I wish that was the case, but in fact the revenue from such things as car testing is small beer compared to building a new town !
They even have a plan, I kid you not, to link up to the Wey & Arun canal, which runs along the Eastern edge of the airfield ( not navigable as people have built big houses near or even over it, including the ex-Lady Mayoress of Guildford who didn't want nasty pleb's in boats passing her garden )
- to dig up & flood the runway to give 'waterside properties' !!!
Cue the old joke about ' flood the runway, there's a Sunderland coming in '.
Naturally the runway was resurfaced just before closure - even if they were intent on this mad plan, why they can't go to one side and avoid the hard bit beats me, except to ensure no flying happens.
One snag is that the 'field was dormant for a couple of years after BAe left, so a lot of local NIMBY's who moved in during that period are terrified their expensive houses might suffer nasty aeroplanes around - at a meeting I was given a roving microphone & reminded them that if it wasn't for such places they'd be talking German, also the contribution to UK Ltd the place has made in exports...
I was amused to hear the Red Arrows 'Red 10' or whoever does the commentary state " this is a minimal size runway we would operate from " - I and my ex colleague couldn't help wondering if this chap thought he flew a Warton product, as they will let you believe !
My father was in charge of fitting the Hawk smoke pods, and I photographed the smoke colour trials ( the Adour runs a lot cooler than the Gnat's Orpheus, so getting a good solid colour was tricky ).
On the up-side, we did manage to dye a local lady's hanging washing bright green ! That was dealt with diplomatically & she was recompensed.
Unfortunately this is a real fight, Dunsfold needs all the support it can get.
Last edited by Double Zero; 24th Apr 2008 at 12:53.