Which Aerodrome?

[chevvron]

Aldermaston?

[Warmtoast]

Neither Gloucester Staverton or Aldermaston

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

RAF Grantham/Spitalgate?

[Warmtoast]

Not RAF Grantham/Spitalgate

Here's a clue.

The airfield is in the UK and the two aircraft to the left of the runway are USAF C-47s

[LFT]

Culdrose possibly?

[Tiger_mate]

Burtonwood?

[Warmtoast]

Not Culdrose and not Burtonwood

[KeMac]

Bassingbourn

[Tiger_mate]

Molesworth had resident C47, could it be?

[Warmtoast]

Sorry - Neither Bassingbourn or Molesworth

Final clue

If you knew this airfield you'd (possibly) associate it with something you would do with a horse

[MReyn24050]

Very wild quess Hooton Park?

[evansb]

RAF Horsham St. Faith, presently Norwich International ?

[aviate1138]

RAF Saltby perhaps, where they used to keep Horsa gliders. :rolleyes:

[chevvron]

Having another look at the taxiways near 27 threshold and those trees to the north; Bovingdon? C47s were based there until '63.

[Warmtoast]

Chevvron

Well done. Bovingdon as it was in the summer of 1956.

I was serving with the Fighter Command Communications Squardon (FCCS) and the photo was taken from the cockpit of one of FCCS's Avro Ansons.

Background to Bovingdon

In 1956 RAF Bovingdon was quite a busy station housing both the Fighter Command and Coastal Command Communications Squadrons equipped with Avro Ansons and DH Devons. Servicing was carried out by civilan contractors with only a few RAF ground staff.

In addition the USAF 7531st Air Base Squadron had a detachment based here to service the frequent flights with personnel and freight to the USAF HQ 3rd AF in Ruislip from various USAF bases in Europe. USAF C47s and C123's were regular daily visitors. Also attached was a communications detachment from HQ 3rd AF in Ruislip to provide long-range ATC communications for the USAF. The USAF departed in 1962 and the RAF left the airfield in January 1969.

What used to be the airfield is now occupied by The Mount Prison. Hence my clue as to what you do with a horse - mount it of course!

Bovingdon VOR-DME (BNN), a major navaid for arrivals and departures from the London Terminal area including Heathrow, is still on part of what was the old airfield at Bovingdon. See snaps below.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/BovingdonVOR1.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/BovingdonVOR2.jpg

It's all yours Chevvron - take it away!

[chevvron]

Well I remember that view from when 613 VGS detached there from Halton in about '67 and I was flying AEG in a Mk3 using runway 27! I did the first launch on the first detachment using the taxiway in front of those trees over to mid right; it was a weekday so we wern't allowed to use the runway.
I vividly remember on many occasions seeing Hercules departing from runway 22 from my home in nearby Chesham; they would appear over the horizon in a near 90 deg bank, 4 trails of black smoke behind them. Then of course we had The War Lover (B17s) 633 Squadron and Mosquito Squadron (both Mosquitos) all filmed there at various times between '61 and '67, with some sequences of The Battle of Britain in '67 too including the radio controlled Stukas.
I also scounged a couple of Anson flights from there; one was piloted by a guy with a badly scarred face (burns? Name of Colbourne?) whose takeoff technique was to hold it on the runway at full thottle then retract the gear without rotating!

Open House

[evansb]

Here is the next aerodrome:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080508.jpg

[seacue]

Looks to me as though it is a place where cars drive on the right-hand side of the road. No other guess. Late 30s?

[twochai]

Not Lethbridge, is it??

[evansb]

Not Lethbridge. The photos were taken in 1939. Here is an airside view of the same aerodrome. Note the administration building on the left. The previous photo was clearly taken taken from the control tower.
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080508a.gif

[Tiger_mate]

No ideas at present; but isnt it a quaint airport. Manicured gardens, and Art-deco design, it posseses all of the halycon days of aviation long gone in Regional Hubs. The admin buidling includes a Met Ofice (pathway leading off to the 2 oclock on the first photo) and with a terminal built into the base of the tower, my nearest guess would be a United States, Regional Hub, probably now redundant or overlaid in masses of concrete. Reminds me of Braunschwieg in Germany, although I know for sure that it is not.

[evansb]

Well stated, Tiger mate. The aerodrome was indeed an Eden-like back-water when the photo was taken, (check out the sewer grid on the main apron..) but it has now become an international gateway. The ramshackle collection of buildings on the right-hand side of the photo was a trade-mark of the site's development well into the mid-1960s. Here is an even earlier shot:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/longago.jpg

[Tiger_mate]

Sea Island Airport

Vancouver

??

[evansb]

Spot on, Tiger mate:ok::D The first scheduled flights from Vancouver B.C. were in fact international. The flight flew to/from Seattle, Washington. As the airport is built on a Fraser River delta, drainage has always been a problem, and dykes surround most of the island. Some spots are actually at or a few inches below sea level. You have control.

