I currently work in this tower. This is amazing footage! It’s fun to look at the layout of the tower back then compared to our current application. This is so sweet!
@@flibmeister Normally we would be in the ATC tower for snow ops, due to COVID we haven't been in two years. When were up there again I will ask for them!
Bridge inner, outer , north , south , cargo, parallel, 32L T10……SIMMONS……AHH the good old days. Spent a majority of my career operating out of ORD, love the controllers even though I myself got an ear full once or twice. Working with those folks was an honor and I truly mean that….thank you KORD ATC.
Fun seeing the people I worked with, I retired in 2006 after 40 years as a controller, majority at ORD at the age of 62. The taxi phraseology is burned into my mind! Bridge tradition inner wedge cargo 22L
Daughter just sent this to me I visited the original tower in 1967, met Dan vukerivich one of the first chiefs and went on to a 40 yr career , majlirity at ORD. Great
Well damn. I got to visit here in 2016 when I was based here. Inner and outer I’m guessing are taxiways A and B? They don’t use inner or outer terms anymore. Edit.: just realized this is in the old tower that’s still standing.
Yup, you got it right: against the wishes of almost everybody at the time, they renamed every taxiway on the airport to comply with ICAO regs, and the Inner and Outer became A and B. You're also right, this was shot in the "old" tower (still standing, but without the radome on top, and used by the City to control their massive fleet of ground vehicles). There was an even older tower before that-- on the old Eastern terminal. Now, they use the main tower (which opened in '97, and where I worked for only four months before retiring), and they've added two auxiliary towers to assist with the new runway layout.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I have several audio cassette tapes of humorous incidents from my time at ORD-- as time permits, I'll try to get a few of them posted here.
@@flibmeister I would love that! My best friend flew for Simmons at the time and he’s going through a rough patch. You’re doing more than you know here.
@@flibmeisterI come back and watch this video a few times a year, one of my favorites. This was my dream job since I was a kid, I'd give anything to have not only had the privilege of doing this job but doing it during this time period. Unfortunately, I'm legally blind. Grew up in Chicago during the 90s, lived on Montrose and Central. This is a video I'll always cherish, it just means a lot to me for some reason, I guess in some silly it's like my happy place. Man, I'd have loved to have been up there, doing that same thing that day. Is there any hope of getting the audio cassettes uploaded at some point? Archiving those funny events or just audio traffic from that time would be amazing, It would be a privilege to get to hear some of those. If it's something you'd rather not post but are willing to share let me know and I'll provide my email.
I was at MMAC in OKC in 1984. They told us it would be the most intense 3 months of our life. They weren't kidding. Anyone remember the Tulsa Ulcer? Indy Center rocks!
Yup, that's Buzz Dehning, great controller, great guy. Retired now, living in North Carolina. If I ever run across him again, I'll pass on your comment!
@@darrenhenderson3 Not that I'm aware of, but it's possible-- I retired much earlier than Buzz did, so he could have transferred someplace after I left, and I wouldn't know about it.
@@stevenpayne3707 guess it depends on where you've spent more time. Ground is a hot mess at both for various reasons but the reason I think nyc tracon and lga tower are superior is due to how tight of a game they can play without getting a loss of separation. Both airports desperately need rnav off the ground as opposed to dozens of vectors and step climbs out of the airspace.
I would like to see more footage if you have it. Especially the TRACON. Or some more insight about the airport configs back in the day. Here I can see they’re departing 22L, 27L, and 32L, landing 22R, but other than that I cant tell.
I'm afraid that footage is all I have, but I can list the primary runway configurations back in the day: Plan A: land 32L, 27R; depart 27L, 32R Plan B: land 14R, 22R; depart 9L, 27L, 22L Plan X: land 4R, 9R; depart 32L (@T1), 4L, 9L, 32R Plan Weird: land 27L, 22R; depart 32L (@T1), 22L Each of these configurations had multiple variations: including triple approach runways, hold short runways, etc.
RMOAS: A friend of mine flew into O'Hare piloting a LearJet, and I cleared him to land. One of my female controller colleagues, Gloria, asked me to see if my friend had time to give her a tour of the Lear. I asked him on tower frequency, and he replied that he had a quick turnaround and wouldn't have time. Before I could respond, the next airplane on final keyed up and said, "Hey, Tower, this is MVA312-- tell Gloria if she wants to take a tour of my Shorts, I'll be happy to MAKE the time!"
