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RAF Stanley

Old 28th Feb 2013, 22:38
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 11:39
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San Carlos FOB aka HMS Sheathbill !
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 14:06
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If you would like me to translate your website into Spanish, I'd be happy to do it for you.
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 16:11
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Think Defence

I recon it must have been AM2 as I had to do a rush job as a tp at Boscombe Down. It was to take a Nimrod out to 29 Palms via Yuma, where the Yanks had a full AM2 runway laid, in order to formally assess its sutability before we signed the cheque. I was given to understand that the ship with the matting on board was already enroute. We had a Herc support - I also had to check that that could cope as well. Heavens knows why! It was great fun though - the locals were very friendly. The Marines were in awe of our success in kicking the Argies out with such a numerical disadvantage.
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 16:24
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Pontifex -
It was to take a Nimrod out to 29 Palms via Yuma
I was on that trip. We left BD on 25 Jun 82 and returned on 04 Jul 82, with Ernie B the captain of XV227. When we operated off the AM2 the BD chaps wanted the aircraft as heavy as possible, but not to spend hours in the air with all that fuel - so, the solution was to nip behind a convenient hill and dump as much as possible. The US Marine in charge of the fuel farm was amazed at how thirsty RR Speys were....
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 16:33
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Stanley's extention was AM2.
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 17:17
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By 1985 a lot of the AM2 friction surface had worn off, which made crosswind landings after the runway had been de-iced just a tiny bit sporting.
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 17:42
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So just how long was the temporary runway extention supposed to last?
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Old 1st Mar 2013, 18:11
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When I did my 4 mths MPA had just opened and 1312 Flt were flying the odd heavy load in as it was easier than a road move. Apart from that MPA was emergency (and Tristar/Jumbo only). Handy runway in an emergency though, once the painters left the runway.
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Old 18th May 2013, 20:52
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Courtney Mil: it was supposed to stand no more than three years, according to some RE whose papers Iīve read.

It managed to last a bit longer. But by then MPAīs main runway had been opened, the apron was almost finished and work on the second runway was well underway.

Last edited by CAW; 18th May 2013 at 20:53.
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Old 18th May 2013, 21:03
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Ooh, didn't expect to see this thread reappear, bt am very glad thad it has. Very interested to hear more.

I have to say, that three years isn't a bad spell for the AM2 matting. Thanks for letting me know, CAW.
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Old 18th May 2013, 22:33
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Three years itīs not bad at all!!

The thing is that the whole runway at RAF Stanley was re-surfaced with AM2... thatīs something like 6000 fts long, plus aprons and taxing ways... meaning a lot a matting!!

Did you know that tha FAA (Argentinean Air Force) had used the very same AM2 10 years before at Hookerīs Point runway? In fact some of the argentinean AM2 had been left behind when Pembrokeīs runway was opened in 1978 and they were used during the time of BAM Malvinas to extend the apron area, and create a few acceses to the runway from the sides of it.

I always wondered wether that matting had also been used by the RE in their Aug/Sept 82 work...

Last edited by CAW; 18th May 2013 at 22:34.
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Old 19th May 2013, 05:51
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That's why am I getting a 403 error access forbidden to this server on my home machine.
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Old 19th May 2013, 10:31
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When was the entire Stanley runway matted? I clearly recall the extention, access ways and hard standings, but not the original runway. Mind you, it was 31 years ago now.
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Old 19th May 2013, 12:19
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Courtney I'm pretty sure the runway was completely matted by the time I was detached there in Dec 82. Near the end of our 6month detachment it was decided to remove and re-lay the first third of the runway, as the tiles had "slid " forward with all the constant use. The Royal Engineers were in charge of the job, but there was a fair sized RAF presence on the task. Myself and a few other guys from GSE were tasked with putting in the wiring for the lights. As the tiles were laid from one side to the other, at a certain point it all ground to a halt as we needed to run cable in from the edge to the centre. This gave the guys laying it a wee break, as they weren't hanging about doing it. During this the runway was unusable for the Phantoms, so the Harriers were doing the "Q" thing. A couple of times a Herc did get airborne, while the work was in progress. The tiles were all stacked up on the runway near where the work started. The first time a Herc took of, it blew these tiles off the stacks. After that the forklifts were placed in front of them with the forks down on the stacks. I can't actually remember seeing a Herc landing back at Stanley while the work was on-going, but it must have been an interesting experience for the crews.

There was a story going round that landings were to be balanced out, so that both ends were used, to prevent this slippage from happening, but in the 6 months I was there, I can recall only a few occasions when aircraft landed from the Stanley end.
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Old 19th May 2013, 15:23
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Dysonsphere,
The Think Defence website is down for maintenance \ refurbishment at the moment. Don't know when it will be back. They are on Twitter @thinkdefence
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Old 19th May 2013, 15:37
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Thank you, Dan. Good story, well told

I must admit, I had forgotten that. I left the first time just before Christmas 1982 so I guess the refurb was after that.

Last edited by Courtney Mil; 19th May 2013 at 15:39.
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Old 19th May 2013, 16:29
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I was there from early July to November 1982. The entire runway was laid with AM2, I think about September. I remember that the RE had considerable difficulty repairing the bomb crater between the Control Tower and the FiGAS hangar and the repair was delayed several days whilst they extracted a bulldozer which had been pushing hard core into the hole.

Although the RE were in charge of the laying of the AM2, any RAF personnel who could drive a 3 tonner were pressed into service to transport the AM2 from the port to the airfield.
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Old 19th May 2013, 16:33
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Thanks. Shows how much attention I paid to the runway I was using. As long as it worked, it was fine by me.
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Old 19th May 2013, 16:37
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Hopefully your lack of attention was more about the runway surface than the runway itself! Useful to give it some regard, especailly during take off and landing.
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