1970 - 197
1970
CAFU BUILDING
After twenty years in the old war-time Nissen huts at Stansted, work commenced on a new building to house the CAFU staff, of which there were now around ......., which included the technical staff under the Tels Superintendent.
AIRCRAFT
CAFU’s first jet aircraft the DH125, G-ATPC, was about to be replaced by a later version. In June, an upgraded HS125, (de Havilland now part of the Hawker Siddeley group), G-AVDX,.................
LICENSING
CAFU was also now responsible for the standard of training and testing of ......................
TELS ANALYSIS SECTION
It was during the latter part of the 60’s that a computer was installed in the Analysis section .
CALIBRATION
The number of ILS installations in the U.K. now numbered at .............................
CALIBRATION
Numerous countries abroad were influenced by the decision by CAFU to use the HS748 aircraft as an instrument for the aerial inspection of navigational aids. Germany, ...................... purchased the HS748 ........................................
VIP FLIGHTS
CAFU’s HS125, G-AVDX, was now regularly used by numerous Government departments on VIP flights. The pick-up point for senior Government or Cabinet Ministers would usually be ............................................but could be anywhere. Destinations were sometimes in the UK but could be to any airport in Europe, even the Middle East, though many flights were to Brussels and Luxembourg. Listed are just a few that took place in 1970..........................
ICAO
The techniques-assessment team of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautical (RTCA's) studies Standing Committee 117 (SC117) that had been studying the requirement for a new landing aid, released its recommendations for signal-format development. The committee .....................
SAFETY
After criticism raised in the BOT special review on safety in 1968, the U.K. aviation accident figures were now below the ICAO member state average. In fact British standards of Airline safety were now reckoned to be comparative with the leaders ...............................
This photograph shows the overlap of the two HS125 aircraft, the retiring G-ATPC and the newly arrived G-AVDX, with better systems and engines. NB the fewer pax windows on VDX.
Photo: Peter Moon
Photo: Peter Moon
The Board of Trade new building for CAFU staff at Stansted under construction.
Photo: Peter Moon
Photo: Peter Moon
G-AVXI showing off its fowler flaps as it lands at Stansted.
Photo: Peter Moon
Photo: Peter Moon
1971
CIVIL AVIATION ACT
The Civil Aviation Act of 1971 created the Civil Aviation Authority and the British Airways Board, the latter to function as a holding company for BOAC and BEA.
The Civil Aviation Authority would be given a broad remit to ensure that services met demand cheaply and profitably.
MINISTRY CHANGE
Another change affecting CAFU happened in January when the Board of Trade (BOT) merged with the Ministry of Technology to form the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which had come into being on the ....................., and now became responsible for Civil Aviation matters.
JOHN BOYD-CARPENTER
After the recommendations of the Edwards Committee on the Administration of Civil Aviation, was published, Ted Heath, Conservative Prime Minister, asked John Boyd-Carpenter to be Chairman of a proposed Civil Aviation Authority. It will be remembered that .........................
NEW CAFU BUILDING
At last, CAFU staff were able to work in some comparative comfort when they moved into their newly completed building. It was two-story in the shape of an ‘H’ (minus the bottom right-hand leg - see photograph).
NAVIGATIONAL AIDS
The network of en route navigation aids operational within the U.K., which CAFU were involved in flight inspection, had grown over the years. By the end of 1971 there were:
.. NDB’s (20 en route).
.. VOR’s (including one DVOR).
.. DME (including some TACAN ranging elements).
CAT 3A ILS
Introduction of Category 3 ILS landings, subject to certain conditions.
INSTRUMENT LANDING CATEGORY STANDARDS
Category
DH (ft) DH (mtrs) RVR (ft) RVR (mtrs)
CAT I 200 60 2600 800
CAT 2 100 -60 to 30 1200 400
CAT 3A 0 0 700 200
CAT 3B 0 0 150 50
CAT 3C 0 0 0 0
In 1971 a BEA Trident 3B, with auto rudder control to steer the aircraft during ground roll, after touchdown to 80 knots, was provided with steering guidance for manual control below that speed, enabling CAT IIIA operations.
NAVAID INSPECTORS
There were six Navaid Inspectors (NAI’s). Each flight inspection normally carried one NAI per flight together with an assistant. The NAI made the assessments regarding the navaid being checked, liasing with the airfield Chief Telecommunications Officer as to the aids serviceability and certification.
NAVIGATORS
Who now undertook both navigation and the co-pilot duties, including the pre-flight preparation for flight inspections were still heavily engaged in post flight analysis of the results.
LICENSING
Significant changes in the way CPL and IR tests were conducted were made around this time ......................................................
AIRCRAFT
Chipmunk G-ANWB MCA Feb-55 Retired Apr-71
Prince G-AMKY MCA Aug-51 Retired May-71
President G-APMO MTCA Apr-58 Retired Jun-71
Prince G-AMKX MCA Aug-51 Retired Jul-71
Prince G-AMKW MCA Aug-51 Retired Jul-71
G-ANWB was the second of the only two Chipmunks that were used by CAFU and was de-registered in April of 1971 after 16 years service.
Photo: Peter Moon, courtesy Eddy Harris
The new building for CAFU staff.
