Goodbye Heathrow Tower
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Last time I was in a meeting with an ex New York TRACON manager the figure he gave for their total movements was about twice that of the London TMA but to balance it out they had about twice as (or more) many controllers.
So, in effect, same same.
Last time I was in a meeting with an ex New York TRACON manager the figure he gave for their total movements was about twice that of the London TMA but to balance it out they had about twice as (or more) many controllers.
So, in effect, same same.
Last edited by Vercingetorix; 9th May 2013 at 02:31.
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Not sure its in effect the same without taking at look at what you do over there. I don't doubt that you're busy, but I'm sure we're comparing apples and oranges.
Our airspace is divided into 5 areas. EWR, LGA, JFK, ISP, and Liberty. But not all areas are the same. The ISP area is a joke, as they never get any significant traffic. Liberty area does get some volume, but its pretty much all departure traffic at 10000 and above, so complexity is very low on that sector. Most of the heavy lifting is done by the first 3 areas I mentioned. EWR is both the busiest, and more complex of the areas here.
Not unusual to be working anywhere from 12 to 20 arrivals on our ARD/4FNL (KEWR), or MUGZY (KTEB, KMMU, CDW) sectors.
Is the approach control over there located at or near the tower? I'm curious about your operation to the point that I may take a trip over to London just to visit the facility (assuming you guys would allow a NY controller to take a tour). I could arrange for a similar tour of the NY TRACON to any controllers from your side of the pond.
cheers!
Our airspace is divided into 5 areas. EWR, LGA, JFK, ISP, and Liberty. But not all areas are the same. The ISP area is a joke, as they never get any significant traffic. Liberty area does get some volume, but its pretty much all departure traffic at 10000 and above, so complexity is very low on that sector. Most of the heavy lifting is done by the first 3 areas I mentioned. EWR is both the busiest, and more complex of the areas here.
Not unusual to be working anywhere from 12 to 20 arrivals on our ARD/4FNL (KEWR), or MUGZY (KTEB, KMMU, CDW) sectors.
Is the approach control over there located at or near the tower? I'm curious about your operation to the point that I may take a trip over to London just to visit the facility (assuming you guys would allow a NY controller to take a tour). I could arrange for a similar tour of the NY TRACON to any controllers from your side of the pond.
cheers!
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
No, Terminal Control for Heathrow is located about 50 miles away, at Swanwick in Hampshire.
More like 72 miles...
Swanwick: N 50 53 12 W 001 17 10
I make that 47.0 nm (54.1 sm), 222.1° true
The crow you consulted must have been flying the long way round - I hope he doesn't calculate your distance to run callouts.
If it's more than 10 miles it's too far to commute.
(Thinks: You never worked there HD, how would you know?)
(Thinks: You never worked there HD, how would you know?)
Last edited by chevvron; 9th May 2013 at 13:29.
but does it matter?
I'm curious about your operation to the point that I may take a trip over to London just to visit the facility
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Neither does it matter to me any more. I've never worked there either, for I declined nats' generous and well-considered 'at my expense' posting. Instead of 33 sm to Heathrow it is 43 sm in the opposite direction according to Google Maps fastest route....so I make that approximately 76 sm in the cab. A cab driver might even stretch that a bit for USD...
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If it's more than 10 miles it's too far to commute.
It was only 20 miles away as the crow flew, but the headwinds were sometimes strong.
Ray also had the annoying habit of calculating the time between RPs for every flight using an E6B* Half the time the traffic had gone before the strips arrived.
* for the youth
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Ray also had the annoying habit of calculating the time between RPs for every flight using an E6B
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Ray ?
Ray Maplesome, a name from the past. He used to wear 2 watches, one on local and one GMT. I heard he had been warned not to use the club aeroplane to land on Arran as it was felt there was nowhere suitable, next person found traces of grass in undercarriage. Alledgedly Troon lifeboat was launched to an emergency beacon which was traced back to Ray in his home and the Police were met at his door with "Oh, did you pick it up OK?"
Aah, Mr. Mapleson...worked in Heathrow AIS.
G-ASOO, Twin Comanche,was his steed if memory serves me correctly.
...Remember one occasion when message relayed from EGLL TWR to AIS that "Mapleson would be late for work due to ATC delays"!
Ray's normal mode of transport was a Rover 90. He had a Moulton fold-up bike which he would use between central area staff car park (...those were the days!...) and Queen's Building. We would often park alongside each other, I would walk to QB and Ray would arrive on his re-assembled bike about 5 minutes later!
Apparently, Ray's intention upon his posting to Redbrae was that he would build himself an airstrip on Arran from which to commute to Prestwick. Somehow, this did not come to fruition...our Scottish friends can probably provide more details....
Happy days...!
G-ASOO, Twin Comanche,was his steed if memory serves me correctly.
...Remember one occasion when message relayed from EGLL TWR to AIS that "Mapleson would be late for work due to ATC delays"!
Ray's normal mode of transport was a Rover 90. He had a Moulton fold-up bike which he would use between central area staff car park (...those were the days!...) and Queen's Building. We would often park alongside each other, I would walk to QB and Ray would arrive on his re-assembled bike about 5 minutes later!
Apparently, Ray's intention upon his posting to Redbrae was that he would build himself an airstrip on Arran from which to commute to Prestwick. Somehow, this did not come to fruition...our Scottish friends can probably provide more details....
Happy days...!
Last edited by folkyphil; 31st May 2013 at 09:14.
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If he could afford to run a TwinCom what on earth was he doing working as an ATSA? Still, I suppose the same applies to the gent who used to come to work in his Roller for the same reason....... and commute regularly to the USA for business reasons.
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An ATCO cadet on one of the early courses, who had been an ATCA at EGLL, flew a PA28 or possibly a C150, from Denham over to Heathrow to cash a cheque at the Midland Bank. Took off from Denham about 1100, cenrtal area parking free of charge and back at Denham for lunch; could it happen today?
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Bikash, what a nice man. Used to go and see his mum regularly, like at least once a month - in the Indian subcontinent.
A little late one day when he had trouble starting his Roller, so got someone to sit in it while he push started it!
He was a former Mr Universe and owned at least 1 gym in the States.
Always immaculately turned out.
A little late one day when he had trouble starting his Roller, so got someone to sit in it while he push started it!
He was a former Mr Universe and owned at least 1 gym in the States.
Always immaculately turned out.