egats.org · issue: lli111111111111111iiiibiiiihiiiiiii1ii1i i contents: page i i * by bob van der...

ISSUE: llI111111111111111IIIIbIIIiHIIIIIII1II1I

I CONTENTS: PAGE

I * by Bob van d e r F l i e r 2

I * FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD 3

* THE ROLE OF EUROCONTROL IN

COLOFON I,IIHI,1,I,1III1IIIll111rllll1111.111IIIIIIILIII,IIIII,I,I,I,1

*THE COMING DECADE by Kei th Mack 5

# AIRPORT ' 89 by Paul Dernelinne 11

QOPENINGSPEECH IFACTA ' 8 9 by D r . K n i t t e l

E d i t o r : BOB Van der FLIER

Co-editor: GEOFF GILLETI

Artwork: MARTIN GERMANS

Staff writer: 3R MARCONI RADAR SYSTEMS : PHILIPPE DOMOGALA 1 ECATS FIRST CORPORATE MEMBER

3kIFACTA189 at FRANKFURT Kees S c h o l t s , Geoff Gi l le t t and Fred le Noble r epor t ing 14

#FEATURES: ATC IN THE USA by Philippe Domogala 21

$TO BE A CONTROLLER IN L.A. by A . J . S k i r l i c k Jr. 22

Word processing: JOSETTE NOELMANS -------------------

Postbus 47 6190 AA BEER (L) The Netherlands

4 T O TALK A MILLION MILES- TO SEE WITHOUT EYES .... by Harrie W.Cole

A l l correspondence t o be addressed t o :

The Editor 'INPUT'

*HANDLING STRESS by Dr. Kopolow 39 (courtesy: 'The Controllerf)

# EGATS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE by Henk van Hoogdalem 34

%CONCORDE - THE OTHER MAN'S VIEW by Andy Barnby 35

I

Contributors to input are expreasfng their personal points of view and op~nions, which are not

necessarily those of their empbyars or EEATS. EGATS does not assume respmslbi l i ty for statements

made and/or opinions expressed therein. It does accept responsibility f o r giving those con t r i -

butors an opportunity to express their views and opinions.

NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IH Am

MRM OR BY APtY MEANS, WITHOUT WRITTEN PEmISSION FROEl THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL

by Bob van der Flier

Much o f this issue is devoted t o x e p o r t i n g the IFATCA ' 89 event, including a speech by Dr. Knittel, Secretary of State o f the M i n i s t r y of Transport from the Federal Republic of Germany. Much of what he s a i d indi- cates a p o s i t i v e attitude towards EUROCONTROL and he made no secret of the fact that he wanted the new Data Bank Eurocon t ro l t o be located in Frankfurt. We now know tha t it w i l l be Brussels.

In particular he pointed out the need f o r re-inforcing the Organisation financially and with increased personnel, i n order to fulfil the ever - increasing number o f tasks assigned to EUROCONTROL. Everyone, from the newly-appointed Director General to the l a t e s t intake o f t rainee cont ro l - l e r s w i l l be pleased to be part of an expanding Organisation.

Talking o f the Director General, there has been an interview with him recently in a financial newspaper. Have you seen it? Great, because now w e know to where we, EUROCONTROL, will he led by our Director General. We are going t o make i t i n Europe! A t l e a s t , that i s the way it appears, Whether this means any improvement i n our conditions, such as a good arrangement for early pension after s o many years of discussion or f i n a l l y good rest and recreation f a c i l i t i e s f o r those who survive, o r an e f f i c i en t a i r condi- t i o n i n g system t o make us feel com-

fortable, even i n summer ( c o l d b las t ) t i m e ; those are the things we would l i k e to s e e .

By the way, have you ever followed the possibilities to obtain a post elsewhere within the organisation? If you have, you w i l l have experienced tha t the chances are less than nil. We are condemned to remain as we are. That ' s good for motivation!

PUT Well, enough o f t h i s muttering. If

you ever feel the need to write about w h a t ever yau l i k e t o write a b o u t , p lease feel free. We not only accept full stories, but we have opened now as well a "Letters to the Editor" column. So, who will be ?he first in our next (autumn) ed i t i on?

In case you get t h i s issue before your summer leave, I wish you a very good vacation and a healthy and well-recovered return. Otherwise, welcome back and . . . . let's have it!

Jon? roroot

NEXT COPY IWRTEUDOWNI DEADLINE:

New Board Member: In the absence of other volun-

teers, Mr. Jochen ("Ollie") Habel was declared our elected treasurer at the EGATS Annual General Meeting. " O l l i e " has had previous experience in these matters and we wish him success in managing our budgetary planning and expenditure. He i s already chasing our members who have not yet paid their subscriptions. Why not help him by completing a bank transfer form and leave the rest ta automation?

New Members: We welcome he following new

members : Messrs. Edeb and ~ o d d e who have joined us from Reims ACC. Also welcome as ordinary members are Miss Bruce and Miss Kleinbblting and Messrs. De Backere, Deweer, Flynn, Faber, Sonnemans, Stuhlsatz, Swords, Vermeiren and Zimer. Membership applications from several others are being processed.

Soapbox Event: Members are reminded of the next

EGATS event planned'fox 28 September. The location has ye t to be decided but the speakers will be Mr. K i r s t e t t e r fram Eurocontrol Headquarters talking about future n i g h t Management Systems Interface with Future ATC systems and Mr. Garot, Head of. CENA (Air Naviga- tion Study Centre) in France, who will talk about the new CAUTRA 5 system.

Forum Report: Regrettably with some delay, the

recent EGATS Forum "To Fly or Not to Fly" report has now been distributed thankfully with the* kind cooperation of "Het Limburgs Dagblad". Further copies are available on request to the secretary.

special Leave: The E.B. noted with regret t h a t no

increase in special leave for EGATS activities could be granted for y e t another year. It was agreed at our AGM in 1985 and confirmed again this year, that some members could offer to perform a duty far EGATS members attending meetings, etc... So far this

year, the response has been very disappointing but i t ' s not too late to of fer . Your names to the secretary please !

CANAC implementation Recently, an information exchange

meeting was held at the Altea Motel, Maastricht Airport with members of the Belgian Guild. Views, were exchanged about the unsuitability of FL 245 as a division f l i g h t Level. Fallowing a

EUROCONTROL GUILD OF AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES

decision taken by the AGM, a letter was sent to a number of European airlines and aviation organisations, drawing attention to a number of operational problems which, in our opinion, would be likely to arise. Latest infarmation, yet to be confirmed, i s that there w i l l be a delay i n the implementation date.

Hughes Aircraft Company Demonstra- t i o n :

On I June, a demonstration took place in the Brussels Sheraton Hotel of the Airspace Management Works ta- t i o n , arranged by EGATS at the recent IFATCA conference. The quality and facilities of these latest state-of- the-art displays was most impressive.

Television for restroom: A colaur TV has been kindly

donated to EGATS by Philips Aviation Department. An antenna connection has been made for this equipment, with the cooperation of our colleagues in Maintenance, pending the installatton of the cable system!

Lippe Radar - EGATS Barbecue Approximately 150 persons

participated i n a barbecue at the Officers' Club of Lippe Radar on 23 June. Having started at 1600 hrs. in brilliant sunshine, the fine weather continued and so did the eating and dr ink ing until the late hours. Our thanks to our colleagues from the German A i r Force for hosting this event .

A satisfied customer

Recently, the boad received a let ter from Emery C a p t a i n D.R. Case. The c o n t e n t s is such t h a t we are glad to pass it on 'to whom it may concern':

Mr. J a n G o r d t s , P r e s . E u r o c o n t r o l G u i l d P. 0 . Box 4 7 6190 A A seek t. i q e t h e r l a n d s

D e a r sir:

327 Laguna Vista A l a a e d a , C A 945G1 LSh

7 , l g a s

It. h a s been my i n t e n t i o n t o w r i t e t o yo11 ['or s o m e t i m e . 1 a m a c a p t a i n f o r E m e r y Worldwide. U n l i k e some p i l o t s w i t h o t h e r c a r r i e r s , I f l y a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d . F rom S y d n e y t o S i n g a p o r e ; H o n g k o n g t o Anchorage ; M i a m i t o Sa-o P a u l a and o f c o u r s e ; D a y t o n t o K a a s t r i c h t .

D u r i n g m y t r a v e l s I h a v e n e v e r come a c r o s s a more p r o f e s - s i o n a l g r o u p o f i n d i v i d u a l s t h a n t h e p e r s o n e l a t E u r o c o n - t r o l , T h e y a r e a l w a y s t o p q u a l i t y . In a d d i t i o n t h e y seem

, t o h a v e a n e x c e l l e n t a t i t u d e t o w a r d s f l i g h t crews. Where i t i s s a f e , t h e y will a l l o w d i r e c t r o u t i n g . If t h e p i l o t is h a v i n g d i f i c u l t y i d e n t i f y i n g t h e n e x t f i x , t h e y will r a d a r v e c t o r h i m d i r e c t . E u r o c o n t r o l l e r s a r e a l w a y s h a p p y t o h e l p t h e p i l o t .

A t r i p t o M j a s t r i c h t means a chance t o experiznce t h ? excellent g u i d a n t : e o f E u r o Control. S o m e t h i n g I l o o k f o r w a r d t o w i t k s e c u r i t y a n d c o n f i d e n c e a f t e r a l o n g A t l a n t i c crossing. I know I'll b e i n g i o d h a n d s f o r t h e f i n a l p h a s e o f my

. f l i g h t .

G o o d l u c k t o a l l o f you. And, t h a n k you f o r t h e h e l p in t h e a i r .

C a p t a i n

l N PUT

for common ac t ion . That opportunity must now be t aken , though - to echo my theme on the human condition - he way ahead will be a difficult p a t h o f adjustment between the evident shortcomings of the existing f rag- mented arrangements and the unrealis- tic panacea of total centralisation.

Euronean Institutions

Providing a sharp focus f o r common action has always, I suggest, been one of Europe's main problems in international co-operation.

When we look back to the years before the establishment of the present European Economic Community, we see a variety of international groupings which made more or less successful attempts to co-ordinate various areas of European commerce and p o l i t i c a l activity. Even now, the complexity o f the European Community's Institutions is hardly the stuff of succinct and single minded management. It r e f l e c t s , rather, the enormous d i f f i c u l t i e s o f achieving real progress in European affairs and the necessity f o r pragmatism, based on selective development of what has been before.

In the air traffic services world we labour in the same environment of mult ip le , overlapping " in s t i - tutions". Thus we have in a d d i t i o n

to E U R O C O N T E ~ L , The European A i r Navigation Planning Group (EANPG) of ICAO, the Association of Directors General of Civil Aviation as the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), the NATO Committee for European Airspace co-ordination (CEAC - confusingly a l s o known as ECAC when i t s abbreviation in French i s used!) and now in addition - taking a close interest in ATC matters these days - the European Economic Community. Each of these bodies takes up, t o a greater or lesser extent, the Inter- national planning energies of the limited ATC expertise a v a i l a b l e .

EUROCONTROL

In this plethora of groupings, EUROCONTROL stands as the only international body able directly to implement physical improvements in the ATC system.

It may be he lp fu l at this stage to recall its membership. The six founder Statcs, i n 1963, were Rel- gium, Federal Republ ic of Germany, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Ireland very s h o r t l y afterwards i n 1965, Por ruga l in 1986 and Greece in 1988. Turkey has become a member on 1 March 1389 and meanwhile, Malta, Cyprus, Italy and Spain are all in more or less advanced s tages of: joining. A t an

- - - -. _ d \.\

corP CORP s t a n d s for: - Confidential Occurence R e p o r t i n g and P r o c e d u r e . - - Y o u r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a r e :

E H A M S e c t o r : Henk R e e p k e L. 23 043-634157

EBBR S e c t o r : Jean-Paul Vriarnont L, 118 09-32-12-237227

EDDV S e c t o r : Hans-Dieter B u s c h L . 47 0 4 4 9 3 - 4 7 4 0

FDA G r o u p : A r t h u r L i e u w e n L . 133 0 4 4 9 0 - 7 3 6 5 0 I

k

ECAC meeting last October, Ministers urged other Western European Coun- tries t o become members and earlier the United Kingdom Secretary of State had taken a special initiative by writing to his colleagues in a number of non-member countries, urging them to give the matter their favourable consideration.