Photo: Peter Moon, courtesy Eddy Harris
Photo: Peter Moon, courtesy Eddy Harris
G-APMO retired in June 1971 after a ground accident having served 13 years with the Flying Unit.
This picture at Stansted. Note the CAFU Doves on the other side of the taxiway and the Control Tower on the extreme left, Oh! and the twin main wheels.
Photo: Peter Moon
This picture at Stansted. Note the CAFU Doves on the other side of the taxiway and the Control Tower on the extreme left, Oh! and the twin main wheels.
Photo: Peter Moon
After transfer to the Fire Service Training School its wings were removed for transfer to 1163 Air Training Corps squadron at Earles Colne around Febuary 1973,
Picture: Tom Singfield via David Lacey
An RAF visitor to CAFU, one of many who benefitted from CAFU Tels expertise.
Photo: Eddy Harris
Photo: Eddy Harris
An old photograph of G-AMKY in the old Calibration Bay. All three Princes retired this year after 19 years service.
Note the single main undercarriage as apposed to the twin wheels on the President PMO.
Photo: Eddy Harris
Note the single main undercarriage as apposed to the twin wheels on the President PMO.
Photo: Eddy Harris
1972
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
In January it was announced that John Boyd-Carpenter would be the Chairman of the CAA. Among the Board Members were R.R. Goodison, Deputy Secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry, Mr G.W. Stallibrass, mentioned earlier in Chapter Two and now the Controller of the National Air Traffic Services, and Professor D. Keith Lucas, professor of aircraft design at the Cranfield Institute of Technology and chairman designate of the Air Registration Board. Mr Goodison would be acting as Chairman until .................................
AIRCAFT
During November two Telecommunication Doves, G-ALFU and G-AJLV were no longer registered as being with the CAA. LFU had served 23 years and JLV, the first ever Dove registered to the MCA 25 years previously, as flight inspection aircraft, both checking landing & en-route navigational aids between the Channel Isles and Northern Scotland. Both were ‘Permanently Withdrawn from Use’, although Dove G-ALFU can still be seen, resplendent in its old colours of white, red and black cheat-line, hanging, as if in flight, in one of the hangers at Duxford, a fitting tribute to the Calibration Unit of the fifties, sixties and early seventies.
Also in November of 72, the first Instrument Rating Dove registered to CAFU, G-ALVS, was also retired and ‘Permanently Withdrawn from Use’ (PWFU). This IR Dove had been registered with the Ministry for .. years.
Eight months after the creation of the CAA the Flight Operations Directorate, under which CAFU was controlled, recognised the need to provide Examiner/Inspectors, as well as Flight Operations Inspectors, the necessary experience of operating an aircraft in an airline environment, particularly in light of the burden of ever more Air Operators Certificates (AOCs) being issued. With this in mind the CAA purchased ................
AUTOLAND DEVELOPMENT
Formal Civil Aviation Authority approval clearing the HS21 Trident aircraft for use in Category 3a conditions was granted ...................
CAFU AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE
With Aviation traders.
ILS
1972 there were installed at U.K. airports:
.. Category 1 ILS
.. Category 2 ILS
.. Category 3 ILS
AIRPORTS
Apart from the major Scottish airports, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick, that CAFU were concerned with, there were other Highland and Island airports also visited, all of which required Flight Inspection of their navigational and landing aids:
These airfields were also visited, ...............................................................
LICENSING
CAFU had conducted some ........... tests up to this period.
The number of professional pilots doubled from ..... to ..... between the period 196. to 197., an indication of the workload that CAFU Examiners had faced.
ACCIDENTS
The number of fatal accidents to U.K. scheduled flights between 1962 and 1972 almost halved.
CONCORDE
Although Capt John Oliver had attended the first Concorde Introductory Course during January 1969, it was not until this year that he attended the second introductory course at Bristol Filton.
1973
G-ATMJ which had joined CAFU at the end of last year, had its first flight after conversion in January.
MIDDLE EAST CONTRACT
Somewhere in the early 1970’s CAFU were approached, through DOSO, the Directorate of Operational Services Overseas of the DTI, to conduct Flight Inspections for a number of Middle Eastern Countries for both en Route and Landing aids.
Middle East Aids calibrated during this period:
ICAO
Since 1970, teams in five countries had worked on the best way of satisfying the AWOP (All Weather Operational requirements) operational requirement. Though the ICAO requirement made no specific reference to microwave frequencies, most of the development teams chose to use this band. But as far as ICAO was concerned, the new landing system could have been based on ‘foghorns and ear-trumpets’, wrote Flight magazine, just so long as the requirements were met.
Five states made initial submissions to ICAO in 1973. These, with the techniques proposed, were:
· ............. (TRSB)
· ............. (FRSB)
· ............. (DME-based landing system, DLS)
· UK (commutated Doppler)
· ............. (FRSB and commutated Doppler).
The Australian ......................................................
AIRCRAFT
G-ANAP, the Dove used in the 50’s and 60’s for Ordnance Survey work was taken off the register in August as PWFU. NAP had been with CAFU for ...... years.
BRITISH AIRLINE SAFETY
Flight magazine asked the question, ‘Has the creation of the CAA cured any deficiencies in liaison between the sections of the organisation that existed before?" ......................
CONCORDE
Capt John Oliver, the CAFU Flight Examiner chosen to be the Concorde Training Inspector, had several visits to Toulouse during this period, for demonstrations of various sorts on the Flight Test Development Simulator.
