RAF Stations (past and Present) - Biggest, Best and Bonnyist??
 

Having lived/served at Seletar, Bruggen, Khormaksar, Headley Court, Chivenor, West Raynham, and Aldergrove to name but a few, was wondering what the candidates would be. Mine?

Biggest - Khormaksar/Seletar
Best - Bruggen
Bonnieist - Headley Court

Discuss?

Best - Aldergrove early nineties when the shooting match was still on. 230 V 72 - you had to be there.

Best: Has got to be Gutersloh - late 70s to early 80s (puffer jet years). There was a whole thread on it here recently.

Headley Court: Most heart warming and genuine. Staff were (presumably still are) utterly superb and completely dedicated.

A few more which spring to mind.

Akr: Most heart wrenching to leave.
Spadeadam: Most interesting.
Hullavington: Sleepiest.
Kinloss: Most Scottish.
Witt: Best Friday night (the Mally!).
Bruggen: Most forgetable.

No competition - Changi. The RAF's very own Hawaii. :ok:

I should think Mount Batten must have been pretty good, so long as you were not attending a survival course....

Sleepier than Swanton Morley? Blimey...

I supose most units get sleepy as they wind down; I found it bloody disturbing visiting places like Church Fenton with now't but the UAS there, overgrown and ghost-townly. I suppose West Malling was similar when I did my BGT there, but not having spent so much time on living stns, it didn't really strike me so much.

Best: Brawdy - Great flying, partying etc
Friendliest: Church Fenton - Small, everyone knows everyone
Biggest: Finningley - So many people, so many good times, so many slappers
Worst: Coningsby - Arse end of no-where
Scruffiest: N Luffenham - Just a mess
Fattest: Lyneham - Great food, great jollies, great holding post
Most bollockingest: Bentley Priory - nice AVM, nice carpet, not nice words
Finalest: Leeming - :(

Leeming was what you made of it, though. Five months of fun when I went there in 79 on RN EFTS. Lock-ins at pubs every Friday and Saturday night, totty at Ripon Teacher Training College (and the guys from Linton were no competition :ok:), great countryside for a Sunday lunchtime pub crawl.

We left the Horse and Jockey, (just down the A1) after we took the groundcrew out for the end of course p!ss-up, at 08.30 am :E

There are those who knew Changi in the '60s - and those who didn't ;)
(Hope this is readable.)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2..._OF_CHANGI.jpg

Biggest(?) - RAF Akrotiri

Best - RAF Eastleigh, or RAF Laarbruch in the early 70s

Gan was ok for stopovers.

Boring after more than a couple of days though.

First - St Athan
Best Tour - Binbrook (XI Lightnings)
Bleakest - Binbrook in winter
Worst visited - Marham and Conningsby
Most spoiled - Wyton - Used to great in the Canberra days on Tatty Ton
Longest Tour - Lyneham
Biggest - Akrotiri or MPA

Biggest - Akrotiri - Also quite a bit of fun
Best Job - Lyneham
Best Social ;) - Finningley
Worst - Halton

BUT by far and above the best all round, and you can only say this if you were there as permanent staff was:

RAF(U) GOOSE BAY

Biggest ... Tengah, late 60s. 1 x Lightning, [+ 1 x Javelin for a while] 2 x Canberra, 1 x Hunter, Flt of Single Pioneer ... plus nascent Singapore AF, endless visiting RAAF Mirage [we had 2 sqns for months while Butterworth resurfaced], endless visiting AT/AAR ...

Best ... Tengah. Infinitely superior to Changi in every way, for a start :)

Bonniest ... Sopley. All Nissen huts and cosy and small and friendly and full of local service WRAF who were cosy and small and friendly as well.

Worst ... West Drayton. In every conceivable respect.

Biggest (and my best anyway) Akrotiri, 70-72, probably the busiest then too, 365/24.

Most soul destroying, Saint Athan, see look you.

Most carefree in UK, Boulmer.

A tad tedious, Honington. Always seemed to be on a TacEval, MiniVal, SomebloodyVal or other.

Worst:
Aldergrove/Bessbrook

Best:
Wildenrath - late 80s early 90s watching Phantoms from the Runway Caravan

Can't believe Chivenor hasn't had a mention as the best. "Heaven in Devon".

But the nightlife (or was it wildlife?) was better at Finnington Robin hood

Have to offer Leconfield when 19 and 92 were there. Even the Cpl in the General Office welcomed you on arrival and meant it.

Great Station morale and unity with everyone working together.

Best - Coltishall: brilliant camaraderie, beautiful area, great flying, a real taste of what the RAF was all about.

Worst - High Wycombe .... where shall I start.......