Heathrow Runway Caravans
 

I was idly mulling over my youth, as you do, and remembered my time as a meteorological assistant at London Airport from 1947 to 1949. In foggy conditions it was our job to go to the runway controller's caravan and report how many runway lights were visible. I wonder why the controller didn't do this. In later years when operating from LHR and most other airfields I can't remember caravans. When did they cease to be used?

Yonks ago - sometime before I started there in Jan 1972. The runways controllers didn't do met obs because they weren't trained too and Met staff were employed to take weather obs until relatively recently. Now ATC staff do it and runway visibility is automatically provided by special equipment.

Bren your memory fails you!
It was used when the VCR was refurbished in the 70's/80's.
During a night shift (ah, got it you didn't do many of them:ok:) the Tower Controllers worked from the caravan whilst the chippies made new desks in the VCR.
It was some time ago, as one of the Merchantmen (Vanguard freighter) was doing an engine warm up close to it, came on the R/T with "morning campers".

Yeah.. my brain is like sawdust M. I do recall one old caravan being used for contingency purposes if the tower was "u/s". It was down near Bl 85 and I went to it on one of the first bomb scares and it was chaos. 10R for departues and aircraft got fed up with waiting and just went!! The noise was unbeleivable and we couldn't hear each other... and the comms to the "real" tower weren't working. Happy days.

Ahh, proper Block numbers:ok:
I was in the caravan checking R/T etc one day - must have been sent there for some misdemeanor, when Concorde took off!!
I know the other chap with me was speaking as his lips were moving but for 5 mins after, couldn't hear a thing.

Terrific