[Tiger_mate]

Thanks, that was quite a challenge, and it was the hangar in photo 1 that eventually gave the game away. Even after a visit to google earth I was not sure. Back in a min with the next challenge.

[Tiger_mate]

The year is 1988 and we are in the Northern Hemisphere:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2164/2478508329_881e093a6c_o.jpg
No prizes for the aeroplane and the photos are taken a few seconds apart. The grass really was that green!

A small hint to narrow down the search:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/2479274193_e075dedc28.jpg

[Tiger_mate]

Google Earth of the same:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2479297941_2e3ae85f3e_o.jpg

[MReyn24050]

A very interesting challenge. The presence of an RAF Puma and the very green airfield makes me think it is in the UK, however the clue aircraft I believe are F86 Sabres and F84 Thunderjets and therefore give me cause to think it is somewhere in Europe, but then the many roundabouts on the roads nearby brings me back to the UK.

[TheChitterneFlyer]

It has to be Aalborg... RWY 26R

TCF

[Tiger_mate]

Short finals for 26 L actually, but very well done and quite correct.

Aalborg Denmark

The clues were in parallel runways both equipped with arrestor gear for military operations. The terrain is as flat as the Netherlands, which is where I expected some to venture to as a possible answer. The aircraft sadly do not exist anymore, but in the finest Cold War traditions, were placed as decoy aircraft to tempt a Soviet straffing run. The coastal location would have reduced the options.

TCF: You have control. :D

[sycamore]

Hi ,Jenks,never saw you as a chalk and walk man !!!!B

[TheChitterneFlyer]

I only recognised Allborg because of my frequent transits with our ex Open Skies Andovers en-route to Riga/Russia. However, the main picture is indeed 26R; you were obviously short base for t'other one!

I do have quite a few obscure airfields within my files but I don't have a server to put them on; therefore, Open House...

But you're quite correct, there's plenty of chalk in Chitterne!

TCF

[norwich]

A very easy one to keep things ticking over ?? Keith.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/keithnewsome/where7.jpg

[evansb]

Is this a former USAF base?

[norwich]

This challenge was a Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station in 1943 ?
And has a very chequered history ?? Keith

And is exactly (via google earth) 5305.11 miles from Docking ! haha

[evansb]

Mojave Airport, Antelope Valley, California? A former colleague's husband test flew the Flightcraft Convair 5800 Freighter there several years ago.
The restaurant looks familiar..

[norwich]

Evansb, You are too familiar with restuarants, and airfields ! well done, it is of course Mojave airport and Spaceport !
The floor is yours Keith :D

[evansb]

The year is 1960, and we are in the Northern Hemisphere.
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080511.gif

[FireLight]

Hmmm, badge on the Connie is TCA; Trans-Canada Airlines.

I would guess that the location is in British Columbia.

[pigboat]

Abbotsford?

[twochai]

TCA 1049G, CPA Britannia and DOT Viscount? That's a pretty impressive lineup for a summer airshow in BC.

Steep terrain looks too close for Abbotsford, Pigboat.

Is it Kelowna??

[FireLight]

Proximity of railroad would seem to fit with Kelowna, and the bumps in the background wouldn't be inconsistent. I've only flown in there a couple of times a few years ago, so I don't recall the details.

Note of Interest: Google maps shows a Westjet 737 landing on the runway. Also a number of aircraft seem to be in the process of being salvaged as well.

[evansb]

twochai is correct. Although TCA never served Kelowna, the photo was taken during an open-house celebration of the newly paved runway and taxiway. The Department of Transport Vickers Viscount is also present, as is Canadian Pacific's Bristol Britannia. CPA did serve Kelowna with a Douglas DC-3 for a period. You have control.

[pigboat]

At least I got the right province this time. Last time I missed Norman Wells by about a thousand miles. :O

[evansb]

Re FireLight's comments on the Kelowna airport viewed from Google Earth.
Kelowna Flightcraft is a group of companies, one of which operates the Purolator Courier air freight service using Boeing 727 and Convair 580. The airframe division also did the stretch Convair 5800 freighter conversion, and does the cargo door installation on CV580s as well. Check out their web site at flightcraft.ca.

[twochai]

OK, this will not last long...

(at least it didn't in 1966!)

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/twochai/scan0005.jpg

[jabberwok]

Saba Cove..

[FireLight]

No specific idea, but it certainly would make you think about overruns. :\

Atlantic perhaps?

-----------------------

Thanks evansb for the link to flightcraft. That explains a lot, and I had no idea we (Canadians) had such a nice operation in Kelowna. :ok:

[twochai]

Jabberwok has it - Saba it is.

Just as intimidating today as it was 42 years ago - 1300' long from threshold to threshold and downhill in the prevailing wind!

Over to you!


http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/twochai/scan0007.jpg

By the way, the road goes up to Bottom, the capital, located in the crater of an extinct volcano.

[FireLight]

Landing on Saba. Looks like fun. :cool:

Link to video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RU_fk6zNmc&feature=related

Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean

Google Maps Location
17.645351, -63.220718

[jabberwok]

Sorry to hold the thread up folks - got called away.

