A ship without a skipper The first two-three years in the life of the new tower passed in the fever of newness and building experience. For us newbie’s everything was new by definition but even the older colleagues had to get used to the numerous new taxiways and the methods of using two runways. But… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 6
Tag: ATC
The tower with a soul… 5
Flying over the cuckoo’s nest A really cute novelty was the cuckoo act. This was the art of working during the night shift while being in deep sleep at the same time. I did not have much of a need to spend whole nights wide awake before coming to ATC… I mean, even in the… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 5
The tower with a soul… 4
Wrestling with the “furniture” The huge control panel for the various ground lights, like the taxiway lighting, was next to the ground controller’s console. The control panel was teeming with various switches used to turn various sections of taxiway lights on and off. The panel was variously nicknamed Christmas tree and railway shunting-yard. The multitude… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 4
The tower with a soul… 3
In memoriam… Luckily, this subject can be kept short. Our tower is only 25 years old so most of us have not yet had the time to get old… Unexpected tragedies have also mercifully spared the tower crew with the only exception being KG, who left us prematurely. But he made his name originally as… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 3
The tower with a soul… 2
Envy and other incomprehensible things We were off to a turbulent start when the “old-timers” discovered that our starting salaries were the same as the salary of a controller after one year… we were certainly not to blame for this disparity but took all the flack nevertheless. Some of the more senior colleagues from the… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 2
The tower with a soul… 1
Preface Having held an Aerodrome Control rating in my ATC license and having actually worked as an aerodrome controller, I have this “thing” for the most spectacular air traffic services unit of them all, the Aerodrome Control Tower. Not only is their role vital in running airports efficiently, they are also for the most part… Continue reading The tower with a soul… 1
New series on Roger-Wilco. The tower with a soul…
If you enjoyed reading the sometimes incredible stories in Same Time, Same Place, Same Level…, keep your seatbelts fastened! The last part of Same Time having just been published, we are bringing you a new series under the title: The tower with a soul. This will be the story of the first 25 years in the… Continue reading New series on Roger-Wilco. The tower with a soul…
Same time, same place, same level…16
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 1 Faultless navigation plays an all important role in the safe operation of aircraft. There are scores of instruments both in the cockpit and on the ground, the purpose of which is to make sure that pilots and controllers are constantly aware of where their airplanes are… Continue reading Same time, same place, same level…16
Near-miss on demand
In the late 70’s our authority decided to commission a series of training movies for air traffic controllers and engineers. The purpose was to show some of the most commonly occurring errors, give an analysis of the causes and provide some guidance on how to avoid them. I was selected to write the script for… Continue reading Near-miss on demand
Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) – what is this?
We have all grown up with the idea that airspace was the most important single thing aircraft needed. While it is true that aircraft need both air (in which the wings can generate lift) and space (the room to move around in) but airspace? This word has grown over the years and held us hostage… Continue reading Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) – what is this?