Abingdons Alive still & Abingdon Fayre Air event
 

I wish to hear from anyone who used to be based at RAF Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
I ( & 4 others) now organise an annual Air & Country Fayre show Charity event each May on the former base (now under Army occupation)and we have a website set up to promote our expanding event.

Any pictures you would like to see on our website from 'RAF Days' can be sent via our website to be included on our RAF Abingdon tribute page:

www.abingdonfayre.com

and go to the contacts page.
Make sure they have your copyright on them!
Our events can also be viewed, our most recent being 4th May 2003.
Abingdon is still used by the RAF in the form of 612 VGS with Vigilant motorgliders most weekends and used by Merlin / Pumas at times from nearby Benson.
Nice to keep the aviation spirit alive here!

Just a quick one to say how good the fayre was this year, keep up the good work, and you'll keep the spirit of the old place alive and well.

Cheers for the free advertising for the VGS too! :ok:

Just make sure that they don't call it "Dalton Barracks" in the NOTAMS any more.

We all know where Abingdon is, but only the Army know (or care about) the names of barracks. :rolleyes:

Anyone wishes to look at an official 'Abingdon Fayre' report, heres one by Damien Burke on our latest 2003 event held in early May:

http://www.f4aviation.co.uk/airshow0...n/abingdon.htm

On this report, you'll see an air to ground photo, it shows you what it looks like today, not much change altho across RWY 26, theres now an Army peri fence across it & so length reduced by 1300ft to now 3500ft approx, and main 18/36 (long dark coloured runway on air to ground) has been shortened to about 6000ft and both are in reasonable shape (would need to be as i got a JP in there which incidentally is the first Jet to land back at Abingdon since closure in 92).

The Control Tower is boarded up but who knows, could end up being utilised again being as airfield still used by the RAF (so seems daft to close the place really).

If any RAF personnel has photos of the US Navy F14 Tomcats, F18 Hornets, A6 Intruders, S3 Viking (yes the one that overshot the runway & ended up on peri road! - rumour has it a policeman slapped a ticket on it as on double yellow lines!!!!), EA-6B Prowler from the cancelled Battle of Britain 88 airshow (due to RAF Phantom crashing whilst practicing its routine day before), please get in touch as would like to aquire images :
contact [email protected]

What a shame that the idiot dung eaters have ruined the aerodrome. Why couldn't we have given them Machrihanish or somewhere instead?

1st Jet to land since 92....
 

Hiya Neil,
Sorry but not quite spot on on the intel there.....
The JP was the 1st to land intentionally at Abingdon since it closed, but we did have an exec jet in a couple of years back one Saturday morning (foreign pilot mistook us for Oxford). Other than that, I can't think of any others though.

Chinchilla 612 - do i know you?

Must say its good to have the resident RAF unit involved in my event each year - gives the locals a close look at the Grob and the role 612 VGS play at ABingdon.
Ever thought of fitting dummy sidewinders on the wingtips and call it the new RAF Ground attack aircraft??? - that'll confuse the buffs at my event!

Do you still have problems with tresspassers ie: Dog walkers, Army families etc on the airfield???

I tried to get a fence put up from the rear guardroom to the Mil gate on end of RWY 36 to help stop idiots crossing the active but no joy there.
Silly to have the Mil gate on the end of a runway anyway, remember the C130 Ex in 93, and was stopped by a guard cos of an outbound Herk - shall i say very exciting (scary!!) to see this thing hurtling towards you.
I guess when the Army had the gate built, they thought 'no more planes' - wrong, its been used by the Benson Helis for 10 years and what ever else ie: C130's, AAC heli's, Para dropping aircraft, AH64 Apaches over the years plus now our aircraft for my event.

You should have the authority to throw Dog walkers etc off shouldn't you being as its MOD property.

Pity RAF Benson did not take over the airfield part fully for its Heli force for training properly.

