Church Fenton

[Army Mover]

I guess the fate of Church Fenton was sealed when they put a brand new "RAF Church Fenton" sign off the old A1 at Brotherton a few months ago. Local rumour mill is that new houses will be going up in the next 5 years.

[ShyTorque]

At least the folks living in those new houses will get a good view of HS2....

[Stendec5]

Why "vitriol?" Expressing an opinion forcefully perhaps but what's wrong with that?
My point was that with £11,000,000,000 lavished on "foreign aid" and I believe
£50,000,000 per DAY handed over to the so-called "EU" (you work it out) it is as I mentioned in my previous post, NOT a question of money.
If those billions were directed inwards Britain's military capability could be maintained at a respectable level AND the crumbling infrastructure of the nation might also be reversed.
Why do you keep droning on about Gordon Brown? Red Dave has been in power for over three years now. Using their own figures he must have handed over 3 x £11,000,000,000 = £33,000,000,000 in "foreign aid" on top of the additional billions he;s handed over to the so-called "EU". With that kind of money Britain's armed forces should have all they need...and deserve.

[Sir George Cayley]

Does anyone else think CF would have made a better choice than Yeadon?

Looking now at the adjacent rail line and reasonably close M1/A1 it makes me think it was a missed opportunity just like Burtonwood in place of Ringway and Speke.

SGC

[Dave Wilson]

Does anyone else think CF would have made a better choice than Yeadon?

Runway at Yeadon 400 or so metres longer?

[1.3VStall]

DW, Yeadon was a lot shorter before they extended it - twice!

[N707ZS]

I went on what was probably the last visit to Church Fenton in late November. There were half a dozen grobs still active and the based jet provosts and other vintage aircraft were getting ready to move over to Linton.

The ILS was due to be dug up and moved to Topcliffe.

There was some hope that the airfield might be developed into a civilian airfield with development being effected by listed areas.

[clicker]

Strange how some things come home to you but after I first saw this post I decided to bring my personal radio freq list up to date (still wip).

It was only after I deleted various airfields, including Church Fenton and then deleted various stud list entries for disbanded units that I noticed how much has gone. And that's only after a few months of neglect. The database is quite a bit smaller now.

Gone are the days of being able to stuff in a few LJAO freqs and get a few of you folks going hither and dither. In fact some freqs I've not heard for a while its gone that quiet at times, mind you living in the SE is not quite the best place for military traffic.

That said I'll get back to the boxes and see what gaps I can fill in. You never know I might catch something similar to a Harrier deployment a few years ago where the conversation caught was about the best place to put the sarnies without them getting too hot or too cold. Important stuff first eh?

[ShotOne]

Nothing wrong with a bit of vitriol, properly directed stendec. In what you say about foreign aid I can only agree, particularly as much of it seems to get spent less than wisely. As for EU, "red" Dave is the only politico likely to deliver a vote on the issue.

But if you just want rows and rows of shiny jet fighters like 1980, dream on.

[Roland Pulfrew]

RAF Church Fenton; probably the friendliest station I ever served on. Criminal that it is closing and more criminal that it has been allowed to go the way that it has. It is/was the best example of a 1930s fighter airfield left in the country think Bicester but with a couple of "modern" buildings). For those wondering, all the married quarters were sold off in the late 90s; when I drove past a month or two ago all were looking well cared for. The bit that is up for sale/sold for a housing development is the old Officers' Mess site. Plans and a planning app for 65 houses shoe-horned into the area shown in the Google Maps shot below



A large chunk of the site is/was also up for sale is part of the technical site which comprised the old Sgts' Mess, the Airmans' Club and all of the accommodation blocks. The bit that was kept for the EFT units, YUAS, 9 AEF and the ATC unit was effectively all of the waterfront, supply (as overspill for L-o-O) and the old SHQ; other bits such as Stn workshops, MT, the church were inside the wire but derelict. On my last visit it was sad to see the the pre-war parachute packing/store building had joined the list of recent demolitions.

YUAS and 9 AEF have moved to Linton (one wonders how long for given the rumours surrounding the disastrous MFTS programme), not sure what has happened to the ATC Sqn though.

[ShotOne]

PS. Totally agree on cf being better than Yeadon which is a horrid place to try to land big metal when it's windy. Unfortunately CF was spoken for at the time the decisions were taken.

