Decennium of HungaroControl – Anniversary in the spirit of development
On 01/02/2012, in Anniversaries, by steve
HungaroControl celebrated the tenth anniversary of its establishment by handing over professional awards and holding a large-scale reception. The Hungarian Air Navigation Services appreciated the work of Anne Kathrine Jensen the CEO of Entry Point North, Qatar Airways and Thales Air Systems.
Hungarian Air Navigation Services became an independent company 10 years ago. During the preceding three decades, it was the Air Traffic and Airport Authority that performed the organisation and control of Hungary’s air transport as well as the operation of Budapest International Airport. In order to divide these two functions, HungaroControl and Budapest Airport were established in January 2002, and in this way, aviation in Hungary also involved three participants. During the past ten years, HungaroControl Pte. Ltd. Co. became a top-ranking service provider of international air traffic control, and one of the most successful state-owned companies in Hungary.
Click here to read the full article
Happy New Year!
On 31/12/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
We wish all our readers a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Merry Christmas!
On 24/12/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
We wish our readers everywhere a Merry Christmas! May peace and love fill your hearts as our worldwide aviation family celebrates this special day.
You like our card? Check out what is available at Karsten Cards!
Thanksgiving
On 24/11/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
As the Sun approaches the shores of the United States to-day, a very special holiday breaks. It is Thanksgiving, something that has been celebrated official in the US since 1863. It was President Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed a national holiday that year but the concept dates from much earlier. The first thanksgiving was observed to thank God for safely guiding the settler to the New World. It lasted for three days and had enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.
To-day, Thanksgiving is still a major holiday when most Americans are heading home, not unlike Europeans do at Christmas. It is a major boost to the travel industry, among them the airlines of course.
Of course, the significance of Thanksgiving is only partially in spending it with our loved ones. The significance is in seeing a nation bow its head in acceptance of the gifts received in so many forms, acknowledging that without the helping hand of a higher power we would be much poorer in spiritual wealth.
A less well known element of this festive season is Black Friday. This is the Friday following Thanksgiving and is traditionally the start of the Christmas shopping season. It is called “black” because retailers make their profit and so avoid going into the “red”… Most stores open early on this day (4 a.m. or earlier is not unusual) and prices are slashed on millions of much sought after items. Some stores are the scenes of pretty wild tumults as shoppers vie for items the stocks of which are limited. Ah well…
Happy Thanksgiving America!
9/11 Remembered – The Heroes of United Flight 93
On 07/10/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
On 11 September this year the US and in fact much of the world marked the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. As we all know, there was also a fourth hijacked aircraft, United Flight 93, most probably assigned to crash into the Capitol where the House and Senate were both in Session. This part of the design of the terrorists never came to pass however. As the result of the heroic acts of her crew and passengers, the plane crashed just 20 minutes by air from the target in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The ceremonial gateway to the memorial
What a curious twist of fate that we should be talking about a crash that took the lives of 40 passengers and crew as a lucky circumstance… But those 40 people gave their lives so that others, many others, may live.
Click here to read the full article
1 August 2011 – 100 year anniversary of first US woman with a pilot’s license
On 01/08/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
Harriet Quimby was born in Michigan in 1875 and lived on the family farm until it went bankrupt. Around age 25 she moved to San Francisco, California where she got the stage bug and dreamed about becoming an actress. This was not to be however but her superb writing skills made her into a journalist and screen writer.
Soon she moved to New York where she practiced her journalism and was frequently in the public eye becoming the sweetheart of the Big Apple.
She got her pilot’s license on 1 August 1911 and subsequently went to numerous air shows in the US and Mexico, wearing a unique, purple flying suit of her own design, fabricated from a satin material. She set another record in 1912 when she flew across the English Channel as the first woman having done so.
On 1 July 1912 she was flying over the bay near Quincy, Massachusetts. With her in the plane was the manager of the air meet she was attending. While pulling a publicity stunt, both she and the manager fell out of the plane as it suddenly pitched forward. The cause has never been reliably established.
So ended the career of the first woman pilot in US history. Had she been given more time, she would probably be there with the biggest and brightest among US aviation pioneers.
6 July 2011 – 75 years of ATC in the US
On 15/07/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration marked the 75th anniversary of federal air traffic control ON 6 July as American aviation experiences its safest period ever. Since its inception with 15 workers operating in just three control centers in 1936, the agency has become a world leader, pioneering safety improvements and developing new technology to speed up flights, save fuel and improve safety.