My best guess is that is was a visitor, but it could have been Carol Elliot. I just caught a glimpse of her at 5:18, but it wasn't enough to say for sure. If there's a better view of her further in, let me know when and I'll take another look.
That's Donna King, she was a great, fun lady; unfortunately, she passed away several years ago. Here's a quiz for you (easy if you're a pilot, more difficult if your not): the license plate on her car was: "ORD CZI". Why?
I currently work in this tower. This is amazing footage! It’s fun to look at the layout of the tower back then compared to our current application. This is so sweet!
Glad you like it-- hey, if you run into Vandini or Olivet, tell 'em DC said hi!
@@flibmeister Normally we would be in the ATC tower for snow ops, due to COVID we haven't been in two years. When were up there again I will ask for them!
@@matthewziomek4090 is it possible to film footage of you guys working such as in this video? Or is that not possible?
I fly for SWA all over the US, you guys are the best to work with!
Bridge inner, outer , north , south , cargo, parallel, 32L T10……SIMMONS……AHH the good old days. Spent a majority of my career operating out of ORD, love the controllers even though I myself got an ear full once or twice. Working with those folks was an honor and I truly mean that….thank you KORD ATC.
Did same... Loved it... PATCO81. Your're all welcome.. for your jobs! Vietnam to ORD to unemployed to start over... Priceless...
Incredible!! I wasn’t even born yet when this footage was captured. This is history. Absolutely fascinating. Thank you!
This footage is incredible. Thank you so much.
Glad you appreciated it. Those of us that worked ORD Tower in those days feel privileged that we had the opportunity!
This is about the time that I started working. Definitely brings back memories. I recognize the old Northwest Airlines "bowling shoe."
Fun seeing the people I worked with, I retired in 2006 after 40 years as a controller, majority at ORD at the age of 62. The taxi phraseology is burned into my mind! Bridge tradition inner wedge cargo 22L
Daughter just sent this to me I visited the original tower in 1967, met Dan vukerivich one of the first chiefs and went on to a 40 yr career , majlirity at ORD. Great
Well damn. I got to visit here in 2016 when I was based here. Inner and outer I’m guessing are taxiways A and B? They don’t use inner or outer terms anymore. Edit.: just realized this is in the old tower that’s still standing.
Yup, you got it right: against the wishes of almost everybody at the time, they renamed every taxiway on the airport to comply with ICAO regs, and the Inner and Outer became A and B. You're also right, this was shot in the "old" tower (still standing, but without the radome on top, and used by the City to control their massive fleet of ground vehicles). There was an even older tower before that-- on the old Eastern terminal. Now, they use the main tower (which opened in '97, and where I worked for only four months before retiring), and they've added two auxiliary towers to assist with the new runway layout.
Was on a fam trip in cockpit Inbound gave A7 A, co pilot threw up his hands and I said T3 inner. He thanked mr
Absolutely amazing find. Thank you for posting this!!
What an awesome look back! You’ve got a subscriber in me!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I have several audio cassette tapes of humorous incidents from my time at ORD-- as time permits, I'll try to get a few of them posted here.
@@flibmeister I would love that! My best friend flew for Simmons at the time and he’s going through a rough patch. You’re doing more than you know here.
@@flibmeisterI come back and watch this video a few times a year, one of my favorites. This was my dream job since I was a kid, I'd give anything to have not only had the privilege of doing this job but doing it during this time period. Unfortunately, I'm legally blind. Grew up in Chicago during the 90s, lived on Montrose and Central.
This is a video I'll always cherish, it just means a lot to me for some reason, I guess in some silly it's like my happy place. Man, I'd have loved to have been up there, doing that same thing that day.
Is there any hope of getting the audio cassettes uploaded at some point?
Archiving those funny events or just audio traffic from that time would be amazing, It would be a privilege to get to hear some of those.
If it's something you'd rather not post but are willing to share let me know and I'll provide my email.
@@gregorybentley5707 When you get a chance, drop me an email:
flibmeister@gmail.com
I was at MMAC in OKC in 1984. They told us it would be the most intense 3 months of our life. They weren't kidding. Anyone remember the Tulsa Ulcer? Indy Center rocks!