CAFU worked with the Education Department of the Essex County Council and provided Educational flights to children from schools in Essex. Two hostesses were contracted to fly on each flight.
Pilot/Navigator Derek Carruthers, who had joined in 1947, can be seen ascending the steps. He is reported to have given informative commentaries as they flew about 2,500ft around the Thames area.
Photo: Courtesy Eddy Harris
Pilot/Navigator Derek Carruthers, who had joined in 1947, can be seen ascending the steps. He is reported to have given informative commentaries as they flew about 2,500ft around the Thames area.
Photo: Courtesy Eddy Harris
1974
ICAO - MLS
The initial Working Group meeting set up to evaluate the technical submissions, was held at The ....... in March 1974, followed by a second in September of the same year. The Working Group comprised ten members, eight of whom were considered to have sufficient expertise to judge the proposed techniques. They came from Australia, Canada, France, West Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, USA and USSR, and were joined by two delegates nominated by .......................... and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations. The Group was intended to work as a purely technical forum, free of ...................
DOCUMENTARY
Around this time “Horizon”, a TV documentary programme, .........................
TELECOMMUNICATION SECTION
They were still headed overall by a Superintendent. The Navaid Inspectors who did all the flying were headed by a senior NAI, who no longer flew, or only when a situation dictated.
The Tels ground staff engineers each had their own sections and section heads. There were four main functions for the Tels organisation as listed below.
Workshop
Calibration
P and E (Planning & Evaluation)
Telecroscope
There was an installation workshop, which was soon disbanded (in 1975). It's responsibilities of installing Flight Inspection systems in Aircraft became less and less as the 748's settled down and the work was split .................................
There was also a technical Library, used for holding aircraft manuals, as well as the Tels department documentation. The Tech Library was run by Jack Straw, father of the politician ..........................................................
The Nav Aid Inspectors were both aircrew and Tels engineers, which enabled both sides, flying and ground staff, to work closely together.
VIP FLIGHTS
Northolt figured more this year, Ministers found it attractive as it was close to Heathrow but with far less problems with boarding and disembarkation due to this less busy RAF station. Flights were going to ...........................................
Ministers flown by Capt Morgan were, Mr Peter shore (twice), Minister for Trade, Mr Tony Benn, Minister for Industry, Mr Peart (twice), Minister for Agriculture, Mr Peter Shore as Minister for Trade and later as Secretary for Industry. Lastly, Mr Roy Hattersley, Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
1975
CIVIL SERVICE CONTRACT
Most CAFU staff, who had been pressed for some time by the CAA with payment incentives, eventually terminated their contract with the Civil Service at the end of .......... 1975. The new CAA terms and conditions were said to be similar, or as good as, the Civil Service — though only time would tell the changes to be implimented.
CHARTER
In May, the HS748, G-ATMJ, was being leased, to Dan Air. It was picked up by Flight and reported, in their July 17th magazine, that an HS748 of the Civil Aviation Flying Unit was operating weekend charters for Dan-Air .........................................
CONCORDE
Both Capt John Oliver and Geoffrey Packham, CAA FOI, attended the first British Airways Conversion Course at Bristol Filton on what was BA’s ‘nucleus course’.
CALIBRATION
There were now thought to be around ........ U.K. ILS installations in the U.K. which CAFU were currently Flight Checking. By the early 1970’s CAFU had stopped checking ....................
CAT 3B ILS
Clearance for Category 3B operations came in 1975, allowing ILS landings to be made with the visibility down to 330 feet (Runway Visual Range) and a 12 foot decision height.
CAA COSTS
In1975 inflation had been so high that the CAA difference between income and expenditure had expanded to £..m. It was a dilemma that the Chairman, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, endeavoured to redress. The CAA pushed out a paper to the industry proposing how costs ought to be applied.
Some of the charges suggested, which CAFU might have to apply, annually, were:
Simulator Approvals £.......
School Approvals £.........
Charges for (DE) Authorised Examiner course
Senior Flight Examiner hourly charges to be £....
A Flight magazine leader called the proposed Simulator charges “Grotesque”, and indusrty leaders responded ..............................
ICAO - MLS
The third Group Meeting of AWOP was held at Melbourne in ....... 1975. It decided a method of assessing the system proposals, which were due in by ........., 1975. By late 1975 the British Phase 2 Doppler MLS was working ....................................
VIP FLIGHTS
Destinations were still to Brussels, then Warsaw, Jersey, Luxembourg, Rome, Biarritz and Venice to Gatwick.
VIP’s were ..................................
1976
CONCORDE
While Concorde would have its inaugural flight With British Airways and Air France, CAFU’s John Oliver started his conversion to Type on the 3rd March at Heathrow .................
AUTOLAND DEVELOPMENT
Refinement of the landing ground-roll phase for BEA’s BAE21 Trident had now been completed (see Flight for ......., 1972) and the system was now ready for Category 3b operations (under which the pilot did not have to see the runway lights for any great distance ahead until the landing roll was almost complete). In practice, zero visibility meant anything up to 25m, the first figure beyond zero on the RVR scale.
MANDATORY OCCURRENCE REPORTING SYSTEM (MORS)
A comprehensive Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System is introduced, ..........................