“The United States has the safest air transportation system in the world. But as the last 75 years show, we will never stop working to make our system even safer,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
“As a pilot, I am in awe of the aviation safety and technological advancements that have been made in the last 75 years,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “NextGen represents the next milestone in aviation innovation. The FAA is committed to transforming our national airspace system so passengers can reach their destinations even more safely and more efficiently than they do today.”
Federal air traffic control began on July 6, 1936, when the Bureau of Air Commerce took over the operation of the first airway traffic control centers at Newark, N.J., Chicago and Cleveland. Faced with a growing demand for air travel, the 15 employees who made up the original group of controllers took radio position reports from pilots to plot the progress of each flight, providing no separation services. At the time, the fastest plane in the commercial fleet was the Douglas DC-3, which could fly coast-to-coast in about 17 hours while carrying 21 passengers.
Click here to read the full article
In praise of encyclopedias – Wikipedia is 10 years old
On 30/03/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
I will not deny it, I love encyclopedias. Whether it is the general kind or focused on a given subject like aviation or information technology, I am fascinated by these works, the way they bring knowledge like a thick syrup just waiting for your mind to add the fluid of understanding to reveal their secrets.
This fascination dates back to the 1960s when we were living in Cairo, Egypt and as a student I was granted a pass to the British Library, just off Tahrir Square. There it was of course the Encyclopedia Britannica that ruled the scene and I remember how often I dreamed about having it on my bookshelf at home.
As it turned out, I had to wait until almost 1990 before that happened, but it did! In the end, EB wasn’t even the first of the big encyclopedias that I managed to acquire. During my time in Paris, first I bought the Encyclopedia Universalis, which is in fact the French version of the Britannica. A year or so later I was seduced by the wonderful dark red volumes of Encyclopedia Larousse which is the iconic French interpretation of what an encyclopedia should be like. It is wonderful by the way.
So, to-day all three of those wondrous encyclopedias are on the shelves in our living room and I continue to love them, even in the face of the funny expression my kids reserve for paper encyclopedias.
They prefer Wikipedia… of course!
10 years old on 15 January 2011, Wiki has become something of an icon not unlike Encyclopedia Britannica used to be, although there are some important differences.
Click here to read the full article
28 January 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
On 28/01/2011, in Anniversaries, by steve
The space shuttle system was an innovative solution for sending humans into space. The whole program, from inception to this day, has a varied history, one that can serve up several lessons in what happens when government bureaucracy and brilliant engineering come together to create something that had never been tried before.
Challenger, at the time of the accident, was NASA’s second oldest shuttle and her fate was sealed by the failure of a stiffened O-ring and a decision making process that left much to be desired. Challenger exploded 73 seconds into flight over the Atlantic ocean, nine miles above the surface. The shuttle itself shot out of the wreckage and its momentum carried it upwards for another three miles before it plunged back to Earth, killing all six crew members.
The event was also the first such occurrence in history broadcast live on TV for the whole world to see. You can view an original video of the explosion as it happened here.
Happy New Year!
On 31/12/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
We wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year!
Merry Christmas!
On 24/12/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
We wish all our readers a Merry Christmas!
Anniversary – TWA midair collision over New York 50 years ago
On 19/12/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
16 December 1960 started like any other December day in New York City. It was foggy and the holiday preparations were in full swing. As the Friday early morning commute went into overdrive, few people suspected that the deadliest air disaster in US history to that date was about to happen right over their heads, turning Christmas joy into mourning for the relatives of the 134 people who would perish in the midair collision.
It was just after 10.30 a.m. local time when a United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Constellation collided in flight over Park Slope, New York City. The DC-8 hit city streets while the Constellation crashed into a military air base on Staten Island.
Back than air traffic control was in many ways in its infancy and controllers were tracking planes on their radar scopes using “shrimp boats”, plastic strips marked with grease pencils to identify them. They had no means of seeing altitudes, everything was based on what the pilots reported. In any case, radar had been in use in NY for about a decade only and the technology was far from perfect.
On this fatal day, the DC-8 flew 11 miles beyond the point at which it should have entered its assigned holding pattern… one of its navigation radios was not working and the error was not recognized. Subsequently it hit the TWA constellation which was manoeuvring to land at La Guardia airport.
Click here to read the full article
17 December 2010 – 75th anniversary of the first flight of the DC-3
On 17/12/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
Our industry has a number of icons, aircraft that have turned out so good and have made such an impact that they leave their imprint on the skies forever. The DC-3 is certainly such an aircraft and it has not lost its aura of excellence since its first flight on 17 December 1935. As she flew through the sky of Southern California few if any on board or on the ground realized that it was the first day of a new era in aviation history. The DC-3 went on to become a legend and it is still with us as a faithful workhorse in many parts of the world.