Open house as I used all my shots in Which Aerodrome 1..

[Dendmar]

This will probably go within the hour!!http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk296/Dendmar/AirportTerminalc1957.jpg

[KeMac]

Shannon ???

[LFT]

Or Cork even?

[Tiger_mate]

Birmingham BHX

[Dendmar]

As I said, didn't take long. Photo taken in 1957 when it was known as Elmdon Airport. Over to you tiger Mate.

[India Four Two]

What is that strange cantilevered structure? To prevent the rain getting into HP-42 cockpits or some other more mundane purpose?

[Tiger_mate]

OPEN HOUSE

[evansb]

Here is the next aerodrome challenge:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080514.jpg

[PaperTiger]

What is that strange cantilevered structure? To prevent the rain getting into HP-42 cockpits or some other more mundane purpose?Yes that's exactly what it was, although intended to keep the paying gentry dry more than the oiks flying them.

[PaperTiger]

Key West NAS ?

[evansb]

Sorry, not Key West.

[Tiger_mate]

Norfolk VA?

[evansb]

Not Cherry Point, nor Norfolk.

[evansb]

Clue: the aerodrome is not in the United States.

[evansb]

JENKINS is correct:ok: Well done.:D HMCS Shearwater, also known as RCNAS Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. You have control.

[Dan Winterland]

Jumping in with the offer of open house. It's historic in that it was taken a number of years ago, but I gather the airfield hasn't changed much.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb73/dbchippy/phewitshot.jpg

Shouldn't take long, so no clues yet.

[PPRuNe Radar]

Death Valley, Furnace Creek ??

[Dan Winterland]

Correct! An hour and a half!

Furnace Creek (L06) is a place of superlatives. The lowest airfield in the Americas at 211' and the place where the hightest temperature ever recorded in the US at 56 degrees C in 1911.

Also, it's one of the few airfields in the US where you have to pay a landing fee. Although technically, it's the fee payable by any vehicle visiting a National Park. But your $5 also includes free access to the excellent visitor's centre, so it's good value.

You have control.

[PPRuNe Radar]

A freshly washed airfield ....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/Flying/100_4532.jpg

Probably a busy place back in the dark days of WW2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/Flying/mystery.jpg

[twochai]

Could it be Anchorage International, known today as 'Ted Stevens International'??

[Flap40]

That's Dinard.

...and why does it say that I posted this at 09:34 when it was actually 17:34 BST (16:34z)

[PPRuNe Radar]

Flap 40 has control of the runway .....

Dinard St Malo Pleurtuit, home of II/KG27 flying Heinkel 111 during the Battle of Britain

[Flap40]

Thanks. Open house.

[Tiger_mate]

The year is 1980:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2500583919_16dc774146_o.jpg

[AfgAirOps]

Belgrade (Tesla) ?

[Phileas Fogg]

Seems to be the first letters of 'Ramstein' behind the aircraft?

[Tiger_mate]

Seems to be the first letters of 'Ramstein' behind the aircraft

Thats observation for you, even I had not noticed that and i took the photograph!

It was indeed a very wet 'Flugtag Ramstein' and the designer 'yellow mac' was iniversally popular throughout europe, except for the UK. Despite a cloudbase of but a few hundred feet, the Red Arrow Hawks arrived on mass and completed an ultra low level break in every which way on arrival.

Oh for the days when there were no crowd barriers between aircraft and spectator in the static park.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2249/2501535618_c01c4751cc.jpg

Phileas Fogg You have control :D

[Phileas Fogg]

Open House

[evansb]

The next 'Which Aerodrome?':
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD0805018.jpg

[chevvron]

Malaga before it was re-built?

[evansb]

Not Malaga.

[Tiger_mate]

Tha abundance of Russian aircraft indicates Eastern Europe or a fomer Soviet state, and although it could be an old photograph, it looks too drab for the former East Germany. To narrow down our searches, is it Albania?

The 737? on the left could be a Ukraine International aircraft, on home soil?

[evansb]

Not Albania, not Ukraine. I think it is a Lufthansa 737.

[Phileas Fogg]

Lviv or Lvov?

[evansb]

Not Lvov, Ukraine, although the architecture is similar.

[The SSK]

Minsk perhaps?

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

I think it's Koltsovo

[evansb]

Arfur has it correct:ok: Well done:D Koltsovo Airport, serving the city of (Y)Ekaterinburg, in central Russia. You have control.

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

Still working on the technology for posting images so Open House

[Warmtoast]

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/ForWhichAirfield.jpg

A not so new one - I think!

[Tiger_mate]

a) In UK?

b) Royal Navy?*

c) Yeovilton or Culdrose?

*Based on 3 storie ATC Towers being associated with RN Airfields

[Warmtoast]

In the UK but not Yeovilton or Culdrose.

Photo dates from c. 1950 as witness the MF/DF loop on the left.

[Duckbutt]

How about St Mawgan?