MLS
Plessey's Doppler MLS is the UK submission to ICAO.
In 1976, TRSB and Doppler MLS performance: was simulated by computers at Lincoln Laboratories in the U.S. under contract to the FAA, and results of these assessments (first seen in late 1976) suggested that Doppler MLS had “some shabby performance characteristics”. .................................................
ICAO
The ICAO fourth All Weather Operations (AWOP) Working Group meeting on the provision of MLS, took place at Brunswick, West Germany, in February, 1976, to be closely followed by an April meeting in Washington.
Mike Whitney, who had been the CAFU Superintendent in the 1950’s, and now holding the post of Deputy Director Telecommunications (Navigation) of the National Air Traffic services (NATS), was the British member of the Working Group ..................................................
At a meeting in the Hague in July , there had been an unexpected event when during discussions on system integrity the American member tabled a report attacking one aspect of the British commutated-Doppler MLS's performance. It claimed that Doppler MLS would not produce ............................ The manager of the FAA MLS programme, Frank Frisbie, publicly said after the meeting, that a Doppler MLS installed at Los Angeles "would not ........................................................"
The UK CAA offered to install a Doppler MLS at any named airport, and planned to carry out such a demonstration...................................... (the story is too long for here - tho very interestng. JF.)."
MINISTERS’ TRANSPORT
There were more questions asked in the House about Ministerial Flights on the 1st May, when Hansard reported the Prime Minister being asked what rules applied to the use by Ministers of military or other aircraft in the course of their duties, and what rules for repayment were applied in cases when such planes were used for unofficial purposes.
The Prime Minister replied:
“Whenever possible Ministers use ..................................................."
Later in the month Hansard reported the Prime Minister being asked if flights by Ministers included flights in Civil Aviation Authority aircraft.
Mr Harold Wilson, PM, replied ....................................................".
VIP FLIGHT
Some of the Flights this year had gone to Grenoble,................................ While in April, Mr Benn, Secretary of State for Energy, was taken around Scotland by Capt Brian Morgan and Capt Thomas, visiting: ............................
CAA CHARGES
The problem of charges was not going away. In the Lords, Hansard reported criticism of the way in which Licence fees were being applied. Aircrew licence fees had now gone up to £........................ It had been applied equally to, for example, a BA senior pilot earning £....... or a flying club instructor earning only £......
On the one hand the CAA were endeavouring to be self sufficient, but at the same time there were critics .....................................
In the House one noble Lord asked Lord Winterbottom whether substantial economies could not be effected by ‘doing away’ with the Civil Aviation Flying Unit at Stansted .........................!!?"
At the same sitting it was pointed out that CAFU also shared tasks such as calibration of equipment, and there was a further sugestion that if thes tasks were to be privatised then ...............!
CONCORDE
While Concorde would have its inaugural flight With British Airways and Air France, CAFU’s John Oliver started his conversion to Type on the 3rd March at Heathrow .................
AUTOLAND DEVELOPMENT
Refinement of the landing ground-roll phase for BEA’s BAE21 Trident had now been completed (see Flight for ......., 1972) and the system was now ready for Category 3b operations (under which the pilot did not have to see the runway lights for any great distance ahead until the landing roll was almost complete). In practice, zero visibility meant anything up to 25m, the first figure beyond zero on the RVR scale.
MANDATORY OCCURRENCE REPORTING SYSTEM (MORS)
A comprehensive Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System is introduced, ..........................
MLS
Plessey's Doppler MLS is the UK submission to ICAO.
In 1976, TRSB and Doppler MLS performance: was simulated by computers at Lincoln Laboratories in the U.S. under contract to the FAA, and results of these assessments (first seen in late 1976) suggested that Doppler MLS had “some shabby performance characteristics”. .................................................
ICAO
The ICAO fourth All Weather Operations (AWOP) Working Group meeting on the provision of MLS, took place at Brunswick, West Germany, in February, 1976, to be closely followed by an April meeting in Washington.
Mike Whitney, who had been the CAFU Superintendent in the 1950’s, and now holding the post of Deputy Director Telecommunications (Navigation) of the National Air Traffic services (NATS), was the British member of the Working Group ..................................................
At a meeting in the Hague in July , there had been an unexpected event when during discussions on system integrity the American member tabled a report attacking one aspect of the British commutated-Doppler MLS's performance. It claimed that Doppler MLS would not produce ............................ The manager of the FAA MLS programme, Frank Frisbie, publicly said after the meeting, that a Doppler MLS installed at Los Angeles "would not ........................................................"
The UK CAA offered to install a Doppler MLS at any named airport, and planned to carry out such a demonstration...................................... (the story is too long for here - tho very interestng. JF.)."
MINISTERS’ TRANSPORT
There were more questions asked in the House about Ministerial Flights on the 1st May, when Hansard reported the Prime Minister being asked what rules applied to the use by Ministers of military or other aircraft in the course of their duties, and what rules for repayment were applied in cases when such planes were used for unofficial purposes.
The Prime Minister replied:
“Whenever possible Ministers use ..................................................."
Later in the month Hansard reported the Prime Minister being asked if flights by Ministers included flights in Civil Aviation Authority aircraft.
Mr Harold Wilson, PM, replied ....................................................".