I am groundcrew on the Grobs at Benson. Just about everyone who is involved would like to relocate back to Abingdon. We are constantly bombarded with noise from those infernal Heliocopeters and they get in the way somethin` `orrid. The pilots are always complaining of having to hold off whilst a chopper on a ten mile radar approach does his stuff. By the time he gets in and clear, our man could have landed, reloaded and been lined up ready to go again. The alignment of the runways at Abingdon is better too.
London and Southampton UAS`s could be relocated there as well which should make the whole thing viable. We have to have new accommodation built for us at Benson anyway so why not build it at Abingdon and do us all a favour.

Mike W

Enjoyed the show Neil. Thank you.

Further to my message earlier re the US Navy aircraft, here is the S3 Viking that arrived for static display for the 88 'cancelled airshow' and proceeded to run of the end of RWY 36 and ended up on barrow rd!

This shot was taken on being pushed back onto the airfield side!!!

http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/abingdo...f/SAVE0044.JPG

(piccy taken from our website 'RAF Abingdon tribute page')

As you'll read on the piccy caption, i heard that the following week the S3 flew a test flight to confirm all was ok, for it to burst a tyre on landing, hence a C2 Greyhound flew in with a new tyre!

All US Navy aircraft was from the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Can anyone shed any more light on this subject??:cool:

Quality shot Neil - especially with the low flying aircraft sign in the shot like that :p

I fondly recall lazy summers in Abingdon from my youth whilst it was an RAF airfield. Excursions to 6 AEF as a cadet in the 80s and then later whilst on OUAS. I also have stayed there since it has been changed to Dalton Barracks.

To whomever was moaning about the name and stated that only 'the army cares' about the names of barracks. I suppose that RAF Mount Pleasant and RAF North Front are the names of places are they? Come to think of it isn't Innsworth not in Churchdown, Glos not actually Innsworth? Maybe you need the place names because it is too difficult to remember where they are otherwise.

Jesting aside though. It is hardly our fault that we had to take over Abingdon. Though admittedly at least it is near to one of the country's most wonderful cities. However to blame us for not maintaining it is a little harsh. We don't have quite as much money to spend as the RAF seem to have on facilities and certainly can't afford to maintain airfields that we hardly need. Real aircraft only needing an H painted on the grass and the odd nav aid would be nice.

Hmm I feel some banter incoming....:ok: :uhoh:

Vortex....

RAF Mount Pleasant - could it have been so named because the nearest high ground is called Mount Pleasant.

RAF North Front is er ... in front of the North end of the Rock.

When the Gib Regt took over the camp they changed the name to Devil's Tower Camp because there was a fortified tower was called the Devil's Tower and it is just off Devil's Tower Road. The tower was demolished during WW2 because it blocked lines of fire for the defenders.

Appear to have missed my point. The fact is that they are named after something symbolic which happens to be nearby not necessarily the place name of where they actually are.

i.e. it's is not like RAF North Front was going to get confused with all the other nearby RAF stations had it been called RAF Gibraltar or even RAF La Linea or RAF Andalucia (come on I'm asking for it now!!)

If you are allowed quite sensibly to name a station after a nearby phyiscal feature then shouldn't you have a go at the MATLOs for naming ships after places that don't even have docks ala HMS Coventry or HMS Sheffield. I mean the crew aren't from Sheffield and nor is the ship?

My point was actually that we imaginatively name our barracks from tradition and give them the name of someone, that someone somewhere thinks is important. As opposed to habitually just name it after the nearest feature.

A bit like schools or hospitals (yes Eton, Harrow and Gordonstoun are but a few exceptions) more often than not have names of people its called tradition.

As some services on the have only been around long enough to have habits instead of traditions this may well be why it is so difficult to understand. :ok:

Vortex Thingy


So why, when you lot took over RAF Hullavington, did you name it "Hullavington Barracks"?

Where's the tradition and creativity there?

Well it's like this.....

We have had so much creativity since we began naming barracks in 1661 under King Charles II that the creative namers have had to take a break. Post Operational Creative Tour leave.

To this end as an interim measure Hullavington has been given the temporary name of Hullavington Barracks. The actual reasons are two fold. It is so that the RAF personel who are still collecting equiment from the site can find it now it is in the hands of the Army and also to allow us to use your stationary and road signs for a few years.

