Wot new airspace?!
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Wot new airspace?!
Southend international airport to open in time for 2012 Olympics | Mail Online
Forgive me, brethren. I would have confined myself to an acidic reply on the Daily Mail's own website, had the initiation ceremony not been so involved.
Basically (despite my 'handle'
) I control two extremely busy departure sectors within the LTMA. One, in particular, will be actively involved in this new increase in traffic. I have no argument with the initiative, the demand, the logic... nothing. What I am a bit troubled by (and yes, I know it is in the Mail, but still) is this comparison with Gatwick and Stansted. Heavens above, I tried to pass an inbound ident to Southend the other evening only to be told that the radar controller was 'rushing up the stairs' and could I call back later!
They may not queue for 'more then four minutes' for security... but they'll be waiting a heck of a lot longer for the Stansted, Luton and London City traffic to get out of their way!
Is this just me? If it is please just ignore me and I shall go back to my PPruNe obscurity!
Forgive me, brethren. I would have confined myself to an acidic reply on the Daily Mail's own website, had the initiation ceremony not been so involved.
Basically (despite my 'handle'
) I control two extremely busy departure sectors within the LTMA. One, in particular, will be actively involved in this new increase in traffic. I have no argument with the initiative, the demand, the logic... nothing. What I am a bit troubled by (and yes, I know it is in the Mail, but still) is this comparison with Gatwick and Stansted. Heavens above, I tried to pass an inbound ident to Southend the other evening only to be told that the radar controller was 'rushing up the stairs' and could I call back later!They may not queue for 'more then four minutes' for security... but they'll be waiting a heck of a lot longer for the Stansted, Luton and London City traffic to get out of their way!
Is this just me? If it is please just ignore me and I shall go back to my PPruNe obscurity!
Unfortunately some ATC units like to live in the past. I found a similar attitude at Coventry years ago before their recent problems. I had an aircraft positioning from Farnborough to Coventry, and when I tried to hand it over I was told 'can't take a handover 'cos the radar controller is in the tower, but put it over and he MIGHT go down (to radar) and look at it'!
I handed it over to Brimingham instead no problem.
I handed it over to Brimingham instead no problem.
Join Date: Sep 2001
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With all due respect to both posters, Southend controllers are Procedural rated as well as APS.
During quieter periods it is not uncommon to use the time for Procedural training using combined ADC/APP frequency.
The APS ATCO is likely to be the OJTI who then decides a Radar service more appropriate.
You didn't say what time of day this was either.
That's not living in the past, and and Procedural clearance can be given with no delay or extra workload to you or the Aircraft.
Can I suggest you visit Southend or maybe call if you have concerns about the procedures?
I haven't read the article from The Mail, but I agree Southend won't ever be comparable to Gatwick or Stansted in terms if movements at least. A limit of
53300 pa is part of the Section 106 agreement.
The entrance fee is cheap.... Donuts
During quieter periods it is not uncommon to use the time for Procedural training using combined ADC/APP frequency.
The APS ATCO is likely to be the OJTI who then decides a Radar service more appropriate.
You didn't say what time of day this was either.
That's not living in the past, and and Procedural clearance can be given with no delay or extra workload to you or the Aircraft.
Can I suggest you visit Southend or maybe call if you have concerns about the procedures?
I haven't read the article from The Mail, but I agree Southend won't ever be comparable to Gatwick or Stansted in terms if movements at least. A limit of
53300 pa is part of the Section 106 agreement.
The entrance fee is cheap.... Donuts
Last edited by Barnaby the Bear; 16th Jun 2011 at 23:01.
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Chevrron - Do Farnborough live in the past when one or more of their various LARS sectors is not available for staffing? Or NATS generally when sectors are bandboxed, or whole sectors of airspace not available at night due to staffing? Just curious!
Before I retired, I offered to stay on as I perceived a possible shortage of staff, at least in the short term (it takes about 6 months to train a newly rated controller on LARS) .
I have no idea why they still have to bandbox or close LARS sectors some 2.5 years later.
I have no idea why they still have to bandbox or close LARS sectors some 2.5 years later.
