Nice and handy to Redhill too :)

[LowNSlow]

Me too please.

I might even fly in to Redhill despite moaning about their circuit charges :D :D

[eveepee]

And me please :)

[Daz7]

Me too. Would love to visit a tower to see what goes on.

Please not on 23/10 - 7/11, I will be on holiday.:)

[BRL]

Good response so far. I was only thinking about 5 or 6 of you would be up for it.! :eek: I will see what i can do because there are so many of you. Will have to do it in 2 visits i think. I will get back to you lot and let you know whats going on. If there are too many then its first come first served i am afraid but i hope our sponsor will be able to sort out 2 visits. Watch this space. :)

[Warped Factor]

BR"L",

Hi all. After seeing an interesting thread develop recently, I am sorting out a visit to the tower at Gatwick. If you want to go and see what its all about and ask a few questions then let me know here. Date and time to be arranged.

If you're talking about the "Circling aircraft over Gatwick" thread and the subsequent chat about zone transits, just bear in mind that the radar controllers that look after the Gatwick Class D live at the LTCC West Drayton and not at Gatwick Airport.

Still, if it's a sunny day the view from the tower is quite nice :)

WF.

[iainpoll]

Me me me me me me, me too please !

[Trinity 09L]

yes please, available anytime #1 or#2 visit:cool:

[Grim Reaper 14]

Me - Sir! Sir! SIR!!! Can I go to toilet please?

Sir - OK.

Me - Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!!

Sir - You filthy young man.

Me - Sir, can I come to Gatwick too?;)

[Trinity 09L]

yes please, available anytime #1 or#2 visit:cool:

[BRL]

Warped Factor You are correct but wrong thread i am afraid. Gatwick is closer to me anyway ;)

[vancouv]

I'm very interested, although I suspect I might be too late.......

[rustle]

BRL said:Warped Factor You are correct but wrong thread i am afraid. Gatwick is closer to me anyway

Notam site 'Upgrade'?

What do you call what you fly??

This is a GREAT game - guess the thread...:D

[TheKentishFledgling]

Count me in as a definite maybe, but whether I'll be able to come depends heavily on the date and transport situation :)

tKF

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

If there's any space left... :)

[Keef]

Having been on a visit a couple of years ago to Luton (thanks to Lew Ton for organising that) I can highly recommend this!

It's essential to be in a *small* group, and if possible with a PPL/ATCO on duty who can bring both sides together.

I'd love to see Gatwick too, but won't bag a place: let the first-time visitors go.

[Wycombe]

If not too late, yes please :) :)

Some time in Oct would be great (not the 5th!), as I'll be off to sunny climes from 3rd-18th Nov (flying VS from LGW!)

[Julian]

YEP!

I have been up a few towers in the US so would be interesting to see how they compare.

Julian.

[singaporegirl]

Yes please, if I'm not too late as well.

[Penguina]

Big Red L,

I would love to take part in this, but if there's no space left, perhaps you could let the stragglers know how you set about arranging it/contact nos, e-mails, etc so that we can wend our own way there or maybe form a splinter group. I know a few people 'in the flesh' (in varying degrees!) who may be interested too.

Aren't you a good moderator, doing all this for us? (Not sucking up or anything here, I really mean it!!)

Penguina

[buzzc152]

I'd like to come along too.

[email protected]

[BRL]

Now there are quite a lot of you wanting to go but i have a feeling we will be limited to about 6 or so. I am still waiting to hear if I can do two visits of around 6 people. I can't do a first come first served with this as there are people who have not got to a pc or have been busy and seen this late so what i am going to do, if we can only have one small group is put all names in a hat. As for those of you 'choosing dates, there is a lot dependent on our sponsor and his time/day off. There will be no choices for dates as some of you are suggesting, its all down to our man and when his days off are. There will be a date posted soon, if you get choosen and can't make it then it will have to go to someone else.

Penguina I don't think the public can just arrange tower vists. I am sorting this out with the great help from a ppruner who works up there. As i say, not sure how the public can go about it but i will ask for you to see if it is possible. :)

Keef Thanks for being considerate, always a gentleman............ :)

[TheKentishFledgling]

Thinking about it (and reading Keef's post), I think I should also say that I'll leave it for the first time visiters, as I've been around the Heathrow Tower.

Also, I think transport would be too major an issue for me.

Thanks though,
tKF

PS If there were spare places on such a trip though, bare me in mind!

[BRL]

Nice one TKF Cheers :)

[Saab Dastard]

BRL,

If names are going in the hat, please include me!

