Coningsby HPS

[ExBinbrook]

I always thought the HPS's would outlive us....
Memories of the "Hot Beds" come flooding back !!!!

A COLD War bomb shelter designed to survive a hit from a 1,000lb bomb has been demolished at RAF Coningsby.
It will make way for the first new hangar to be built at the base in 25 years.
Built in 1983, the Hardened Personnel Shelter was completely self-contained with its own generators, air purification and enough water for anyone taking shelter to survive for many days if RAF Coningsby had been attacked by the USSR.
It was 50m long, 15m wide and 10m tall, with walls fortified with high tensile reinforcement steel and a reinforced concrete roof.
GBM Demolition of Louth had the task of knocking down the shelter and it took just two weeks using a 70 tonne excavator.

[RETDPI]

You mean ..............that the CPX taped out Bomb Shelters on the grass that we had there in the 70's DIDN'T WORK???!!!!

[BEagle]

And all that armour plated black polythene we used to bodge-tape to the windows during Prattevals didn't work either?

We Should Be Told!

[NutLoose]

They're building a new Hangar???????? Blimey! is the place closing? :}

[HeadSouth]

And how I miss someones' bright idea of a 12 shift system in the EES HPS, that meant that you had access to a 'hot bed' for only 6 hours a night!
If only the Russians had known:bored:

[taxydual]

Being sat in said HPS, watching TV, during GW1 and watching GR1's taking out the Iraqi equivalent of what I was sat in, (and the GR1's making the warranty's of those equivalents not worth the paper they were printed on), certainly concentrated the mind.

Happy days.

[Pontius Navigator]

TD, the shelter was obsolete 10 years before that. The main threat was a Fencer with a mach 2.8 missile. At that speed you sould not have needed a warhead. All the shelter would have done was to contain the explosive once it was inside the building.

[glad rag]

Ah heady days indeed. Cooky giving out surplus compo from under the floor at endex, those funny little tablets you could get to let you get to sleep over the sheer volume of snoring and other less pleasant sounds. The ******* idiotic MOD fireman "who thought it would be a good idea" to test the fire evacuation plan (the one that was NEVER:=:= to be used unless it was a REAL fire) in the middle of the day shifts sleep time. Result two broken limbs and a lynch mob looking for him!!
Oh and fleas.........................................:suspect::susp ect:

[NutLoose]

They showed us a film on testing HAS's many many moons ago where they did a near miss on a HAS with sheep and I think a Meatbox in it..... The narrator went on at great lengths pointing out how the Aircraft had survived with minor damage and would be flying in a few days.................

We just looked at all the dead sheep thinking......... Hang on a sec, we are supposed to live in the HAS with the Aircraft and **** the bloody Aircraft, all the Sheep are DEAD!!!! :\

[The Helpful Stacker]

YouTube - Bunker Buster Test Video (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hAfjFm2jJo4&feature=related)

Although I had seen footage of air strikes on Iraqi HAS sites during GW1 it wasn't until I first went to Ali Al Salem and popped over to the bomb dump I saw first hand just how little they could stand up to modern weapons.:eek:

Still, they are great places to stop off for a cup of tea away from the prying eyes on the main camp.

Oh and talking of silly exercises, who actually wore their S6 or S10 during an exercise when away from those who might not approve of you putting your hand over the mouthpiece of a radio/phone to muffle your voice so it sounded like you were all noddy suited up?

[taxydual]

Good job I wore my helmet then.

:ok:

[Pontius Navigator]

THS, oddly I saw plenty of evidence that practice bleeding was taken seriously.

On a Taceval in Germany to took me a few minutes to go from the outer sqn barrier through the sqn entry to the aircrew crewroom. There, all the aircrew were sat around on the floor behind the 'sandbagged' windows.

The evidence that they were playing the game could be seen from the cold, half-drunk, cups of coffee but better, all the ashtrays were full of cigarettes all with about an inch of ash - no crafty drag and mask up there.

I confess to packing coffee/milk/sugar in my respirator sack as we didn't have the DPK or puffer bottles :)

[RETDPI]

"putting your hand over the mouthpiece of a radio/phone to muffle your voice so it sounded like you were all noddy suited up?"

Isn't that what the rubber gloves were for ??

[The Helpful Stacker]

The most pointless 3 exercise days of my RAF career must have been the days I spent 'on exercsie' at RAF Locking.

Part of the PAR team, squirreled away in a spare barrack block whilst the rest of the station went about their normal duties. Called out now and then to respond to some incident which usually consisted of filling in a 'bomb damaged road' (chalked outline of a bomb crater on a road with a pile of sand next to it to practice shoveling with) all whilst dressed in the wonderfully comfortable 3 Romeo.

Off to the mess for a bite to eat? That'll be the full Colpro don procedure to leave the block, the full doff procedure to get into the mess, rinse and repeat.

Still, I suppose it all had the Russians thinking second thoughts eh?:ok:

And yes, I should have tried harder at school.:(

[taxydual]

I don't know about you guy's, but this could lead into a new mega thread.

Taceval Tales.

Anybody up for a starter for 10?

[Riskman]

Taceval Tales.

Anybody up for a starter for 10?

TD, Maxevals were more 'fun', Tacevals were boring.

[Big Tudor]

If you think Tacevals were boring, what about Minevals? Kinloss had one when I was there. Half the station didn't even realise! Went to the Airmans Mess at lunchtime in blues to be served compo by cooks in NBC kit! Oh what a lovely war ;)