FCU-FCS 1990–96
1990 - 1996
1990
CAA REPORT
The Monopolies and Mergers Commission Report on the CAA was published, focusing on the supply of navigation and air traffic control services.
1991
CAA CHAIRMAN
Mr Christopher Chataway takes over from Mr Tugendhat as Chairman of the CAA.
FCU MANAGER
Dave Reiffer was due to Retire in May when Chris Tyler came to take over as General Manager. It’s believed that he came from a Helicopter company, Westlands or Bristows it was thought.
The FCU was desperately short of experienced calibration & training pilots; ............................."
1992
SYMPOSIUM
Chris Tyler, General Manager of FCU, presented a paper to an International Flight Inspection Symposium at Hatfield where he spoke on the merits of the BAe748 as a flight inspection platform and the benefits of improvements made. Earlier in the week, Martyn Wills ..............................."
LINE FLYING
Capt John Oliver, who was Type Rated on both the Concorde and the DC10, for whom he had been flying the Line since 1982 with BCAL, was now invited by British Airways to line-fly Concorde
1993
Chris Tyler was himself about to be posted in the early months of this year and was replaced by Colin Chitty, M.Eng. C.Eng. Colin had worked for various oil companies and was currently working at Teeside ........................."
FCU to FCS
RESTRUCTURED – RELOCATED - RENAMED
In April, the FCU staff numbers were further reduced, dramatically even, when it was restructured, relocated and renamed as the Flight Calibration Service (FCS) (26th March), from its second home of forty three years, to a new third home at Teesside, ......................................
INDEPENDENT REPORT
The CAA had asked for an independent report that advised that the BAe748s could be retained for up to ten years; the aircraft were fully amortized and for this reason could continue to provide a cost effective service. ......................................................."
748'S
The old system in G-AVXI was now replaced with two consoles. The main Flight Inspection console integrated the terminal and navaid flight checking, en route flight checking and position fixing instrumentation. Essentially, all the Flight Inspection work could now be carried out on the front console which effectively integrated the three stations into one. There was another console at the back of the aircraft purely for evaluation work,......................."
The FCU had been conducting night time Flight Inspections for some time now using ............................."
Externally, the aircraft had been given a complete new colour scheme; the upper fuselage, previously white, was now dark blue with ‘FLIGHT CALIBRATION SERVICE’ written in white above the windows ............................... ". It was impressively smart and sensible. Quietly, though, something was missing – ..........................
MLS
The Microwave Landing System was now believed to be destined to be the designated replacement for ILS, .........................
CONCORDE
Capt John Oliver who had been the Type Rated CAAFU Training Inspector for Concorde since 1976 retired, his place being taken by Capt Gwynn Williams of Flight Ops at SRG Gatwick.
1994
The FCS had now attained a British Standards Institute accreditation, all attempts directed at being a competent ...............t.
NATS
Government proposes the privatisation of the National Air Traffic Services.
GOVERNMENT CRITISIZED
Although the CAA was not directly a Government department one could not help feel the association of these comments made by Flight magazine: “The UK Government's obsession with trying to run traditionally funded public services as commercial businesses has, justly, received far more criticism than praise. That is not because its primary aim (to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of providing those services) is wrong, but because it does not understand the nature of the services ....................... "
FARNBOROUGH
Flight Inspection was not normally carried out at Farnborough so it was a surprise to find a photo on the Air Britain site taken at Farnborough in 1994.
It was not the first time that the Unit had an aircraft at Farnborough as one of the 748’s had been used in the flying display in the eighties ......................"
G-AVXI seen at Farnborough Air Display in the static park in 1994 in its Flight Calibration Service colour scheme.
Photo: Tony McGhee www.abpic.co.uk
Photo: Tony McGhee www.abpic.co.uk
1995
Highland and Islands Airports Ltd was transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland.
A nice aerial photograph of the two HS 748s when tthey belonged to the Flight Calibration Service (FCS).
Photo: Civil Aviation Authority FCS
Photo: Civil Aviation Authority FCS
1996
NATS Ltd
National Air Traffic Services Ltd was formed, under CAA direction.
FLIGHT CALIBRATION SERVICE (FCS) SOLD
The CAA Strategic Business Unit (SBU) was sold to the private sector.
On the 22nd October, 1996, the Flight Calibration Service was sold to Flight Precision Ltd. (FPL, called Flight Precision Services), a joint venture company formed only in 1993 and owned by the FRAviation Group Ltd (UK) and Aerodata AG., whose purpose was to carry out the calibration of airfield and en-route navigation aids. (FRAviation Group Ltd was a 100% subsidiary of Cobham plc .................................." Having acquired the assets, staff and contracts of the Civil Aviation Authority's Flight Calibration Service, FPL now became the United Kingdom's flight inspection service provider.