In addition to the Member States, Austria, Spain and Switzer- land are "Contracting States to the multilateral agreement relating to Route Charges". That is to say, they avail themselves on the Central Route Charging System which EUROCONTROL r u n s as an Agent on behalf o f the States involved.

EUROCONTROLfs convention origi- , nally required Tt t o provide all the

a i r traffic cont ro l in the upper airspace (usuaily FL 240 and above) of the Member States. This Conven- tion was amended in 1986 to recognise that in practice States had been generally unwilling to relinqufsh authority in their own airspace. Yet the amended convention goes further than perhaps is commonly appreciated. Although it no longer mandates EUROCONTROL to provide ATC in a11 the upper airspace of i t s Member States, it now in e f f e c t permits the organ- i s a t i o n to provide service in any part of their airspace (including that below FL 250) if requested. The distinction may seem a mere debating point but it has two important implications: 1. EUROCONTROL's activity is not res t r i c t ed to the upper airspace on ly .

2. The Amended Convention provides for executive involvement kn sover- eign ai rspace , i f the S t a t e o r States concerned w i s h it.

What: then has EUROCONTROL to o f f e r ? L e t m e b r i e f l y recall the

facilities already provided:

a . Maastricht Upper Airspace Control Centre, located in the Netherlands, i s the only I n t e r n a t l o n - a1 ATC Centre i n Europe and has been operational since 1972. The Centre has highly advanced equipment to per fo rm its tasks , including the Maastricht Automatic Data Processing

and Display System (MADAP). With automatic conflict alert and many "silent" co-ordinat-ion features, ATC s t a f f a t the Centre are w e l l equipped to handle high traffic flows safely.

b. Karlsruhe Upper Airspace Control Centre though now run by the Federal ' R e p u b l i c of Germany, w a s s e t up by WROCONTROL and retains EUROCONTROL s t a f f f o r the maintenance and development of the sofcware so necessary for its advanced computer systems

c . Shannon Upper Airspace Control Centre similarly now reverted to the ' National authority, was developed by EUROCONTROL, with updated Radar Data Processing and potentiality for full Flight Data Processing.

d. The ElTROCOHTROL Expertmental Centre a t Bretigny-sur-Orge, near -' Paris, has played a key role i n research and development f o r European air traffic control, its real-time and fast-time simulation facilities being extensively used by Member States and o t h e r s , t o clarify Nation- al and International needs and plans.

e. The ~ Q C O ~ Q I . Institute of Air Havi~ation Services, in Luxembourg has, since 1970, given insrruction to students on a var i e ty of courses, ranging from ab- i n i t i o a i r traffic controller training to management development. Last year 112 courses were run (10% more than i n 1987) bringing the overall total of students who have passed through the Institute since it opened t o over 15.000.

l N PUT

Using t h e knowledge and exper i - ence gained i n p r o v i d i n g these

facilities, EUROCONTROL can, ever the next decade , be the m a j o r instrument i n s ecu r ing a l eap fo rward i n the degree of i n t e g r a t i o n of xir traffic services in Europe. A new start has already been made and although I do not i n t e n d right now t o l i s t all EUROGONTROL's current activities, mention of one or t w o won't go amiss.

Fire Brigade Tn an endeavour to achieve

whatever improvements can he secured f o r the coming summer, w e set up a so-called "Fire Brigade" team to secure concer ted action in a very short t e r m . T h a t t e g m has been the c a t a l y s t f o r the p lanning of a number of specific improvemenix in t he interfaces between air traffic c o n t r o l Centres dea l ing co l l ec t ive ly w i t h i n d i v i d u a l traffic flows across Europe. The procedure has bken t o i d e n t i f y spec i f i c major f l o w s o f t r a f f i c s u f f e r i n g delays and then to work f o r improvements in the handling

o f each 05 the flows with all of the air t r a f f i c control Centres associat- ed with t h a t flow. No dramatic changes can be achieved in time for the summer but some worthwhile improvements have nevertheless been co-ordinated for immediate or early implementation.

INTNET and RADNET More fundamental improvements

will take longer b u t the p r inc ip le o f using EUROCONTROL as a catalyst in promoting improvements affecting iden t i f i ed regions and routes will be similarly valid. For example, two

EUROCONTROL p r o j e c t s - known inevita- b l y by their acronyms of INTNET and RADNET - are developing arrangements f o r the i n t e g r a t e d transmission of both radar and communications data between the centres of Bremen, Dusse ldor f , Brussels, Amsterdam and Maastricht .

This i n t e g r a t i o n of data exchange - aimed at: enabling the separate Centres t o opera te to a l l appearances as one, s o Ear as the users are concerned - w i l l provide a prototype for similar i n t e g r a t i o n throughout Europe.

I should add, before passing on, t h a t EUROCONTROL has been heav i ly involved i n undertaking simulations and design studies for a number of States . These include, for example, a comprehensive s p e c i f i c a t i o n f o r new equipment in Greece, which the Greek Government is now, I understand on the point of con t rac t ing . Consider- able w o r k was done for the n e w Portuguese Centre i n Lisbon and i s continuing in a second phase. We fo l lowed up an observation of our so -cal led "Fire Brigade" team by haking an o f f e r t o the Spanish admin-. istration for EUROCONTROL to analyse the radar information used by Madrid and Barcelona Centres, in order to determine if the present rather large radar separation minima used chere can be reduced. The United Kingdom is a l s o engaging EWROCONTROL i n t h e development o f its services. Co-operation has started in the design work for the new en route Centre to be built by NATS and th is follows both fast time and real time s imula t ions a t the EURQCONTROL Experimental Centre to optimise a i r s p a c e sectorisation i n the South- E a s t of England. Other projects are fn hand f o r Germany and France. Whether as design a u t h o r i t y o r consultant, EUROCONTROL is, through its expertise and ,fnternational overview, effecting a range of work through which a more integrated and coherent European ATC system will be evolved .

Success in this will require, firstly, maintenance of the political w i l l , secondly, clear analysis of what, i n practical terms, needs to be done and, t h i r d l y , a program= of work which gives priority to those a c t i o n s which, wi th in the decade,

w i l l achieve r e a l improvements

Political will In several coun t r i e s , including

the UK, the p a l i t i c a l w i l l t o secure greater ATC capacity has been much stimulated during t h e past two summers by delays a t a i rpor t s and consequent calls from t h e media and indusrry f o r "something to be done" . These have had their effect i n creating a cl imate i n which the expenditure plans of ATC authorities have been considerably expanded, i n the knowledge that the need is far more widely accepted now than it w a s a few years ago.

But ATC planning has long . timescales. The p o l i t i c a l w i l l s o

r e c e n t l y developed must be sustained through t h i c k and thin, even if t he pressure from increasing traffic diminishes f a r a t t m e , though that seems r a t h e r unlikely a t t h e moment. Furthermore, the w i l l needs t o be communicated through a l l the S t a t e s of Europe, not l e a s t arnongstl those whose hol iday a t t r a c t i o n s are at t h e root of the summer peaks of t r a f f i c . Such States must be s t rongly encouraged t o treat the cost of developing add i t i ona l ATC capacity as an essential investment in future prospe r i ty which w i l l be repaid from increased traffic earnings. Through the various channels of political a c t i v i - t y the S t a t e s of Europe must inffu- ence each other t o spend whatever is needed in order to bring the weakest

' llnks in the European ATC network up to coman standards of capacity in relation to traffic demand.

Given the ex is tence and continu- ation of p o l i t i c a l w i l l then it is , of course, up t o those o f us i n the business t o be resolute i n our pursui t of r ea l improvement. There is, I fear, duplication of effort and overlapping of aims in the long lisr of panels , committees and Working Groups involved i n I n t e r n a t i o n a l ATC planning. States just do no t have

! any great abundance of ATC exper t s ! and those they do have are often too

busy "minding the shop" at home to have time for International action. Yet, all too readily in the fnterna- t i o n a l sphere, the relatively few experts ava i l ab l e have their energ ies diverted by the need t o attend a

m u l t i p l i c i t y of Committees and Working Groups whose afms overlap and whose autput i s unclear i n terms of d i r e c t relat ionship w i t h practical action.

The role of EUROCONTROL must be t o provide an effective workforce o f expert personnel who - though necessarily consulting as appropriate wi th S t a t e s f representa t ives - are moti- vated and equipped p r i m a r i l y f o r the task o f conceiving planning and implementing, as principles o r consu l t an t s , demonstrable improvements in the development of a caher- ent European ATC System.

Priorities A sense of p r i o r i t i e s w i l l

obviously be essential. Depending upon resources, less important matters may have t o be postponed so that w h a t is a t temp ted can be done more quickly and effectively. T h i s is difficult - my friends in UK

f GARDENCENTRE - \

LANDSCAPE GARDENING - LAYING - OUT AND MAINTENANCE

arthur speetjens I FROM OWN NURSERY: I

- Conifers, all types - Slr r t i l s rind clintbily ts

EXTENSIVE ASSORTMENT:

- SODS - -411 types uf l~eatlrer - Ruses

LAYING-OUT OF - Pent, ma~~r i re a11d fertilizer. e r r .

- Rer7oi?ation

Geverikerstraat 1

National air traffic services know only too well how virtually everything i n the pas t few years has s t r i d e n t l y demanded top p r i o r i t y for attention. Nevertheless, interna- tionally as well as n a t i o n a l l y , we have to recognise that the system c a n ' t all be upgraded a t once with a l l the advanced systems ft i s now poss ib le t o conceive.

I n broad terms my own priorities far EUROCONTROL are :

1. The imp leme~~ ta t ion of a central flow management unit to replace the present fragmented system o f flow management in Europe. 2, Identification of the specific actions needed i n order t o expand the capac i ty of the European ATC system as a whole. This will constantly change as ind iv idual States upgrade their systems but at any given time ir will be the "weakesr" link which determines thar capacity. 3. Provision of assistance in, or the direct undertaking of, planning, research and development, implementation, and training - as agreed or requested by States but with resources allocated on the basis of the p r i o r i t y appropriate f o r the achievement of the greatest benefit to the t o ~ a l European System.

The Inter-relationship o f virtually all aspects of air traffic control leads all to easily, as I have already remarked, to duplication e f fo r t and hence waste of resources.

EUROCONTROL is not immune to this and within the Agency my virtually new team of Directors and I will be conducting a dxive to cut out such duplication and c l e a r the decks f o r concerted action on clearly defined priority tasks. O u t s i d e of the Agency i t s e l f we shall also be seeking to reduce the number of Working Groups dea l ing with various aspects of ATC problems. This w i l l include endeavours t o define more clearly which organisat ion is under - t ak ing the lead ta a given area, so that the creation of s i m i l a r Working Groups elsewhere can be strongly discouraged.

Wirhin the European world of direct : ATC planning and implementation I believe that three Interna-

tional bodies can useful ly be har- nessed f o r action. - The In t e rna t iona l Civil A v i a t i o n

Organisation (ICAO) with its Membership of a l l the States involved and with its world-wide r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s f o r the good af c i v i l aviation, should continue t o p rov ide the procedural and regulatory framework for integration and coherence. NATO, through its Committee f o r European Airspace co-ordination, can assist in the achievement of improved civil/mibitary airspace sharing, and

- EUROCONTROL should be the

implementation tool through which concept is turned into physical reality.