My very first flight, at age 8 was in a Li-2, the version of the DC-3 built in the Soviet Union. MALEV, the Hungarian airline had a fleet of Li-2s and a single DC-3 and on week-ends these were put to work to carry sightseers over Budapest. My Dad who knew how fascinated I was by airplanes bought two of the not so cheap tickets and took me for a ride. It was wonderful! A year later he again got a pair of tickets and this time I went with my cousin who was a few years older than me. This time the ride was a disaster.
For some reason (which I discovered only years later) the pilots flew like a runaway rollercoaster and while their antics were probably attractive to the girls on board, for me it was nothing but a frightening 20 minutes at the end of which I was really happy to feel terra firma under my feet again.
Climbing and then descending steeply at low level was not my kind of fun. That it was not the safest way to fly either was demonstrated a year later when, on 8 June 1961 HA-TSA, MALEV’s sole DC-3 crashed into a house while on a sightseeing flight, killing all 27 souls on board. They apparently pulled up just a tad too late… I have been wondering ever since: was there also a kid, with frightened eyes and biting his lips, on that fateful flight too?
That accident served up a frightening experience also to the tower controller handling the flight. After they took off, the controller noticed he longish silence and missing a report from the pilots, he grabbed his mike and enquired: HA-TSA are you still alive? The aircraft had crashed just a few minutes earlier… When those words were discovered during the investigation, agents of State Security were convinced that the guy had something to do with what had happened and gave him a very hard time before he was able to clear his name…
I am sure there are many people out there who have their own stories about the DC-3… one day we should write them all up and share with the world. This is the least we could do to honor the 75 years of DC-3 flight.
20 October – ATCO day
On 20/10/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) was founded on 20 October 1961 by 12 European national ATC associations. On its 20th anniversary on 20 October 1981 IFATCA decided to name the day “the day of the controller” and ever since member associations have celebrated 20 October as the International Day of the Air Traffic Controller.
IFATCA is one of the oldest such organizations on the planet and they have represented their members through years of fundamental change that altered not only the industry ATCOs are required to serve but their job and tasks as well. What did not change is the importance of this silent army of professionals who, day in and day out, do their best to keep air traffic flowing safely and efficiently.
We at Roger-Wilco have a particular soft spot for controllers since yours truly started his professional career as an air traffic controller… And you know how it is. Once a controller, always a controller!
Happy Controllers’ Day everyone!
Roger-Wilco – One year down the road
On 23/07/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
Back in spring 2009 I knew that a lot of us had a lot to say about air traffic management, its future, present and past. What I was not quite sure of was where to say it. Speakers’ Corner in London was not an option and I suspected the official sites of the big ATM organizations would not be exactly happy with some of the things we would want to say.
When the idea of an ATM blog was first floated inside the company, I was reluctant. A lot of people perceive blogs as the trumpet of disgruntled people where they can air their gripes with relative impunity… But then there are other types of blogs also that deliver quality and useful insights… Weighing the possibilities, the decision was made to go for a blog and to make it into this second kind.
In terms of the actual format we decided early on that we did not want to be a discussion forum (plenty of those around) and we did not want to be a news portal either (lots and lots of those also). I was most attracted to something akin to an electronic magazine with full length, informative articles, news items that would not go stale within a day or so, commentary on actual developments and a section on books (both printed and electronic) that we would recommend. In other words, Roger-Wilco had to be something apart, something that befits the first ATM blog ever.
Click here to read the full article
Anniversary – World AIS Day
On 14/05/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
15 May 2010 World AIS Day
The Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) for Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) were adopted by the ICAO Council 57 years ago tomorrow, 15 May 2010. These SARPS are in Annex 15 to the Chicago Convention and 15 May is celebrated by the AIS community as “World AIS Day”.
The aeronautical information service is one of the most important pillars of safe and efficient air navigation and is also a shining example of world standardization and of what can be achieved when partners really work together to achieve well defined world-wide goals. Whether provided by government agencies or private companies, AIS is a fundamental element without which most modern flying would be all but impossible. Even in the most remote parts of the world with no proper AIS to speak of, the basic information needed for operations is collected somehow and even disseminated by word of mouth if there are no other means… so the concept of aeronautical information and its essential nature is of universal significance and that is what AIS is all about.
AIS is currently undergoing the most profound change this important service has ever faced. The product oriented aeronautical information service is gradually being transformed into a data oriented enterprise called Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) which is the first step towards becoming an integral part of the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) concept. SWIM as we all know is one of the most important enablers of both SESAR and NextGen.
