Lets have a small cheer at least - good news
 

Both a little noticed announcement in the Budget and a little, or even overlooked, article in today's Telegraph:


Our heroic airmen must not be forgotten - Telegraph


Let's have a small cheer at least.

That is great news!:D

Kudos to them - for a change.

A small cheer, yes. But how about the importance of having British scientists being involved in developing Jets today? Not just F-35. Maybe Eurofighter is the end of the line.

Be nice if someone did something with all the historic buildings that make up the rest of the former RAF camp around the Memorial Chapel at Biggin Hill. Its a crying shame to see it slowly decay.

We don't get much favourable publicity, so every little helps !

Nice 1/1 Airfix model of a Hurricane. (Pity we scrapped all the real ones).

Very worthy recipients of public money indeed. How about adding the upkeep of the Bomber Command Memorial to the list ? :ok:

D.

Someone remind me, isn't there a WW1 camp in the SE being restored? Ideal oppo was last year, if it needed cash.

Danny42C - Ex authentic Biggin Hill Hurrricane now in the RAF Museum at Cosford and on display, the Spitfire has not fared so well as it is in store at Stafford in the RAFM Reserve collection held as a possible swap.

Al, that is Stow Marie's, and yes they got funding to build hangarage.

Interesting story, though a tad out of date as the Woodford hangars are being demolished as we speak.

:ok:

Redevelopment plan up there still in limbo I hear. Crazy.

Al, see

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RETbBCNRzpU

I suppose if it's gone, it's gone, so the planners cannot say it needs to stay

Just like its Nimrods, Harrier and TSR.

It worries me that the Royal Air Force encourages the belief that it should be best remembered for preventing the Luftwaffe gaining Air Superiority over Southern England and thus keeping us in the war. It should be better remembered for helping us win that war, be it in the Atlantic, the Western Desert, SE Asia, or the skies over the Third Reich. You don't win wars by defensive but by offensive action.

The Battle of Britain meant salvation, but the Battle of Germany meant Victory. Stowe Marie gets help because it defended us against the Zeppelins, Bicester didn't because it provided crews to bomb Germany. Time we squared off to the clerics (one in Leicester today worked Dresden into a sermon on Richard III!) and reminded them that you fight wars to win, and to win them ASAP. Otherwise don't fight them at all, including solely defensive battles.

Nicely put, Chuggers.

Chugalug,

Amen to that.

D.

Good news for St George's Chapel. I wonder how much of it was due to this petition campaign? http://www.pprune.org/military-aviat...ggin-hill.html

I can't help feeling that Stow Maries is no longer in Govt hands and so why should we be spending public money on those WWI airfields not in Govt and RAF hands? Both Upavon (Trenchard Lines) and RAF Halton pre-date WWI and their airfield infrastructure is slowly falling to bits thanks to DIO. Why not preserve these early WWI heritage sites with Govt money instead? RAF Halton even has its own set of preserved trenches and so can tell the story of land and air warfare from WWI.

LJ :hmm:

Halton during WWI:
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/coll...EEN/D00061.JPG

Upavon during WWI:
http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib...362194/mid.jpg

I am privileged to fly at Halton as a member of the RAF flying club there and I don't think the situation is quite that bad. The airfield is in regular use by RAF Gliding and Soaring Association, RAF Halton Aeroplane Club, RAF Halton Microlight Club and and ATC Volunteer Gliding School (if they ever sort the mess of privatised maintenance). It is also used for training by the transport helicopter squadrons. The airfield itself (not the same one as 1913, that is now the parade ground) is in beautiful condition and has over very recent times had drainage, fuel farm and other improvements. There is an excellent and improving museum on the main site and the trenches are preserved. The old hangars are a bit tatty but serviceable, I was in "ours" only yesterday for our annual aeroplane polishing morning while the airfield is fertilised by hundreds of local horses there for their annual pony club event around the airfield.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Joe FBS

Your 'serviceable' hangars will be lucky if they have 5 years in them. They are F Type Seaplane Sheds that are 94 years old and have not had any pro-active husbandry for 20 years since the Apprentices left in 1993 - only 'mend and make do'. The last time I looked the roofs had nearly rusted through, only a few of the doors are still safe for everyday use, the concrete/tarmac outside is breaking up and the so-called "fuel farm" was full of weeds. In my opinion it won't take long until your club has no hangar at all at the current rate of deterioration. I suggest that you remove your rose-tinted specs and look a bit closer! :8

The first recorded landing on the current airfield at RFC Halton Park was in 1916 - prior to that it was the camp site for soldiers training in trench warfare (hence the restored trenches - which started being restored again recently (no thanks to DIO) as a Pioneer Regt have kindly stepped in and given their time). I think Stow Maries started around the same time in 1916? But as you say, Halton had aircraft landing on the field on what is now Maitland Parade Square from 1913 that predates Stow Maries and any other airfield in the RAF (only Upavon in Army hands predates this as an in service airfield).

As for Upavon, they let the old World War I wooden huts fall into such disrepair that they had to be demolished - lost forever. At least the old Mess, that is 1915 vintage has been preserved. Prior to the RAF's deprature it was the oldest RAF Officers' Mess in use. The Trenchard Museum at Upavon is now located at RAF Halton. The only flying at Upavon is now 622 VGS and the Army's Wyvern Gliding Club. It is likely to slowly decay away as the Army aren't that interested in their RFC heritage (rightly so, as it was not their main effort).

So when public money (£1.3m) is spent on a privately owned WWI airfield (Stow Maries) and there are one's in public service that should be preserved (IMHO), and Upavon and Halton are good examples of this, then I can't help feeling that private ventures should not get public monies over heritage projects in public hands.

LJ :hmm:

I notice without getting dragged into the spending of public money that Stowe Maries is landable. Anyone been and is it worth dropping in?

Was at Halton a couple of years ago and was quite surprised myself at the state of the hangers and apron.

Leon and Joe: Prune fly in, April 19th, be there or be square.