EUROCONTROL stands unique in the field of public International Organ- isations, as a body which has t h e full t ime personnel and resources t o undertake, with the agreement: of i t s Member States, the International implementation of real work for the improvement of the European ATC System. Its services were never more needed than now!

There are many t r a v e l agencies, however, there i s o n l y one which is aware of and can as s i s t with t h e specia l and i n d i v i a d u a l wishes of EUROCONTROL and EGATS t r a v e l l i n g s t a f f :

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I

ATTHE

NATIONAL EXHIBITION CENTRE BIRMINGHAM

ENGLAND

Impressions by Paul Demelinne

A visit to AIRPORT '89, the t h i r d in ternat ional exh ib i t i on of services and equipment for the airport industry at Birmingham on June 28th, started off with a rather amusing occurrence. After a smooth and hospitable NLM flight to the c a p i t a l o f the Midlands, embarkment and passport control, some 38 businessmen in three piece suits and yours truly, all carrying only hand luggage, were held in a customs inspection room. A p r e t t y looking, young customs officer, with an imper- turbable smile around her lips, ordered the pack to form an orderly line. Next, another officer - I would swear it was her twin sister - made her appearance, accompanied by Wl Customs sn i f f e r dog Billy, t o perform a profound inspection of 38 lined up attach&-cases and one reporter bag. A majority of the 'victims' was not pleased, but the two ladies and Billy didn't yield while f in i sh ing their job. For Amsterdam has accumulated a certain reputation, these past years . . .

Birmingham A i r p o r t is comfortably connected to t h e impressive NEC (National Exhibi t ion Centre) by monorail. There, in Hall 2, all v i s i - tors to A i r p o r t '89 were provided with a large identity badge, pinned to their breast pocket. A method which created a a great burden to the neck muscles of the stand occupants, as I experienced this morning. There weren't very many early risers at this time of the day, so , on the rare occasion that an unexpected visitor strolled along a stand, heads reached out to identify a name and - more important - a company or organisation which could mean potent ia l business . The supply of a badge this size, has undoubtedly certain positive advantag- es. On the other hand it gives people also an unpleasant fee l ing , being stared at, every time you take a s t ep .

The exhibition w a s rather d f s a p p o i n t - ing. It was a modest set-up with some 80 participants, mainly involved in airport equipment such as security, display systems, baggage handling and snow removal devices. Most of what was shown and demonstrated, gave m e a 'dkja-vu' impression, but then again I might: be mistaken as a r e l a t i v e outsider. ATC r e l a t e d subj ects were scarce at Airpart '89. However, at the PLESSEY RADAR stand, Mr. Peter Forth, well-known to EGATS as a regular forum p a r t i c i p a n t , demonstrated t o me a prototype of an electronic flight strip display system. The Plessey Company, after many years of concen- trating its acrivities in the military area, is now aiming t o rega in a p a r t o f the civilian ATC market, Peter Forth stated. The multi colour grap- hics work s t a t i o n was fed by a soft- ware program, which provided full flight s t r i p manipulation and e d i t i n g facilities. An easy to use man-machine interface, which eventually should lead to integration of strip data onto a brandnew generation of 20 inch ( ! ) square, high r e s o l u t i o n data displays.

On the screen, by means of easy selectable 'windows" other essential data such as weather information, cammunications c r i t e r i a etc . . . , are available as well. "This prototype has been developed on the basis of a big scale inquiry amongst controllers. From the answers we learned that ATC c o n t r o l l e r s are rather conservative, when it comes to equipment and tools with which they have to perform t h e i r taskt', Peter Forrh said, "Nearly 90% don't want to work wichout flight data strips, neither on radar or planning

working positionst'. Obviously, we at the Maastricht WAC, must be the exception to the rule, as we are approaching the threshold of a strip- less working environment . . . .

National Air Traffic Services

The NATS (National A i r Traffic Services, the j oint executive ATC organisation of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence in the UK) gave an audio-visual presentation of thq CCF (Central Control Functfon) , which is the major reorganisation for inbound and out-

bound flows of traff ic within the London TMA. It is estimated that once the CCF is fully In operation, controllers will be able to handle at least a third more aircraft than is presently the case in one of the busiest blocks of airspace in the world, sewing five civilian airports. This radical new system is based on methods, already used i n other parts of the world, e .g+ around New-Yosk.

CGF aims to reorganise present sectors into a sort o f "tunnels in the skyM. ~ l l traffic in a particular tunnel will travel in the s a m e direc- tion. Each of the major airports i n the south-east region w i l l . have its

separate tunnels for arriving and departing aircraft. Separation standards from other tunnels wlll be three

Channel 1 Islanda c---,

WwMlng Canlrok Area

NM horizontally or 1.000 feet vertically. One controller w i l l be in charge of each tunnel and its one-way t ra f f ic pat tern , meaning that the criss-crossing of routes, which exists under the present system, w i l l disap- pear, thus considerably reducing the time-consuming task of coordination between controllers. And reducing controller workload implies that more aircraft can be handled. More s p e c i f i - cally, CCF will allow approach controllers to take over con t ro l from en-route colleagues at a much earlier stage, which means less holdings in an arr ival stack. Moreover, part: of the CCF plan w i l l enable modern jets with fast-climb capability to reach optimum

cruising levels as soon as practicable routeing them c lea r of descending flights.

It took a little while, but w i t h the introduction o f this new system, it seems that things w i l l t u r n our for the better , for colleagues a t West- Drayton.

EUROCONTROL GUILD OF AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES

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by Kees Scholts

The delegation s t a r t ed off on Sunday afternoon by t r a i n t o Frank- furt. It was a wonderful day and in a relaxed atmosphere we journeyed along the river Rhine towards Frankfurt . We arrived around 20.30 and attended t h e evening welcome drink "meet the delegatest1. We did no t rea l i se then that t h i s was the start of a very hectic week. Except going from meeting to meeting and preparing for dinner, there was not a single minute left for the EGATS delegation t o meet. A s the event was an all inclusive one, conference costs, hotel accornmodatFon and breakfast, lunch and dinner included we were rushing around like mad.

Committee meetings would end at around 17.30 then rush to the room for a shower, change and meet t h e bus for an 18.30 departure to the evening meals, one on a boat a long the river Rhine, one lovely party in an old monastery, sponsored by Lufthansa, one evening to a reception by the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt.

All in all a very hec t ic week with hardly any time to relax. The meetings were intense; one f e l t rather t i r e d after 8 hours of conference. Therefore the delegation was actually too small. Ideal, as has been proven in the past, is to be with a minimum of four persons. Three for the committees and one on the side to coordinate things and give support to the committee members. My proposal to the next AGM will thus be four persons, one direc-

tor of the delegation, which was combined with committee A this year and three committee members.

The opening speech was made by the Secretary of State for Transport, Dr. Knittel , who addressed the meeting i n German (See the translation contained in this issue of INPUT)'. At a certain moment, he mentioned Eurocontrol s o many times that non- German speaking delegates came to u s af ter the speech to congratulate us. They d id not know what was said but they had heard the name Eurocontrol at l e a s t twenty times. During some other speeches including that of the Chaf rman of the board of Lufthansa, Mr. H . Ruhnau, the need f o r a centrally arganised a i r traffic control system, was mentioned and the name Eurocontrol was d e f i n i t e - ly heard. W e also met with the new president of IFALPA, the International Federation of Airline Filots' Associa- tions, M r . Bart Bakker , captain on DC 10 with KIM.

Further contacts seem likely, especially about the new structure of the Belgian airspace. All together we give more and more input to IFATCA which is not always appreciated by a l l our neighbours but def inate ly a fact t h a t cannot be disregarded. We are here.

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REPORT COMMITTEE A by Kees Scholts

After the opening plenary the sess ions of Committee A started immediately. As the EGATS delegates could not find the meeting room, the f i r s t i t e m on the agenda, membership application, was nearly over.

I New members accepted: Djibouti, USSR (payment in roubles) , Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Bolivia and Uganda.

The Swiss association changed their name to "SKYCONTROL". The financial reports were, af te r some discussion accepted as were the figures of "'the Controller" magazine. Work programmes were established for Standing Committees 3, 4 and 7 and EGATS is now part of the latter two, 4 being human factors and 7 being legal matters, where we hold rhe chair under Mr. Koper.

The r epor t s of a l l the Regional Vice Presldsnts were accepted by the meeting, where, o f course, the Europe- an region has most of the problems with traffic handling, etc . . . Re- elected as Vice President Adrn in i s t r a - t i o n was Mr. U l l i Windt and elected as Vice President Technical w a s Mr. Charles Stuart of Australia, our choice. Mr. Harri Henschler is continuing as editor of the magazine. In order to make the IFATCA manual more readable several constitutional amendments and changes to the text were adopted, which was the main issue at this meeting. The Federation decided to establish the post of Liaison Officer to the European Community in order t o maintain close cooperation with a l l parts of the European Communities organisation which have an active part to play in the aviation arena, particularly where such activities w i l l impinge upon the air traff ic control system. A lot of time was spent on the next venues for IFATCA ~onfere~ces. It was sometimes difficult to get one candidate in the p a s t , nowadays there are many volun- teers. I t is confirmed that the 1 9 9 0 meeting will be held in Acapulco, Mexico, and the 1991 conference to be

held in Trinidad and Tobago. New Zealand and the United Kingdom are offer ing for 1992, Spain for 1 9 9 3 and Canada for 1994. Many o f the newer member associations have problems in paying their f ees . Many applied for the special circumstances fund and several debts w e r e written o f f .

A l s o a lot of time was spent on the future structure o f the Federa- tion. Further working papers are expected, but th ings w i l l definitely change.

The Regional Vice Presidents will in future be p a r t o f the Executive Board. Further and/or detailed information is available from the secretary of EGATS, also the working papers and committee reports are available.

REPORT COMMITTEE B by Geoff Gillett

Introduction In common w i t h the athex IFATCA

Committees, this year produced a large increase in the workload of Technical Committee B. As the application of automation and high technology slowly but surely increases in the Air Traffic Control environment, so does the controller's involvement and IFATCA is thus committed to develop technical policy on a wide variety of topics. Readers will a p p r e c i a t e that only a very Ifmitred overview can be produced here and more details are available on request. This year Committee B was chaired by Mr. Charles Stuart: of Australia, with the long- servicing Mr. Art Cauty o f Canada providing for the secretarial tasks. For most sessions, Mr. Bob Randall, Vice-President Technical, was present to give expertise on behalf of the Executive Board. More than 30 delegates represented their Member Associ- atians in Committee B.

Commitment to I . C . A . O . TFATCA participates as either a

full member or as observer in many working groups such as: - Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) ;

- Automatec Dependent Surveillance (ADS) ; - SSR Improvements and Collksion Avoidance Systems Panel (SICASP); - Elimination of Ambiguity in RTF Ca l l s i gns (EARC).

In addition, representation of controllers' interests is provided on the ATS Committee of the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associa- tions (IFALPA) and other committees of I . A . T . A .

Most of these activities are conducted by IFATCA Standing CommFttee SCI throughout the year and numerous reports are submitted f o r discussion and action at confexence.

European Regional Matters Within t h e European region,

additional panels and working groups consider matters pertaining to our geographical a r ea :

- The ICAO Airspace and Traffic Management Group (EANPG) which deals with Flow Management; - The ICAO Future European Air Traffic Services Systems Concept Group ( FEATS ) .

It is apparent that regional matters are now being more i n t ens ive ly undertaken by the IFATCA regional Vice Presidents, in our case, Mr, Philippe Domogala who attended numerous meetings during the past year. He presented several working papers and gave a number of personal observations, particularly in matters of Flow Management, Satellite Communications and Replacement Flight Plans. In addition, he and many others are concerned that human factors will not be overlooked in the development of future ATC systems.

