...occasional research level UAV testing. There was nothing else happening on a Monday, after all....

Bristol UAS moved to Colerne long before the Tutor came in. In fact they were at Hullavington before that.

Any details on that?

BUAS moved from Filton to Hullavington in March 1992 before moving to Colerne in 1993.

At that time they were operating the Bulldog TMk1, they didn't get the Tutor until October 2000.

There's plenty of room at LEA, although the buzzy Grobs might annoy the actorrrrrs in hangar 1??
It's waiting an EASA operating licence then I guess the RAF could put back all the stuff it ripped out.....

If Linton closed, there would be no need to keep Topcliffe open, and I am sure the Army would love to get their hands on all the real estate that is the airfield at Topcliffe.

Civil/military airfields
 

I find it very hard so see the problems with combined military & civil airfields, it's quite common in other parts of the world, I often stopped to refuel my light aircraft in Tours in the middle of France and found myself in the circuit with French military fast jets.

With good airmanship and an open mind to operational procedures most types of aircraft operations can be safely integrated, those who have problems with this are usually those who have very little experience outside one very narrow branch of aviation.

Civil/military airfields can result in cost savings a for all and should be considered as a way to make the defence budget go further.

The problem is that some/most of the pilots you are talking about integrating would be UAS and EFT students. The ones who have yet to properly develop a robust level of airmanship and have 'very little experience', as you put it...

DF

That never stopped BUAS from operating perfectly safely at Filton with Concorde in the circuit!

True, but I wasn't around them so can't compare to today. All I will say is that judging by the stories and dits told in various crew rooms (and listed in threads on here) by those that were there, safety is viewed much differently today. Things that happened then simply wouldn't be tolerated as ALARP or considered safe these days.

Safety, how it's viewed and managed has moved on, despite what the 'when I was on (insert pre-90's type)' brigade on Pprune will admit to!

BUAS already serves as the Air Squadron for Exeter University alongside UWE, Bristol, Bath and Plymouth!! University Air Squadrons - BUAS Events

YUAS cover the following - Leeds College of Music, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds Trinity University, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Bradford, The University of Huddersfield, The University of Hull, The University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, The University of York, York St John University
University Air Squadrons - YUAS How to Join

UWE


Ah yes, the Early Larning Centre :}

So how do you figure YUAS managed to operate perfectly safely at Finningley when there were Dominies, Jetstreams, Hawks, and Tucanos also operating there. Indeed at the time Finningley was the busiest Military field in the UK and far busier than many provincial airports.

By flying mostly at weekends when everything else was in the hanger?

No problem! After all, these days there's nothing bigger than this operating from Donny:

That thing is amazing.

I recall seeing it crossing in front of me on airways at the Scunthorpe RVC years back

I'm sure it wouldn't take long to trim the lawn to recreate 02L and 20R aka 'The Grass'.


Might take a bit longer to rebuild Filton Block though......

Reflecting my days as a YUAS student in the early 90s, I recall I managed to "operate perfectly safely" in a busy circuit by being blissfully unaware of almost everything going on around me.........

I was once subject to a CFS check sortie during my time on YUAS at Finningley.....returning to the circuit, we coincided with the Dominie morning wave recovery and the JP recovery resulting in getting one circuit (final landing) in 45minutes circling between 1,000 and 2,000 ft at the whim of ATC...however, most of our flying was at a weekend which tended to avoid the other military traffic!

Linton wont be closing anytime soon ;)