VIP FLIGHT
Some of the Flights this year had gone to Grenoble,................................ While in April, Mr Benn, Secretary of State for Energy, was taken around Scotland by Capt Brian Morgan and Capt Thomas, visiting: ............................
CAA CHARGES
The problem of charges was not going away. In the Lords, Hansard reported criticism of the way in which Licence fees were being applied. Aircrew licence fees had now gone up to £........................ It had been applied equally to, for example, a BA senior pilot earning £....... or a flying club instructor earning only £......
On the one hand the CAA were endeavouring to be self sufficient, but at the same time there were critics .....................................
In the House one noble Lord asked Lord Winterbottom whether substantial economies could not be effected by ‘doing away’ with the Civil Aviation Flying Unit at Stansted .........................!!?"
At the same sitting it was pointed out that CAFU also shared tasks such as calibration of equipment, and there was a further sugestion that if thes tasks were to be privatised then ...............!
1977
CHAIRMAN
April saw the end of the five year term of the first Chairman of the CAA, Lord Boyd-Carpenter. His replacement was Mr Nigel Foulkes, who reportdly, promptly declared, “Our job is to ............ — the Government thinks so and I heartily agree”.
OPERATIONS
Since CAFU’s inception Operations had traditionally been headed by an Operations Officer (OO) but, perhaps because of savings that the CAA were now trying to make, when Bernard Fitch the Ops OO retired, one of the senior Navigators, Sid Pritchard, was asked to take control.
SIMULATOR
Soon the Doves were no longer seen appropriate for the training of the Authorised Examiners and an HS125 Simulator was installed in ......................... Simulated Flight Training (SFT), Bournemouth, would own and run the simulator with Tony Angel, a Director of SFT, being the simulator operator, acting out the part of ATC, air and other traffic ........................."
AIRCRAFT
In February the final Flight Inspection Dove, G-ALFT, which had been one of four Dove calibration aircraft, was retired after just over .................. It was the longest serving Dove and aircraft with CAFU. It’s registration document showed it being permanently withdrawn from use (PWFU) .............................."
After the de-registration of two more IR Doves, NUT and NUU, both incidentally were also PWFU, CAFU were left with just two, G-ANOV and NUW ............................."
ICAO
The final AWOP meeting at Montréal, held in March of 1977, had to study a further simulation study which concluded that Doppler MLS would not operate satisfactorily on Runway 07L at .......... Airport. The meeting finally concluded, with a controversial vote, which was widely interpreted as a sign of confidence in the American TRSB system........................."
What most concerned the British team at the Working Group meeting ............................
The British offered to demonstrate Doppler MLS at those airports which the Lincoln Laboratory described as incompatible with the UK system ........................."
It was thought that, ideally, TRSB and Doppler-MLS should be tested under identical circumstances ......................."
CALIBRATION
The pressure of air traffic growth was restricting the accessibility of some airports. At Heathrow, for instance, it was expected that it might soon be necessary to perform ILS calibrations at night.
Although not exactly calibration work, CAFU aircraft were engaged in trialling a Ground Proximity Warning device in one of the HS748s ................
MLS DEMO GATWICK
In an article by Flight they reported the world's first MLS-guided automatic landing at an international airport flown at ............................. It was the first time that MLS guided landings had been flown under operational ................................. Plessey and CAA engineers were using Doppler MLS, which was co-located with the airport's Category 2 ILS. This was a prototype MLS installation and ........................................."
EUROPEAN MLS TRIALS
In October, CAFU BAE748 aircraft flown by Capt B (Bernie) Sercombe, flew the Plessey Doppler MLS trials at ................... where the Doppler MLS antenna was offset from the runway. ..................... was used by both the British and Americans, using their TRSB MLS, because .........................................................."
MLS TRIALS AMERICA
............... airport was nominated as an MLS test site by the Americans and was one of the airports at which comparative trials were to be flown with both TRSB and the British Doppler MLS.
The FAA was also having to face challenges from the British MLS development team, which maintained that Doppler MLS had fully lived up to expectations in the demonstrations and trials that had been completed since last June. A comment in Flight magazine: "If the previous week's House of Representatives hearing in Washington - which was primarily concerned with the Lincoln Laboratories simulations - generates more scepticism about FAA procedure, it is likely that the Administration would come under increased pressure to be more open about TRSB trial results.
The next meeting was to be held in .........................................
CAA REVIEW
In the mid seventies came a review committee to investigate the structure of the Directorate of Flight Operations (which controlled CAFU), as well as the work undertaken for the Directorates of Telecommunications and Flight Crew Licensing (FCL). All three strands of work at CAFU, seemingly inextricably intertwined as one, were somehow ....................................
The resultant decisions had the most fundamental effect on the structure and working of the Flying Unit .............................................."
As Capt. G.B. Gurr wrote in his biography "Testing Times", ‘….it was, effectively, the end of CAFU as it had been structured for the past thirty years’.
Additionally, the Unit would now be re-named as the Civil Aviation Authority Flying Unit (CAAFU), ........................................."
CAA CHAIRMAN
In September, Flight reported that the CAA Chairman, Nigel Foulkes, is giving CAA staff the impression of a chairman with direct commercial views. “He is cutting out interdepartmental committees, unnecessary travel, and other bureaucratic growths, and showing scant regard ..................................”.
