Heads up channel 4 and 5 8pm tonight
 

Channel 4 is Restoration Man converting a Scottish WW2 ATC tower into a house

And

Channel 5 three parter follows Russian paratroops as they skydive onto the frozen icecap to build a base, Ice Station Barneo.

Just in case anyone's interested and want to set the old box.




.

They showed the tail of a helicopter in 24 Hours in A&E.

Watched the couple doing the ATC tower.

They must be bonkers, they could have bought a nice little bedsit in London for that money!

The interviews with the aircrew that had flown and trained at HMS Owl and the subsequent visit to Rosyth to see HMS Queen Elizabeth being built was brilliant viewing. The history of HMS Owl, the interview with the WREN and the meetings with old aircrew that had served there were brilliant - regarding the bonkers couple renovating the control tower, well rather them than me! The Nissan hut brought back some memories though!!

Must be something about living in control towers on naval airfields.

This one was on HMS Godwit in Shropshire. Think it's a B&B now.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...-_1064110a.jpg

That looks very similar to the one featured in the programme, but neither look much like old WW2 RAF ATC towers I recall, Did the FAA have its own particular design of tower?

An interesting programme about the conversion of the ATC tower into a private dwelling - but incomplete.

Let's hope that C5 will produce a 'Part 2' when the conversion has been completed.

Wasn't the one at Gutersloh converted to an army colonels office when they took over until someone pointed out it was still a flying base and therefore needed a tower? Or was that just another 'beer in confidence' type story?

TTN,

The answer to your question appears to be yes. If you look at this website:

Ronaldsway Air Traffic Control in the 1940s

there are lots of pictures of ATC towers, if you scroll down about two thirds to the section on RNAS HMS Urley, you can see images of the RN tower, which appears to be a standard 4 storey building as per the programme and the image in post 5.

There is one already that has been converted to a very simiar standard as to the one in the show envisaged,

See

6 bedroom house to rent in Hms Godwit, , Ollerton, TF9

Thanks a lot Biggus, yes that looks like the one.

This site hasn't been updated for a while but looks to have some info on the various designs....

Control Tower & Watch Office Design Types

Thanks Biggus that actually answers a query I had ages ago..

Many moons ago I purchased on evilbay some artwork that was a bit of a sleeper in the description, they were the original art works for some of the old Frog model kits, one of them was an early box art for the RN Barracuda, see below

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...rlesssmall.jpg

The link you posted looks like it provides the original source material for the above picture.. what do you think?

http://www.island-images.co.uk/ATC/zRon1940s/BAT3.jpg

and for the airborne aircraft

http://www.island-images.co.uk/ATC/zRon1940s/BAT1.jpg

That's the very one Nutty, known as "Ollerton" airfield to the rotary mates.

Looks like the B & B business didn't work!!

It was a B and B and then was up for sale along with an equestrian centre, full info here including how it came into being

All aboard the watchtower - Telegraph

but oddly it says ( See quote), so I presume they are renting it now and it cannot be used as a family home. I do not think after a session my eyes would cope with the bathroom in the morning though :)

Very interesting - I might go and have a "view", it's not too far from Teetering Towers (which is not a Tower!)

Top of rightview page says

This property has been removed by the agent. It may be let or temporarily removed from the market..


so may be rented, the Telegraph article was 2005

TTN and Nutloose,

No problem!

Nutloose - yes those photos look very like your artwork, but I guess most pictures of a Barracuda landing on, and on short finals, will look very similar.

I hope the bloke behind the one landing in the painting is planning to go around ;)

HMS Owl - also RAF Fearn
 

It was RAF Fearn before it became HMS Owl, it was a satellite of RAF Tain - my late father served at both of them between February 1942 and February 1943, before coming south to be part of "Z" Composite Group HQ for Exercise Spartan in March 1943, moving on from there via Blue Group to 83 (Composite) Group HQ on 1 April 1943, then in May 1944 moving to 125 Airfield HQ (later 125 Wing HQ) from RAF Ford to B.172 Husum via B.160 Kastrup/Copenhagen in May '45.

Having seen photos of him and friends at Fearn it was nice to see the countryside for real.

Allan