RAF base awaits fighter decision
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St Mawgan, Chivenor, Tangmere, Thorney Island - all far too nice. So the MoD either closes them or give them to someone else.
Valley, Kinloss, Lossiemouth? Hmm, not much potential for sale. So they hang on to them. Plus Grumpy Gordon will be happy as it'll keep his cronies content.
Why not close MoD Main Building and sell it - and move the MoD to Inverness!
Valley, Kinloss, Lossiemouth? Hmm, not much potential for sale. So they hang on to them. Plus Grumpy Gordon will be happy as it'll keep his cronies content.
Why not close MoD Main Building and sell it - and move the MoD to Inverness!
"St Mawgan, Chivenor, Tangmere, Thorney Island - all far too nice."
And if we're talking about places from which you can no longer have a flying tour, then add Abingdon, Brawdy, Church Fenton, Colerne, Honington, Hullavington, Leconfield, Pershore, Stradishall, Thurleigh, Wattisham, West Raynham, Wyton,
Soon to be joined by?:
Benson, Coltishall, Cottesmore, Leeming, Lyneham, Marham, Odiham, Wittering
Has Scotland actually lost a major airfield since 1957?
And if we're talking about places from which you can no longer have a flying tour, then add Abingdon, Brawdy, Church Fenton, Colerne, Honington, Hullavington, Leconfield, Pershore, Stradishall, Thurleigh, Wattisham, West Raynham, Wyton,
Soon to be joined by?:
Benson, Coltishall, Cottesmore, Leeming, Lyneham, Marham, Odiham, Wittering
Has Scotland actually lost a major airfield since 1957?
Campbletown Minor Aerodrome?
There were wartime bases in Scotland that have gone. My Dad flew from Tain occasionally, and once crashed at Sumburgh, while there was Turnhouse, Dyce, etc. But Scotland seems to have escaped late- and post-Cold War cuts entirely unscathed, when the strategic rationale for ASW at Kinloss and for AD at Leuchars has vanished.
The logic of locating JSF as far as it's physically possible to get from the carriers it will serve also escapes me.
And on top of all that, there seems to be a slow but inexorable drift towards greater devolution for the 'Porridge Wogs' and with that in mind, it would seem sensible to limit the amount of national infrastructure on territory that may one day be part of some-one else's nation. Especially if the cost of doing so is that we throw away infrastructure on our own soil.
The logic of locating JSF as far as it's physically possible to get from the carriers it will serve also escapes me.
And on top of all that, there seems to be a slow but inexorable drift towards greater devolution for the 'Porridge Wogs' and with that in mind, it would seem sensible to limit the amount of national infrastructure on territory that may one day be part of some-one else's nation. Especially if the cost of doing so is that we throw away infrastructure on our own soil.
Alba Gu Brath
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Has Scotland actually lost a major airfield since 1957?
Ok, a sorry attempt at humour I know.I'm guessing (probably somewhat naively) that there are significant training opportunities to be had in RAF Jockistan. For the FJ boys, rapid access to some of the finest low flying systems in the country, same for the ranges. Does being close to the carriers home port really matter that much bearing in mind they won't be there most of the time?
For the Kipper Fleet, big play areas out in the Iceland Gap and North Atlantic that are far enough away from civil airspace to be useful. Plus the infrastructure already exists at ISK for the mighty hunter.
Of course, the cycnic in me wonders whether this is all a sweetener to Scotland following the decimation of the Army Regiments up there!
But the most apt name for a Jockistani base was, of course, HMS Tern in the Orkneys....
Because its real name was Twatt. It remained a reserve station under Lossiemouth's control until January 1949 and was then retained by the RN until sold off in 1957.
Other places for your list, Jacko:
Acklington, Andover, Bassingbourn, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Gaydon, Gravely, Kemble, Little Rissington, Manby, North Weald, Oakington, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston
And those are just the ones in civilised parts of the world! All were still open when I joined the RAF.....
Because its real name was Twatt. It remained a reserve station under Lossiemouth's control until January 1949 and was then retained by the RN until sold off in 1957.
Other places for your list, Jacko:
Acklington, Andover, Bassingbourn, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Gaydon, Gravely, Kemble, Little Rissington, Manby, North Weald, Oakington, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston
And those are just the ones in civilised parts of the world! All were still open when I joined the RAF.....
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Can we stop this nostalgic wallowing please --it's making me feel very old as well as reminding me of several of the many reasons I joined in the first place 
----all now closed of course !
--it's making me feel very old as well as reminding me of several of the many reasons I joined in the first place ----all now closed of course !
Finningley?? I was only referring to stations in civilised parts of the world. The Scargill Republic doesn't fall into that category in my view.
Somehow Doncaster and navigators deserved eachother....
Somehow Doncaster and navigators deserved eachother....
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There were wartime bases in Scotland that have gone. My Dad flew from Tain occasionally, and once crashed at Sumburgh, while there was Turnhouse, Dyce, etc. But Scotland seems to have escaped late- and post-Cold War cuts entirely unscathed, when the strategic rationale for ASW at Kinloss and for AD at Leuchars has vanished.
JF - my list was restricted to places in nice parts of the UK which were still RAF flying stations when I joined.
Driffield had been a Thor base and then virtually abandoned years before I joined. But I understand that the Blackburn Aircraft Works test flew the odd Bucc from there whilst HoSM was being resurfaced in 1967-8.
But these days it's a grunt base where squaddies learn to drive lorries by numbers.
Now if Duncan Sandys had never been voted in, perhaps I might have flown P1121s from Merryfield.....
I was once told that 'they' were going to name the P1121 the Hurricane 2. As a former 'awker, do you know whether that was true?
Driffield had been a Thor base and then virtually abandoned years before I joined. But I understand that the Blackburn Aircraft Works test flew the odd Bucc from there whilst HoSM was being resurfaced in 1967-8.
But these days it's a grunt base where squaddies learn to drive lorries by numbers.
Now if Duncan Sandys had never been voted in, perhaps I might have flown P1121s from Merryfield.....
I was once told that 'they' were going to name the P1121 the Hurricane 2. As a former 'awker, do you know whether that was true?