Thanks for your efforts, btw, much appreciated.

Cheers

SD

[ModernDinosaur]

At the risk of making this even more complex than it already is, I'm also interested in being "in the hat", subject to the date being when I'm in the country - living roughly half a mile north of the 26L threshold makes transport a non-issue! I can probably help out anyone wanting to fly in to Redhill if needs be.

Thanks both to Big Red L and the "mystery sponsor" - chances to learn like this are sadly rare, but very much appreciated by all. Perhaps those who do get chances like this would be kind enough to summarise some of their experience here on PPRuNe for the benefit of those who are less fortunate for whatever reason?

Fly safe,

MD.

[BRL]

Here we go, we are allowed 7 people to visit the tower. The dates available are Fri Oct 4 OR Sat Oct 19th. If all goes well there shouldn't be a problem with another visit so don't despair if your not 'choosen' this time around.

As for picking the names out, shall I do it right now here at home or leave it until next Sat at the bash in London for you to witness it? What do you think?. Do you wan't to know right now so you can book a day off or can you wait a week?

[rustle]

Do it asap (read NOW ;) ) so we can book time, transport, etc.

Please :)

[paulo]

BRL - If I'm not too late, can you pop my name in the hat.

I will of course plea that I should get a place in return for organising the Swanwick visit. ;)

[BRL]

Noted Paulo, wouldn't be fair would it but lets see what the 'Hat' comes up with...... ;)

[Caledonian]

Alternatively guys why don't you just organise it yourself, most atc visits I have had were done by myself and the ATCO's are normally very accomodating.

Just trying to save you from being disappointed!

[BRL]

Righto Caleldonian. Your volunteering to sort out the next one then..... :) Definitley not Prestwick though eh...... ;)

[LowNSlow]

L take me out of the hat for the 4th October, can't make that one I'm afraid.

[Coke611]

Count me in BRL! Should think that my dad will want to go along aswell!


Cheers,

Louis Coke

[sennadog]

If anyone needs a lift from either Redhill or some of the local stations, assuming you don't all drive then let me know. Given that the 4th is POETS day and I live locally it makes no odds to me.:D

[Lawyerboy]

I won't be able to make 4th October so you may as well take me out of the hat for that one. Still interested in the 19th, tho'.

LB.

[Who has control?]

BRL

Thanks for your efforts - I can't make 4th, but I'm OK for 19th.

[BRL]

Ok, I have decided to do the draw thingy now. Just put all names into plastic container and this is what has come out.......
Myself**
Saab Dastard
Evo7
AerBabe
Paulo
Flyingforfun
Sennadog
**Obviously I wasn't in the draw, so no shouting that its a fix please. :)
If you lot can't make it let me know asap. Details are in an e-mail that i am about to send. Don't despair those that didn't make it. If this goes well there may be more.

[Evo]

Evo7 is temporarily uncertain of password, but I will happily take his place. Either day is fine for me :)

[BRL]

Check your PMs you lot.. :)

[sennadog]

Yeehee! I'm in. I take it the visit is on the 4th October? As I said if anyone needs a lift then PM me.:D

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

Enjoy, you lucky lot :D

[BRL]

Sorry, yes, its Friday 4th Oct 11am. :) Got something just as good in the pipeline for afterwards, just waiting to hear back from someone important. :)

[BRL]

Paulo, AerBabe, FFF I need your numbers asap. I have also arranged to visit the ops dept' of Astraeus afterwards to see what a skive they are all up at Gatwick ;).

[knobbygb]

So, does anyone fancy organising one 'up north' for those of us who get nosebleeds at the thought of Luton, let alone Gatwick?

I can't do it myself as I don't 'know' anybody as I'm fairly new to all this.

MAN would be great! LPL, EMA, LBA or even BHX or NCL are other options, and this might take the pressure off places on the next Gatwick one, too.

If only the powers that be realised just what an education and sefety benefit things like this can be!

[paulo]

BRL - 07980 449059

[BRL]

I have just got some more info, please check your e-mails. Paulo and FlyingForFun I need to send you the instructions to get to the place its in Microsoft Word. Drop us a line quick.

Now, is anyone getting the train up are we all driving? If someone wants a lift from the station (Gatwick) just say here.

[Evo]

I'm getting the train - and a lift would be nice :)

[sennadog]

I'm driving and as I said before, the lift from Redhill station still applies.

BRL, can you resend the email as I haven't received it and I am not sure if I have a problem with my server as I've missed a couple of emails in the last day or so.

