Comments on: Brookman’s Park VOR (BPK)

By: Fear of Landing » Places to Go, People to See

Fear of Landing » Places to Go, People to See — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:18:42 +0000

[...] also enjoyed getting a peek at Brookman’s Park VOR (BPK) but I’d prefer to see one legally, really. Without being chased off by [...]

By: Rich Brookman

Rich Brookman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:22:48 +0000

Not so far fetched. Cows played a roll in my flying experience. Returning to north Jersey from central New York one early autumn evening, I was monitoring the tower frequency of the destination airport. All was quiet save for the controller cautioning one pilot in the landing pattern. He was trying to tell the pilot about geese on the approach end of the landing runway, but was having difficulty remembering the word to describe a group of birds. He finally blurted out, “beware of a herd of birds.” I keyed the mic and commented that it sounded less threatening than a flock of cows.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:24:37 +0000

Ah but are you surrounded by mad cows?

Maybe you shouldn’t answer that….

By: Rich Brookman

Rich Brookman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:16:49 +0000

As an aircraft owner and pilot in the USA, and with the surname Brookman, it was gratifying to discover a VOR was named after me on the other side of the Pond.

By: Free Flight Video Magazine » Blog Archive » Best of 2009

Free Flight Video Magazine » Blog Archive » Best of 2009 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:57:24 +0000

[...] Brookmanâ€™s Park VOR (BPK) I shouldnâ€™t have hopped the fence. [...]

By: Pat Flannigan

Pat Flannigan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:42:30 +0000

Thanks for the mentions! I wish I could take credit for developing that VOR/ADF simulator, but all the work was done by a Tim Carlson…

Those cows sound like they share ancestry with the giant ghosts from Super Mario World. If you look at them, they stop. So long as there aren’t any bulls, you ought to be pretty safe though!

By: Matthew Stibbe

Matthew Stibbe — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:08:17 +0000

I wish I had a VOR nearby so that I could escape the in-laws once in a while! :)

The ‘hotspot’ issue at BPK (and also nearby BNN, LAM and BKY) is that the airspace structure over London forces a lot of VFR traffic over it even if they are trying to avoid flying directly over the VOR.

That said, one of my favourite things as a student pilot was navigating to a VOR accurately enough to them so that I could spot the VOR circle on the ground! :)

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:42:21 +0000

Julien: You owe me a mouthful of coffee and a new keyboard. I was already laughing but the 30-degree intercept killed me.

PP: They sure were more efficient: I wonder if the TSA has looked into these?

By: PlasticPilot

PlasticPilot — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:30:24 +0000

In the rush you probably had only few seconds, but have you noticed if the cows had NATS ID cards ? They surely seem more efficient to more efficient than the second fence we see on your picture to protect the VOR.

I admire your courage to get so close to a possibly access restricted area. Thank for your report.

By: Julien

Julien — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:18:34 +0000

Great post! My theory though is that these are mutant cows: over time their brains and genome got affected by the close proximity to the high-power VHF emitter. Do they walk across the field along radials? Did they attack you with a 30-degree intercept angle? You may just have discovered a new mammal species, the instrument-rated cow.