You can read more about AIM here and SWIM here.
Anniversary – Airbus A380 first flight
On 08/04/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
5 year anniversary on 27 April 2005
After many decades of being the biggest passenger aircraft on the planet, the 747 had to cede its unique position to the Airbus A380 who took to the air for the first time at 10:28:23 on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse Blagnac Airport, Airbus’ home base.
First flight...
Development of the A380 was not without its problems but then which big aircraft program is these days?
The A380 has been in regular revenue service with several airlines for some time now and the very wide set of contrails and clearly recognizable sound of its engines has become a normal part of the day for those living around Brussels. Most A380s coming back from London pass over the Brussels area. At first their passage was reason to grab binoculars but not any more. They are just another aircraft, only a bit bigger…
The 380 entered service at around the time the aviation industry was passing through the biggest depression it had ever seen. It is not a good time by any measure to introduce a new aircraft type… But with some of her operators climbing again and 380 flights being full her creators can look towards the future with confidence.
Happy anniversary!
Anniversary – First US flight school, established by the Wright brothers, opens
On 03/01/2010, in Anniversaries, by steve
100 year anniversary on 15 February 2010
Seven years after their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur Wright was scouting locations suitable for a flight school. The idea was to train a number of pilots who could in turn teach flying to the wealthy individuals who were expected to buy the airplanes manufactured by the Wrights. Perhaps it is important to note how the commercial aspect of aviation was already rising to the surface just a few years after the success of the Wright Flier…
Orville Wright and his students at Montgomery, Alabama, 1910
Wilbur was looking for a place with mild temperatures, not too strong winds and a flat surface. He visited several cities in the South, including Augusta, Ga. and Jacksonville, Fla. before coming to Montgomery, Alabama in February 1910. Frank Kohn owned a cotton farm just northwest of the town and this turned out to answer all of Wilbur’s requirements. The location for the flight school had been found.
The State of Alabama went out its way to offer incentives to the Wrights to settle there. They were offered land, lumber for buildings including a hangar, cars and trucks, hotel accommodation and even water.
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Anniversary – Boeing 747 first revenue flight
On 09/12/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
40 year anniversary on 22 January 2010
N736PA
Pan American World Airways is long gone but the 747, into its fifth generation, still strives. Forty years ago on 22 January 1970 it was a Pan Am clipper that introduced this undisputed king of large aircraft to revenue service. N736PA, a 747-100 flew from New York to London and became famous on account of the originally scheduled 747 having had to turn back from the runway due to engine trouble. This rather ominous start of revenue services was quickly forgotten, helped in no small degree by the now legendary reliability of all 747 variants.
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Anniversary – The fall of the Berlin Wall
On 01/11/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2009
Roger-Wilco deals with politics only in as much as it is aero-politics so you may wonder why we would include in our list of anniversaries the fall of the Berlin Wall now 20 years ago on 9 November 1989. As you will see, this momentous event had affected the course of history, the lives of millions and air traffic management itself in ways more than qualifying it for inclusion. But first a little history.
The first cracks
The fall of the Wall actually started some 690 kilometers (383 NM) away on the Western border of Hungary. By early summer in 1989 more than ten
When the iron curtain opened...
thousand East-German tourists were camping in Budapest and near the Austro-Hungarian border, planning never to return to Erich Honecker’s Germany. It was a sign of the times that a few months earlier the Hungarians and the Austrians held and open-border day (the iron curtain was still more or less in place otherwise) and a number of East-Germans, miraculously aware of what was happening, used this chance to walk over to Austria. In spite of forceful protests from East Germany, in August the Hungarians opened their border and allowed the East-Germans to leave if they wanted to. More then 13000 left in the first mass-exodus of East Germans since the erection of the Wall in 1961.
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Anniversary – SATCO ATC system handed over in Amsterdam
On 25/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
50 year anniversary of SATCO handover 15 July 2010
SATCO control unit
If you look it up in an aviation dictionary, you will likely find that SATCO stands for Senior Air Traffic Controller. But the original meaning is much more exotic! SATCO was the abbreviation of Signaal Automatic Air Traffic Control, an automated ATC system FIFTY years ago!
SATCO was built by Hollandse Signaalapparaten in Hengelo, The Netherlands based on the ideas of Mr. A. T. Martinsen, a wartime military air traffic control officer. Development of the system took four years and implementation was planned to take place in three phases.
