You’ve seen it on TV, now experience it in virtual reality

We hope you’ve all been enjoying Skies Above Britain just as much as we have.

The world of air traffic control is often shrouded in mystery, so it was a pleasure to invite the cameras in so you could get a behind the scenes look at the teamwork and dedication that goes into keeping every flight safe.

But we decided that even that wasn’t quite enough and as such we’ve created two 360 videos that put you at the very heart of the action.

The first transports you to the top of the control tower at Heathrow Airport – where much of tomorrow’s episode is based. There you’ll be able to admire the view and take in the sights and sounds as the team manage the arrivals and departures at the world’s busiest two runway airport.

The second will put you in the shoes of an air traffic controller in the London Terminal Control operations room. Sat alongside the controllers managing air traffic over and around London, with radar screen in front of you, it’s the closest thing to being a controller without having to go through three years of training!

Both videos can be enjoyed simply through your web browser, but are great when viewed through the YouTube app on a tablet or smartphone (set it to 4K resolution for the best experience) where you can ‘look’ in any direction simply by moving around.

However, they really come to life when viewed in 3D, and as such we’ve commissioned a limited number of special edition NATS Virtual Reality headsets one of which could be yours for free. All you need to do is fill in this form and we’ll pop one into the post to you alongside the fantastic ‘UK Skies’ fold out poster that explains how ATC works. A must for the wall of any #avgeek.

And of course if you fancy trying your hand at the real thing, we’re still taking applications for trainee controllers.