Lunch was not readily available at Manston so it was as well that sandwiches were carried, to be eaten in the sunshine on a terrace outside the GA terminal. 115 lt of fuel was uplifted to give full tanks. METARS and TAFS were checked to confirm suitable conditions remained. Departure was from runway 28 at 1240 with Ian in command. A left turn to set course from the overhead facilitated the necessary photos.
The initial track at 2400’ headed for Canvey Island and then towards Lambourne. This was the first time a VOR was used as a point source navaid and the radial was followed until, with a few miles to run, a deviation south was made to avoid the Stapleford ATZ. Bovingdon VOR was then selected and monitored as the LAM-BNN track was regained. Observation of the motorway system showed that there must have been an accident/incident on M1 southbound as all traffic was routeing via M10. Northbound traffic was also slow past the scene and we agreed that flying was better than driving at 2-30pm on a summer Friday afternoon. Photos were taken at Bovingdon without the need for an orbit and course was set for Upper Heyford.
During WW2 Bovingdon housed the Headquarters of the Eighth Air Force and General Eisenhowers personal B17 was based here. The Americans returned to Bovingdon in May 1951, with the establishment of the 7531st Air Base Squadron. C-47s were assigned to the unit, however many transitory USAF planes used the airfield routinely. In addition, the RAF operated the Fighter Command Communications Squadron on the base. In 1962, the USAF departed from Bovingdon.
The planned track was modified in case it was necessary to avoid RAF Halton ATZ but contact was quickly established with ATC and ATZ transit with traffic information was approved and the planned track regained. This took us between Bicester and Weston on the Green. Once past Bicester a more northerly track was followed looking at features to position us overhead Upper Heyford. This meant that Croughton came within camera-lens range and it was duly added to our target list.
CROUGHTONThe USAF took over this base in 1950 with the arrival of the 1969th Communications Squadron. This began Croughton’s life as a communications station. Elements of the 501st Combat Support wing are now based at this station under the umbrella of the 422 Air Base Group.
As our angle to it changed, Upper Heyford sprang into prominence with the sunlight glinting on hundreds, probably thousands, of parked cars; the second time in the day we had seen expensively created infrastructure put to such use. Oxford ATC had no traffic to affect us on track to Compton en-route Greenham Common and so we called Brize Radar and were given vectors to avoid Weston parachute traffic just becoming active. We were soon put back on our own navigation and were able to see canopies deploying safely behind us. A good example of expeditious airspace sharing. We were transferred to RAF Benson shortly after photographing Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’ (we took photos of Cambridge colleges earlier in the day) and remained with them until Compton when we requested transfer to Brize Radar to pre-note our subsequent waypoints.
UPPER HEYFORDIn response to what was perceived as a growing world-wide threat, Strategic Air Command decided to base a strong force of American bomber aircraft in England. It was decided to convert four airfields in and around Oxfordshire to serve as their regular bases. Upper Heyford was one of those selected, the others being Brize Norton Fairford and Greenham Common. Following conversion work Upper Heyford was handed over to the USAF in 1951. The first unit to occupy the base was the 328th Bomb Squadron flying B-50s. Other units to operate from Upper Heyford include;
5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing 1958 B-36
3918th Strategic Wing 1958 –1965 B-52, B-58, U-2
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing B-47
66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 1966-1970 RF-101, RF-4
20th Tactical Fighter Wing 1970-1993 F-111, EF-111
In December 1993 the last aircraft left Upper Heyford and the base was closed in the following September.
Greenham Common shows up extremely well from 10,000’ or more directly overhead, but at our level we were quite close before we got positive identification, having used the shape of Newbury town and particularly its racecourse to confirm we were still on track. The track from Greenham to Brize took us very close to Welford and we added it to our target list.
GREENHAM COMMONAs part of SAC’s plan to utilise bases in Oxfordshire, Greenham Common was extensively re-built and extended during the period 1951-1953. In 1954 the first unit to utilise the new base was the 303rd Bomb Wing with B-47s. Their stay was short lived and following many temporary detachments SAC departed Greenham in 1964. The airfield was disused for three years then re-activated for NATO exercises. In 1973 the base became the site for the Royal International Air Tattoo Air show—which moved to RAF Fairford in 1985. In 1983 the 501st Tactical Missile Wing controversially took up residence with it’s Tomahawk Ground Launched Cruise Missiles and despite many well-publicised Peace Demonstrations remained there until the base closed in 1992. Following the closure the runway was broken up and the material used in the construction of the Newbury By-Pass.
WELFORD
Although never used as an airfield by the USAF, Welford is one of the largest ammunition compounds in Western Europe for USAF heavy munitions.
Brize Radar kept us in suspense waiting for a zone clearance but at the last minute we were able to continue without holding. Positive control was exercised to separate us from heavy-jet training traffic but photos were taken ok. When released to manoeuvre in the RAF Fairford ATZ we also took photos of Bader House, Headquarters of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust and the recent flooding in the nearby village to the south of the aerodrome.
BRIZE NORTONAs with the other stations it occupied, SAC invested heavily in extending the Brize Norton runway (6,000 ft to 9,000 ft), taxiways and dispersals, as well as constructing accommodation and weapons handling facilities. This work was completed in April 1951. The first major USAF deployment was that of 21 Convair B-36 Peacemaker bombers in June 1952. B-29s and KB-29s were based at Brize Norton on temporary duty from December 1952 to April 1953. In September 1953, B-47E Stratojet 6-engined bombers deployed to Brize Norton accompanied by KC-97G boom-equipped tankers and were based there until 1955, when repair work began on the runways. B-47 Stratojets returned in July 1957. Later deployments included KC-97and KC-135 tankers and the first B-58 and B-52B bombers to land in the UK. In 1965 the Royal Air Force returned to Brize Norton
FAIRFORDIn 1950,Fairford was transferred to the USAF for strategic bomber operations. In order to facilitate long range bomber operations a 10,000-foot runway was constructed.
The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell AFB, Texas The base later received B-47s which were maintained at a heightened state of alert because of increased tensions with the Soviet Union.
Following a period of transition, Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for Concorde. Concorde was tested at RAF Fairford until 1979, when the U.S. Air Force returned with a squadron of KC-135 Tankers of the11th Strategic Group. . The KC-135s were withdrawn in 1990 and the base was returned to standby status.
Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airbase is designated as a forward operating location for the U.S. Air Force. In this capacity it was used in the first Gulf War in 1991, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and during the 2003 Iraq War. During these three conflicts, the airbase was the home to American B52, B-1B and KC-135 aircraft, and their support personnel. In recent years the airfield has been used by American B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.
Due to increased operational levels, RAF Fairford underwent a $90 million upgrade of its runway and fuel bunkers in the largest American military construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War. This work last until 2002.
RAF Fairford is used as one of many Transatlantic Abort Landing sites located in western Europe for the NASA Space Shuttles.
The airfield also plays home to the World’s largest military airshow—The Royal International Air Tattoo.
Parachuting at South Cerney required a visual dog-leg from Fairford to Kemble where an overhead join to land on runway 26 facilitated the photos of our last target site. We landed at 1505 after 2hr 25 min airborne. Some of the extra time over our planned 2 hr could be attributed to vectoring and extra photo time at Fairford but it was mainly due to the headwind presaged by the change of runway at Manston.
KEMBLE
In 1983 the USAF used Kemble as a base for the storage and refurbishment of A-10, F-5 and C-130 aircraft. The site was vacated in July 1992.