[Warmtoast]

Not St Mawgan.

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

RNAS Lee-on-Solent?

[Warmtoast]

Not RNAS Lee-on-Solent and to my knowledge the tower in the photo has no known naval connection.

[Duckbutt]

Is it by any chance the original Heathrow tower?

[Warmtoast]

Duckbutt

Is it by any chance the original Heathrow tower?

It is indeed.

Taken in 1949 or 1950 when Heathrow looked like this from the air:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Heathrowc19502.jpg

And Heathrow was the only London Airport:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Heathrowc1950.jpg

It's yours Duckbutt

[Duckbutt]

Thanks, your photo looks like a still about 8 minutes into the clip at http://youtube.com/watch?v=o-svhmFd214&feature=related . I was going to be a real smart***e and say that the wingtip in the photo looks like that of BOAC Constellation G-AHEJ but that would be perhaps a bit over the top!

Where do you think this is?

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/Twyler/100.jpg

[aviate1138]

Cricklewood?

[Duckbutt]

Not Cricklewood

[PPRuNe Radar]

RAF Hendon ?

[Duckbutt]

Not Hendon nor the Home Counties.

[evansb]

Mannheim, Germany?

[Duckbutt]

Not Manheimm but getting warmer.

In the early 1940's there was a connection (in name only) with a colourful aristocrat who died a bit before the photo was taken in the 1920's. I would imagine his name would be familiar to just about everyone on this forum.

[norwich]

Uuuummm ! FRIEDRIKSHAVEN ??? Keith.

[Duckbutt]

Sorry Keith, not Friedrikshaven.

[Tiger_mate]

Germany?

Wiesbaden?

[Upyer RRR]

Franz Josef? If so, Open House.

[Warmtoast]

In the early 1940's there was a connection (in name only) with a colourful aristocrat who died a bit before the photo was taken in the 1920's.

I'm guessing the aristocat is Manfred von Richthofen.

The possible 1940s connection is that Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" was based near the channel coast in France in the early 1940s (Le Touquet-Etaples airfield?)

The location in the photo looks very much like a racecourse, which in the 20s and 30s often served as airfields, and the only place I can think of in the Pas de Calais area that had a flourishing racecouse is Le Touquet Paris-Plage.

So how about Le Touquet?

[evansb]

Dortmund, Germany.

[PPRuNe Radar]

Lahr, Germany

[denis555]

I think evansb has it,,,, Dortmond , home of the Richthofenkaserne airfield???

[Duckbutt]

Yes evansb has it, photo probably taken at the opening of Dortmund Brackel in 1925 or 6.

As denis555 says, known as Richthofenkaserne during WW2.

evansb has control!

[evansb]

Here is the next aerodrome challenge:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080521.jpg

[PPRuNe Radar]

CFB Penhold ?

[evansb]

You are correct. In record time! RCAF Penhold, just south of Red Deer, Alberta, taken in January 1964. You have control.

[PPRuNe Radar]

A little bit further back in history ....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/Flying/Late1-600.jpg

[The SSK]

The Latecoere factory at Biscarosse?

[PPRuNe Radar]

Not sure if it's the factory per se, or the assembly area and the Aeropostale base at Hortiquets ... but it's Biscarrosse lake in any case :ok:

Here's Hortiquets a few weeks ago

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/Flying/100_4954.jpg

[The SSK]

Gosh, my first score in absolutely ages.

There are two aerodromes in this picture:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/TheSSK/AeroPic7.jpg

[Flap40]

Looks like Daytona to me.

[norwich]

I will try OSCEOLA Naval Outer Landing Field. Fla. ??? Keith

[The SSK]

Looks like Daytona to me.

I will try OSCEOLA Naval Outer Landing Field. Fla.

Neither, nor

[Web-Footed Flyer]

Talladega Race Track Alabama

Open house if right!

[The SSK]

Yes, that’s it. The speedway is built over Anniston AFB and the active airfield to the right is Talladega Municipal.

[norwich]

Well a few hours and no takers, something a little different, possibly more to do with characters than airfields, see what happens ? Keith.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii58/keithnewsome/where8.jpg

[Tiger_mate]

RAF Tibenham?

[Flap40]

Don't know who they are but I will take a guess at Twinwood Farm.

[norwich]

Sorry people neither Tibbenham or Twinwood, easier than that ???? Keith.

[Avitor]

A well known squadron commander at Molesworth?

[norwich]

A well known person (rank unknown to me) but not at molesworth ??? Keith.

[twochai]

Looks like Major(?) Jimmy Stewart at a USAAF base 'somewhere in England'?

[norwich]

Twochai, has the name correct, I understand (from local folklaw) that, because of his status, he visited a lot of local US bases, this pic is from his actual base ???? Keith.

[Roland Pulfrew]

I thought Jimmy Stewart was based at Tibenham. If not there, how about Chelveston?

Edited to add:

Why does it say my post was logged at 1347? It should read 2147!!

