base?

[flyburg]

Hello,

Just curious when flying east on the airway towards clacton(forgot the airway) just after you pass stansted there is a base(airfield?). It doesn´t show on any charts. Postion: about 10 miles from stansted, roughly track 050-060 from stansted, runway roughly east-west.

Anybody know which place this is?

Thanks

[BEagle]

Mate - there were something like 120 aerodromes with hard surfaces in East Anglia in 1945. Quite a few remain in evidence from the air, although disused.

From your description, I would guess that it's Wethersfield. No longer used for flying (apart from being listed a a gliding site), it is used instead by the Ministry of Defence Police. But it has one of the longest runways in East Anglia!

Nice to know that at least one person looks out of the window of an airliner!

[Spur Lash]

That'd be RAF Wethersfield Airfield, grid TL 724 336, elev 305 feet (roughly ) east /west rwy about 3500 yards. About 3 miles west of Sible Hedingham (What a great English name)

Occupied by 8th USAAF and US Air Force
from 1947.

Used by the Americans throughout?

[BEagle]

Nope. Used by both the RAF and USAAF in WW2, then on Care and Maintenance in July 1946. The runway was lengthened in the early '50s, with the USAF returning with F-84s in 1952. Later the Thunderjets were replaced by Thunderstreaks,followed by F-100 Super Sabres which remained until 1970-ish. There was a Tac Recce Det there in 1976 and Wattisham's RAF F-4s boltholed there briefly during 1977.

[Scud-U-Like]

Lovely part of (much maligned) Essex. I believe the glider site there is used by 614 VGS, so it still has an active RAF connection. Mod-plod HQ is a better use of the site than nothing, I suppose.

[flyburg]

Thanks for the replies.

Like I said, just curiousity on my part.( droning along and looking outside Beagle )