[vintage ATCO]

I'd be please to host a few visits to Luton Tower during the coming months. I use to be Lew Ton but I've had an identity crisis.

Please do not e-mail individually. I'd prefer someone to take responsibility to organise names, etc., and then approach me with dates. Or approach me with dates, and then organise names; you know what I mean. I can be very flexible weekdays/weekends/evenings, etc. But not at 0200 in the morning. :)

Like Gatwick, we are now a tower only operation but do have an ATM (small radar) you can peer at.

A bonus is a decent curry house within 2nm you can repair to afterwards! :D Bet Gatwick doesn't boast that!


---------------------------
vintage ATCO
www.stevelevien.com

[BRL]

Senna, gonna send it after i have done this.
Lew, brilliant offer, excellent. Is this just open for the private pilots forum? Nice if it was. I will kick the thread off and see how it goes. Gatwick does have a good curry house not too far away by the way, its in a place called Horley, just a tad more than 2nm away.... :)

(Is it true Luton has the biggest tower in the uk?)

[FlyingForFun]

BRL, check your e-mail! :)

FFF
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[Evo]

...so, can someone give me a lift from the station? Looks a bit of a long walk. Planning on the 10:23 from Chichester, but can get there earlier. :)

Now sorted :)

sennadog, I'll give you a call when I'm there - will save FFF an extra trip (but thanks too).

(sorry to everyone else - PPRuNe isn't letting me reply to PMs :confused: )

[Saab Dastard]

Any chance of a lift, pretty please?!

I can get to Gatwick station at any appointed time.

Feel free to mail me at

[email protected]

Thanks

SD

Glad to say that I have got my car! Thanks for the offers - I am now in the position of OFFERING lift from Gatwick station!

Mail me tonight at address above if you want.

Sorry for confusion

SD

[BRL]

She who annoys 'conveniently' needs the car tommorow. :rolleyes: Knows full well i have had this planned for a while so i also need to cadge a lift. Senna, is there any room in your car? Give us a call now if you like, 07958 006 373
Cheers. Paul.

Ahaaaa, just seen your post Saab, anychance of a ride?

[sennadog]

BRL. - and anyone else who needs a lift from the station tomorrow. Best to speak to Saab Dastard as he has more seats in his wheels by the sounds of it!

Like the Katana, my wheels for tomorrow only has two seats.:D

[paulo]

BRL - No attachment in your mail! But easy fixed - I'm going to mail FFF so he can forward it if he's still around here before we go, otherwise I'll call your moby in the morning to get instructions. Either way I'm thinking I'll do train to Gatwick then cab to wherever we're meeting.

Cheers peeps.

[BRL]

Paulo, I have just chatted to Saab and am meeting him at 1030 at Gatwick.(South terminal drop-off point.) Give us a ring and i can meet you there too. I am sure he won't mind and he has a nice big car to share. :) 07958 006 373

[Saab Dastard]

BRL,

Thanks again for organising a great day out, and thanks also to our hosts who gave so generously of their time.

Three cheers, etc. etc.!

[brockenspectre]

So is anyone going to say who went, who you saw, what you saw, what you did etc etc etc .... those of us who didn't get picked wanna know!!!

:D

[Saab Dastard]

Brockenspectre,

We were:

BigRedL, Saab Dastard, AerBabe, Flying for Fun, Sennadog, Evo and Paulo.

We met Muppit (on his day off!!) who took us airside :D :D and around the tower :D :D

After that we met Crashdive who took us around the operations centre of a newly created charter airline.

Which was nice! :D :D

Then we went for some food and errr... drink!

Hard to to justice to a great day in a few lines

SD (still grinning about driving around the apron at Gatwick!)

[brockenspectre]

Thank you!!!!!!!!! sounds like a great day. Here's hoping there will be other opportunities and my name comes out of the hat!!

:D

[AerBabe]

Many thanks to all involved in today's outing :)
It was too much fun to pick any one highlight. When can we do it again? :)

[MikeSamuel]

When the rest of us have had a go, AB :p ;)

[BRL]

I will tell you what has just happened here. I typed out quite a big 'pirep' all about how today went. I right clicked and copied it and went to save it in word when my pc froze. Re-boot time, no pirep. I will give it a crack again and hope it saves.......

:rolleyes: :(

[BIG MISTER]

Oh ******......did I miss out again ! ! ! !

