Tower or Radar??
 

Hi,
Just getting the feel of what new NATS recruits want to train for

1) Tower
2) RADAR
??

I'm leaning towards tower (if they let me) i know its less pay but, i think i'd prefer to do that, u get to "see" what your doing lol.
any comments?
C

I could be wrong, but I think you will find you have very little or no say in your choice.
When I was at the college virtually everybody was put onto the area course.

Tower is bloody great though!:}

I am v keen to go area but it seems the next course is all tower; never mind i'm sure i'll enjoy it.

yeah,
apparently your told or "asked" if there is a choice, dependant on whats needed and where i suppose.....

when I went through, 2000/01 you were asked what u wanted to do and then sent to area !! starting this year, june i think, you are streamed from the start, maybe based on your aptitiude test scores. it used to be that everybody did aerodrome course, radar skills/ojt and then streamed but the powers that be are saving money and in my view dumming down students by either sending you aerodrome/approach or straight to area, both after a basic course which covers law,met and all the bollocks you are supposed to know. for those of you in the queue, i think a lot of the waiting is due to a backlog caused by the introduction of the new course. a lot of bods are still out holding at units in between courses. I know it is frustrating. The whole company is from time to time, BUT, when you get there it is great, when you get to your unit it is the greatest and it certainly beats working for a living. Hang in there........V

chrisf,

My personal preference is that all new controllers should start out in the tower. My reasoning is that you learn aircraft characteristics, aircraft identification, and learn what your fellow tower controllers need (ex. spacing needed when it is IFR or during certain runway configurations, or Snow/Ice on the runways, or construction on the airport). Time spent working in the tower goes a long way to making you a better and more knowledgeable radar controller.

I throughly enjoy working radar more than being up in the tower, but I also enjoy being at a facility where I can spend time in the control tower looking out the windows.

Mike R
NATCA FWA

Chris and Alfie,

If you're in the college already, just speak to the people on ADC2 filling in the forms at the moment, for what it's worth: 15/25 want approach rather than area and there's only 3 spaces. Of those 15 I think 2 or 3 want APR, the rest want tower.
Once you're bored with ADC2 moaning, speak to GM and NA who may be able to give you a heads up on the split for your course (I'm assuming that you're on 130). I've heard you're all going tower only but I could be wrong.

Wooks:confused:

Hi wooks,
wish i was on 130.... :{ it looks like my course doesn't start till late next year........
thanks for the info anyway!
Chris

wooks,
Start june 07 and from what i gather there are 15 studes with 10 tower / 5 approach. Obviously there's no chance of me doing area so i'm hoping i'll be in a minority who want to do approach. That said, after waiting so long for a course i'll be happy to be the tower window washer.

:* vicious rumor started by area instructors to get you on the dark side

GT3,
I've read the banding thread but it didn't mean much to me in the context of gross pay. I understand that a tower atco at say luton will not be on the same pay as a guy at heathrow; but what are the actual take home figures after -for arguments sake- being qualified for 5 years.
And how do those tower atco's compare to area or tc controllers? I understood that area, tc and some london airports were on the same rates but most other airports were on alot less.

Am I correct in thinking that if you are streamlined to do tower, you do the APR course as well, or has that now been dropped?
Until recently, or possibly it is now still the case, NATS required non state joiners at airfields to have ADC and APR so that they could be posted to TC to do the approach radar function, if and where it was applicable.

I also believe that those streamed to do Area will no longer do the formal ADC rating, which is a shame, cos those who get chopped from area will no longer have any prospect of employment outside NATS.

I think the plan is that you'll just do what you need (depending on where you're headed). Those going to TC will do only APR and those heading for the London airports will only do ADC.

For the regional airports, my understanding is that you'll do ADC, go and validate it, then go back to the college for APR at some point in the future.

All part of the grand de-skilling of our industry......

alfie1999: you're looking at between £2500 and £2800 (approx monthly figures) take home after five years, depending on the unit.

Any one know what course will be starting March '05 ? Aerodrome or Area ?

We all got a 'wish list' on our course.

I put down for Heathrow and Stansted tower and made my own little box for Gatwick tower (this didn't go down well:} )

So as you can tell I wanted to go tower.....

I was sent to TC and am now a radar controller.

:confused:

I'm happy and enjoy it, I would've liked windows to look out of though.

So what you want isn't always what you get, be prepared for that one.

There are rumblings that word has come down from higher places that they're going back on this idea.

They want you to go to your approach unit having done both ADC and APR courses. You then have to validate one and start your training for the other all within six months.

I know they want people to be validated and fully operational asap but this seems a bit too quick and won't allow you much time to consolidate your first validation. Didn't it used to be much longer - as much as five years?