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Memories and Anecdotes
If you have any photos or anecdotes that you think others would be pleased to see or would give them a laugh, then why not email them to
If you have photos that others would like to see but you do not have a scanner, send me an email and we'll work something out !
| A Certain Personnel Manager had finished re-writing the Staff Manual section relating to Maternity leave. When she had finished, because she was so astounded at the complexity, for a joke, added in small print at the bottom "Go straight to jail. Do not pass go, Do not collect "£200" fully intending to remove it at proof reading stage. As is the way of all things, it was accidentally left in and published. John Lockwood, the Personnel Director (father of Victoria Lockwood, first wife of Princess Diana's brother, Champagne Charlie) was so incensed and irate when it was pointed out to him that he had all copies recalled to Personnel and the offending passage reprinted with the monopoly joke removed. Anyone manage to retain the original? |
As a new recruit to the CAA, I stupidly asked what an acronym stood for. Then, as now, acronyms seem to be an industry in their own right. In those days though, no Internet, no desktop computers. My manager, an OO I, decided that he would write out a list of acronyms and it would be my task to find out what they mean and type out a listing so that I would have a ready reference and it could also be passed onto any other newbies. A couple of days later, he asked how I was getting on and I told him that I had finished them all apart from the last one. That last one I had spent hours on, asking others, looking up aviation books and the like. "Oh", he said. "Which one is that"? I pointed to the last entry on his list. "Ahh", he said, "that's just my little joke". The entry was UTCAA - If you haven't already guessed what it means, hover over the acronym to reveal the meaning of his "little joke". PS - I didn't think it was very funny. ~ Rich.
Great Dun
Fell Radar Station.
The highest Radar station
in England. Also famous for being
on
the Pennine Way route.
The Pennine way is
a 250 mile walk from Edale in Derbyshire, to
Kirk
Yetholm in Scotland. As a young CAA employee, I decided
that I would walk
the
Pennine Way for my annual holiday. Three pals had also decided to come with me. At the
point where we were about to reach Great Dun Fell,
thirsty, with no water, I said to my
friends, "Don't worry, we can get some water from here, it's belongs to the company I work
for." Little
did I know that the station commander had other ideas. "We don't just get
water out of a tap", he said, "We have to pay for a tanker to bring
water up here". "But I
work for the CAA", I said. "Well I'll give you just one bottle full", he said. So from then on, to
my friends,
the CAA was for ever known as the UAA, the Uncivil Aviation Authority. But I
guess I could see his point and it must have been annoying
to get loads of Pennine Way
walkers, all following their "Wainwright", calling in for water. Did not do the company
cred any good though! Hover over the picture to see what Wainwright thought of Great Dun Fell Radar Station.
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Having worked for NATS for 36 years prior to his retirement , ATC Recruitment Manager Andy Hutchinson was a familiar face around the organisation and to many retired staff, that is until he had his beard shaved
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off. Andy Joined CAA/NATS in 1974 but did not grow the beard until the hot summer of 1976 when he was sailing across the Channel and around the Channel Islands. He decided to remove the beard in 2010 as his wife and family had never seen him without it. He also explained that the beard had become white and grey and there was a general feeling that he might look a bit younger without it.
Having made the decision Andy thought it would be nice to use the event to raise some money for Chase Hospice Care for Children, where his daughter had worked for a while during her nursing studies. She had spoken warmly of the wonderful work they do in supporting the children in very difficult circumstances.
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The Big Shave event was organised by Andy's team and raised in excess of £1100.00.