[Tiger_mate]

Old Buckenham

T'internet says I am right and if so:

Open House

[PaperTiger]

Or Hethel; he flew from both.

Other chap looks like Gen. Patrick Timberlake (BG Cdr) but I don't know why he'd be out of uniform.

[norwich]

Sorry for this delay people, work got in the way, I seriously hope I am not wrong with this, I have also read somewhere of him being based at Tibbenham, but due to the more often quoted fact that he was at "this" place I have always gone with it ? Also have been there and seen the display of photos of him there ! But this could all be "folk lore" (thanks for the spelling lesson) !

Edit .... Panic situation ! following my lapse from the forum, didn't read all of the posts and yes Tiger Mate is correct ! the photo is from Old Buckenham, where I understand he was based ? If this is not correct then I humbly apologise, as I said earlier I think he "did the rounds" whilst there ! Keith.

[India Four Two]

Next aerodrome:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/wa23may08.jpg

[evansb]

RAF Changi, Singapore ?

[India Four Two]

Bri, you are correct and I have just noticed that it has been done before.

However, in mitigation, I only checked the C's in Mel's list and didn't notice that it is in fact there under RAF Changi.

Mel, perhaps you could remove the prefixes from the list to avoid this kind of repetition?

[evansb]

Here is the next aerodrome challenge:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080523.jpg

[Tiger_mate]

Coronados and Catalinas at RAF Darrell's Island, Bermuda.

Open House after confirmation

[MReyn24050]

Mel, perhaps you could remove the prefixes from the list to avoid this kind of repetition?

If it helps, at the next update I will remove the RAF as a prefix and attach it at the end of the i.e. Changi (RAF), Singapore.
Mel

[India Four Two]

Mel,

Thanks. I think that would be very useful.

I42

[evansb]

Tiger_mate is correct:ok:. As the man said, it is open house.

[Flap40]

If I may jump in...

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj36/jodel_bucket/wherecopy.jpg

I've had to edit ot the name on the hangar.

[PaperTiger]

The "terminal" looks like Sywell, but that may have been a common design at the time.

A Gypsy and 2 Pusses. Aaah, de Havilland.

[Flap40]

Sorry, not Sywell.

[Flap40]

I am fairly certain that the terminal no longer exists. Parts of the airfield are still visible.

[PaperTiger]

Not a minibus Jenkins, that's how big (small) a normal single-deck bus was back then. Although it doesn't look really ancient, immediate post-war period perhaps. Not a Bedford OB, some kind of Commer maybe. If that helps :8 .

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

Lympne Airport?

[Flap40]

We had Lympne back in December. This airport has not yet featured in this quiz.

You are in the correct country though.

[Flap40]

Sorry, not Ipswich either.

[chevvron]

Maylands (Romford) now a golf course.

[Flap40]

Not Romford either.

You are all too far east.

[chevvron]

OK moving west slowly, how about Broxbourne?

[evansb]

Whitchurch, Bristol Airport.

[Flap40]

It is Whitchurch.

[621andy]

Bluddy hell thats changed a bit! I used to live near there, and wouldn't recognise it in a million years from that picture:rolleyes: All housing estates and chavs there now- certainly don't leave your car unlocked if you want to snap a pic of the airfield now:=

Still a fair bit of it remaining last time I was there. We used to use it to test inflate balloons when Ashton Court was too wet in the winter when I worked for Cameron Balloons- bit too exposed though...

[evansb]

That was an interesting challenge. I find this forum very educational. Here is the next aerodrome:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080524.jpg

[India Four Two]

Nice picture, Bri. No rain and low clouds, for a change!

Tofino in the Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island. Flew in there once in a BC Airlines Mallard.

[evansb]

India Four Two is corrrect:ok:. Tofino was established during WW.II as a coastal patrol base. You have control.

[India Four Two]

Another maritime airfield on a much smaller island:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/WA23May0802.jpg



Sorry about the poor resolution. The original image was quite small and I had to crop it to remove some obvious clues. It's the only picture I could find of this very interesting airfield, which I first noticed on Google Earth.

[India Four Two]

Here are the first two clues.

1. It is 18 nm from one of the world's top twenty busiest airports.

2. It has a hard surfaced runway, but it does not appear on the World Aeronautical Chart.

[Cubs2jets]

The RSAF Auxilliary field on Pulau Sudong.

C2j

[India Four Two]

C2j, that's the one - Pulau Sudong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulau_Sudong

I figured you might get it. You must have flown past it quite frequently.

Here's the original image with the RSAF Black Knights aerobatic team (Red and White Knights would be a better name):

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/RSAF_Black_Knights__Pulau_Sudong.jpg

and here's an image from Google Earth:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Singapore-1.jpg


It still amazes me that there are five (six if you count Pulau Sudong) operational airfields on an island that is only 80% larger than the Isle of Wight. And just for insurance purposes, there is the emergency runway on the East Coast Parkway near Changi.

C2j, I was surprised that Pulau Sudong is not on the WAC. Does it show on the Jeppesen charts?