What we'll then do is give it a name like Camilla Parker-Bowles Barracks or some such in true army tradition. :D

Or maybe we are just cso creative that we did excalt ywhat you didn't expect us to do by changing the name to Hullavingotn Barracks knowing that you'd look it up anyways not really believing that we'd actaully name a barracks after a geographical feature. (Unless it was in NI, BFG, Cyprus, etc)

LOL:ok:

Getting back to Abingdon, have a look at the piccy i have attached, any Jaguar Fanatics out there may like it.
Basically i was invited to watch a Jag undergo Engine test in the Detuner facility.
A 'Tech' asked me to look through the side window in the facility whilst the engines were run up to various stages of afterburner - heres the result!! - even tho the back end was in this facility, it was still bloody noisy!!!

http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/abingdo...atAbingdon.jpg

Jaguars in 'F' Hangar were a sight to behold, i think there were 18 at least at any one time on various states of Servicing.
'F' Hangar in its own right is hugely impressive, i went in there during my time as an RAF civvy employee to see it 'empty' just before closure - a sad sight indeed, makes you wonder why the RAF could give up such a big Hangar when, for example the 28Sqn Merlins at Benson are being shoved into various hangars because of lack of room!

Someone mentioned about the state of the airfield - i can remember in the first few years of Army occupation, many exercises took place on the airfield involving trucks etc, part of the fun was to 'run over' the existing runway lights and Traffic lights!.
So a group of us 3 years ago removed all remaining lights and traffic lights so to be a safer enviroment for the likes of the resident 612 VGS and other users.

I think a ban is in place for Army vehicles etc to not drive down the runways so to keep them FOD free although odd civilian cars do tend to blast down the strips (even when the VGS are operating!!! and do not read the keep off signs).Thats what you get when theres an entrance on the end of a runway.

prOOne - Hullavington Barracks was renamed Buckley Barracks about a month ago. Now that won't cause much confusion....

On 11 May 1857 at Delhi, India, Deputy Assistant Commissary Buckley was one of nine men who defended the Magazine for more than five hours against large numbers of mutineers, until, on the wall being scaled and there being no hope of help, they fired the Magazine. Five of the gallant band died in the explosion and one shortly afterwards, but many of the enemy were killed.

http://www.chapter-one.com/vc/award.asp?vc=146

JB

More brown job inconsistency!

Where is the pride and tradition in Waterbeach barracks? You lot took over RAF Waterbeach in 1967.

RAF Bassingbourn became an Army base in 1969, known as ATR Bassingbourn ever since! BTW the other 4 Army Training Regiments are called such exciting and inspiring things as ATR Lichfield, ATR Glencorse, ATR Pirbright and ATR Winchester, makes your heart swell with pride does the grand and historical title of Winchester.

Perhaps the pinical, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst?

PrOOne,

As you have aptly pointed out, all of theses establishments, obviously including the venerable old RMAS, are training establishments.

It should be clear that one cannot understand the traditions and comeraderie of another glorious day in the Royal Regiment of X, Army Air Corps, or any other of God's own 60 regiments until they have been taken to one of these establishments.

At these establishments we break them mentally and physically and remould them in a soldier like fashion to be finely tuned instruments of warfare and loyal warriors to the crown (Not the government. Tony, beware the revolution). Members of a family that those outside revere and respect only looking on in awe at what they could have been had they also been able enough and lucky enough accepted.

Before recruits have had the opportunity to be touched by CMSR or worse (RMAS) they could not possibly have the breadth of knowledge and parallelism of thought required to understand the concepts outlined in my last post and thus to give them a onetime shot at the title we let the names of training establishments reflect geographical locations so that they can find them and then and only then when we have them where we want them we expand their minds and show them their true selves and the real world.

Having been thus enlightened we let them back into the realm of other people knowing that they will not reveal the age old secrets of how they know where these darned hard to find barracks are:ok:

But dear Vortex Ringy Thingy,

Waterbeach is very much operatonal, has been since you marched in during 1967, dont the RE count?

As for your airfields............................

