European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1964, Darmstadt, Hesse Daily Magazine by Wallace Beene Sis Madrid Bureau one Day not too Lone ago the nun in the control Tower St Torre Jon air base looked out in amazement to be commercial Airliner gliding to i Landing on he military Airstrip. The plans was t in trouble but the Pilot we he had intended to land Al Madrid s International Airport and found himself surrounded by air police in seems to know exactly How it came about but Spain s two busiest air Porti Are located next door to each other and the tangle of traffic l rap idly becoming terrific. Farajai the International Airport an Torrejon a the trip used by Spanish and american forces Are separated by Only 3v& Miles. Planet Tak ing off from Torrejon almost Cross the trip used for most of the landings at had lakes and landings from Torrejon last year to Sandwich Tab tween the commercial traffic at bar alas explained it col h. C. Bennett commander of the i kith communications Ai another officer explained it this is like trying to open two umbrellas in a Telephone Booth. Each Airport needs an umbrella of air space but Here the traffic has increased by 31 per cent annually for the past four years while aircraft speeds have jumped from to knots to about 4jo." two sets of traffic cops work around the clock to keep the traffic flowing safely. They Are the Spanish civilian employees at the Paracuelles radar air traffic control Center about half Way Between the two airports and the men of the Isth assigned to flight facilities at Torrejon. Before a plane can take off fro Torrejon we must get clearance from Paracuelles explained s h sgt Willis. Wells chief controller at the lower. Also cards with flight plan information Are filed on the control Board at the Center just As they Are Here in perhaps the most remarkable Ihui about the combined operations is that there were no Spanish radar controller just three Short years ago. With the guidance of Jimmh personnel and a train ing program set up through Husmo. K fully qualified controllers have be entrained. We have one officer and four Nicoson Liaison duty Lor advisory purposes but the Spanish controllers handle the traffic now added m sgt Robert d. Holder by of Thellusson the u.s., where Only the air planes Are under radar control the Span ish system extends throughout the entire country. Any a pm inc showing up on the drapes will noon have com Pany from Spanish it fighters. Along with handling up to 20,000 planes month during the summer months the controllers at Para Cullus and Torrejon must Cope with the language Barrier. Since both English and Spanish Are use both for civil and military flights the personnel at All Points must be bilingual. Every so often a Lune Ullh special Orange markings on tin tall comes swooping Down on Torrejon unannounced. This plane will be from the Imrich facility checking flight at wies Baden. Cut Fillbert a. Striven one Al the pilots who makes such flights zooms in with a recorder taking Down Ever communication he receives from the Tower. After Landing he goes to the of fice of Cupl r. R. Linn and plays Back the tape pointing out any mistakes i procedure. We have a special problem her since the air Force and Spanish regulations Are not identical on some Points but pilots flying into Spain Are briefed on what to expect Unn major Purl of the Imbie opera ions is the a a Lari. A Bud Wrath or Luke Uff i Tiuli j m coordination rails Uil card so ski Rili nerd sunders chief controller. The men of he Lith Are scats a a Tiloi by Guente Schuet tet lured throughout Spain on a number of assignments. Some work on the troop communications system that links Spain and England while another group is operating the Tower and Goa system a Zaragoza for the Spanish airfares since the american planes were moved out. New men being assigned to the Madrid Tower must Lake a lengthy examination to make sure they Are familiar with the key factors. We Haw every thing from a year old Jusys to the Emileh jets using the same strips hoi Derby pointed out. Work is presently under Way to instal new radar equipment at the Caracuel los Center that will make it among the most modern in Europe. We Are operating a continuous training program to give us the controllers we need but some of them always leave for other jobs explained Gulllermo Sanchez one of the directors. Keeping the traffic moving is just Parton the Job for the men of the Jimmh. Keeping it moving safely is even More important the Hoys in the Tower spotted a c190and ti3 both coming in with their gear up within a period of about u minutes nut Long ago Linn said. The total for he save in men and aircraft was Esti mated at u Tan Elan taws Crew watches air Force plan taking off. Spanish controllers Al Para cuellor ii Sim flight Clealano warm Day october 14, 1964 to Stais Ano stinks it