I42

[Cubs2jets]

India Four Two,

You forgot the emergency runway next to Tengah AND the additional (new) runway next to Changi which is military and NOT connected to the main airport. The RSAF actually uses the road next to Tengah once a year in a practice. The runway that is part of the East Coast Parkway near Changi has never been used to my knowledge.

I don't have a Jepp area chart at hand so cannot say it the runway is depicted on it. The commercially available ONC chart (VFR) that includes Singapore is grossly out of date (like 1973). My understanding is that updates for these U.S. Government printed charts sometimes are not done at the request of the underlying country (countries). A bit silly when we now have Google Earth (though some of that is not high-res for similar reasons).

So, here is the next "Which Aerodrome". If this isn't identified wihtin an hour, all regular participants have to miss a turn! ;)

C2j

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj200/Cubs2jets/Picture4A.jpg?t=1211756606

[India Four Two]

You forgot the emergency runway next to Tengah AND the additional (new) runway next to Changi which is military and NOT connected to the main airport. The RSAF actually uses the road next to Tengah once a year in a practice. The runway that is part of the East Coast Parkway near Changi has never been used to my knowledge.

I've never ventured out to the wilds of NW Singapore, so I didn't know about the Tengah emergency runway. I knew that the new runway at Changi East was military only, but I have read that it will be extended to become Changi's third runway.

I think you are right about the ECP runway. Apart from bulldozing out of the way all of the concrete flower boxes in the median , a lot of tree-cutting would be required, so I think it would have to be a very serious situation before it was used.

I downloaded the WAC from the CAAS website, so I presume it is relatively up to date (I don't have access to it as I type this). However, Pulau Sudong is not referred to in the AIM, but all the other military fields are. Very strange.

So, here is the next "Which Aerodrome". If this isn't identified wihtin an hour, all regular participants have to miss a turn!

Well, not quite within the hour, but within 10 minutes of logging on.
I thought initially Phuket, but after a bit of searching and head-scratching, I remembered Bali. It's Ngurah Rai International from overhead Kuta. Open house if correct.

[Cubs2jets]

India Four Two is correct! He has declared "OPEN HOUSE"

C2j

PS Thanks for the PM. Those are funny links.

[Warmtoast]

Where is this one?

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/CB-GeneralView-Cropped.jpg

[evansb]

RAF Trincomalee, China Bay, Ceylon ?

[ARCHIE1]

I would agree - RAF Trincomalee. Right road layout, accommodation blocks and hangars (except the left hand one which appears, on Google Earth, to have been demolished). There's what looks like a Bristol Freighter bottom left - could the RNZAF have reached there from Malaya? Perhaps not; perhaps it's a Valetta. Strangest thing comes to mind - some 25 years ago I lived in a town in Oxfordshire next door to an old chap who had been Orderly Room Corporal for a flying boat squadron based at Trincomalee during WWII. He remembered drafting the CO's letters of condolence to the families of a 'boat crew lost over the Indian Ocean between Malaya and Ceylon. Then he found, at a squadron reunion, that the Flight Engineer's son lived just round the corner from us .......

[Warmtoast]

Well that didn't last long!

RAF China Bay as it was in 1957.



http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/ChinaBay.jpg

ARCHIE1

There's what looks like a Bristol Freighter bottom left - could the RNZAF have reached there from Malaya? Perhaps not; perhaps it's a Valetta

In 1957 RAF Changi based Bristol Freighters of 41 Sqn Royal New Zealand Air Force shared the weekly Singapore to Negombo (Katunayake) Ceylon (Sri Lanka) shuttle with RAF (48 and 52 Sqn). Valettas.
RNZAF 41 Sqn Freighter below, with an engine that looks as if it leaks oil like an Iraqi oil well!


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/NZ5906.jpg
Standard routing was Changi - Butterworth (sometimes) - Car Nicobar - Negombo (Katunayake). Next day they flew up and back to China Bay with pax, mail and freight for the RAF detachment at China Bay and the Royal Navy base at Trincomalee.

A bit of China Bay WWII history. On 10-11th August 1944 54 USAAF B.29's flew from China Bay against the Palembang oil refineries in Japanese occupied Sumatra - the 3,900 miles flight from Ceylon to Palembang and back was the longest single-stage flight undertaken by USAAF combat aircraft in WWII. Long-range RAF B.24 Liberators and Catalinas also flew supply and agent dropping missions from China Bay in support of SOE operations in Burma and Malaya.

[evansb]

Great photos and historical information!:ok: Here is the next aerodrome challenge:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080526.jpg

[evansb]

Clue: This aerodrome was the objective of a little-known but important battle during 1942.

[The SSK]

Looks very Dutch or Belgian to me, I guess that's the Channel/North Sea coastline in the background?

[evansb]

Sorry SSK, not the North Sea. Not Belgium, nor the Netherlands.

[India Four Two]

How about another clue, Bri?

You said 1942, so is the location Asia/Pacific?