Reduced Vertical Separation Much concern was expressed by

Canada about the proposed reduction af vertical sepa ra t i on above FL 2 9 0 ,

expected initially in the North Atlantic airspace. It was pointed out tha t a doubling of capac i ty over the Atlantic would result in serious congestion problems f o r westbound flights entering Canadian domestic airspace.

Air Traffic Flow Mana~ement Mr. Domogala presented a paper on

this subject and requested Member Associations to provide a list o f problems encountered during the summer of 1989. The ICAO representative, Mr. Daniel Oudin, gave a brief his tory o f developments leading to the present 1 2 ATFM units and it was concluded that RTFM i s here to stay. It was pointed out that it a l s o serves as a protection to the controller against over- load, particularly in areas of inadequate equipment or personnel. Another paper was an the staffing of ATFM units. Existing policy requires that they be manned by currently licensed controllers. EGATS was of the opinion that this should be reviewed, since our experience in the use of previous- ly licensed controllers has given favourable results.

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l NPUT

Technical Manual Rewrite A mammoth task, the production of

a new Technical Manual, had been undertaken by Mr. Dave Martin of SCl. He was congratulated by EGATS on his excellent work but reservations were expressed on the subject of deleting current IFATCA policy on the grounds that it was declared I C A O policy and included in their documentation. A check of delegates present showed that only 5 M.A.s had access to the ATS Planning Manual.

Technical Panel It is a regular feature of confer-

ence to dedicate a working session to presentations by Corporate Members. This year the outgoing coordinator, Mr. Ron Mahendran introduced five speakers from various companies, who gave presentations on a wide variety of subjects, including a new radar system for the B.F.S. Regrettably there was no time for questions or discussion with the panel o f experts from industry but some were able to discuss matters at the Technical Exhibition, in which EGATS dernonstrat- ed the Eurocantrol Data Bank live terminal.

Conclusions: A larger than ever work programme

has been dealt with and new tasks formulated for S C 1 in 1989/90. Concern was expressed about the inadequacy of a four day conference and a working paper will be considered to propose an extension t o f ive days. it i s a lso apparent that EGATS has an increasing involvement in technical matters within IFATCA. We are privileged to have an excellent technical working environment and, if I may end with a personal opinion, I believe we have a duty co share our expe r t i s e and experience with other controllers who have still to work in an environment technically inadequate for t h e i r r e s p o n s t b i l i t i e s . Via the channels of LFATCA, we can help them.

REPORT COMMITTEE C by Fred le Noble

This year's conference saw a Committee C which due to extensive discussions on some o f the papers, had to be urged by the Executive Secretary to conclude their working session on Thursday, so as to avoid the postpane- ment of Final Plenary until Friday. This and the volume of the Committee C r e p o r t is a record.

As usual the International Hand- book (IHB) was an item sf discussion and it was agreed t ha t , in spi te of the lack of input by some MAS and although one did not: use the IHB too frequently, the time to use it would come for every MA, like for example now Germany and the Netherlands with respect to t h e possible privatisation programme in these countries. For this reason, updating the I H B would cont in- ue.

Sub-committee Medical Several subjects were dea l t with

by the sub-committee this year. Most interesting were he subjects Stress in ATC, and Mandatory drug testing. On the subject of stress it was explained that the Inst i tute of Avkation

Medicine in Farnborough was conducting a study on this subject and that results can be expected towards ,the end of this year.

The study consisrs of three parts: 1. A nat ion-wide survey, using 3 confidential questLonnaires. 2. An experimental knvestigation using between 60 and 70 ATCOs from d i f fe ren t units. 3. A c l i n i c a l study on medical conditions experienced by ATCOs which may be stress related.

The aims of the study are : 1. Identification of stress sources in ATC, 2. Comparison of stress levels in different ATC groups. 3. Comparison of stress levels with other professions. 4. Effect on health. 5. Stress and personality variables. 6. Methods used t o compensate far stress.

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From this paper, a discussion - of them out of the own "free" will. deve loped on the existence of high eye pressure . Due to the fact t h a t high eye pressure appears to be a frequent

The f i r s t case can be p r o p e r l y moni- tored provided that t h e doctor prescribing the medicines is aware o f

problem i n SwLtzerland, every 4 years the eye pressure is tested f o r ATCOs over 40 years of age.

Another study an stress was ca r r i ed out by Italy. However, due to the fact that t h i s study only c o n s i s t - ed of 20 ATCOs being observed over one 3 day p e r i o d (morning-, afternoon- and n i g h t duties] I considered the study o f little value. Denmark advised t h e committee that a study on this subject had been carried o u t i n t h e i r country and promised t o p r o v i d e the results to SC IV as soon as they were available.

the pat i en t s profession and knows the s i d e effects of the drugs he pres- cribes.

This of course becomes more difficult in the case of self medica- t i o n . Many drugs so ld over the c o u n t e r can have a detrimental e f f e c t on alertness and reaction speed. ATCOs are therefore urged t o check carefully "over the counter" medicines . The second case i f d i f f e r e n t i n an impar- cant way. A variety of drugs can be taken and abused, e . g . alcohol, cocaine and cannabis, to mention a

During the discussions, many MAS pointed out that in their countries t h e governments considered reduction of working hours and traffic, as sufftci~nt measures to prevent stress. Spain pointed out tha t the Spanish ~solutionw was m o r e frequent Medical Examinations.

Mandatory drug testing With respect t o drugs one has t o

d i f fe ren t i a te between the use of drugs under m e d i c a l prescription and the use

few. The fact that these drugs are taken is not always very clear, ce r t a in ly no t in the initial phase. One speaks of abuse if there i s

I dependency on the drug. Mandatory drug t e s t i n g takes place i n the USA. However, whilst the Association does not condone the use of drugs, there is a legal battle in c o u r t going on i n respect of intrusion of privacy.

As an example of how the mandatory drug testing takes place and why one can s p e a k of an i n t rus ion of privacy the following: Random checks take place. So it has happened rhat in a

cer ta in area one u n i t w a s checked nine times over a period of two months and others not at a l l . Equally, some persons at this unit w e r e checked nine times where others were never checked. Names and centres are picked at random by the computer and people would be relieved at the sector to go to these tests, taking approximately 2 hours. During the discussions, I pointed out that apart from t h e employers' responsibility, we have a social responsibility towards our colleagues to offer help prior to t h e employers' s u s p i - c ion, leading t o the second form of mandatory drug testing, the one on suspicion. Norway informed the committee t h a t i n their country there exists a list of "safe" medicines. IC was felt by the committee that such a list held the danger of giving a f a l s e sense of safety. Most delegates want IFATCA policy on this subject, the policy containing a condemnation of the abuse of drugs. The paper will be studied by SC VLI in respect o f the legal implications. This, particularly w i t h a view to the pending revision of the ICAQ policy on licensing.

Body rhythm and sleep The following points of advice

were given and might be considered worthwhile communicating to the EGATS members. 1. Sleep imediately after a night shift. 2. Make sure your sleep time is guarded by silencing telephones, doorbells and domestic appliances. 3 . Keep the room dark and quiet, 4. Avoid habitual use of alcohol and sleeping pills. 5. Keep a replar bedtime on each spell of duty. 6. Keep to a regular three meals per day and avoid excessive snacks.

VDUs i n ATC This is a continuing subject to

which an additional angle was given. Now special attention will be given to the radiation from VDUs and its effect on pregnant women working in front of these screens. Studies on the general subject have already been carried out by ILO and the WHO, the latter stres- sed the importance of this subject.

The recommendat ion : A pregnant

ATCO shall no t if she so chooses, work in f r a n t of a GRT/VDU screen during her pregnancy. This will during the coming year be studied by SC VII with respect to the legal implications.

Licensing f o r ATCOs The recommendations which would

not impair the IFATCA E B 9 freedom of negotiation during the forthcoming PELT meeting were accepted. They

contain policy on the quality of the ATC schools, the fact that every ATCO shall have a licence and one consider- ing the relation rating and duties undertaken.

During a very lively discussion on a paper which came to Committee C via B and A we became a bit suspicious when the chair and the EVPP tried ta push through the cornmitree a recammen- dation concerning the re-assignment of international assigned airspace by ICAO because we were afraid t h a t withouc clarification on some points this could eventually be used against Eurocontrol. Initially I stated that improved systems improved safety and that for this reason, speaking from a professional point of v i e w , we could not object to this. This opinion, however, was strartgly opposed by the EVPP who s t a t e d that improved sys terns only imp roved eff ic iency and capacity and no t safety. This made us even more suspicious. Although we first opposed the recommendation we changed our vote to in favour and at the same t i m e had the EoPlowing statement inse r ted in the minutes: On clarification, being t h a t the recommendation referred to the development/implementation of technology only and that no political process or decision was meant with respect to national F I R s / U I R s , EGATS wish to revise their vote.

As to the composition of SC IV we volunteered EGATS. M r . Habel and myself will participate in the activi- t i e s and prepare two working papers, being : 1. To define clear definitions o f the terms "essential ATC service" and " m i n i m u m ATG service", in close

liaison with SC VII. 2 . Study the relation between the provision of m i n i m u m service and the ethics of the ATCO profession in national disputes.

Legal matters Only two interesting papers came

up with regard to incident/accident - fnvestigation. One paper was presented by Israel the other by Sweden. On our suggestion, both countries withdrew their policy making recommendations and agreed to have the papers studted by S C V I I in which EGATS will participate with myself as member and Mr. Koper as chairman. Tasks of SC VII have been divided and a one day meeting is scheduled for November 16. near Ams ter dam.

Towards the end of the Committee C meetings, a s h o r t discussion took place on two pol icy s ta tements which were s e n t to Committee C from A , which were : 1. IFATCA strongly c~ndemns the action of governments to resort to the

use of civil mobilisation or requisi- tion measures for the purpase of preventing or ending national disputes. 2 . To prevent or end disputes between administrations and ATCO associations only negotiat ions or the use of arbitration procedures shall be used.

In both cases we voted in favour.

Addition, SC I V will hold their first meeting in Norway on August 2 6 , t ranspor t will be organised by the Norwegian association from EKCH, other expenses in Norway will be covered by I FATCA.

Should members need clarification on any point I shall be glad to provide it.

R E I S - E N P A S S A G E B U R E A U X

Nieuwstraat 19 6211 CR Maastricht

Telefoon 043-211451 Fax 043-2521 14

Hilde Taffner Anita Germans

Stationsstraat 52 6221 88 MAASTRICHT

Telefoon 043 - 21 151 5 Fax 043 - 212799

Til Maessen

- INPUT

FEATURES - by Philippe Domogala -

Af te r the USSR now l e t ' s s e e ATC American style. I recently visited the LQS ANGELES centre, located i n Palm- da l e just "beside the L.A. airport'' which is 100 Km or so. If you had a couple of hours to spare on the airport and thought about saying hello to your colleagues yau can forget it. With the traffic on the freeways around L . A . the t r i p t o the centre will take you 2 hours.

The area of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of LA Centre covers 177.000 square miles or in European dimensions, 1,5 times the area of U . K . and I r e l and together. They con t ro l 2 Million movements per year (about 3 times Maastricht) with roughly the same number of contsol- lers. How can they manage? Well first you have to know t h a t there are a t l eas t HALF of the number of controllers there should be, so they work mostly 6 days of 8 hours i n a row followed by a s i n g l e day o f f , and take hardly any annual leave. (See the article of Anthony Skirlick, a control ler in L.A. Centre, elsewhere i n t h i s issue).

O n the Technical side, the (very) odd feature is the way the i r management is using their version of the Conflict Alert.

They have a basic STCA but every- time the actual separa t ion gets less than 5 NM or 1000 ft (2000 above 290) the machine sounds an alarm at the supervisor's desk and the computer prints a "warning message".