CHAIRMAN
April saw the end of the five year term of the first Chairman of the CAA, Lord Boyd-Carpenter. His replacement was Mr Nigel Foulkes, who reportdly, promptly declared, “Our job is to ............ — the Government thinks so and I heartily agree”.
OPERATIONS
Since CAFU’s inception Operations had traditionally been headed by an Operations Officer (OO) but, perhaps because of savings that the CAA were now trying to make, when Bernard Fitch the Ops OO retired, one of the senior Navigators, Sid Pritchard, was asked to take control.
SIMULATOR
Soon the Doves were no longer seen appropriate for the training of the Authorised Examiners and an HS125 Simulator was installed in ......................... Simulated Flight Training (SFT), Bournemouth, would own and run the simulator with Tony Angel, a Director of SFT, being the simulator operator, acting out the part of ATC, air and other traffic ........................."
AIRCRAFT
In February the final Flight Inspection Dove, G-ALFT, which had been one of four Dove calibration aircraft, was retired after just over .................. It was the longest serving Dove and aircraft with CAFU. It’s registration document showed it being permanently withdrawn from use (PWFU) .............................."
After the de-registration of two more IR Doves, NUT and NUU, both incidentally were also PWFU, CAFU were left with just two, G-ANOV and NUW ............................."
ICAO
The final AWOP meeting at Montréal, held in March of 1977, had to study a further simulation study which concluded that Doppler MLS would not operate satisfactorily on Runway 07L at .......... Airport. The meeting finally concluded, with a controversial vote, which was widely interpreted as a sign of confidence in the American TRSB system........................."
What most concerned the British team at the Working Group meeting ............................
The British offered to demonstrate Doppler MLS at those airports which the Lincoln Laboratory described as incompatible with the UK system ........................."
It was thought that, ideally, TRSB and Doppler-MLS should be tested under identical circumstances ......................."
CALIBRATION
The pressure of air traffic growth was restricting the accessibility of some airports. At Heathrow, for instance, it was expected that it might soon be necessary to perform ILS calibrations at night.
Although not exactly calibration work, CAFU aircraft were engaged in trialling a Ground Proximity Warning device in one of the HS748s ................
MLS DEMO GATWICK
In an article by Flight they reported the world's first MLS-guided automatic landing at an international airport flown at ............................. It was the first time that MLS guided landings had been flown under operational ................................. Plessey and CAA engineers were using Doppler MLS, which was co-located with the airport's Category 2 ILS. This was a prototype MLS installation and ........................................."
EUROPEAN MLS TRIALS
In October, CAFU BAE748 aircraft flown by Capt B (Bernie) Sercombe, flew the Plessey Doppler MLS trials at ................... where the Doppler MLS antenna was offset from the runway. ..................... was used by both the British and Americans, using their TRSB MLS, because .........................................................."
MLS TRIALS AMERICA
............... airport was nominated as an MLS test site by the Americans and was one of the airports at which comparative trials were to be flown with both TRSB and the British Doppler MLS.
The FAA was also having to face challenges from the British MLS development team, which maintained that Doppler MLS had fully lived up to expectations in the demonstrations and trials that had been completed since last June. A comment in Flight magazine: "If the previous week's House of Representatives hearing in Washington - which was primarily concerned with the Lincoln Laboratories simulations - generates more scepticism about FAA procedure, it is likely that the Administration would come under increased pressure to be more open about TRSB trial results.
The next meeting was to be held in .........................................
CAA REVIEW
In the mid seventies came a review committee to investigate the structure of the Directorate of Flight Operations (which controlled CAFU), as well as the work undertaken for the Directorates of Telecommunications and Flight Crew Licensing (FCL). All three strands of work at CAFU, seemingly inextricably intertwined as one, were somehow ....................................
The resultant decisions had the most fundamental effect on the structure and working of the Flying Unit .............................................."
As Capt. G.B. Gurr wrote in his biography "Testing Times", ‘….it was, effectively, the end of CAFU as it had been structured for the past thirty years’.
Additionally, the Unit would now be re-named as the Civil Aviation Authority Flying Unit (CAAFU), ........................................."
CAA CHAIRMAN
In September, Flight reported that the CAA Chairman, Nigel Foulkes, is giving CAA staff the impression of a chairman with direct commercial views. “He is cutting out interdepartmental committees, unnecessary travel, and other bureaucratic growths, and showing scant regard ..................................”.
1978
MLS
In January CAFU again visited .................., where both the UK Doppler MLS and US TRSB systems had been installed (an American ....... was seen flying the TRSB system). This time the 748 aircraft, flown by Capt H. (Hugh) McDowall, was in real winter conditions. To make matters even more difficult the de-icer boots on the port wing ‘ballooned’ ...................................."
Dick Hawkes, co-pilot/navigator, recalled being ten days at ............... before moving down to ............ airport to prove to the ICAO AWOP team that MLS could be flown on runway 07L, in spite of American claims to the contrary .............................."
After ten days away from Base Hugh McDowall and Dick Hawkes were relieved by Capt Peter Franklin and co-pilot Ben Gunn. The rest of the crew, tells NAI Tony Bird, seeing it through to the bitter end at B........ for further trials....................................."
AIRCRAFT
The 748 aircraft, G-ATMJ, which had been charted to Dan Air between the months of May to October each year was registered as being sold to Dan Air and registered to them on the 26 July 1978. It was delivered to them on the 30th of the same month ............................"
