Easy Street wrote...
Google Earth must be out of date then as I can only see 2 'small' pans at Marham (one with spots for 14 aircaft and the other with spots for 9)! OK, so it also has 2 HAS sites with space for 12 aircraft each.

Lossie also has 2 pans with spots for 13 and 8 aircraft on the near side. But, Lossie also has a pan with spots for 32 aircraft on the far side as well as the 2 HAS sites with space for 9 aircraft each.

Total current marked aircraft spots at Marham = 47. Total current marked aircraft spots at Lossie = 71.

Lossie is also close to low flying training areas, weapons ranges, will be the most northerly military airfield left in the UK, etc, etc, etc. So it is almost guaranteed that the GR4 base to be closed will be.....

They managed 2 Sqns on the nth side at Marham previously, as stated earlier. And each HAS site currently holds 2 Sqns, with 8 ac each each. So whilst there is more space at Lossie, there is enough space at Marham and you wouldn't have to reloacte/recruit 300+ civvie engineers/management plus 4 hangars full of specialist equipment. And don't overestimate the draw of low flying - somewhat of a legacy pastime atm I fear, and we have 2 decent A-G ranges down here in Ingerland, and the bulk of the Army is a lot closer, as is civilisation, and it's warmer, and.....:p

They're always looking for places to stick wind farms, and with no airfield radars to worry about...

I can't see the logic in trying to sueeze every Tornado unit onto one base, either Lossiemouth or Marham. They've had their Strategic/Piggy Bank review! They shouldn't try to do something daft like try and get upwards of a 100 Tonkas at anyone airfield in the UK. I imagine they should leave everything as it is for now. When the fourth Tiffy sqn stands up at Leuchars, I reckon that's when the next GR4 sqn will bid adeiu to you and you and you and you and you!!! Tum titty tum tum tum tum tum, tum titty tum tum tum.

This is when the question poking everything left into one cupboard at Marham for e.g. will arise.:)

FB

Well, all our transport assets will be at BZN soon enough, so there's a precedent.

How does that help the locals, though? Could we employ them in giant hamster wheels to keep the generators turning on still-air days? That would certainly help the Scottish government improve their health and obesity stats...

They'll need people to fix 'em. Damn things keep breaking down by many accounts.

Oh, do try not to take everything so seriously.

Bearing in mind the MP for Moray being SNP, and the fact that Scotland is hardly a CONDEM stronghold I don't think they will worrying too much about votes up there. Especially with Norfolk being a CONDEM stronghold.

I wonder if one of the reasons why the St.Athan Training Academy was binned was due to it being in a Labour stronghold and our friend Mr Hain (MP for Neath) championed the campaign to move it there.

Not that politico's would be so childish?

now before you all yell beadwindow - Marham holds the magic boxes to hold the sunshine toys - at least according to wikilies.........

Does lossie??

Thats fine except the RAF doesn't have any box's of sunshine anymore, no need for beadwindow all open source.

I think possibly yes, remember it was the initial home of the Buccaneer. First under the F.A.A. then the R.A.F.

Of course that doesn't mean they store the WE177s there necessarily. But at the same time I thin it is a mute point as far as Marham is concerned. If we are to get back in the business of air-launched nuclear weapons again, I think the concentration will be more on the F35C?!?

FB:E

If any Army units, on return from Germany presumably, are sent to Moray where will they go to train and exercise? Otterburn? If I recall we did have Paratroops based in Colchester and the aircraft they used to jump out of in Wiltshire which wasn't very clever!

I would presume that any drawdown of the GR4 fleet to 6 Sqns would not take place until next year anyway, and if MR was chosen as the only base, LM could stay open for several years, the same way St Mawgan did in the south-west, for JMCs etc. That would be enough to cover any gap if/until the army expressed an interest.