Count me in next time please

:D :D :D

[sennadog]

A big thanks to Muppet, Crashdive and not forgetting BRL for arranging the TWR and a certain Airline visit. Heaps of fun and very enjoyable.:D

[BRL]

A good day was had by all i hope. It started off badly for me, seemed like the world and his dog wanted me to be late arriving there. I eventually set off at the time Saab Dastard was meant to be picking me up from Gatwick. Fortunatly, he called me just as i was leaving and headed off strait there. I picked up Paulo on the way and got to the old tower meeting point about 10 late. (BR thing you see, late everywhere.) Met up then with our sponsor, Muppet and the rest of the group, AerBabe Evo7 Sennadog and flyingforfun .
After the security procedures (Special mention to the unidentified pruner who drove us around for a while, nice lass.) we headed off in one of the NATS vans. We drove onto the airfield and headed off around the actual taxiways towards the north terminal, along towards the south one then over to the tower itself. Muppet wouldn't take us near to the spotters balcony to gloat though. :(

We went up and split into two groups. Each group spent about 30 mins looking around the serious bit, loads of displays to look at and a million questions asked on the way. The displays are fantastic, from the radar display to the display that shows what lights are lit up on the ground, every one fascinating to see. Our host was brilliant, so relaxed and made us feel comfortable up there and kept us entertained throughout. Top bloke. Whilst one group was in the serious bit, the other was watching the airport in action from the observation windows. Huge they are, cracking view of the entire airport. Everywhere you looked there was something happening, amazing place really. Big thanks to to the watch that were on at that time for putting up with us and to the manager for not booting us out when one of the group placed his hand a bit too close to the 'crash-phone' for his liking. :)

Off then, after saying goodbye to to Muppet we headed of to Astraeus (http://www.flyastraeus.com/intro.htm). We were met there by Crashdive who is a pilot and their IT bloke. He gave us a great rundown all about how the company was set up, incredible how quick they got up and running, a credit to the aviation industry for showing good things can happen after 9/11. Lots of hard work put in by all involved and it shows. The Guvnor take note here, this is how its done.

After the intro, we set off around the building to have a look behind the scenes of a charter airline and fascinating it was too. We started in the training room and spent a good while chatting around a mock 737 flight-deck that was in the room itself. After that, we headed off to the crew room then to see the ops room. Met some nice peole there who took time out to explain what they did. One of them tracked 2 of the planes on the pc terminal on his desk. One was over Wales heading towards Manchester and the other was in the east somewhere over Europe.

Upstairs then to the IT room (too many wires and things in cabinets for my liking) and then around the rest of the top floor. The finance and engineering bit was good, again, people taking time out to say what they did here. Thanks chaps/s. Met one of the big bosses up there too who said hello before heading back to his office. then we went back downstairs and chatted for ages before biding farewell to Astraeus. Great tour, many thanks John.

Off then to a 'local' pub for some refreshment. After loosing FFF and AerBabe on the way and lots of frantic mobile calls, we eventually got together for a pint and a chat before heading off our seperate ways.

We were very luck that day. We got to see behind the scenes of some big cogs in a very big wheel, we saw something that not many of the general public will ever get to see except say, on the telly. That will be a day hard to beat.

Huge thanks once again go to Muppet and the team at Astraeus . Thanks Hamrah and Crashdive

[Muppit]

Cheers Guys,

Glad you all enjoyed yourselves. Your enthusiasm, questions and cooperation reminded me just how enjoyable my work is.:p

I've sent BRL a souvenir, so he may be in touch.:D


Muppit:)

[paulo]

A superb day.

I didn't think anything would match the Tower visit (thanks muppit), but crashdive managed to equal it with a fascinating insight into the basic building blocks of an airline. All spiced up with an eyewitness account of starting from scratch - a few hungry people with lots of experience, ideas, and a need for some seed cash, who got it all financed and up an running in a remarkably short space of time.

After all that, I have to admit I did spend about 30 mins of the afternoon thinking about changing my mind about not doing it for a career... maybe if I win the lottery I will do my ATPLs after all ;)

The one thing that continually impresses me about the aviation business is the community spirit of it - there's many good people who are happy to give you their time regardless of the gap between your experience and theirs. :cool:

[FlyingForFun]

Thanks to BRL and Muppit and everyone who was involved in organising this one - superb day out.

And a special thanks to CrashDive. It will be a couple of years before I'm looking for jobs, but the hints you gave me have definitely been taken on board and filed away for later use. And, apart from the free lesson in sim-ride techniques and CV-writing, the whole Astraeus visit was fascinating.

AerBabe and I managed to see a little more of the countryside around Crawley than planned, but that didn't ruin an excellent day!

FFF
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