As a kid in Coningsby (68-74) we always knew when the "American" Phantoms were in town. The first thing was the distinctive screech/howl as they joined the pattern. Once we heard that we'd look up to see the smoke (plenty of it!). They also had the gun muzzle below the nose. Lastly, the cam paint job was different, so they were easy to spot. Airfield beat ups seemed common and it was standard to hear the whummmfff as a pair arrived on the break almost simultaneous with the sound.
I lived on Main Site (Overton Road) and a very regular occurence was the passing of flat bed trucks with their loads on the way to the engine bay in Woodhall Spa. We used to cycle there to go swimming, four miles there and four back. These days many people would consider that too far to even drive. Anyone remember the 'Kinema in the Woods'. I remember the great excitement when the file Battle of Britain came out and we all made our way there to see it.
Visiting the flight sim (Snoopy and The Red Baron, IIRC) we were fascinated to see the large relief model of the countryside around Coningsby, including Tattershall Castle, with the cine camera that moved over it on a rig above the model, so quaint when you think of the CGY flight sims these days but probably state of the art for that time.
I'd lie in bed at night and watch the night flying take offs and landings. The noise on take off was so loud that the windows shook, but it was fantastic all the same. School hols were spent at the 'crash gates' taking serials. The best feelings of all were on a cold day when the smell and heat of warm parrafin wafted over us a few seconds after the planes had passed. Best of all though, was if the crew had given us a cheery wave as they passed.
It wasn't uncommon to see four and even eight ships taking off, four at a time. I even remember real big occasions when we saw 16 aircraft go off, four at a time. These were days when you could see at any time and in no particular order, Phantoms, Jet Provosts, Jaguars, Harriers, Vulcans, Hercules, Andovers, F104 Starfighters (various nationalities), A10s, F111s (have I missed any?), but the airfield was closed enough on Sundays for us to fly our aero model gliders and planes.
Accidents seemed to be much more frequent in those days and I seem to remember the Station CO, Gp Capt B***e, and his rear seater coming to grief in collision with a crop dusting aircraft not far from the airfield.
On the ground a kid arrived in my class at Coningsby Junior school one day. He spoke with a weird accent and talked about living in "duplex" houses. After school that day his Dad met him at the gates looking like nobody we'd ever seen. An American exchange pilot, he wore a chip poke hat (with a real crew cut, which you never saw in Britain in those days), a very trim olive green flying suit, great long laced up boots that his flying suit tucked into, but his badges were the coollest. It's a long time ago now, but I think I remember Vietnam patches "50 missions over Vietnam"; "100 missions over Vietnam"; and I think "150 missions over Vietnam".
This set me thinking. At the height of the war, as this was, it's surely inconceivable that the Air Force didn't take the chance to do exchanges in the opposite direction with a view to RAF crew flying live combat missions in the Vietnam War. Can anyone comment?
Years later, married with children I was reminiscing with the family of what we did during school hols in Coningsby. Bearing in mind the village names around Coningsby, I told them I had a school friend who lived in New York and I used to cycle there to see him during the holidays. Somehow it sounded stranger when I said it than it was in real life!