[evansb]

Sorry, not the Asia/Pacific Theatre. The site is presently a modern airport that goes by a different name. The WW.II era aircraft dispersals are faintly visible on Google Earth

[India Four Two]

I needed a Torch to find this airfield! ;)

Port Lyautey (now Kenitra), Morrocco. Very good challenge, bri.

Open house after confirmation by evansb.

[evansb]

India Four Two is spot on:ok: Well done:D In November of 1942 combined U.S. military forces stormed the beaches at Port Lyautey in French Morrocco. They fought a numerically inferior French force, and secured the airfield and surrounding villages and town 3 days later. Yes, they fought the French. As the Captain says, its open house!

[India Four Two]

Yes, they fought the French

Amazing what you can learn on the Internet. The Vichy French forces put up a strong resistance in Morrocco and Oran, Algeria, but in Algiers, the Resistance arrested the Vichy leaders on 8th November, the first day of Operation Torch and three days later, the Vichy leaders were persuaded to end hostilities.

This must have been the quickest conclusion of a seaborne invasion in history.

[India Four Two]

No takers? How about this one?

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/29May08.jpg

[Tiger_mate]

RAF Burtonwood

[India Four Two]

Tiger_mate has it. Over to you.

I had to double check to make sure it really was Burtonwood. The tower was unlike anything I had ever seen before in the UK.

[Tiger_mate]

I spent several years of my youth as a member of an Air Cadet Gliding school there and knew the place pretty well. Subsidence from coal mining contributed to its demise as the USAF airhead in the UK, a role which Mildenhall took on. I may even have been on the crew of the last military aircraft to land there before developers took over, but that is a story in itself.

Sadly I cannot be around to update another airfield, and therefore hand it over as an: OPEN HOUSE

[621andy]

Ok, here's a quick one...

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg244/621andy/aaaa2.jpg

[PPRuNe Radar]

Lauterbrunnen.

Open house if correct :ok:

[621andy]

Well I said it was a quick one, but didm't expect it to be quite as quick as that:D

Was up there yesterday and snapped the shot. Setting famous for the Bond film 'On Her Majesties Secret Service'- I think the ice driving scenes were shot in Lauterbrunnen although I'm open to correction on that one:8

[Warmtoast]

As its open house another one from me.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/ThornhillATC.jpg

[KeMac]

eerrr -Thornhill???

[Simtech]

Just as an aside, the Burtonwood control tower met its fate at the hands of the late, great Fred Dibnah in, I think, 1988.

[621andy]

Likewise, errr, Thornhill:bored:;)

[denis555]

Now let me see…

Jeep has a Rhodesian registration….

Aec Matador behind it has African canvas top…

Could it be Thornhill ???:ok::}:O;)

[evansb]

Is the controller flashing the Aldis lamp at the photographer?

[Warmtoast]

KeMac has it in one.

RAF Thornhill (5FTS) Rhodesia as it was in 1952.

And someone was shining the Aldis lamp, just to annoy I reckon.

[KeMac]

Thank you Warmtoast

Open House

[India Four Two]

A very interesting recent history associated with this picture.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/WA31May2008.jpg

[T-21]

Leiston airfield ,in Suffolk home of the 357th Fighter Group. Chuck Yeager flew P-51's there in WW2.

[T-21]

Could it be to do with Bud Anderson who also flew P-51's there as well "The Yoxford Boys"

[India Four Two]

Well done, T-21. Leiston it is. Not much left today:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Leistongoogle.jpg

I didn't know Yeager flew there. As T-21 has guessed, the history I was referring to can be found here:

http://www.cebudanderson.com/duxford.htm

I hope when I'm in my eighties, people would still be prepared to lend me any aeroplane, never mind a P-51!

Over to you, T-21

[T-21]

Sorry I'am at work and no access to my records.

[Simtech]

Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson, Kit Carson, John England and Richard Peterson (to name but a few) all flew with the 357th FG from Leiston.

An area I know well - Mrs Simtech comes from Leiston.

[evansb]

It has been 24 hours since the last post. Here is the next 'Which Aerodrome?' challenge:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080601.jpg

[ScrewedbyGlenn]

I believe that's the Renton, Wa strip that Boeing uses for 37 manufacture. If correct, open house.:8

[evansb]

Yes, it is Renton, Washington,:ok: KRNT, renamed Clayton Scott Field in 2005.

[India Four Two]

OK. I seem to be on a P-51 roll at the moment. It's always a bit of a surprise to me to see colour photos from WWII.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/WA1June08-1.jpg

[twochai]

I have no clue where it might be, but what a wonderful 'atmospheric' shot!

[India Four Two]

twochai, I agree. I thought for a minute, it might be a movie set, but there are too many P-51s. It must be the real McCoy. I'm just waiting for the FG Code specialists to pounce and tell us not only the airfield, but the names of the pilots and crew chiefs ;)

[T-21]

356th Fg at Martlesham Heath. Guys I am on a 12 hour night shift and tomorrow so sorry I cannot send in a picture.

