Memories of RAF Benson
Could be on wrong section...if so my apologies and feel free to re-locate,but....
Seeing a thread on UKAR regarding a Concorde visit to Benson made me think of all those days in the '80s/early '90s(plus some to a lesser extent more recently) spent on Spotter's Corner and some of the aircraft seen visiting/circuit bashing at Benson
Residents at Benson then included the Andover E3s of 115 Sqn,Andovers and Wessii(and later BAe 146s) of Queens Flt,Wessii of 60 Sqn & 72 Sqn,Slingsby Sedberghs & Ventures of 612 VGS
Regular circuit bashers back then were RAF Hercules,VC 10s,Bulldogs,Shackletons and(usually on post maintenance air test from Abbo)Hawks,Hunters,Jaguars,JPs...& civvies PA28 Cherokees and PA34 Senecas from CSE at Kidlington and assorted Cessnas from Booker
Among the more notable visitors seen were the RAE Varsity(now at RAFM Cosford) and Dakota(now with BBMF),USAF F/EF-111s,A-10s,C-23s...and even a Boeing EC-135,B-52 and a TR-1(the latter doing an approach and overshoot on the disused r/way 24).
(West) German Alpha Jets,VFW614s and HansaJets were fairly frequent visitors while for a French Presidential visit in the mid-'80s we had French AF Falcons,Nord 262 and Caravelle all parked near to where the copper-chopper and Air Ambulance now operate from
115 Sqn once held a Radar Calibration Meet including Spanish AF Falcon and Italian G222(which despite being on a GCA to Benson managed to land at Chalgrove!!!!!)
Warbirds based/lodged at Benson have included ex-Strathallan,later Kermit Weeks Mosquito,ex-John Bradshaw Hawker "Baghdad" Fury and Black 6,the Me 109G now resting at RAFM Hendon(was on the Corner for the first post-restoration flight using a grass strip aligned on r/way 06/24...aircraft hit a clump of something on take-off and nearly didn't get airborne,then while over Chalgrove was heard on the scanner to report unable to lower undercarriage.All rectified she did land safely back at Benson)...other warbirds to have been seen doing fly-bys included the BBMF on many occasions,Lindsay Waltons F4U-7 Corsair,Spencer Flacks' all-red Spitfire(often doing practise displays),M-Bs Meteor(WL419 in those days)
Displays....for a few years late'80s/early '90s Benson held a Charity Fete event the first of which co-incided with Brize Norton and Halton Open Days so the likes of Vulcan,Nimrod,Galaxy etc used Benson as a hold while in later years the Fete attracted the likes of (East) German An-26,a pair of Canadian Hornets and a trio of Canadian Kiowas among others
Then there were the deployments of USAF ANG C130s...eight aircraft each deployments from Georgia,Ohio,California ANGs..........
O HAPPY DAYS..........& I'm sure I've missed some,so come on guys,what memories(tales) of RAF Benson do you have(would love to see some photos too,but should they be on another thread on another section of this parish???)
Colin