Isles of Scilly Recruiting
 

Senior Air Traffic Control Officer with Council of Isles of Scilly | 1401375695


Senior Air Traffic Control Officer
Permanent Full Time
Salary: IoS Grade 8: £41,148 - £52,339

Council of the Isles of Scilly’s ST. MARY’S AIRPORT require a full time SATCO.

Applicants will be current CAA licence holders with APP / ADI ratings, a Met. Obs. Cert. & validated APP experience.

Local Government pension, re-location package and housing provided for rental.

Contact: HR via clicking on the 'Apply now Button' for an application pack.

Closing date: noon 10th December 2013

£41-52K? I wouldn't get out of bed for that.

HD, the Scillies will be all the better for that.

Way to belittle professional colleagues HD.

Meanwhile, I can thoroughly recommend the Scillies to any prospective candidate. Don't be put off by the "supposed" Heathrow Gods who couldn't be arsed to get out of bed for a measly whatever. ATC is much more than money.

The Scillies is one of the unknown gems of ATC. It takes a special type of controller to rise to the unique challenges that St. Mary's throws at you. For instance, you may be asked to provide ATC "out of hours" and unpaid (HD note) to allow a search and rescue helicopter to land and refuel prior to flying out to pick up an injured seaman from a ship at the extreme range of its abilities.

The feelings of pride at having helped out ones fellow man far outweigh the snide comments of lesser controllers in our worldwide community, whose only aim seem to be monetary.

It may not pay Heathrow salaries but the challenges and fulfilment of working in and for a community far outweigh the "money-grabbing" sentiments of the Heathrow "supposed" Gods. I know where I would rather work.

HD, I hope you enjoy your money.

OTB

Proud to have been arsed to get out of bed and (for a lot less than £52k) have had the privilege of working on the Scillies.

HD gets out of bed nowadays for less than that, though he does have a decent pension.

Pre NATS I remember the Scilly islands with great fondness... first visit was Bryher when as a young officer scrote in basic flying training I spent a weekend team building exercise building roads and sea defences (and getting horrendously drunk in Hells Bay hotel).

Jump forward a couple of years, flying a Lynx off Illustrious on a 'Long Range Encounter Exercise' (yeah, right... why did we turn right towards land instead of left to the Atlantic??!!) and landing on St Marys which just happened to pop up on radar as a 'target of interest'. The fact we were loaded up with maintainers in the back and we were all carrying civvy's seemed to pass Commander Airs attention when we lifted from the deck (more likely he knew exactly what we were up to).

A pint (of coke for aircrew) and a Pasty later and a quick tour of the tower before returning.

Maybe not a huge pay packet but the Islands are a gem in Britain and I can think of worse places to work as an ATCO.

If money is all you are interested in, then you are missing out on a lot of things in life

Edited to add,

OTB were you SATCO circa 1993? If so we might have met when I flew in on the 'jolly' sorry LREX ;)

Is it a coincidence that there is a user called HEATHROW DIRECTOR all in capitals and one called SUMBURGH DIRECTOR? Or am I just being cynical.....

The annual BBC 'Children in Need' appeal always reminds me that there is far more to life than money which is often a poor measure of value. I have known a couple of ex-Scillies ATCOs who spoke highly of the quality of life in that part of the world.

I wish the successful applicant all the best in a role and location which can be very fulfilling. After all, the pay is considerably above the UK national average and significantly higher than the salaries paid to a vast number of the aviation fraternity.

another thing,

The Senior Service always had a soft spot for the Scillies and used to visit several times a year with a landing craft and a helo to provide "logistical support" for the islanders. Their favourite activity being under-slinging cars that had exceeded their sell by date and depositing them offshore to provide "artificial reefs". An activity that has thankfully ceased now that the Scillies is a Marine Conservation Zone. The Navy's end of tour parties were legendary and seemed to leave the whole community shocked at how many empty bottles there were!

Incidentally, only a little while ago, end of July, I think, the lowest Spring Tides for a long time made it possible to walk, well paddle actually, between St. Mary's, Tresco and St. Martins

I was at St. Mary's in 1983/4 a little before you and sadly my first week coincided with the crash of G-BCEB. A great loss to a small community.

OTB

I was a Heathrow "supposed" god-let (if only as a result of my previous station's down-grading). HD is a charming, compassionate man with a huge sense of humour, and I read his comment as simply one of his inexhaustive supply of humorous throw-away banter which, sadly, has conveyed the wrong message to many.

Having had many wonderful holidays on Scilly I applied, on retirement, to be considered for any position there, yet nothing has been forthcoming until now, which probably says something for the job-satisfaction there. Air trafficking of any kind is in my blood, and I currently 'air traffic' for next to nothing simply 'because I can', at least it does get me out of bed to work with some remarkable people.

I wish the successful candidate good luck, and will envy him/her working as an essential member of a great community on those wonderful islands.

Yes, if my situation was different I'd also love to get out of my Scilies bed for £41-52k a year.

Sadly I'll have to cope with just visiting the islands on holiday.

Thanks TDM for your kind remarks. If my comments had been made in a bar or ATC rest room (maybe not nowadays) they would have been greeted with laughter. I'm forming the opinion from what I read on here and a few contacts with operational controllers that things ain't what they used to be..... sadly.

:ok::ok::ok:

HD

Although NATS has changed, the coalface workers are still as you would remember. Quick to take the pi55 and have a laugh. Still good camaraderie and although not quite as acerbic as the military gallows humour, light hearted cynicism and sarcastic humour still abounds.

The problem with writing on the internet is that what is meant as a funny comment doesn't always translate. As you know, communication is 90% body language. I'm sure if you had said that comment in person, it would have been received as it had been meant :ok:

….a bit like Semaphore...

Dudes who have been out of the game for two generations in Air Traffic management terms are best served to no longer consider themselves an expert. HD is the same guy who decided ADSB is useless because he looked on his home computer and they were off track therefore the system was unsafe. Dinosaurs are extinct for a reason.

Well said. Standby for incoming from the old guard apologists.

Wow, 50 years of ATC, imagine!
Plaz, the oncoming generation always tries to reinvent the wheel. In turn it will happen to you and you will get rolled over.
Good luck with that.

Cheers :ok:

To infinity and beyond and, hopefully, back in time for a pint of Guinness.

I was never an 'expert 'even after 30 or so years in some sort of management role, as I'm sure my peers would agree :p . The trick is to surround yourself with people who are ;)
btw Plaz, I agree :ok:

Maybe we should get back to Scilly Is. recruiting now ? :E

'Two generations in Air Traffic Management terms'. Not two generations.