Fenton has to be one of, if not the, friendliest stations I have had the
privilege to serve on. The atmosphere on station when it was a full flying
training unit with 7FTS in the 80s was great. Great mess (long since
demolished), great rivalry between 1 and 2 sqns, solo parties, with nurs.......
maybe better to stop there.
Such a shame to hear its finally closing.
Sadly it probably means an even sadder gradual decay as the remaining
infrastructure is left to rot and the few remaining buildings in good condition
- the old SHQ, 1 and 3 hangars, the old RFS building, the tower and the old WRAF
block
- spiral into decline.
Completely concur. I have been to CFN a couple of times over the last year and am devestated by the state it is in. I was in the tower 86 - 89 and loved it there. it was one of those rare stns where you knew everybody and everybody knew you. That had its drawbacks. Anyone remember the solo party scandal of 87 in which I was wrongly implicated?
Also the ACLO who was SATCO there who was a Sqn Ldr formerly aircrew who was
building his own kit built a/c in one of the sheds. Top bloke great sense of
humour and he told us a heart rendering story that he was one of two or the only
survivor of a VIp transport that flipped on its back at an Italian air base many
years before.
Chopper
Who was that, do you remember? I thought the last SATCO was female. She'd just taken over before I left in 89. It is possible someone else became SATCO for the last year, but I don't remember. Or was the ACLO a retired officer who had previoulsy been SATCO years before?