HEAD ON COLLISION -US MLS INQUIRY seeks "plain truth"
In January, representatives , from the US and Britain were testified before the US House of Representatives' transportation subcommittee, investigating accusations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) deliberately misled the ICAO All Weather Operations Panel about microwave landing system (MLS) performance.
The claim was made by Britain following the discovery of errors in computer simulations of Doppler MLS performance, and taken up by subcommittee chairman John Burton. US witnesses on the first day included Barry Goldwater jnr, and FAA and Lincoln Laboratory representatives ...................................................................."
Republican Robert Walker commented that the relationship between the FAA and Lincoln Laboratories, whereby the latter was under contract to the FAA to complete simulation studies on US and British MLS proposals, was not .............., "but anyone looking at it from the outside can take this relationship ............... and run off with it. You left yourself open .............." Burton admitted also that he was disturbed to find .........................."
On the last day of the inquiry the FAA admitted that problems with their laser tracking equipment had invalidated much of the data obtained at Kennedy in December, and that they were hoping to repeat trials ....................... The schedule would be very tight - it might even cause the American team to relinquish trials in Iran - and would certainly depend on how the weather affected Kennedy in the next few weeks. Trials were due to be completed before the British team arrived ........................."
Mr Michael Whitney admitted during cross-examination that the UK too had experienced ..................................................."
It was generally understood that the subcommittee expected its inquiry to serve as a clearing house for conflicting US and UK opinions ........................"
MLS BATTLE INTENSIFIES
During January the Americans had trialled three TRSB MLS sites in Europe; ..................................................... They also installed their biggest “expanded” MLS at ............................
In March, British Engineers installed Doppler MLS at Kennedy, New York, virtually beside the American TRSB system, which had had to be re-installed after data from previous trials had been “lost”! . ...................................................."
IATA
At the 66th IATA Technical Committee meeting all members were agreed that there was no early requirement for the operational use of MLS. The majority of members felt that it would be ..................................................................
MLS TRIALS KENNEDY
Held at Kennedy airport, New York. The British built Plessey Doppler MLS system had been installed adjacent to the American TRSB (Time Reference Scanning Beam) system. Capt. McDowall, pilot, Dick Hawkes, co-pilot and navigator, flew the HS748, G-AVXI, flying the Atlantic via Keflavik, Iceland, Narsassawak in Greenland, Goose Bay, where they had to stay awhile due to a heavy snow storm. Then on to Bangor Main, and finally New York.
At Kennedy they flew the Doppler MLS, installed by British Engineers virtually alongside the American RTSB system, which had had to be re-installed ..........."
Capt. McDowall flew the British Plessey Doppler MLS, both during daylight hours and night ......................................."
After completion of the flights at Kennedy, Capt McDowall flew VXI on to Dorval, Montréal’s airport, where Capt Peter Franklin, with his crew, took over for the demonstration flights given to ICAO representatives ........................................"
MLS DECISION
ICAO were to deliberate on their findings on the MLS contenders between the ....................... April
By the 19th they had decided to adopt....................................................................
CATEGORY ‘C’ AIRFIELDS
Category ‘C’ airfields were considered difficult to arrive at, usually with high surrounding terrain and or many procedures. The crew were not only briefed beforehand, but one of the crew members had to have flown into the airfield within the last six months. After an accident at Tenerife North, where a UK B707 aircraft turned the wrong way in the holding pattern and crashed into high ground, CAAFU Inspectors flew the BAe125 to Lisbon, Tenerife North, Tenerife South, Madera, Gibraltar, Tarbes. Not only were they able to check the pattern at Tenerife North, as well as the English spoken by ATC, but also took the opportunity to visit the other category ‘C’ airports on that route. The flight was accomplished using the HS125 hours allocated to each Inspector.
197
AIR OPERATORS CERTIFICATE
After the internal CAA Review of the mid 70’s, It was around this time that CAFU had their AOC withdrawn, which meant the end of, what had been seen to become, CAFU ‘commercial flights’; ..........................".
CAFU COMPUTERS
Although the Telecommunication side were already using computers, this year the Administrative side were also supplied with an ICL CPM system. The main server was held in the IRE/TRE office under the control of Sid Pritchard, Manager of Operations, who oversaw the introduction of Word Processing in several offices. This arrangement led to the introduction of a computerised Flight Planning system used by Operations for the BAe125 flights.........................."
EUROPEAN JOINT AIRWORTHINESS REQUIREMENT (JAR)
The UK adopts the first European Joint Airworthiness Requirement, covering standards for large transport aircraft.
FCL
Until now, pilots wanting to be CAFU Examiners were required to have a CPL and an Instructor qualification to apply as a permanent FE2 grade, but with little or no prospect of being up-graded.
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MLS
In January CAFU again visited .................., where both the UK Doppler MLS and US TRSB systems had been installed (an American ....... was seen flying the TRSB system). This time the 748 aircraft, flown by Capt H. (Hugh) McDowall, was in real winter conditions. To make matters even more difficult the de-icer boots on the port wing ‘ballooned’ ...................................."
Dick Hawkes, co-pilot/navigator, recalled being ten days at ............... before moving down to ............ airport to prove to the ICAO AWOP team that MLS could be flown on runway 07L, in spite of American claims to the contrary .............................."
