I was fortunate enough to be flying at Farnborough at the end of its time as an active MoD airfield in 1993/4, albeit by then it was in the hands of the DRA. We ceased active test flying there at the end of March 1994, but installation and maintenance work was still done on some aircraft until October. At the end of the SBAC Airshow that year, the site was still in good repair. However, I was horrified when, on October 18, I returned to fly the final MoD aircraft out of Farnborough (Tornado F2A ZD902). The hangars and many buildings had been stripped bare of manuals and tools, and I understand that most of them were thrown in skips; total desecration! After take-off, we did a low flypast for the enginerrs, who then locked up the hangar, handed the keys in to the guardroom and drove back to Boscombe Down. A very ignominious end to test flying at such a historic airfield.
Last edited by LOMCEVAK; 29th Sep 2004 at 17:54.