Royal Air Force Station Wattisham, you have renamed "Wattisham Airfield"

Royal Air Force Dishforth you have renamed "Dishforth Airfield"

Royal Air Force Netheravon is now "Netheravon Camp" (is there a story behind that?)

Dont the AAC need tradition and spirit and history?

I have a vague recollection that RAF Stations were named after the nearest railway station....

...seems logical seeing as so many have had the Beeching treatment.

Ah......sunny Abingdon.

Many a liver died in the bar there when I was but a young London UAS stude starting out on the rocky road to alcoholic oblivion/glorious career as RAF aviator (one in the same really).

I would wax lyrical with tales of UAS derring do but sadly all I have are blurred memories of falling off mantlepieces, singing appalling songs under the guidance of NATOs smallest and drunkest CFI and being given expert instruction in all matters of aviation by a young(er) Mr BEagle whilst at the same time trying not to relaunch the 2 bottles of port from the previous night.
:yuk:
Ah......happy days. Or so I'm led to believe.....


Gainsey, I believe that was the case although "RAF Rio Gallegos" didn't last long as it was felt that "RAF Mount Pleasant" would be more diplomatically acceptable ;)


:ok:

Ah yes the Army Air Corps problem. Well that's a simple one to answer. As you well know there are 7 Army Air Corps Regiments in the present ORBAT.

1 Regt AAC Princes Royal Barracks Gutersloh
2 (Trg) Regt AAC AAC Middle Wallop
3 Regt AAC AAC Wattisham
4 Regt AAC AAC Wattisham
5 Regt AAC RAF Aldergrove
7 (V) Regt AAC Netheravon Camp
9 Regt AAC AAC Dishforth

These regiments are based as above. Now the excpetions to the rule are obviously 1 Regt due to being in Germany and 5 Regt due to sharing with 230 Grrrr and 72 Sqns if they are still there (I believe they have departed now). Netheravon well that was called camp after the fact that the Glider Pilot Regt formed their for their parts in Market Garden and I believe Overlord and there were so many people that they had to form a tented camp their prior to deployment.

As for why the British AAC regiments are named after thier geographical locations well as providers of JET A1 to all rotary be it Green, Navy or light blue they need to be easily found by those who haven't been touched by CMSR or RMAS as such, and as explained in last post they need to be able to be found by you.

Further as the AAC is relatively new to Army Orbat (not as an organization but as independent regiments with their own 'sole owner' barracks) they found themsleves since 1969 and 1990 SDRs having to occupy ex RAF bases where the infrastructure was already in place.

Due to this infrastructure already being in place the nav aids and ATS aids were already listed and placed on aeronautical charts and listed in AIPs worldwide.

Thus we thought that to change the name of these stations would confuse not only the RAF but also GA who also use the aids.

As for the RE at Waterbeach well Sappers have always done their own thing haven't they. I mean if you go around the battlefield firing rocket propelled explosive hoses, with a few tonnes of C4, in named after your old man, then people will probably let you call your barracks whatever you want:O

Hope this explains:ok: :ok: :ok:

Stoppers, like it!
Someone once told me that the Italian base, Gioa di Colle translates roughly as Mount Pleasant, can't vouch for that as my knowledge of Italian is limited to ordering pizza. Anyway both are dumps. You still in the sandpit?

Ah yes, dear Stoppers! Abingdon was indeed a glorious era when you were but a lad! The smallest, smelliest and drunkest CFI in NATO, the delightful Boss Hog in charge and the rest of the gang much enjoyed attempting to teach you the delights of aviation!

But not a wise move on Fridays after you'd been on the pop (Timmy specials) all Thursday night at THQ! You were always destined to be a truckie, I guess, due to your dislike of 'aero-bation' as you decribed aeros!

Incidentally, do the dung-eaters still call MPA 'Mount Pleasant Camp' rather than RAF Mount Pleasant? "Jacket and tie after 1900 in Mess if you don't mind, old man - our wedgiment does have standards" Who's that supposed to impress - the bleeding penguins?

Prefer "Base Aerea Gringo, Islas Malvinas" myself.

