by eno » Sat Jul 10, 2004 2:01 pm
Machrihanish ... designated Campbeltown in FS. Was up untill a few years ago a US base..... and probably still is in some form ... As was said in a previous post it is kept in working order mostly for emergancies and during a time of war would be used for B52's and other large aircraft.
However it is also home to one of the major Nav Aids for the North Atlantic. A point which was forceably pointed out to the CO of the base about 12 years ago by a friend of mine. My friend works for the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), a branch of the MOD (Ministry of Defence) which is responcible for all Nav Aids and Civilian Radar installations in the UK.
His responsibity is keeping Nav Aids and Radio installations in working order in Scotland ... Based in Glasgow he, along with his colleagues, has to be on 24 hour call out 15-20 times a year ... these call out periods last for a week. On one such week he was called at 5am by Prestwick ATC... Aircraft heading across the North Atlantic were reporting a +/- 10degree variation in one of the beacons, not a major problem, as other systems on the aircraft could keep them on course, but none the less in an emegency this could be significant. He was dispatched to the site, Machrihanish.
He arrived some 3 hours later and was stopped at the gate by a GI with attitude. The GI was dispatched to contact the CO, who had to let my friend in as it was MOD property and he had full clearence anyway. He was let in and in the process found out that there was a major excersise going on.
He made his way to the hut that housed the Nav Aid, called Prestwick to say he was going to switch it off and plugged in his test equipment.. sure enough there was the variation every 5- 10 seconds. He checked all systems and couldnt find anything faulty... he ran more tests .... still nothing .... he then decided to go to his van and ponder the situation over a cuppa and make some calls to see if anyone else had come across this particular problem.
Whilst sat in his van pondering he noticed something unusual on top of the hut and got out to investigate. Upon walking round the opposite side of the hut he found a GI perched on the roof but underneath the now turned off mast. Every 5-10 seconds he would swing his rifle across his arc of fire. My mate shouted for him to get down and tried to explain the situation but just got the finger for his troubles.
A call was made to Prestwick letting them know the situation and informing them the they would have to contact the base to get this guy down. They would also have to inform any aircraft that the becon was going to be off for significantly longer than antisipated.
An hour or so later an officer arrived and tried to give my mate a bollocking ... the situation was only diffused when my mate in his usual genteel fashion pointed out to the officer that his guy was sat in the middle of a rather large microwave oven and, that if he wasnt got down then the mast was going to be turned back on and he would be left to cook slowly from the inside out.
Did he want the lawsuits A.from the GI's family and B. if an aircraft strayed off course because this becon wasn't operating properly and subsiquently crashed?
The GI was brought back down rather fast .... My mate tested the equipment ... no faults ... no variations so he switched it back on and headed for home....
It was only when he got to the gate house, on the way back out, that he was informed that no one had ever managed to get the CO to change his mind... let alone a civilian.
sorry that was so long ... but a story worth telling on occasion I think.
cheers
eno
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