"Secrets From The Tower"
By ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas
AirVenture is the place for new product releases in aircraft...
and the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum was the location
for a new book release.
Secrets from the Tower by Bob Richards is not actually available
until July 30 -- but Richards convinced his publisher to let him
bring some books to Oshkosh. Richards has been retired from Chicago
O’Hare Airport since February of this year after putting in
25 years as an Air Traffic Controller.
He retired on Groundhog Day, joking "I didn’t see my
shadow so I retired."
Richards explained how he came to write the book. "I’ve
kind of had the idea to write for as long as I can remember.
Chapters two through five I pretty much wrote when I was a kid,
then I re-edited."
The book has been written throughout Richards career. "Many of
the other chapters in the book are pretty much at the same time
they were happening."
"The main reason, as I got older was more for my kids so I could
give them a sense of what my life was like." Richards had a
curiosity about what his parents were like as kids. He also hopes
the book will give his kids an idea of "what to do and what not to
do." Richards is currently married to his second wife and over the
course of the two marriages has five sons and one daughter and two
grandsons.
"I’m trying to tell a story along the way, how we ended up
where we are at today in the industry. Why John Q. Public
can’t get from Point A to Point B without being delayed."
Richards points to a half dozen reasons in his book. Richards
thinks people might raise an eyebrow at some of the issues.
Richards goes into the government and airline relationship. "If
they ever got together on these things , things could be a lot
better." Richards even offers his Top 10 solutions to the
issues.
Richards says "The book is fairly mainstream. What little
technical stuff is in there is put in very simple terms so people
can understand it."
Richards notes "the Air Traffic Control population is dwindling
at a furious rate right now." Richards notes at least three visits
from Administrator Blakey, she came into the tower, waved and
walked out. Richards wondered why she didn’t even ask the
controllers about anything. The new tiered pay scale implemented by
the FAA is one of the unpopular topics Richards covers.
It is fitting that Richards debuted his book at Oshkosh; he was
a "pink shirt" controller in the OSH Tower for five years. "Coming
to Oshkosh part time for the week or so that the air show goes on
has been one of my best times as an Air Traffic Controller. You can
land three airplanes on the runway at the same time. You certainly
can’t do that with United or American." Richards jokes.
"One of the best things is working with the people. You get to
work with people from virtually all over the country." The ATC
volunteers go through a selection process, not everyone is picked.
"Then hopefully they invite you back." Richards says. During the
week Oshkosh transforms into the busiest control tower in the world
it takes Richards about 20 minutes to get geared up. At
O’Hare it takes about 3 hours. In the Oshkosh tower
there’s one main controller and three spotters who keep watch
to make sure everyone is following the proper instructions.
There is somewhat of a lesson Richards hopes comes across in the
book. "In the end the whole book is about how we treat each
other."
Richards has a few more Author’s Corner stops before
AirVenture ends.