The Supervisor has t o investigate every case and type back in the computer the result of his investigation. If the error is not technically justifiable or cannot be imputed t o the p i l o t , the controller involved has to "explain himself" in their local version of "the be1 etagett. If a given controller has more

than one "error" he can be suspended without pay or even f i r e d ( ! )

The next interesting feature i n the .USA i s t he i r "Random Drug Test- i ng" , Regularly some FAA people come unannounced in the Centre and ask a few "randomly selected" controllers to give a urine sample. In practice, the length of one's h a i r or dressing habit seems to a f f e c t the proclaimed "impar- tiality" of the randomiser. If you have any trace of "illicit substance" {Cocaine, Heroin, Marihuana or Amphe- tamines) you can be f i red on the spot. So far, 2 controllers in L.A. were f i r e d on those grounds.

The next step t o improve the morale of the c o n t r o l l e r s and the r e l a t i o n s w i t h their management is the proposed "Random Alcohol Tests" due to start any week now.

So far as I know the FllA is not asking themselves the question of why some highly paid profess iona ls are turning t o drugs or alcohol ta occupy the f e w hours they have free between shifts. . .

TRAVELLING AT HOME AND ABROAD FOR INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS

Tussen de Bruggen 45, 6231 CA Meerssen Telefoon 043-642720

Edisonstraat 17,6372 AK Schaesberg Telefoon 045-322223

TO BE A CONTROLLER IN LOS ANGELES CENTRE TODAY

by Anthony J. Skirlick Jr. ATGO i n L . A . centre and Presideni

of the Local Union {NATGA)

Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Contro l Centre is located i n the County o f Los Angeles i n che S t a t e of California on the extreme west end of the Great American Desert which stretches nearly 1,000 miles east of t h i s point to the Rocky Mountains. The desert in this area i s called the Mojave. The Centre is a mere 2 miles from one of the l a r g e s t earthquake faults i n the world, the San Andreas. Palmdale s i t s on the North American tectonic plate w h i l e just two miles south begins the Pacific plate which a c t u a l l y goes aLl the way to mainland Asia: The Pacific p l a t e is actually moving north rubbing against the North American p l a t e . The mountains just south o f Palmdale roughly mark the interface of the two plates.

The weather in Falmdale is very, very d i f f e r en t from t h a t of the City of Los Angeles, 40 a t r miles south of this point across a 6,000-10,000 foot mountain range. Palmdale has a con t i - nental c l ima te while Los Angeles has a

maritime type of climate. A s a result, i t snows i n Palmdale once o r twice a year usually between the middle of December to the first of February. Temperatures during cool, clear autumn nights can get down to -10 C and can run up to 42 C i n the summer. In Los Angeles, the temperature generally stays in the 16 to 25 C range all year long. Palmdale i t se l f is about 2,500 ' feet above sea level and is often referred to as the "high desert" as opposed to the low desert along the U.S.JMexican border . Due t o the narrow distance from this desert area to the ocean, there is often a large pressure differential over a short distance resu l t ing i n Palmdale being raked daily by high winds from the west- southwest .

During the f a l l and sometimes i n the spr ing, Los Angeles receives "Santa Ana" winds which are north winds flowing south into the L . A . basin and the a i r then becomes heated because o f compressien, During these times, temperatures soar to 36-40 C i n the L.A. area but remain in the 25-30 C i n Palmdale. In the summer, Palmdale receives thunderstorms because of surges of hot, humid, tropical air

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f r o m Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. During the winter, w e receive storms generated i n the Gulf of Alaska.

In short L.A. Centre is really not in L.A. !

Los Angeles centre has a very complex mission from a controller's p o i n t of view, due to the high terrain resulting in confusing minimum vector- ing altitude blacks which, i n e f f e c t , reduces the manoeuvring options ava i l ab le to controllers f o r spacing of a i r c r a f t unl ike a f l a t area l i k e New-York o r Chicago. Los AngePes centre has a vast amount of military practice airspace. This further reduces room to manoeuvre. In addi- t i o n , some of the busiest airports in the United States are located within 100 miles of each other wich a great deal of airliner, military, and general aviation type of a i r c r a f t . The VFR general aviat ion aircraft are b a s i c a l l y uncontrolled and by U.S. regulation, are allowed access to most of the airspace below FL 180 with the exception of the San Diego and Los Angeles TCA ' s . Low flight visibility due to air pollution and sea haze cap off the brew for some of the most crowded skies in the world.

Midair collisions are a constant: threat in t h i s area and actually happen, as was t h e case on 31 August 1986 in Cerritos involving a DC9 of Aeromexico. The conCraller involved in the mid-air was recognised "50 % responsible" by a U . S . Federal C o u r t J u r y .

The U. S. National Airspace System is an integrated f l i g h t environment. Controllers here w ~ r k ALL the a i r c ra f t on IFB flight plans at the same time, while in many European countries the task i s divided between civilian and military controllers sharing parts of the same a i rspace though not working from the same radar scope. This seems to create some difficult coordination in our view.

The U . S . Space Shuttle landing area i s about 20 miles north of the L . A . Centre at nearby Edwards Air Force Base.

What is NATCA? The National Air Traffic Control-

lers' Association is a relatively new union formed by the same affiliate of the AFL-CIO (Marine Engineers Benefi- cial Association) that sponsored

PATCO. On August 3, 1981, the entire face of U.S. air traffic control changed dramatically due to the s t r i k e against the U.S. Government by a majority faction of PATCO, The minori- ty faction, based in largest numbers in the 20 en route centres, recovered the system and went on with the help of newly h i r e d c o n t r o l l e r s to reform another union, and we call this NATCA. The AFL-CIOfs effort to reorganise non-striking con t ro l l e r s sent a clear message that illegal strikes were not recognised o r tolerated by the parent union, though i n a c i v i l war o f this s ize nobody rea l ly wins.

Since the strike, controllers have received Little or no cost of living r a k e s but the work sure has been steady! Drug t e s t ing has become a major part of o u r lives here at the cent re and a t most work places in the United States due to the drug epidemic spreading throughout the globe.

What is life for L.A. Centre Controllers?

The FAA has been recovering the system with about ha l f the con t ro l l e r s i t once had, yet has increased I F R traffic count by 40 % a t the busier centres and TRACONS. This has not been without risk, however, and that is pr imar i ly why NATCA was formed t o p ro t ec t the rights of workers and promote another poinc of view f o r air safety improvements. Fewer people are handling more a i r c r a f t with basically no new equipment except that provided for in the TMU (Traffic Management Unit). This notable exception for all

INPUT

i t s ups and downs, has smoothed out a i r l i n e flows t o p e r m i t the handling of this great increase in t r a f f i c .

Cont ro l le rs here work a variety of shifts, the basic being two evening s h i f t s , two day s h i f t s , and a midnight s h i f t . We work f ive days per week for 40 hours total. Overtime has been used extens ive ly since the strike to make up f o r t he c~ntroller shortage and to allow for personnel to trai3 the replacement c o n t r o l l e r s . I t has not been a pleasant job for near ly e igh t years since t h e strike. Out of the 11,500 f i r e d f o r striking, only 500 o r so were r e t u rned t o work through various appeals.

L . A . Centre on August 2, 1981, had 234 q u a l i f i e d controllers and about 80 t r a i n e e s . O n August 3 , I981 we had 88 qua l i f i ed c o n t r o l l e r s . On 29 A p r i l 1989 we have only 168 controllers with many th rea ten ing retirement yet our traffic volume i s 35 % higher than 1981; L . A . Centre i s the 5th busiest of the 20 U.S. Centres. Contro l le rs i n Palmdale are i n an average age catego- ry of 25-35, a r e l a t i v e l y young workforce . Contro l le rs earn between $ 45,00 t o $ 65,OQ per year depending on s e n i o r i t y . Controllers with 1-3 years i n the government receive 104 hours o f vacation leave and 104 hours of sick leave per year. Those with 4-15 years receive 160 hours o f vacat ion leave

and 104 hours of sick leave per year . Gontrollers with 16 years receive 208 hours pe r year of vacation leave and 104 hours of sick leave per year. In addition, c o n t r o l l e r s receive 10 holidays per year. If the controller must work the holiday, he is paid double time. The c o n t r o l l e r receives the holiday pay or day off even if the actual holiday falls on one of his regular two days o f f per week.

Contro l le rs in the United States receive 10 % more pay between 1800- 0600. On Sundays, they receive 25 X more pay. A T 1 current c o n t r o l l e r s g e t a 5 X add i t i on t o their base pay due to the operational aspects of their job after t h e strike. Contro l le rs are allowed 8 free round trip a i r l i n e f a m i l i a r i s a t i o n f l i g h t s pdr year as w e l l as one add i t i ona l free international roundtrip flight- 4 of these flights can be on duty time (8 days total) but g e t t i n g "duty Earns" has been very difficult due to the s t a f f - ing shortages.

What do L . A . Center Contro l le rs do w i t h their f r e e t i m e ?

Watch a lot of t.v.; argue with t h e i r wtves/girlf riends/boyf riends/ husbands; eat at McDonalds, clean I

t h e i r swimmtng pools; sit in their j a c u z z i s ; drink beer; eat p i z z a ; talk about the crazy ptlots o r uncoapera- tive useless approach c o n t r o l l e r s ; t a l k about each other or how a trainee almost ruined their day w i t h a s tup id vecror; read the sports section of the newspaper; try t o pay their maxed out credit card bills; go t o parties; drive the mother-in-law home, mow their lawns; take a few col lege courses; divorce their wives; pay alimony and child support; complain about the high winds i n Palmdale; complain about low pay; complain about people who complain about low pay; t a l k about the new car they just bought or the old one t h e y are t r y ing to fix; g r i p e about t h e speeding ticket they just got; or the car *' accident their 1 6 year o l d son just caused; gripe about the unfa i rness of promot i o n s and awards given; complain about how hard it is to get out: of L.A. Center; laugh when the guy w h o was gr ip ing loudes t t o g e t out does bu t comes running back t o Palmdale a year later; talk about who is sleep in^ wlth whom, g r ipe about ALL politicians and lawyers; gripe about how inep t the FAA i s and how useless NATCA i s ; gr ipe about high union dues, try co g e t s o m e s leep before t h e i r next shift, worry about weighing t o o much, f e e l i n g old watching hair turn grey o r worse - fall out, feeling r e a l l y o l d a t the s i g h t of 21 year old trainee cont ro l - lers; s t i l l watching a lot of t.v, and thinking you' d b e t t e r get some s l eep before your next shift in 5 hours.

Sound familiar?

Conclusion. We do the same things on our job

as you do. Our j o b is not an easy one, no matter where you work. The conse- quences of o u r mistakes are unthink- able. Controllers, p i l o t s , and nuclear p lan t operators have the capaci ty , i f they f a i l , to cause more damage than an ent i re war. No o t h e r occupations on earth depend on a single person doing h i s job perfect ly . . . a l l the time . . . and have so much at risk if he/she makes a mistake even for just one heartbeat.

If our sharing o f mutual successes and failures prevents the loss of l i f e and property, then what we are doing means something more s u b s t a n t i a l than a11 the lands and oceans t h a t divide us. We are EruLy brothers and sisters in this occupation.

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INPUT

E d i t o r i a l no te : We print below an edited translation of the opening speech made by Dr. Knittel, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Transport from t h e Federal Republic of Germany, at the IFATCA " 9 Conference in Frankfurt .

Introduction I welcome the representatives from

more than 70 Air Traffic Control Organisations from all over the world and also the representatives from several international organisations and aviation industries to their 28th annual meeting here in Frankfurt. You came together to intensively discuss during these days many operational and technical subjects concerning Air Traffic Control.

