The technology that for decades kept airspace over Southern England safe can now be seen in action in public for the first time ever at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.

For 25 years the British-designed IRIS investigative radar recording system operated behind closed doors at West Drayton handling millions of aircraft movements without a single incident ever being attributed to an Air Traffic Control failing. With the transfer of Air Traffic Control to Swanwick, the last of the PDP11-based radar stations were decommissioned earlier this year. Two were transferred to The National Museum of Computing where expert volunteers have brought them back to life after six months of diligent reconstruction.

The two large radar displays, affectionately known as the Big Green-Eyed Monster because of their size and remarkable retro appearance, can be viewed for the first time by the public replaying historical recordings of flights in and out of London’s Heathrow Airport.

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