Going off at a slight tangent,but regarding the use of RAF airfields by civilian light aircraft.In the late'80s or very early '90s,the Royal Engineers (Territorials I think) in Norfolk wanted to practice their runway bomb-damage repair skills.To facilitate this,the MOD came to some arrangement with Arrow Air Services at Shipdham,whereby,in return for the RE being allowed to 'blow up' the runway at Shipdham,which I doubt had any maintenance since the USAF left at the end of WW2,and subsequently repairing it,the flying club was,for a period operated from RAF watton,5or 6 miles down the road.I don't know how much of the R/W was demolished and relaid as I had moved away from Norfolk by then,but I'd be surprised if Nigel Wright and his organization didn't gain some benefit from the scheme.