A problem, that you daily experience, is rhe, in this amount, unfore- seen increase in air traffic. The yearly increasing rates were since 1986 between 8 and 15 % , in some areas temporarily even up to 28 X . Similar rates are noted concerning the North Atlantic traffic. The Association of European airlines expects until the year 2000 a doubling of air traffic in respect of the year 1986. Individual estimates predict, that the increase of traffic from Europe to Asia in the nineties will equal the amount of North Atlantic traffic. The aim is to cope with t h i s increase. By the interior European market 1993 the challenge will not be diminished. From this market with 220 million consumers we expect a strong economic boost and consequently a considerable traffic increase, also in air traffic.

The traffic growth, however, is meeting environmental limits. We cannot keep on extending the traffic infrastructure . Airport Munich I1 will

therefore be in the foreseeable future the last airport to be finished i n Europe. For coping with the traffic growth in the future European interior market all participants must cont r ib- ute. We assume that, with the increas- (

ing competition of the German railroad, more travellers will change from the aircraft to the train. This also i s valid f o r German domestic traffic especially after finishing of the new and extended routes and after implementation of the " I n t e r -City-Express 'I

Concept. Deutsche Lufthansa and the rail-

road are requested to cooperate closer in the future, The airport-express between Diisseldorf and Frankfurt shows f o r instance that a successful cooper- a t i o n between both participants is possible. This cooperation must be extended by establishing further links between the airports and the current railroad sys tern.

To control the increasing air traffic at national level we took a number of decisions. Belonging to this are cons idera t ions t o give air rraffic control a new shape of organisation. In the Federal Republic of Germany it revealed that the present shape of organisation of air traffic control in view of the air traffic growth needs further development.

Additional workload Qn ATC con- t r o l l e r s caused by considerable increases in traffic figures throughout the past years demand a high

degree of willingness to per fo rm. In the f i e l d o f ATC conrrollers there have to be training facilities t o react t o staff shortages on a s h o r t term basis. Demographic developments causing decreasing figures of school leaving children will undoubtedly increase recruitment problems. It will

be even worse if present salary schemes for ATC personnel will remain unchanged.

Salary and career schemes of civil services do not allow payment of ATC technicians and engineers which can compete with those paid by free enterprises.

The ATC services branch i n the FRG c a r r i e d ou t a t present by "Bundesan- s talt fiir Flugsicherung" shall be recognised by fundamental and struc- tural alterations of the entire Organisation,

Following cons t ruc t ion models for reorganisation of the ATC organisation are available: - Public-law solution; the institu- tion having legal capacity under public law. - Private-law solution; the GmbH or registered union. - International solution; Eurocon- trol regional services.

A n e w organisational structure that meets t h e requirements would make it necessary for ATC to cover its own costs. This would require the introduction of arrival and departure fees in addition to the already existing route charges. As early as May 1989 the Federal Cabinet will decide whether any and i f applicable which of the described concepts will be pur- sued. At the same time the Federal Minister of Transport shall endeavour t o find an interim solution by grant- ing an additional allowance to ATC personnel.

Due to the international structure of aviation, national measures alone are insufficient to solve the problems. On initiative of the Federal Government, an intensive European discussion has been started. The European discussion has been started. The European Ministers of Transport have accepted the obligation to act jointly within the frame of the European Conference of Civil Aviation Authorities as well as on the level of the European Community and concrete measures have a l r eady been agreed upon.

On 20 October 1988 the European Civil Aviation Conference has - for the first time - decided on a detailed common programme: - Intensified development of the infrastructure in all states in order

to increase the overall capacity; - Improved utilisation of existing training facilities wiehin Eur~pe by founding t r a i n i n g pools; - Kultinational operational/technical integration of nat iona l control centres; - Improvement of flow control with in Europe by centralisation; - Extension of tasks assigned to Eurocontrol wirh the aim o f developing a common air traffic control concept.

In the interest of an efficient air traffic control system within our region and as far as a joint planning- and system development instrument is concerned no alternative to Eurocon- trol exists. The Agency already has at its disposal a l l prerequisites neces- sa ry for the execution of such tasks.

The development and specification of the next: generation of European ATC systems is a cen t ra l task for Eurocon- trel. An at tempt to furthermore execute such a task on a na t ional level would be nei ther sensible nor possible, Eurocontrol plays an essen-

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t i a l part in the multinational opera- tionalJtechnica1 integration of the national control centres. The so- called "Four States Integration Concept" serves as a model for the future multinational integration of ATC sys terns within Europe. Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Federal Republic of Germany are cooperating very closely. The five ATC centres at Amsterdam, Bri?ssels, Maastricht, Bremen and Dusseldorf will be integrated as to function externa l - ly and internally like one unit. Eurocontrol has also been assigned with the task of developing and operating the European Flow Cantrol Centre. Thus it will be assured that all capacity reserves wi th in the ATC system are fully utilised. In order to achieve this, the existing 12 A i r Traffic Flow Management Units will in steps be integrated i n t o initially five and ultimately into one. This one centre has to be developed and con- structed without delay in order to go into operation as soon as possible.

For this auditorium I do not have to specifically emphasise the fact that we wish to see Frankfurt as the seat of such a centre.

In order to fulfil these important tasks Eurocontrol has to be developed and on a short term bas i s be rein- forced, as far as financial funds and personnel are concerned. The number of Eurocontrol member states w i l l increase from 10 to 13 in t h e near future.

The doors are wide open for the remaining West European s t a t e s . East Europe, which is combined with West Europe in the European Region of the LCAO, could present a partner to Eurocontrol on a matching level. The expected increase of air traffic between Europe and South East Asia especially emphasises the necessity for an intensive cooperation between East and West Europe in system planning.

I also wish for an intensive cooperation between all states in our struggle against international terrorism in aviation. The measures taken for the protection of passengers against terrorising assaults should continuously be adjusted to the existing situation of threat. All competent authorities should cooperate trustfully i n this field. The security

concept o f the FRG is based on the cooperation of Government, Airline and Airport Authorities. An increase of security, however, cannot be achieved on a solely national basis. We all know chat a variety of terorristic groups is active throughout the world. Only a common effort by all states will enable us to counter i n t e rna t ion - al terrorism.

An i m p o r t a n t s t e p i n t h i s direc- tion of closer cooperation has been taken a t the ICAO Conference in Montreal in February this year. All delegations have mutually condemned acts of, sabotage against civil aviation and demanded a consequent and worldwfde introduction o f LCAO standard and recommended practices i n the f i e l d of security on a standard b a s i s . f

In the rnesntime further pertinent work an details has been delivered by experts within working groups of the European Civil Aviation Conference. Bilateral liaisons have also been increased in t h i s area.

Two weeks ago the proven German- American cooperation for counter measures against t e r ror i sm has been highlighted by concluding an appropriate agreement for aviation. The Federal Government emphatically supports all efforts of international organisations to improve security in civil aviation. Tt must be our aim ro minimise the remaining risks as much as possible.

Within the next days you will deal with subjects l i k e area navigation and the use of satellites in ATC. All work ' done in these areas will serve the purpose of improving ATC system worldwide so that air traffic may be conducted safely and as much as possible expeditiously and economical- ly i n future. B u t even the m o s t advanced technicaL systems w i l l not render human beings superfluous; air traffic controllers will remain an essential element of aviation. Without them, without their willingness ro perform adequately safety on our airways cannot be achieved. To bring order into a crowded sky will also in the future be a task calling for a high motivation on their side. I am extending my explicit thanks for meeting this challenge, time and again, to all air traffic controllers - our guests from abroad and those from German units.

MARCONI RADAR SYSTEMS: EGATS FIRST CORPORATE MEMBER

About t w o years ago, the EGATS Executive Board decided to pursue t h e idea of obtaining Corporate Members, as provided for in our Constitution.

A number of manufacturers involved i n the production of ATC r e l a t e d equipment were approached and we w e r e de l ighted when M r . Harry Cole , f u l l - time senior consultant with MARCORI RADAR SYSTEMS, was convinced of the mutual benef i t l i k e l y t o accrue from his Company's closer involvement with EGATS .

Mr. Cole, well known ta IFATCA, Convex and EGATS Forum participants (He was a speaker at our recent Forum) and the author of a book "Understand- ing Radart', has had a lengthy and varied connection with the ATC world. He is en thus ias t i c about the role t o be played by Eurocontrol in the futrure development of European ATC.

During the recent IFATCA conference in Frankfurt, M r . Cole was presented with a plaque commemorating

rhe MARCONI RADAR SYSTEMS appointment as a Corporate Member o f EGATS.

We look forward to developing long and meaningful contacts with our Corporate Members i n the fu tu re . Already, M r . Cole has been helpful in supplying information to us in re- searching the use of Secondary Sur- veillance Radar ( S S R ) , without the use of Primary Radar in connection with EGATS input to the work of the IFATCA Technical Conunittee.

L e f t to right: M r . Cole accepts a plaque on Geoff G i l l e t t - Harry Cole - Jochen

behalf of MARCONI RADAR SYSTEMS. 1 ("Olly'" HabeZ - Kees Scholts.

Radar)

Roots Some ca l l ed him a dilettante; some

a lady's man; o the r s , a poor student (didn't he fail h i s Naval Academy exams?), and a mere copyist . Born of a r i c h fami ly in A p r i l 1874, Guglielmo Marconi (already disappointing his fa ther by not pursuing a naval career) re t rea ted i n t o an attic laboratory to continue work on h i s dream - the use of Hextzian waves fo r communication without w i r e s .

True to the B i b l i c a l saying - "a prophet: is without honour in h i s own land" the Italian Government of the day showed no interest i n h i s early success i n 1895 of transmitting and receiving signals over 2 km. And so he journeyed to England with a short introductory letter addressed t o W i l l i a m Preece the Chief of Engineer- ing of the Br i t i sh General P o s t Office in 1896. Marconi quickly and success- fully repeated his experiment f o r Preece i n London - he was "in". I l e t his later history of spectacular achievements w i t h a small team stand as a testament to the man's work. As t o the man. a lady's man? - sure, he had an eye for a p r e t t y face. A dilettante? - if to put your own money and leisure t i m e to good use is " d i l e t t a n t e t t then - yes. A "copyist"? - i f t o take others' ideas, develop and combine them into a working system is "copying" then - yes. It all depends upon one's viewpoint. When 2 open the window, I g e t fresh air - when you open it, I get a draught! However, as a measure of the man a world-wide radio silence of two minutes was held as a tribute to him on hFs death - on my 10th birthday, July 20th, 1937,

Marconi's dream of wireless communicatians realised, attention to

the second dream w a s stimulated i n 1916 when he observed s h o r t waves being r e f l e c t e d by obstacles i n t h e i r path. In 1 9 2 2 during his Medal of Honour presentation address to the (

American Institute of Engineers he prophesied the use of radar at sea. Much later in 2931 and 1935 further experiments. using 50 crn wavelengths showed - as had other workers - the likely success of the radar techniques we know today.

During 1939-45, as i s usual i n human a f f a i r s , w a r acted as a bloody spur producing quick and fantasrfc developments in radar - right across a very wide spectrum of frequencies, rhe highes t with a wavelength of 3 cm producing pictures of almost photo- graphic c l a r i t y . - We w e r e s ee ing without eyes. - Marconi's other dream came true.

Marconi Radar. Preparatory t o World War 2 , t h e

Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company,

as i t was then, b u i l t rhe transmitter antenna arrays that formed the UK's first defence against bombing attacks - the "Chain Home" stations.

During the w a r the Company, as did a l l others i n the UK, concentrated upon the w a r effort, producing among other things, special t e s t equipment

which is vital f o r design work. A s example o f the effect af war, in 1937 the total Company floor space was 22,000 sq. ft. The number o f employees f o r the same p e r i o d s rose Erom 2600 t o 7400 and 8500 respectively. The value of the Company's output rose from (at cost levels) 830K Pounds in 1937 to 1 H Pounds in 1939 and 4M Pounds in 1 9 4 3 .