Fantastic video!
The controller who takes over on outbound ground at about 19:00 can push tin!
Yup, that's Buzz Dehning, great controller, great guy. Retired now, living in North Carolina. If I ever run across him again, I'll pass on your comment!
@@flibmeister before he retired did he ever change facilities?
@@darrenhenderson3 Not that I'm aware of, but it's possible-- I retired much earlier than Buzz did, so he could have transferred someplace after I left, and I wouldn't know about it.
Buzz was a nice guy indeed.
Chicago controllers are the best in the business.
LaGuardia enters the chat...
Enters the chat and watches how the fuck it’s done…😂
@@stevenpayne3707 guess it depends on where you've spent more time. Ground is a hot mess at both for various reasons but the reason I think nyc tracon and lga tower are superior is due to how tight of a game they can play without getting a loss of separation. Both airports desperately need rnav off the ground as opposed to dozens of vectors and step climbs out of the airspace.
It’s way bigger than it looks from the outside though. That old tower looks tiny compared to the “new” one.
That Tower is tiny compaired to the newer ones
The shot of the coffee pot brings back memories - all of them bad.
I would like to see more footage if you have it. Especially the TRACON. Or some more insight about the airport configs back in the day. Here I can see they’re departing 22L, 27L, and 32L, landing 22R, but other than that I cant tell.
I'm afraid that footage is all I have, but I can list the primary runway configurations back in the day:
Plan A: land 32L, 27R; depart 27L, 32R
Plan B: land 14R, 22R; depart 9L, 27L, 22L
Plan X: land 4R, 9R; depart 32L (@T1), 4L, 9L, 32R
Plan Weird: land 27L, 22R; depart 32L (@T1), 22L
Each of these configurations had multiple variations: including triple approach runways, hold short runways, etc.
@@flibmeister Ah great. Just what I was looking for. Again, amazing cab footage. Thanks!
@@flibmeister Do you know what Donna King died from? She and her family lived close to us. So sad 😞
@@josephorie8712 Afraid I don't know how Donna died; I think she lived in the Minneapolis area at the time, but never heard anything else.
this is beyond cool
God bless the lady x
At least they have light, unlike the ATCs that man the ARTCCs.
Got that right. I felt like a mole. And I hate the color green. Circa 1985.
Did they make the old tower an observation deck?
Does anyone know how Donna King died? She and her family lived by us… Sad 😢
Did you record it in 4k
Yes in 1990. 4k.
I thought air traffic controllers back then wore pilot's uniform.
follow the pair of Shorts lolol 19:30
RMOAS:
A friend of mine flew into O'Hare piloting a LearJet, and I cleared him to land. One of my female controller colleagues, Gloria, asked me to see if my friend had time to give her a tour of the Lear. I asked him on tower frequency, and he replied that he had a quick turnaround and wouldn't have time.
Before I could respond, the next airplane on final keyed up and said, "Hey, Tower, this is MVA312-- tell Gloria if she wants to take a tour of my Shorts, I'll be happy to MAKE the time!"
@@flibmeister that's an awesome silly story!
it looks like organized chaos--thank you all controllers
Is Craig B still around?
who was the women in the black shirt with curly hair?
My best guess is that is was a visitor, but it could have been Carol Elliot. I just caught a glimpse of her at 5:18, but it wasn't enough to say for sure. If there's a better view of her further in, let me know when and I'll take another look.
Donna King
Definitely post 1987. You can see United’s terminal 1 in use.
Was the old tower better?
No, I'm sure the present setup is far superior for working the new E/W runway layout.
Today. ORD has three
Who was the lady in short hair, maroon blouse? Very nice looking woman!!
That's Donna King, she was a great, fun lady; unfortunately, she passed away several years ago. Here's a quiz for you (easy if you're a pilot, more difficult if your not): the license plate on her car was: "ORD CZI". Why?
@@dennycunningham7850 She must have been a Chicago Tower crazy woman. I’m so sorry she passed away. She was so beautiful!!!
Take it easy, Captain Thirsty
O’Hare crazy with woman
Hi Denny! Big Mike the old guy here!