[Roland Pulfrew]

And of course you can't really extend the runways at Fenton without destroying any number of villages, rerouting main railway lines and diverting a few roads. Actually road access to Fenton isn't exactly easy nowadays and was much more difficult until they built the new section of the A1. Mind you, none of this seems to be an issue for Heathrow and Stanstead (apparently).

[Failed_Scopie]

I was one of the fortunate students on YUAS in recent years able to enjoy the airfield before it was closed. Got about 70 hours on the Tutor there with some very good instructors. I joined in 2009 and after the best three years of my life went into civ street after the pilot intake for several years had been 0. Never mind, hoping to be flying for a different sort of flag carrier soon.

What an absolute waste of talent! I hope that your new choice of career works out for you...

[thrusts a must]

yeadon

SGC

Yeadon was bought from Messrs Whitely and Dawson by Leeds and Bradford city councils. CF and other propositions e.g. to build N of the chevin were always blocked by Bradford. Before Cat 3 I do recall the odd occasion when LBA got diversions from Man, as it poked out of the fog.

Nobody asked the drivers

[davski]

Roland Pulfrew: The ATC Squadron are staying put, their building and a sizable chunk of concrete has been fenced off.

[Finningley Boy]

I was there as a child in the 60s and 70s for the SSAFA Air Displays, I first saw the Red Arrows there in 1965, I also seem to recall a magenta painted fighter with red cheat lines? Can't recall what it was as I was so young, but I clearly remember it, the mind may play tricks now but I'd put money on it being an F-86 Sabre even though I've never seen any photos of such a beast since but imagine there would be given how unique it would be. I also recall the Reds arriving in 1973 and 1976 each time pretty spectacular with the team all over the public enclosure dowsing one and all in display smoke, on one occasion I felt the need to not so much duck as throw myself on the grass as one nose light seemed to point at me at considerable speed, between the cars.

I also flew from there as an Air Cadet in 1975 in a Chipmunk of 9 AEF.

FB

[ShotOne]

Diversions from MAN?? LBA poking INTO fog very much more common than tother way round!

[Stendec5]

I was around at the time and despite Maggie's efforts, there were no rows of shiny jets all lined up. Far from it. I recall a headline from the late 70s (possibly Express or Fail) announcing that the RAF had just 78 fighters to defend the UK.
I was simply making the point that the money IS there, it's just that these out of touch public-school disasters would prefer to spend it anywhere but HERE.
I read today that "we" send £27,000,000 in "aid" to CHINA, whilst British troops still have questionable gear in Afganistan...due to "lack of money."

[BEagle]

...given the rumours surrounding the disastrous MFTS programme...

Interesting - do tell!

I don't normally go in for schadenfreude, but would certainly make an exception for the UTTER bolleaux of MFTS!

[Toadstool]

I don't normally go in for schadenfreude, but would certainly make an exception for the UTTER bolleaux of MFTS!

Interesting. Why is it you delight in what you say is the utter bolleaux of the MFTS programme? Those that are around, and have been involved in combat operations for quite a while, still want a programme that fits for the new roles, types etc that are still around and will be in the future. We recognise that in the smaller forces that we have now, we have to make do with what we have. We may not like it, but that is the reality of the here and now, rather than living in the past. As a former member of the RAF, and presumably someone who has an interest of HM forces, why do you delight in something going wrong?

I presume it is because you have some magical solution that fits in with the economic and military situation in which we find ourselves in. In that case, as a respected former member, perhaps you could come up with the ideal solution which would obviously be far better than those who have an understanding of the current capabilities and financial situation.

I apologise if this seems a little harsh, but I am starting to get slightly annoyed at those highly respected former members who seem to have no grasp whatsoever of the current economic and military predicament in which we find ourselves in. In fact, the world geo-politial situation has changed to such an extent that to have a force designed to oppose the Red Army coming across the Inner German Border is now seemed as an anachronism. Hence the first part of the cuts as Options For Change and subsequent defence reviews. Both you and I may not agree this but, instead of lamenting the current state of training, we should instead be lauding the fact that as a force we have been acquitting ourselves quite well and will be able to train for that in the future. I would like to think that we are quite adaptable and could change our policy in the future. I am of course a glass half full sort of person.