You are invited to visit the UK Aeronautical Information Service at London Heathrow on Thursday 12 June from 10:30 to 14:30. The offices are in the Control Tower Building at LHR (regrettably landing slots will NOT be available! 😡 ).
We have the Main Conference Room, which has fabulous views over the Airport so bring your binoculars. There is also access to an upper gallery where you will be able to listen in to frequencies and be briefed on what is going on. The Main Conference Room and Gallery are the two top rows of windows in this picture . We’ll probably also be able to go on to the roof above. Unfortunately the Visual Control Room (the glasshouse) is too small and too busy with 1200+ movements a day for a visit.
Anticipated program includes a briefing on AIS and what it does, followed by splitting into smaller groups for a tour of the facilities and a visit to Thames Radar. We may even get fed!
AIS staff come from an ATC background and you will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and swap tall stories. They are keen on establishing a dialogue with GA pilots to our mutual benefit and some are coming in on their day off to be there.
AIS is responsible for the UK AIP, holds a library of world-wide foreign AIP’s and publishes AIC’s and NOTAM so any questions you might have can be readily answered.
As you would expect, the Control Tower at Heathrow is a pretty secure location so if you would like to go I will need you to e-mail me your name, address, and a contact telephone number so that access can be arranged.
[email]michael.cross@telecall.uk.com[/email]
Look forward to seeing you!
Mike Cross
By: mrcross - 14th June 2003 at 06:38
A few more photos
Start of the visit in the Main Conference Room
In the foreign AIP section
Another view of the foreign AIP section
hmmmm… Now where shall I go today. Just ring AIS if you want to use the foreign AIP library.
ADIMS (AIS Dynamic Information Management System) Entry point for all UK and foreign NOTAM in to the UK NOTAM system.
Mike
By: Phil_at_UKGA - 13th June 2003 at 11:02
Andrew Sinclair has very kindly written a report of his visit:
By: EGNM - 12th June 2003 at 23:00
great stuff – cheers for the pics!
By: mrcross - 12th June 2003 at 21:03
Photos
A few photos from todays visit to AIS at Heathrow. About 25 pilots made it. Many thanks to Today’s Pilot who did us proud with items for the goody bags. Unfortunately no photos of anyone wearing the TP baseball caps or carrying copies of the mag.
Those who attended appreciated fabulous views of the airport from the roof of the Contropl Tower building. We got to visit the Visual Control Room itself, Thames Radar, AIS and had the run of a comms gallery where we could listen in on the frequencies while being able to see all of the movements.
Phil Bate of UK AIS and Howard Dubovie of the CAA DAP Aeronautical Charts & Data section gave very informative talks. NO 1 AIDU (RAF) gave us loads of goodies, we were given lunch and there was much informal chatting with our hosts.
Phil Bate, Manager UK AIS and our host.
Exterior of the Visual Control Room
and the inside
Steve Harben of AIS in Thames Radar
and the Thames Radar controller in a quiet moment.
Mike
By: mrcross - 28th May 2003 at 16:38
If you put your name forward for this visit please check your e-mails.
If you were one of the first 30 to reply you will have had an email from me asking for you to confirm that you will definitely be able to attend. If I don’t get that confirmation I will be offering your place to the next person on the list so [EMAIL=michael.cross@telecall.uk.com]email me now[/EMAIL] in reply.
Please let me know if you can’t make it so your place can be re-allocated.
We need to be in the foyer of the Control Tower Building at 10:20 on 12 June. I will be at the Costa Coffee Shop on the mezzanine floor in Terminal 2 from about 10:00 and everyone attending will get an e-mail with my mobile number. Suggest we meet up there and walk over en masse.
If you miss the rendezvous the Control Tower Building is opposite Terminal 2, the entrance is on the right hand side of the building looking from T2. Use the entryphone to get in.
Expect to finish around 14:30, later if everyone is having fun.
Feel free to bring cameras and binoculars. The view is superb.
There’s a link to the original thread here
See you there 😀
Mike
By: mrcross - 8th May 2003 at 10:30
The visit is now fully subscribed. There should be 30 of us there on the day.
Many thanks to all who responded
Mike
By: Simmer - 1st May 2003 at 17:09
Sounds cool 😀
I’ll pencil it in the diary, hope I’m not working
By: Arabella-Cox - 1st May 2003 at 16:05
Hi Mike,
Drat! Mrs Seagull has me pre-booked for a family holiday so I can’t make June 12. If there are any more dates in the future please post them – it sounds like a useful day.
Cheers
Seagull
By: A330Crazy - 1st May 2003 at 13:11
Cheers for that mate sounds very very interesting! I see if Im able to make it. 🙂
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May 1, 2003 at 12:25 pm