[India Four Two]

Martlesham Heath it is. See here http://www.web-birds.com/8th/356/356th.htm

and here
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/gallery.php?Group=356


Open house, since T-21 is on night shifts and cannot post.

[PPRuNe Radar]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/Flying/100_5212.jpg

I think P51s flew from here as well !! It didn't look all that different in 1943

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/atco10w/arr.jpg

[twochai]

I don't like to be picky, PPruNe Radar, but there are clearly two airfields in your upper photo. Which one is the object of your challenge??

[chevvron]

How about the one that's not Wattisham?

[PPRuNe Radar]

Just use the black and white one if it's too confusing :ok:

It's not near Wattisham.

[chevvron]

OK the one that's not Colerne then! (otherwise known as Charmy Down)

[PPRuNe Radar]

Chevvron has it :ok:

[chevvron]

Whilst I have many pictures of various airfields, regretfully I have no way of posting them so Open House.

[evansb]

Here is the next 'Which Aerodrome?':
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/WAD080603.jpg

[Kieron Kirk]

Vaenga, near Murmansk, Soviet Union.

[evansb]

Kirk is spot on:ok: You have control.

[Kieron Kirk]

Many thanks evansb, could I throw it open to anyone who has a suitable airfield photo.

[twochai]

Here's one that shouldn't last long, not quite as old as Kirk Kieron's contribution, but interesting:


http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/twochai/WhichAerodrome1.jpg

[Kieron Kirk]

I never thought that my parents decided my first name should be Kirk!

In future I shall sign myself "Ciarain".

Standby to be confused!

[Moira]

Sort of a wild guess: Mingbo.
Or would that be too high?

[twochai]

Sorry, not Mingbo.

[Moira]

Another try in the same region: Syangboche?

[twochai]

Very well done, Moira, it is the fabled Shyangboche. :ok:

Located just below Namche Bazaar, on the way to Everest Base Camp, the airstrip is at a height of 12,204'/3720 metres, with a runway length of 1300'. Used regularly by helicopters (Mi17) and Pilatus PC-6 Porter aircraft. A Twin Otter landed a couple of times, but too short/high for commercial ops.

Not the highest in the world, but challenging.

Over to you, Moira.

[Moira]

Thanks Twochai!
I'm afraid this one won't last long either ...

Sorry guys, I know a similar picture was posted quite recently, but it's the only one I had available right now.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj271/AnnStevens/WAD20080503.jpg?t=1212529216

[Upyer RRR]

Could it be RAF Kinloss?

[Moira]

Sorry, not Kinloss.
This is what's left nowadays:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj271/AnnStevens/WADextra.gif?t=1212602192

[S'land]

Rivenhall or Birch?

[Moira]

Slighty too much south.
(Goodness, I hope my geography isn't letting me down!) :)

It's now used for racing of some kind.

[chevvron]

Definite resemblance to Bradwell, but not quite......

[Moira]

Not in Essex, so not Bradwell Bay either.

[chevvron]

Got it - Kimbolton!!! Was racking my brains over the Kart circuit.

[Moira]

Well done, Chevvron, Kimbolton it is! :ok:

The Kimbolton kart circuit is laid out on one of the few existing parts of the airfield. The original circuit was laid out direct on the concrete dispersal area. Many parts of this can still be seen today around the track and paddock.

Over to you!

[chevvron]

There also used to be a private airstrip there a few years ago; arrival instructions went something like 'if sheep are grazing, circle over the village of Stow Longa until someone appears to clear them'!!
Open House again I'm afraid (must be some sort of record two pages opening with me being congratulated - mind you I'm not as good as sabredog!)

[Warmtoast]

An easy one this time. I feel sure its been done before.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/BOBFilm.jpg

[PaperTiger]

Dahhhh, dah, dah, daaah, DAH dah dah dah !

[MReyn24050]

Where the German part of the film "Battle of Britain" was filmed. Tablada airfield Spain perhaps?

[Moira]

Paper Tiger, for those like me who are completely morse-code ignorant that would be? :O :)

Some of the H-111 scenes were shot in Duxford ...

[Warmtoast]

Where the German part of the film "Battle of Britain" was filmed. Tablada airfield Spain perhaps?


MReyn has it.

Photo taken in April 1968 at Tablada airfield during the filming of the scene “an inspection by Field Marshall Erhard Milch” for the film "The Battle of Britain". Heinkel He 111s (licence-built Spanish CASA 2.111s).
The staff cars are Mercedes - except for the last one, which appears to be a Fiat and apart from the deep-chinned RR Merlin engines, an impressive re-enactment.

[MReyn24050]

Thanks warmtoast. Here is the next one:-
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/sabamel/Airport/Airportquiz038.jpg

[LFT]

How about Swinderby?

[MReyn24050]

Not Swinderby or Acklington
Mel

[MReyn24050]

This airfield is as you suggest located in the NE of England but not as far North as Ouston or
Acklington
Mel

[ZH875]

Middleton St George, as my only other guess was Church Fenton but that is not exactly NE.