If you would like to contribute to Andy's total please go to www.justgiving.com/andy-hutchinson |
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While I was working in the Press Office at CAA House, part-time Board member, the late Douglas Bader, had an office two or three doors away and I got to know him quite well. One day he sent for me and explained that he wanted to practise kneeling for the Queen at Buckingham Palace where he was due to receive his Knighthood. His secretary, Maureen, was also there to witness his efforts. He placed a cushion on the floor in the middle of the room and, having stationed Maureen and I at opposite ends of the office, then forbade us to help him in any way whatsoever as he was determined to ’go it alone‘. Well, he got down in a kneeling position on the cushion quite easily but that was when the trouble started! His legs locked and he couldn't get up again, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps a bit unfairly Maureen and I both started laughing as he wriggled around on the cushion and the more we laughed, the crosser he got. Eventually he yelled at us, using his usual highly colourful language, to get him up, whereupon we reminded him that he had forbidden us to get anywhere near him. Of course we gave in, eventually, and helped him back to his feet. I never did find out if he kneeled to receive his K - but I have a feeling that the Queen would not have expected him to in the first place. Anne Noonan |
| A true story from Aldergrove quite a few years ago. The BEA Heathrow flight was departing and half way along the taxiway the aircraft stopped. After a few moments our tower controller asked the aircraft if it had a problem and it replied no, but there was a chap standing at the side of the taxiway thumbing a lift. The airport police were quickly despatched and removed the person and later passed us the following details. The man had escaped from a nearby mental home and wanted to go to London! Obviously he was not just as mental as they thought as he seemed to know which flight he wanted! | While I was stationed at Prestwick airport one afternoon I spotted a person walking towards the main runway and the airport police were tasked to intercept him. While watching the police car rapidly driving along the main road with its blue flashing light on to enter the airfield by another entrance I took another look at the intruder and he looked as if he was carrying something. Golfers would quite often cut their way through the fence along the side of the secondary runway and we thought maybe it was one who had decided to take a short cut to the golf course but on closer inspection through the binoculars the item looked more like a rifle or shotgun. It was decided that we should notify the police that the person seemed to be armed so that they could be prepared. A few moments later we noticed the police car turning around and heading in the direction it had come from and the airport police rang us to say that they were unable to attend as the car had to go urgently to Ayr! To be honest I cannot recall what eventually happened the intruder but the police were certainly not taking any chances! |
| A Bristol Britannia of RAF Transport Command was sat at the start of runway 08 at Liverpool Airport awaiting take-off clearance. (It is essential to point out that the crew member operating the radio was female). The young trainee controller cleared the aircraft for take-off and the pilot wound up the four props to full power. The brakes were released and the aircraft began to build up speed, but as it approached the mid point of the runway, it began to brake hard and came to a sudden halt. Completely un-flusstered, the trainee controller uttered the famous words, " Rafair xxxx, what is the reason for your abortion? " |
Ken Stevens recalls
Whilst Admin Manager at the Cheltenham publications unit in the early 70s, the newly constructed print wing was being formally opened. During Lord Boyd Carpenter’s speech, a Concorde on a test flight from Filton did a slow & noisy fly-by, framed stunningly in the picture window behind the noble Lord. The unit manager, Harry Hartland seized the moment by turning languidly towards the window and exclaiming "Many thanks, Brian" [.. Trubshaw, noted test pilot]
Did you ever wonder why CAA House got that name?
Anne Noonan lets the cat out of the bag.
Have you ever thought about the origin of the rather unimaginative name ’CAA House‘, the CAA’s headquarters in London? Originally called Space House, the then chairman, Sir Nigel Ffoulkes (it rhymes with jokes), decided that since the Authority had nothing to do with space travel it was time for a name change. He suggested a competition should be held in Airway, the Authority’s monthly newspaper, to ask the staff to suggest a name change, with a prize for the best name submitted. The competition was set-up, the paper was about to go to press when the axe fell and the competition was scrapped. It transpired that one of the directors had wandered into the Chairman’s office and suggested there was no need for a competition - "just call it ’The Old Folks Home‘" he jested. Not noted for his sense of humour the Chairman lost his temper and snapped that if people couldn’t take the name change seriously then he would chose the name. And hence CAA House was born.
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