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20 October – ATCO day
On 19/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
Air traffic control centers are often far away from the airports and the sunscreen glass of the control towers (which for the time being at least tend to be on the airport…) prevents people from getting a glimpse of those inside. To pilots and vehicle drivers on the airport surface, the voices may be familiar, some may even feel like friends, but it is rare indeed to have a face to go with the familiar voice.
The lay press goes so far as to recognize only one place those voices may come from, the tower, as if approach control or area control did not even exist. Many a good movie makes the hair rise on our backs when they make the same silly mistake.
Air traffic controllers… who are they? A bit of a mystery for those who know that they exist at all and for the rest…blank.
Of course in the big, global aviation family they are well known and rate a place at the head of the table.
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Anniversary – IL-18 HA-MOH crash at Budapest-Ferihegy airport
On 10/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
35 year anniversary on 15 January 2010
Some anniversaries are occasions for sadness and a moment’s silence. An aircraft crash is always sad, a huge loss for everyone involved. When HA-MOH flew into the ground in the early evening of 15 January 1975 only 9 crew members were on board and they all lost their lives. She was on a positioning flight coming home from Berlin. They were stuck there for several days, waiting for the visibility to improve in Budapest.
The plane struck the ground 1360 meters from the runways threshold and about 120 meters from the centerline. The probable cause has been given as bad weather, darkness, fog, lack of crew coordination and possibly spatial disorientation.
Click here to read the full article
Anniversary – First radar system deployed at Budapest-Ferihegy airport
On 06/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
50 year anniversary on 6 May 2009
Those who visit Budapest Ferihegy airport these days see a very different facility from what it had been in 1959. If arriving on one of the low fare carriers, you do pass through the original terminal (Terminal 1) but it has changed quite a bit even though an effort was made to preserve the original at least on the inside.
But 1959 was a significant year mainly for air traffic control. On 6 May a radar system was commissioned, the first ever in Hungary used for civilian traffic.
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Anniversary – First European STC for CPDLC on VDL Mode 2
On 03/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
5 year anniversary on 12 April 2010
The issuance of a Supplementary Type Certificate (STC) is not normally an event that we commemorate years later… except of course if the STC is the first instance in Europe of Controller Pilot Digital Link Communications (CPDLC) using VDL Mode 2 being approved on an aircraft type.
I this case, EASA accorded the STC to the Airbus A300F4-608ST and the date was 12 April 2005.
EUROCONTROL’s Petal trials followed by LINK2000+ were groundbreaking activities that proved the technical and operational feasibility of CPDLC on VDL Mode 2 while also creating the basis for interoperability between the US and European digital link services.
The Airbus STC was an important milestone recognizing the maturity of the system. In subsequent years many other aircraft types received similar certification, all important milestones in their own right but the first one stands out as a beacon of success certainly worth remembering with pride.
Anniversary – The Y2K roll-over
On 02/10/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
10 year anniversary on 31 December 2009
On call to usher in a new millennium
I am no longer with IATA but when I joined originally, night shifts were not mentioned as part of the job. Not that I would have minded, as an ex-air traffic controller I had plenty of experience watching the sun rise over the airport perimeter fence, or looking at the radar screen with the morning traffic building slowly…
But somehow 1999 brought two events that landed me once again in night shifts. One was 8.33, the famous new channel spacing in Europe and the other, the even more famous, Y2K computer bug.
As it happened, I was not closely involved in the preparations for the year-end rollover, this task having fallen in our office to other colleagues who had their hands more than full for the 18 months or so preceding the end of December . As our readers will probably know, the Y2K problem was the result of some “clever” programming tricks used by early programmers to save storage space, representing the year in dates by only two characters. Possibly they never expected computers to be still around by the year 2000… In the end, not only did some legacy hardware, as well as a lot of legacy software, survive to see the new millennium, even some of the latest creations came with the Y2K problem still built in and ticking away…If you enter a date in the year 2000 into one of those machines, the year will show 00, resulting in the computer possibly crashing in a number of colorful ways.
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Anniversary – IFPS first flight plan treated in live operations
On 28/09/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
15 year anniversary on 27 April 2010.
It was a rather cool and misty April night in 1995 when I found myself driving to EUROCONTROL at an hour normally reserved for rest and retrospection. The time was just past 9 p.m. when the duty supervisor of the Integrated Initial Flight Plan Processing System (IFPS) let me in… security was very different back then.
We walked to the operations room in silence but very much aware that something big was about to happen. Members of the C-watch were looking at their computer screens, technicians were making final checks but in general this was all more for passing the time until midnight GMT than anything essential. The system was ready to go. As a member of the IFPS Project Tem, I knew it was ready…
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