Primary Radar fo r ATC The Marconi Radar Company (now

with a staff of about 2000) began i t s l i f e as a Division o f the parent Company in 1948 and received tremen- dous impetus from the energy of Dr. Eric Eastwood as Deputy Director of Marconi Research. Under h i s Leadership t he Company re-engineered a wartime 50 cm radar into the ATC radar type S 232 - the precursor to its massively successfuL series of 50 cm radars. These and their continually developed modern types, were del ivered t o over 32 d i f f e r e n t countries. Some are still in service (UK, Malaysia, Italy, France, New Zealand), and are destined to remain so until the 50 crn band is closed far use in air traffic control.

As the 50 cm permitted band g r a d u a l l y narrowed (Erom 2 4 MHz to 8 MHz) over many decades, 23 cm L-band radars emerged as s u p e r i o r t o 50 crn's only rival - 10 cm.

The Marconi 23 cm high power ATC radar S654 was developed in 1970 and s u b s e q u e n t l y supplied i n large numbers t o Saudi-Arabia and to the Canadian A i r Force.

I n the early 1980s, the Company developed a new se r i e s o f 1 0 c m radars specifically aimed at the civil ATC market designed t o overcome today's market c o n s t r a i n t s - resource limita- tions - i , e . capital, technical and maintenance funds at all-time l o w levels. Its success is due to its s i m p l i c i t y of design, making high performance eas Fly maintainable by lower technical skills at a very low Life-cycle c o s t . i ts design standards, however, are high enough f o r m i l i t a r y ATC users - 5 dual systems have b ~ e n s u p p l i e d in th i s role in the last 2 years.

Secondary Radar (SSR) In the ea r ly 1960s it became

obvious that SSR was to figure very largely in future ATC s y s t e m s . The Company embarked upon SSR development. The f i r s t success came with its SECAR system - developed jointly with the then Compagnie Francais Thompson Houston (CFTH). Eurocontlrol were i t s first users - in Brussels and Shannon. The b o l d marketing straregy - of j o i n i n g the Common Market before the UK Government - was very exciting. The two Companies took a whole working system to Moscow in 1 9 6 5 and gave in-depth presentations and lectures as an in t roduc t ion to what was seen as a massive new market. However, a certain tall military gentleman from France, upon hearing t h a t the two Companies were getting on so well, and also that Plessey and CSF were good friends, said "non", CSF and CFTH shou ld j o i n , not across t h e channel, but i n t h e i r own land. That was the end of what could have been a great modern adven- ture.

printers. The design aim was one system failure i n more than 50 years! Anocher 'biggy' w a s the S c o t t i s h A i r T ra f f i c Control System in 1978; thirty three displays, and de-centralised processing t h i s time. A system update is in progress.

Another innovation of the mid 1960's was the use of d i r e c t viewing storage tubes (DVST's) f o r producing radar p ic tu res viewable with direct intense sunl ight incident on the screen. Its five inch display tube, and equally small display housing, made it possible t o f i t i n t o tower control desk f u r n i t u r e without d i f f i- culty; tower controllers at last had their o m usable radar p i c t u r e . A larger tube version was also marketed but d i f f i c u l t i e s of housing it conve- niently in t o w e r s made it less of a market success.

The Company has kept pace with market needs and has r ecen t ly added a raster scan display system ta its product range.

Support A vital component of any long-life

complex system is the ability to keep pace with improvements i n technology during a system's life time and to ensure users don't suffer when cornpo- nents become obsolete and thus unob- tainable as spares . I t is also neces - sary to supply specialist help if unexpected failures of long life components, such as turning gears, occur. The Company prides itself in having a special Department s t a f f e d by over 350 people to fulfil this role. Through its continued exis tence , systems first s u p p l i e d in 1958 are still operational - having been updated in the long intervening years. Over one hundred high power r ada r systems, of a type long since disap- peared from our catalogue, are still supported and operational. The Company quality standards include the necessity to support any new development far a minimum of 10 years .

The future In common with most engineers, I

can say - "The best is yet t a come". Solid state technology will soon ( i n historical terms) allow more radar sys terns t o dispense with rotating antennas. SSR will be the first to see this development. Marcani studies into

t h i s have shown t h a t w i t h the Mode ' S ' Data Link already spec i f i ed a t the technical level , i t will become necessary to use these new electroni- cally scanned arrays to realise the full operational potential o f Mode 'S'. Already we are encouraged by cast estimates tha t ESA systems are "af- fordable". My personal belief is that from the year 2000 they will be commonly used.

Data Fusion will become more common as will the p r i n c t p l e of the ' i n t e r - a c t i v e ' radar system, wherein massive and fast signal processing elements will be advised {by automatic analys is o f da t a gathered) what parts of the sky need what kind of process - ing, data rate, output reporting, etc . . . - and when. I

Marconi

I n subsequent year s , the Company continued development in SSR, success- fully yielding cheaper and more

-

efficient systems with fully automatic decoding and ppi data display. The latest is the Marconi Monopulse 'Messenger' SSR incorporating the highly successful Large Vertical Aperture a r r ay - developed as a result f

of an initial des ign study for Euro- c o n t r o l in 1979.

ATC disp lay and data handling sys terns-

Most of these, finding di rec t use i n ATC , have emerged as sp in- o f f from mili tary defence requirements; in many respec ts the ATC function is only the opposi te of a military i n t e r cep t ion - one gets a i r c r a f t close together, the other keeps them apart! They both r equ i r e the same data and usually in much the same form.

A notable benchmark here is the FPPS system supplied to the UK CAA in 1972. This was based upan a triplicat- ed 'Myriad' central computer (the world's f a s t e s t at that rime) serving a mass of peripheral d i sp l ays and

Intelligent knowledge based systems (IKBS) will find ATC as 'tailor m a d e ' f o r their use, because ATC is a discipline with a number o f well-established rules, the subjects i n the system (the aircraft) have known possible performance profiles , there is a great deal of data on operational objectives (flight plans etc. . . ) , and the f o r m of data you, i t s master, wants, etc,, .

All of these are in the fore f r o n t of Marconi Radar's current thinking. I hope to s e e some of them come to fruition in my remaining professional years. If the visionary Marconi were al ive today I can imagine him, excit- edly wondering where to begin h i s work anew. a

- by Henk van Hoogdalem -

- The team of the EGATS Technical

Committee recently changed its composition and consists now of the following members:

representing Wannover Sectors: Chris t ian Mack and Jack Snijders;

A m s t e r d a m Sector: Erns t Vreede; Brussels Sectors: Jan van Eck and

Henk van Hoogdalem (Chairman); F l i g h t Data Group: Paul Hooper and

Harry D e l a Haye and as Liaison w i t h the Systems Implemen-

tation Section: Hermann Mercz.

Ralf Holscher and John Doyle have stepped down mainly because o f other commitments in their ac tua l functions but they are sttll avai lable for a d v i c ~ and assistance if required. Thanks t o John and Ralf for their positive input during their TC membership.

The Technical Committee initiated and wrote a lerter to airspace users and pilot organisations concerning future developments in the Brussels airspace if the RVA extends c o n t r o l up to FL 245.

Proposals sen t recently to Opera- tions Management and/or Sys terns Implementation: - Revised QDM l is t ; - Field 1 5 will show p o i n t s o f airway changes and oceanic entry p o i n t s ; - Possible test t o present callsigns on TID i n a lphabet ica l order (PACK) ; - To include in ERM/SRM p r o p o s a l , manual ACT exchange, full cancellation of ERM and TAS presented in ERM; - PLN f i x e d o n SDD; - F l i g h t plan symbol visualised at BPN o r NCOP;

- XECM o f lasr MADAP controller I

cancels TUM; - A spare frequency f o r h o l d i n g t r a f f i c i n Brussels Sec tors .

Ongoing s tud ies - Automatic print-out of all KDS inputs at supervisor p o s i t i o n for l e g a l recording and procedures by who, how and when these i n p u t s a re to be made ; - Use of adaptors introduced recently for OJT; - Imformation t o be presented on new CCTV ; - The pro's and contra's of a Contran unit for a ground s r a t i o n ; - The presentation of radar heading in t h i r d line of the l a b e l ; - The Executive Board of EGATS recently wrote to t he Head o f Opera- r tions Division reques t ing that the Technical Committee be allowed to participate i n fo r thcoming discussions on the Maastricht Development Plan. A positive reply has been received.

CONCORDE

THE OTHER MAN'S VIEW by Andy Barnby

Whilst GeoEf Gillett was in New-York being propelled vertically, at great speed up the Empire State Building, despi te being airborne o u t o f Heathrow only about thirty-five minutes l a t e r , I was still rumbling subsonically over the Atlantic firmly attached to "Speedbird 175". Admitted- l y one could be in a worse situation than enjoying a leisurely meal at FL 350 in t he jump s e a t o f a B747. The flight was very smooth, with a little low cloud over the mid-Atlantic area but the landfall over Newfoundland was gin-clear as w a s the descent and arrival onto Runway 31R at Kennedy. A s we cleared the active "Geoff's" Concorde taxied round i n front of us to take-off for the return flight to London.

Deplaning with the First Class passengers I was ablc to experience my fas tes t ever arrival in the States, five minutes fo r Immigration and Customs! I was therefore waiting at t h e crew bus for my lift into.New-York City long before they arrived. At the h o t e l , there was a small problem with my room because the reservation had not been received. Surviving a very convivial evening of eating and drinking i n various New-York es tab- lishments w i t h the two British Airways crews, we tumbled into bed a f t e r an extra long day. Still p a r t l y on European t ime , we were b o t h awake at around 06.30, so we decided ta make the most o f t h e day ahead and see as much of New-York as possible.

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On recommendation of ~ r i t i s h Airways we breakfasted at the Caf& de Paris having walked down Seventh Avenue from the hotel i n a temperature of - 1 2 C and a biting cold wind. So the marathon began, f i r s t walking to the United Nations building then taking a cab t o the ferry f o r Liberty Island where we climbed halfway up the Stature of Liberty - we didn't have time to w a i t in the queue to go right to the t o p ! After that, a subway train to 34th street and Macy's before grabbing a late, l i ght lunch i n the form of a "Big Mac", Geoff then went back to the Sheraton t o change and

pack whilst 1 w a s propelled a t great speed to the top of the Empire State

a l b e i t with a temperature of minus twelve degrees and s t i l l a very, very cold wind. Despite this I still wanted to make the "walk around" our Concarde parked on the ramp. Very interesting it was t o o but I was decidedly happy t o get i n s i d e the aircraft and have a cup o f tea before the passengers boarded at 0915 for a 0930 departure. 0918 Toca1/1418 Zulu and "Speedbird Concorde Twott w a s given "temperature minus twelve, runway 31L, Kennedy One Departure to expect FL 290 ten minutes after take-off". At 1427 start-up was requested and engines 2 and 3 were started i n sequence, exactly at 1430 we pushed-back with forty passengers and eighty-five tomes of fuel on

Building. Again the sky was perfect and one could see for eighty miles! Kennedy and Newark airports were just within touching distance and the inbounds to La Guardia were well below me on the one-hundred and second floor! By now the pace was beginning to t e l l so T wandered back to the hotel where Geoff was preparing to

board. Whilst pushing-back, engines 1 and 4 were started-up together and w e (

trundled over to the Holding Point for Runway 31L despite the fact that the subsonics were taking-off on 04L. Slotted between two Tristar departures on the cross runway, with a "3 -2 -1 - G O ! " from the First Officer who rammed the throttles forward, we rolled at

leave. After that it w a s a quest ion of '

a quick drink, a meal and bed because the next morning I had to depart at 0715 on the crew bus,

It was the Flight Engineer's birthday, so the whole crew sang "Happy Birthdayt1 t o h i m as he boarded the bus at 0730, which was enough to waken anybody up! Crews when on t h e i r own, out of the pub l i c eye are totally different and it is always interesting and fun to be a " f l y on the walltt on these occasions !

