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woodbloke":2w1imw9e said:
RogM wrote:
and I had a swarm of bees in the cockpit
........................ The incidents :wink: that happened to the other aircraft are believable, but how did you manage to get a swarm of bees in a closed cockpit...unless you mistook your Provost for a SE5 from WW1 and took up the wrong aeroplane :lol: - Rob

Rob - I'm seriously disappointed at your lack of imagination! ;) :) It was a hot summer and the aircraft were parked on the tarmac with the canopies back to stop them being uncomfortably hot when we got in. These bees clearly thought that this was a nice sheltered and warm place to rest, hiding under the ejection seats. Once airborne the flow of cold air through the a/c system clearly made them comatose, and it was only the influx of warm air that came through the system as I descended that woke them up and made them decide to try moving on - but failing due to the closed canopy, which angered them considerably. Perfectly feasible I would have thought, if not an exactly common occurence. :)
 
Rog - ahh...that explains it :^o :whistle: :lol: All is now clear :lol:...I did think for a minute that they had got sucked up thru' the air intake in flight but being so small had escaped the compressor blades and somehow managed to wiggle their way into the cockpit thru' the airframe...which is about as plausible as your tale :lol: - Rob
 
Hi Simon.

I'm envious for 2 reasons. First I'm in IT. It bores the pants off me and yours sounds like a great job. Secondly my job forced me to move from Bournemouth and I loved it there.

Great news.

Jeff
 
RogerM":wetj8ajg said:
woodbloke":wetj8ajg said:
RogM wrote:
and I had a swarm of bees in the cockpit
........................ The incidents :wink: that happened to the other aircraft are believable, but how did you manage to get a swarm of bees in a closed cockpit...unless you mistook your Provost for a SE5 from WW1 and took up the wrong aeroplane :lol: - Rob

Rob - I'm seriously disappointed at your lack of imagination! ;) :) It was a hot summer and the aircraft were parked on the tarmac with the canopies back to stop them being uncomfortably hot when we got in. These bees clearly thought that this was a nice sheltered and warm place to rest, hiding under the ejection seats. Once airborne the flow of cold air through the a/c system clearly made them comatose, and it was only the influx of warm air that came through the system as I descended that woke them up and made them decide to try moving on - but failing due to the closed canopy, which angered them considerably. Perfectly feasible I would have thought, if not an exactly common occurence. :)

I suppose the powers that be (no pun intended) still haven't realised it could happen again and designed some kind of disposable netting that could be employed to keep out unwanted visitors; like loonie pilots?

Cheers.
John :D
 
Slim":22kwirp4 said:
RogerM":22kwirp4 said:
Well done Simon. They don't recruit idiots for that job. Beware pilots winding you up - I plead guilty to that one.

In the RAF we used to practise radio failure. When this happens the "carrier wave" is often still available so that if you press the "transmit" button the ATC can hear a "click". To attract the controllers attention you do 4 x clicks to alert them to your presence. They then ask if a speechless arircraft is calling and ask you to respond with 1 x click for "yes", 2 x clicks for "no", and 3 x clicks for "say again". Then they allocate you the callsign of "speechless 1" and ask you a series of questions, like "is this a practise?", "do you have a further emergency" (invariably "yes"), "are you on fire?", "can you maintain height", "do you have a medical problem" etc, with all questions being answered with the appropriate number of clicks.

When I was flying Jet Provosts from Cranwell in the early 1970's 8 of us colluded to return to base simultaneously - all with simulated radio failure - so the poor s** in the tower was controlling 8 aircraft, none of which could speak to him, and with call signs "speechless 1" to "speechless 8". Three of us had practise engine failures and couldn't maintain height, one had a stuck open throttle and couldn't slow down, one had flaps stuck down and couldn't accelerate, and I had a swarm of bees in the cockpit and was periodically flying erratically. You could hear the controllers voice becoming more and more shrill as the stress levels were ramped up without mercy. What fun! :) :) :)

:lol: I'm glad I won't be dealing with any of you RAF loonies!