FPL AIRCRAFT LIVERY
Somehow, there was a slight change to the livery of the 748 aircraft as the white CAA name on the Fin, together with the white crescent moon logo, was changed with the letters ‘FP’ and a Logo just above. The logo is interesting because it was shaped like a bird or dragon-fly, slightly above and joined to another below it. I think that may have been the logo for the FRAviation Group, a subsidiary of Cobham, and a Flight Refuelling (FRAviation) company. Presumably FP stood for Flight Precision. Yet the title on the fuselage, surprisingly, remained the same, FLIGHT CALIBRATION SERVICE — perhaps allowing customers to believe there was little change................
LAST AIRCRAFT DEREGISTERED
So finally, after just under thirty years service with the Ministry and CAA, the two HS748’s, G-AVXI and G-AVXJ, were no longer registered to the CAA from the 22nd October, 1996, closing a period of history, ..........................
CHARLES M. MARCHANT
In a final Conclusion, in Charles Marchant’s Paper to the Institute of Navigation, he remarks how at Gatwick Airport, the place where 'CATFU' was born, "..the Safety Regulation Group of the CAA has a ‘glass palace’ at which its entrance has a notice declaring, ‘Safety is no Accident’. Charles suggests that his double entendre with tense modified, would also make an appropriate epitaph to any account of the history of the CIVIL AVIATION FLYING UNIT.
“SAFETY WAS NO ACCIDENT”
NATS Ltd
National Air Traffic Services Ltd was formed, under CAA direction.
FLIGHT CALIBRATION SERVICE (FCS) SOLD
The CAA Strategic Business Unit (SBU) was sold to the private sector.
On the 22nd October, 1996, the Flight Calibration Service was sold to Flight Precision Ltd. (FPL, called Flight Precision Services), a joint venture company formed only in 1993 and owned by the FRAviation Group Ltd (UK) and Aerodata AG., whose purpose was to carry out the calibration of airfield and en-route navigation aids. (FRAviation Group Ltd was a 100% subsidiary of Cobham plc .................................." Having acquired the assets, staff and contracts of the Civil Aviation Authority's Flight Calibration Service, FPL now became the United Kingdom's flight inspection service provider.
FPL AIRCRAFT LIVERY
Somehow, there was a slight change to the livery of the 748 aircraft as the white CAA name on the Fin, together with the white crescent moon logo, was changed with the letters ‘FP’ and a Logo just above. The logo is interesting because it was shaped like a bird or dragon-fly, slightly above and joined to another below it. I think that may have been the logo for the FRAviation Group, a subsidiary of Cobham, and a Flight Refuelling (FRAviation) company. Presumably FP stood for Flight Precision. Yet the title on the fuselage, surprisingly, remained the same, FLIGHT CALIBRATION SERVICE — perhaps allowing customers to believe there was little change................
LAST AIRCRAFT DEREGISTERED
So finally, after just under thirty years service with the Ministry and CAA, the two HS748’s, G-AVXI and G-AVXJ, were no longer registered to the CAA from the 22nd October, 1996, closing a period of history, ..........................
CHARLES M. MARCHANT
In a final Conclusion, in Charles Marchant’s Paper to the Institute of Navigation, he remarks how at Gatwick Airport, the place where 'CATFU' was born, "..the Safety Regulation Group of the CAA has a ‘glass palace’ at which its entrance has a notice declaring, ‘Safety is no Accident’. Charles suggests that his double entendre with tense modified, would also make an appropriate epitaph to any account of the history of the CIVIL AVIATION FLYING UNIT.
“SAFETY WAS NO ACCIDENT”
G-AVXI spotted at Stansted c1996 with the new Tail Logo of Flight Precision, yet still sporting the name Flight Calibration service.
Photo: Richard Parker (Stansted Airport, Nathan Kosky)
Photo: Richard Parker (Stansted Airport, Nathan Kosky)
CONCLUSION & AFTERWORD
The book, "Safety was no Accident", does carry on with further comment and interest in aviation activity well into the new millenium i.e. "Both aircraft continued to be registered to FPL for another two years until October 1998. They were then sold to Emerald Airways who had G-AVXI registered until October 2001. VXJ stayed registered with them until January 2003." VXJ can still be seen ...............................................
- I hope you will enjoy.
JIM FULLER 2011