1449 w i t h reheat blasting, we were airborne after fifteen seconds and almost immediately, on passing one hundred fees, we carried out the famous Jamaica Bay noise-abate l e f t

upan arrival at Kennedy, the Captain came with me whilst I "checked

for the f l i g h t and then I accompanied him to the British A i r w a y s Operations Office j oining the First Officer and the Flight Engineer f o r the pre - f l i gh t briefing and Anather beautiful, c l ear , sunny day

turn and headed for the Atlantic. Still in a climbing left turn I took what I think was my first breath. That take-off was so exhilarating I cannot describe it ! A f terburaers w e r e s e l e c t - ed "out", the nose r a i s e d , then at 1454 through FL 100 and cleared to FL 180, our Oceanic clearance was given:

"Cleared 4040N70W Track lSN, cruise

block 550 t o 590". Although we were vectored slightly south of our track entry point: due to inbound traffic w e reached I:L 180 and M.80 at 1456, one minute later we were cleared to FL 290 and with a steadily rising Mach number cont inued our climb. 1458 on the clock and "Speedbird Concorde Two is cleared to cruise block FL 550-FL 590 . " Reheat was again appl ied bringing Mach 1 a f t e r fifteen seconds, FL 330 a f t e r one minute and at 1509 we were a s FL 500 t h i r t y - two nautical m i l e s outbound f r o m Nantucket f ly ing a t Mach 1 . 6 l e a v i n g a sonic boom i n our wake. Reheat came ou t a t 1511 wi th Mach 1 . 7 , the Captain established HF contact with Oceanic, carr ied out t h e Selcal checks and l i f e s e t t l e d down t o a more scdate pace at Mach 2 1 ? A s can be seen from the times, t h e workload moves at a rapid pace for the first twenty minutes o r so after t a k e - o f f . Con- corde ' s f l i g h t deck i s narrow and w i t h f o u r up f r o n t becomes quite cramped a f te r a whi le , bes ides , I wanted t o savour t h e cu l ina ry de l igh t s o f British Airways Concorde c a t e r i n g division! I t he r e fo re left the Flight Engineer t o do his f u e l juggling act and wandered to my allocated seat in the cabin. A l l o w i n g myself a g l a s s of champagne, climbing through f i f t y - s i x thousand f e e t whilst t r a v e l l i n g a t a speed of one thousand nine hundred feet a second, I enjoyed fresh melon, prawrls with caviar, l o b s t e r wi th asparagus spears and salad, afterwards finishing off with s o f t f r u i t s l i g h t l y

' baked i n pastry- a l l accompanied by Tchaikovsky's F i r s t Piano Concerto. T h i s was my breakfas t , lunch and dinner all in one and I was making t h e most of it! The view was superb, a dark blue sky, progressively getting

l i g h t e r down towards the clouds Ear below, where the earth's curvature was c l e a r l y v i s i b l e . The s m a l l windows were a c t u a l l y hot t a the touch w h i l s t the ou t s ide temperature was -59 degrees C . according t o t h e "Marilake" indicators on the cabin f ron t w a l l . Surprisingly, we encountered a bit of turbulence around FL 570 for about t e n minutes o r s o . A f t e r approximately seventy- f ive minutes I returned to the flight deck. Eventually we reached our "top of descent" one hundred and eight miles out from Lands End and so slid out of our maximum height of j u s t over

FL 580. A t 1 7 2 1 our speed came off and ac 1729 we reduced through Mach 1 passing FL 400, the DME showing 2 2 5 NM to run to Ockham. By this t i m e i t was dark, the l i g h t s of Torbay could clearly be seen on the l e f t -hand s i d e w i t h t h e speed now reading M.95. The lights of Heathrow became visible and we flew abeam Terminal Four at FL 90 and 250 k t s . At 1757 t h e nose w a s lowered, the speed w a s 180 kts. a minute l a t e r and we then turned left s l o t t i n g i n t o the inbound traffic on Fina l Approach. With Runway 27R glowing ahead w e s l i d down the Glide Pa th . The F l i g h t Engineer c a l l e d "Five hundred feet" and then a c a l l was made a t each hundred feet to f i f t y f e e t when the a u t o - t h r o t t l e s were discon- nected. Cal l ing "forty , t h i r t y , twenty, t e n " followed by a s l i g h t bump w e touched down at 1808 as the main wheels made contact. The throttles were at " i d l e reverse thrust" wh i l s t the flight deck began i t ' s long drop t o t h e runway. As the nose wheel made contac t reverse thrust was selected and the carbon f i b r e brakes began t o b i t e . The speed dropped-off very r ap id ly - more so than in a normal a i r l i n e r . The "ac t ive" was cleared , nose selected t o f i v e degrees and w e commenced a ten minute tax i to T e r m i - n a l Four. That was it. Three hours and nineteen minutes earlier I had been i n New-York no t having had any breakfast . Now I was i n London and i t was almost h a l f - p a s t six fn the evening. Exactly l i k e Geoff , who gree ted me i n New-York with "Hello, I ' v e just flown in an Concorde!" I had the same f e e l i n g - but no - one t o t e l l ! ? What a wonderfil machine , what a wonderful experience. Flying w i l l never be the same again!

I would l i k e t o thank B r i t i s h Airways, i n particular Captain Leney , Chief P i l o t Concorde Fleet; Captain Cook and the r e s t of the crew of "Speedbird Concorde Two" from New-York t o London on 1 2 December 1988, wi thou t whose cooperat ion and he lp t h i s article could not have been produced. Also thanks t o EGATS f o r arranging the competit ion.

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from the December 1988 issue of ,,THE CONTROLLER" by Dr. Kopolow

You need s t r e s s i n your life! Does tha t s u r p r i s e you? Perhaps so, but it is quite true. Without stress, l i f e would be dull and unexciting. Stress adds f l a v o r , challenge, and appowtuni- ty t o l i f e . Too much stress, however. can seriously affect your physical and mental well-being. A major challenge i n t h i s stress-filled w o r l d o f today is to make the stress in your Life work for you instead of a g a i n s t you.

Stress is with us all the time. It comes from mental o r emotional ac t iv i - ty and physical activity. It is unique and p e r s o n a l t o each of us. So personal, in fact, that what may be relaxing t o one person may be stressful t o another . For example, i f you're a busy executive who likes to keep busy all t h e t ime , ' taking it easy' a t the beach on a beaut i fu l day may feel extremely frustrating, nonproductive, and upsetting. You may be emotionally distressed from 'doing nothing" Too much emotional s t ress can cause physical illness such a s high blood pressure, ulcers, or even heart disease; physical stress from work or exercise is nor likely t o cause such ailments. The t r u th is that physical exercise can help you to relax and to handle your mental or emotional stress.

Hans Selye, M . D . , a recognized expert i n the f i e l d , has defined

stress as a 'non-specific response of the body to a demand'. The important i s sue is learning h o w our bodies respond to these demands. When s t ress becomes prolonged o r particularly frustrating, it can become harmful - causing distress o r 'bad stress'. Recognising the e a r l y s igns of d is- tress and then doing something about them can make an important difference i n the q u a l i t y of your life, and may actually influence your survival.

Reacting to stress. To use stress in a positive way

and prevent it from becoming d i s tress , you should become aware of your awn reactions to stressful events. The body responds to stress by go ing through three stages: (1) alarm, (2) resistance, and ( 3 ) exhaustion.

Let's take the example of a typical commuter in rushhour t r a f f i c . If a car suddenly pulls o u t in f r o n t of h i m , his i n i t i a l alarm reaction may include fear o f an acc ident , anger at the driver who committed the action, and general f r u s t r a t i o n . His body may respond in the alarm stage by releas- ing hormones i n t o the bloodstream which cause his face to flush, perspiration to form, h i s stomach t a have a s inking f e e l i n g , and his arms and legs to t i g h t e n . The next stage is resistance, in which the body r e p a i r s damage caused by the stress. I f the

stress o f driving continues with repeated close calls or traff ic jams, however, h i s body w i l l not have t i m e to make repairs. H e may become s o condit inned to expect potent ia l problems when he drives tha t he t i g h t e n s up at the beginning of each commuting day. Eventual ly, he may even develop one o f the diseases of stress, such as migraine headaches, h igh blood pressure, backaches, or insomnia. While it i s impossible to live corn- pletely free of stress and distress, k t is poss ib le t o prevent same d i s - tress as w e l l as to minimise irs impact when i t can't be avoided.

Helping yourse l f . When s tress dogs occur, i t i s

important t o recognise and dea l w i t h i t . H e r are some suggestions for ways to handle stress. As you begin t o understand m o r e about how stress affects you as an incividual, you w i l l come up with your own ideas oE' help ing t o ease the tensions.

Try physical activity. When you are nervous, angry, or upset , release the pressure through exercise or physical activity. Running, walking, p lay ing tennis, or working i n your garden are just some.of the activities you might try. Physical exercise w i l l relieve that 'up t igh t ' fee l ing , relax you, and turn the frowns into smiles. Remember, your body and your mind work t o g e thc r . - Share your stress. It he lps t o talk t o someone about your concerns and worries. Perhaps a friend, family member, teacher , or counsel lor can help you see your problem in a dif fer- en t l i g h t . If you f ee l your problem is s e r i o u s , you might seek professional help from a psychologis t , psychia- trist, o r soc ia l worker. Knowing when t o ask for he lp may avoid more serious problems la ter . - Know your limits. If a problem is beyohd your con t ro l and cannot be changed a t the moment, don" fight the s i t u a t i o n . Learn to accept what is - for now - u n t i l such time when you can chaq e it. - l ake care of yo---:~eIP. You era special. Get enough rest and eat well . I f you are irritable and tense from lack of s1ee.p or if you are not eating correctly, you w i l l hzve less a b i l i t y t o deal with s t r e s s f u l situations. I f stress repeatedly keeps you from

s leeping, you should ask your doctor for h e l p . - Hake t i m e f o r fun. Schedule t i m e f o r both work and recreation. Play can be just as important ta your well- being as work; you need a break from your d a i l y routine t o just relax and have fun. - Check off your tasks. Trying to take care of everything at once can seem overwhelming, and, as a result, you may not accomplish anything. Instead, make a l i s t of what tasks you have t o do, then do one a t a time, checking them of f as they' r e complet- ed, Give priority to the most important ones and do those first. - Must you always be right? Do other people upset you - p a r t i c u l a r l y when they don ' t do things your way? Try cooperation ins t ead of confronta t ion; (

it's better than fighting and always being 'right' . A l i t t l e give and take on both sides w i l l reduce the strain and make you both feel more cornfort- able. - Create a quiet scene. YOU can't always run away, but you can 'Dream t he impossible dream" A q u i e t country scene painted mentally, or on canvas, can take you out of the turmoil of a stressful s i t u a t i o n . Change the scene by reading a good book or playing b e a u t i f u l music t o create a sense of peace and t r a n q u i l l i t y . - Avoid self-medication. Although you can use drugs to relieve stress temporarily, drugs do not remove the condit ions that caused the stress i n , the first place. Drugs, in fact, may be habit-forming and create more stress than they take away. They should be taken only on the advice of your doctor.

The art of relaxation. The best s t r a t e g y f o r avoiding

stress is to learn how t o r e l a x . 'Jnfortunately, many people try to relax at the same pace that they lead the rest of their l ives. For a w h i l e , tune out your w o r r i e s about t i n e , p roduc t iv i ty , and 'doing right'. You will find s a t i s f a c t i o n i n j u s t being, without s t r iv ing . Find activities tha t give you pleasure and that are good f o r your mental and physical well- being. Forget about always winning. Focus on relaxation, enj oyment , and health . Be good t.0 yours e l f ~rllrrsalllrnlllwllllllllltl

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