the locals always protest when there's a whisper of closing a base.
And there you have the root of it - the answer was 'keep Lossie open' from the start. The only reason that F-35 isn't going there any more is that they found another way to keep it open, by relocating the Leuchars Typhoon wing, which removed the need to 'fudge' the factors of noise, airspace etc, and resulting in what would have been the correct F-35 basing decision the first time around.
In my experience, most RAF airfields tend to have last-landing times of midnight or so for routine night flying... not Lossie though, which is earlier to avoid annoying the locals. Given the northern latitude it makes maintenance of night currency impossible over the summer (a dispensation gets granted). It amuses me that on the one hand, the locals protest loudly about possible base closure, and on the other they are treated with kid gloves lest a bit of night flying upset them... given the alleged extent of their dependence on the base, surely we could push them a bit more and get the equivalent amount of flying time as other bases?