After ten days away from Base Hugh McDowall and Dick Hawkes were relieved by Capt Peter Franklin and co-pilot Ben Gunn. The rest of the crew, tells NAI Tony Bird, seeing it through to the bitter end at B........ for further trials....................................."
AIRCRAFT
The 748 aircraft, G-ATMJ, which had been charted to Dan Air between the months of May to October each year was registered as being sold to Dan Air and registered to them on the 26 July 1978. It was delivered to them on the 30th of the same month ............................"
HEAD ON COLLISION -US MLS INQUIRY seeks "plain truth"
In January, representatives , from the US and Britain were testified before the US House of Representatives' transportation subcommittee, investigating accusations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) deliberately misled the ICAO All Weather Operations Panel about microwave landing system (MLS) performance.
The claim was made by Britain following the discovery of errors in computer simulations of Doppler MLS performance, and taken up by subcommittee chairman John Burton. US witnesses on the first day included Barry Goldwater jnr, and FAA and Lincoln Laboratory representatives ...................................................................."
Republican Robert Walker commented that the relationship between the FAA and Lincoln Laboratories, whereby the latter was under contract to the FAA to complete simulation studies on US and British MLS proposals, was not .............., "but anyone looking at it from the outside can take this relationship ............... and run off with it. You left yourself open .............." Burton admitted also that he was disturbed to find .........................."
On the last day of the inquiry the FAA admitted that problems with their laser tracking equipment had invalidated much of the data obtained at Kennedy in December, and that they were hoping to repeat trials ....................... The schedule would be very tight - it might even cause the American team to relinquish trials in Iran - and would certainly depend on how the weather affected Kennedy in the next few weeks. Trials were due to be completed before the British team arrived ........................."
Mr Michael Whitney admitted during cross-examination that the UK too had experienced ..................................................."
It was generally understood that the subcommittee expected its inquiry to serve as a clearing house for conflicting US and UK opinions ........................"
MLS BATTLE INTENSIFIES
During January the Americans had trialled three TRSB MLS sites in Europe; ..................................................... They also installed their biggest “expanded” MLS at ............................
In March, British Engineers installed Doppler MLS at Kennedy, New York, virtually beside the American TRSB system, which had had to be re-installed after data from previous trials had been “lost”! . ...................................................."
IATA
At the 66th IATA Technical Committee meeting all members were agreed that there was no early requirement for the operational use of MLS. The majority of members felt that it would be ..................................................................
MLS TRIALS KENNEDY
Held at Kennedy airport, New York. The British built Plessey Doppler MLS system had been installed adjacent to the American TRSB (Time Reference Scanning Beam) system. Capt. McDowall, pilot, Dick Hawkes, co-pilot and navigator, flew the HS748, G-AVXI, flying the Atlantic via Keflavik, Iceland, Narsassawak in Greenland, Goose Bay, where they had to stay awhile due to a heavy snow storm. Then on to Bangor Main, and finally New York.
At Kennedy they flew the Doppler MLS, installed by British Engineers virtually alongside the American RTSB system, which had had to be re-installed ..........."
Capt. McDowall flew the British Plessey Doppler MLS, both during daylight hours and night ......................................."
After completion of the flights at Kennedy, Capt McDowall flew VXI on to Dorval, Montréal’s airport, where Capt Peter Franklin, with his crew, took over for the demonstration flights given to ICAO representatives ........................................"
MLS DECISION
ICAO were to deliberate on their findings on the MLS contenders between the ....................... April
By the 19th they had decided to adopt....................................................................
CATEGORY ‘C’ AIRFIELDS
Category ‘C’ airfields were considered difficult to arrive at, usually with high surrounding terrain and or many procedures. The crew were not only briefed beforehand, but one of the crew members had to have flown into the airfield within the last six months. After an accident at Tenerife North, where a UK B707 aircraft turned the wrong way in the holding pattern and crashed into high ground, CAAFU Inspectors flew the BAe125 to Lisbon, Tenerife North, Tenerife South, Madera, Gibraltar, Tarbes. Not only were they able to check the pattern at Tenerife North, as well as the English spoken by ATC, but also took the opportunity to visit the other category ‘C’ airports on that route. The flight was accomplished using the HS125 hours allocated to each Inspector.
197
AIR OPERATORS CERTIFICATE
After the internal CAA Review of the mid 70’s, It was around this time that CAFU had their AOC withdrawn, which meant the end of, what had been seen to become, CAFU ‘commercial flights’; ..........................".
CAFU COMPUTERS
Although the Telecommunication side were already using computers, this year the Administrative side were also supplied with an ICL CPM system. The main server was held in the IRE/TRE office under the control of Sid Pritchard, Manager of Operations, who oversaw the introduction of Word Processing in several offices. This arrangement led to the introduction of a computerised Flight Planning system used by Operations for the BAe125 flights.........................."
EUROPEAN JOINT AIRWORTHINESS REQUIREMENT (JAR)
The UK adopts the first European Joint Airworthiness Requirement, covering standards for large transport aircraft.
FCL
Until now, pilots wanting to be CAFU Examiners were required to have a CPL and an Instructor qualification to apply as a permanent FE2 grade, but with little or no prospect of being up-graded.
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