Chilbolton Airfield - abandoned but a VRP for passing aircraft

[loveair]

Chilbolton Airfied in Hampshire is on the edge of the Middle Wallop MATZ. It's an interesting place, as this video tries to explain:

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[chevvron]

Not quite abandoned. There is still a very active airfield there but just off the original one, about half a mile east of the SE threshold of the old NW/SE runway on one of the detached domestic sites.

MODS
Why have all my records of postings disappeared and I'm being 'flagged' as being a 'newbie'? I've been contributing fo over 10 years and accumulated over 5,000 postings.
This happened before a couple of weeks ago with no explanation.

[India Four Two]

This takes me back. Chilbolton was a turning point on my very first solo cross-country. White Waltham - Chilbolton - Marlborough - White Waltham. In the days when you could fly around not talking to anyone. My whole PPL was non-radio.

[chevvron]

Originally Posted by India Four Two

This takes me back. Chilbolton was a turning point on my very first solo cross-country. White Waltham - Chilbolton - Marlborough - White Waltham. In the days when you could fly around not talking to anyone. My whole PPL was non-radio.

Chilbolton - Marlborough.
Er doesn't that take you straight through final approach for Boscombe Down?
I trust your instructor told you to look up as you went through; a Hunter doing a practice engine failure (aka a '1 in1') comes down pretty fast and is unlikely to take avoiding action; I know, I've done one!

[Wander00]

So was mine non-radio, in J1N Austers from Sywell

[chevvron]

By the way, '1 in 1' means just that. We started off at 16,000ft when my pilot 'called' it to Boscombe. He then established 'best glide' speed clean at 210kts giving rate of descent of 500ft/mile.
Boscombe radar gave us a heading to steer and our range and when range = height numerically, we dropped gear and flaps and increased R of D to 1,000ft per mile = 1 in 1.

Edited thanks to kenparry.

[kenparry]

He then established 'best glide' speed clean at 250kts giving rate of descent of 500ft/mile.

Not quite right. Best glide was 210kt, but 500ft/mile, yes. Then gear down + full flap to give 1000ft/mile, with a min speed of 180kt until starting the flare. With flight controls in manual, that would be as early as 500ft above touchdown, but rather later if the hydraulics were still on.

[pulse1]

My PPL was completely non-radio and a lot of the circuit work, solo and dual, was AT Boscombe Down, using the grass. Weekends only of course.