....and remember the Aerolineas Argentinas spoof we played on the Tic-Toc? Twenty Five to Three didn't appreciate the joke!

BUT...........................

Dear Vortex Rinky Dinky Thingy


They are NOT called AAC Wattisham and AAC Dishforth, are they, no! They are Called Wattsham Airfield and Dishforth Airfield.

Gutersloh went from RAF Gutersloh to Princess Royal barracks because the AAC only use a damp dirty corner, ordinary brown jobs people the rest.

Does anyone call Middle Wallop anything?

Netheravon Camp? Hhmmm....................

Why don't these places have nice stirring titles named after the great and the dead?

Compulsory DJs I say
 

Beags,

You say 'who are standards meant to impress'. Well they aren't meant to impress anyone. My understanding was that they are meant to continue to support the values and standards of the very fabric of our service so that we can indeed hold our heads higher than Joe Public. Because if we are not different from everyone else with a morally higher code then should we really be charged with the ability to dispense lethal force and /or keep the peace across the world.

Maybe we should just have an all ranks cookhouse, that would give the guys something to aspire to.

Knowing that some day they can go absolutely nowhere different.

Knowing that all they get is more pay (not a lot more) but shed loads more responsibility but really we are all the same people from the same background. Maybe in crabland.

We don't work at Microsoft we have all taken the Queens or Kings shilling and as such have asked to be counted as different and have differing standards. Personally It should be compulsory to wear a suit not just shirt, jacket and tie, at all time in all public room except at weekends when hunting or country attire should be allowable. Further there should be Black tie every thursday and mess kit for every function.

Those who just want to get what they want but want to put nothing into it are just civvies in uniform. You take the job these are the rules.

Oh and one for prOOne. I have just explained the reason why we didn't change the name of the AAC stations and further yes they are called AAC X or maybe we have just got all the letterheads wrong and the COs doesn't actually know the address of the barracks that he commands.

Come on:ok: :ok: :ok:

Good grief!

...and I suppose that you have the local peasants run about so that you can practise your pig-stickin' skills as well?

If you want to dwess up in your umpty-umpth Queen's own chinless pwancers' Quality Street kit, feel fwee. We Crabs will probably mistake you for either an Argentinian bandmaster, king of an obscure corner of Africa - or the doorman!;) But do you seriously expect people to dress up in the DeathStar at Base Aerea Gringo as though they were in m' club in Town? What's wrong with smart casual.

Do you really go a-fox-murderin'? What do they taste like? Yoiks, hulloooo - there's another of the hen killin' villains - tally ho!!

March Ridge
 

Back in 1982, during the Falklands conflict but before white mens' feet had been planted on the beach at San Carlos, there was a meeting of three wise men in a large disused attic in the Old War Office Building in Whitehall. A map of East Falkland, to the largest scale obtainable from OS, was spread out on the floor. The three were a Sapper Colonel, who had started out as a member of the old RAF Airfield Construction Branch, a young Sapper Major, who was a real civil engineering whizz, and myself armed with all the civil criteria, in terms of terrain clearances on approaches, pavement strengths etc. and with Met statistics from Bracknell. It had been agreed after a long tussle with the RAF (who thought they were going to have to pay for it) that it would be quicker and cheaper to develop a new strategic airfield (which Maggie had ordained) than to try to extend and strengthen the Port Stanley strip while operations were in progress. Our task was to select the six most promising sites to which a Sapper survey team would be dispatched once the Argies had been kicked out. Civil criteria were used because it was forseen that civil aircraft would be used for rapid reinforcement operations and for tourism.

And so it came to pass. The "first choice" site, closest to Port Stanley, close to a potential deep water anchorage for tankers and supply, and where the peat was not too boggy along a suitable runway alignment, lay along a feature shown on the OS map as "March Ridge". And so the airfield and barracks complex, was called March Ridge all through the surveys and design phase by the Engineer-in-Chief and the Hydrographer General. The original concept was for the Sappers to build it, but they wisely decided that it was too big a job for their resources. So a civilian consortium was put together and the Sappers dropped out of the project. At some time after that it was renamed, presumably by the Air Staff, RAF Mount Pleasant. Sounded sexier, I suppose, and no snide references to the "March Hare".