Sounds like Bob Newhart would have had fun with that scenario..
:D Happy days!
John
 
Thanks Jeff and John,

Benchwayze":20f0sg5o said:
Mind you, I think you must be a stress junkie

I have spoken to several ATCO's now, and asked all of them about the stress levels involved in the job. I have had a similar answer from each. It is a bit of a myth that it is a high stress job. The shifts are 8 hours. You are plugged in for no more than 90 minutes at a time followed by no less than a 45 minute break. While you are plugged in, the concentration is such that it is virtually impossible to feel stressed. Then when you are off duty, there is no work to take home, no paperwork to do (unless you have had an airmiss incident) and there are no deadlines to meet. Having said that, I'm sure it could be the most stressful job in the work if there has been an incident.
 
Well done Slim =D> - Just keep both feet planted firmly on the ground, keep your head out of the clouds and it'll be plane sailing - I'm sure you'll be a high flyer and a runway success! :wink: :wink:

Mark
 
woody67":19e2pmrl said:
Well done Slim =D> - Just keep both feet planted firmly on the ground, keep your head out of the clouds and it'll be plane sailing - I'm sure you'll be a high flyer and a runway success! :wink: :wink:

Mark

Are you sure you couldn't have fitted any more terrible puns into that sentence? :lol: :roll:

Thanks
 
Slim":2vygs0sw said:
Thanks Jeff and John,

Benchwayze":2vygs0sw said:
Mind you, I think you must be a stress junkie

I have spoken to several ATCO's now, and asked all of them about the stress levels involved in the job. I have had a similar answer from each. It is a bit of a myth that it is a high stress job. The shifts are 8 hours. You are plugged in for no more than 90 minutes at a time followed by no less than a 45 minute break. While you are plugged in, the concentration is such that it is virtually impossible to feel stressed. Then when you are off duty, there is no work to take home, no paperwork to do (unless you have had an airmiss incident) and there are no deadlines to meet. Having said that, I'm sure it could be the most stressful job in the work if there has been an incident.

Thanks Slim and I still wish you all the best. It's your youth I envy though! 8)

Regarding your machinery...

Wouldn't it be less expensive to put it into storage somehewre, until you are settled. If you continue woodworking, you won't be happy until you replace all the machinery you dispose of.

I sold a Woodrat on eBay a few months back. I'd never used the thing due to lack of wall-space. Now I am getting an additional shed, I wish I still had the 'Rat. So I guess I will be buying another!
Regards
John :D
 
Benchwayze":aqdfpi31 said:
Regarding your machinery...

Wouldn't it be less expensive to put it into storage somehewre, until you are settled. If you continue woodworking, you won't be happy until you replace all the machinery you dispose of.

I only wish I could John, but the salary for a trainee ATCO is not enough to cover storage costs. Luckily, the salary for a validated ATCO is enough to buy it all again, when I get another workshop. :D

I will be very sad to see it go, but it is a necessary step.
 
Great news Simon

I remember how much you wanted this when you came over a year ago.

Well done, and hope you enjoy it :D (on those wages it'll be holtey, not Festool :) )
 
Slim":24ktapma said:
Benchwayze":24ktapma said:
Regarding your machinery...

Wouldn't it be less expensive to put it into storage somehewre, until you are settled. If you continue woodworking, you won't be happy until you replace all the machinery you dispose of.

I only wish I could John, but the salary for a trainee ATCO is not enough to cover storage costs. Luckily, the salary for a validated ATCO is enough to buy it all again, when I get another workshop. :D

I will be very sad to see it go, but it is a necessary step.



Seriously, that's a pity.. But as long as you can get somew more is the main thing...

Hmmmm! BTW,
Got a woodrat? :whistle:

:D
John
 
Slim,

I just retired from FedEx as Flight Analyst in the Flight Training Department. Working with airline personnel will put in touch with the most intelligent and bouyant people in the world. There is just something so 'logical' about aviation. I've been to Prestwick on two occasions thought the whole Ayershire region was quite picturesque.

Anything green and wet always appeals to us Californians.

Gary Curtis

150 miles north of San Francisco
 

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