Closure of Border and Highland JATCRU's

[pdatco]

I was the voice who last spoke on Highland Radar and as last one out of the room I took the Highland Bull Horns with me--they now have pride of place in the conservatory.
I trained at Northern Radar (Lindholm) amongst others and after 7 years at Prestwick I moved to Highland in 1982.
The Type 80 was a marvellous radar for watching helicopters in the North Sea and the blips were not an inch wide (that was the back up radar--Type 14 I think).
For Aged ATCO--Brian passed away about 3 years ago.
The actual Radar Consols now reside in a museum in Fife I think.
George Brown was at LATCC in the early 70s on D Watch (like me).
I'm so old I even remember Southern Radar at Sopley!
Fond memories and I'm happily retired and don't miss you lot at all!!!

[Lon More]

I'm so old I even remember Southern Radar at Sopley!

and there were some very norty ladies there, in the 1960s according to the NotW. Never met any, had to take my own.

RAF Sopley

[fisbangwollop]

Talking of George Brown, one morning at Border one of the assistants failed to turn up for work.....after a while George decided to check if said assistant was OK......now this guy stayed in a rented farm cottage so George phoned the local farmer to ask if he could pop down the cottage to check that he was OK.....on doing so said farmer turned up at cottage to check if said assistant was OK.....only to be met by said assistants Wife saying oh yes he is fine he has gone off shooting for the day! :cool it's a hard life working in ATC

[pdatco]

The Highland Radar consoles are at Troywood, near Anstruther in Fife
Scotland's Secret Bunker

[pdatco]

While we are reminiscing ----
I remember one day when a pilot on his way to Brae came on frequency and asked if we knew of any low level fixed wing aircraft out there. The answer was a negative, his reply was that it had just flown underneath him and it had a red star on the tail!!!
I immediately alerted the scopies who got very animated!!
Two Phantoms were scrambled and eventually found it heading for Boulmer, it got quite close I believe!
What had happened was that a Bear had been tracked around the North Cape and had proceeded into the Atlantic but apparently there was a second Bear flying directly below this one and number 2 had descended to low level without being seen as there was only one radar blip. Very sneaky!!

[pdatco]

Interesting to see that one of the 'conspiracy theory' type e-mails about MH470
refers to the pilot flying below a Singapore Airlines plane to avoid detection.
Total rubbish in this case but it does work.