And which of the 3 wise men cocked up the rainfall figures? As a result of being given the annual rainfall figure in response to their request for the monthly one, the road from Base Aerea Gringo to Stanley has some really impressive monsoon drains some 12 times the required size!

Or was that just an early example of being 'Bennied'?

Vortex watsit,

It doesn't make any sense whatsoever to have an airfield marked on aviation charts with the original and well-known name "Abingdon" but then to place a NOTAM request for pilots to avoid the place but calling it "Dalton Barracks, Oxfordshire" instead.

The point I was making, which you perhaps couldn't see, was that pilots planning a flight do NOT know (or even care) where a barracks is. I for one am not in the habit of making a ground recce of my proposed route before I fly it.....

Call 'em what you like for Landrovers and tanks. :rolleyes:

And yes, I know the lat and long are there but it's far better to make it obvious what the requested avoid actually is based on. And then we can all jump to the dozens of other important NOTAMS warning about birds of prey that might be flying to and from kites etc. :E

With regard to the naming of RAF stations by the nearest railway station. They had to break the tradition with RAF Odiham; the nearest one is HOOK station.

Can we say RAF HOOK? :mad:

Civilian Jet
 

Hello Chinchilla.612 & Neil

The civilian business jet that landed at Abingdon was a Citation Excel, VP-CNM owned by Mr Nigel Mansell.

Landed on rwy 18 at 08.26hrs on 22.04.00.

I was shocked because I was exercising my dog on the airfield at the time.

ABN 99

And this is our fault how?
 

Errm then tell the chaps who write the NOTAMs which aint the army!!!:ok: :ok:

Vortex W,

"And this is our fault how".

Chips with everything? I addressed my request to the organiser of the airshow in a light hearted way. I didn't actually say who's fault it was, so you can put your safety catch back on.

I did ring the AIS number on one occasion to point out the discrepancy but the chap I spoke to said he only published what he was asked. Next time a similar NOTAM was issued it still said Dalton Barracks. :hmm:

This thread has now possibly holds the PPRuNe record for having gone furthest off topic. Must go now, I just got another exciting encyclopedia of army history for my birthday and I can't wait to read it. ;)

March Ridge
 

Must have been I, BEagle. Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! I probably did it after a long lunchtime visit to the Belgrano (Tatershall Castle)

"This thread has now possibly holds the PPRuNe record for having gone furthest off topic"...

Just to push it a bit further, ABN99, what type of dog?:)

Interesting reading all your comments re why is it named this & that.

I know for my Abingdon Fayre events (the mini airshow / Country Fayre event) i put "Abingdon Airfield" on the Sheets i send into AUS although i do recollect very recently on a mil chart at Benson seeing Abingdon also marked as Dalton Barracks.

Anyone who owns a nice plane by the way and wishes to fly into Abingdon for my Abingdon Fayre on 2 May 2004, e-mail me, always on the lookout for nice & interesting aircraft types, but remember it PPR only so if you don't get in touch, you aint coming!!!
E-mail: [email protected]

To any ex Abingdon Flying Squadrons and units ie; 47sqn, Oxford & London UAS, 6 AEF, 1 PTS, Jag major servicing flight,Hawk Major servicing flight, Aircraft Salvage & Transportation Flight, Repair & Salvage Squadron, 1 PTS, JATE, Exhibition flight - if any of these units wish to display what they do ie: by means of an aircraft, display stand etc - please get in touch late 2003/ early 2004 to be part of the 5th annual Abingdon Fayre Charity event at the airfield (web address on page 1 or contact: [email protected]), we would dearly love to have back a contribution from any of the above units that were here in the RAF days.

Many thanks...

Then please why is the Asylum Seekers Reception Centre at the former Royal Air Force Oakington signposted on/off the A14 as "Oakington Barracks"????

Ok, enough of the why is this & that is named this & that thanks people, maybe why not start another topic on it as i am trying to get proper info on Abingdon, after all hence the original first post on it.