Great War truck Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Despite having spent £Millions on refurbishment the USAF will be pulling out of Fairford by the end of the year. The airfield (now that Greenham has gone) is the longest airfield in Europe. At the moment there is a military presence of just 50 who are winding the place up. The future is a little uncertain, but I believe that it will be kept in mothballs until such time that a use for it is found, or that the Government is so short of money that they sell it for houses. The base try’s to maintain a positive presence in the community and today was a “Heritage Day” where they had invited local historical groups and MV owners to put on displays for the locals and the air force personnel and their families. I think there were in excess of 30 MV’s in all, with 11 coming from the North Oxfordshire and Cotswolds MVT. On arrival i was quite impressed with the Air Force security guards on the gates having Quad bikes to get around. They were armed and i did not take a photo of them (coward). Once inside we parked inside a new hangar built i understand to house the B1. They had to readjust the bunting to let the REO in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 They had built a stage out of three low bed trailers. Something you see photos of them doing at Glenn Miller concerts. We had a quick demonstration of the Air force fire engines, which were all Oshkosh (by gosh), but with British drivers. They all sounded fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 They had brought in a few aeroplanes for us to look over. Two f15's, a Tornado, a Harrier, a Typhoon, A hurricane, a helicopter and a C*** something (which we climbed all over): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) The transport plane was very interesting. For some reason or other they were encouraging everyone to get out and walk along the wing. Except for me. For some reason he didnt like me? So John, Don and i climbed in to the cockpit instead. and then did the same with the tail refueling location Back inside Richard was distraught that the USAF could not provide tea only burgers, hot dogs and coke, so retired to his Pontiac to read the paper: I admired this very fine Eureka: Then had a hotdog for lunch. While i was queing the Airforce Chaplin Brian Hochalter was admiring me Jeep so i went over for a chat and photo session. The first time a US military Chaplin has been in the Jeep (that i know of) Edited June 9, 2010 by Great War truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 Back outside we watched the aircraft being refuelled before they flew off one by one (except for the Tornado which seemed to have a problem). All very impressive especially the Typhoon which went straight up. part of the pre flight test for the f15 was a man jumping up and down on the wing: While we were waiting a Hare ran by: I was interested to see that the idea of sticking a sign saying "Follow me" in a Jeep still has its legacy: With the Harrier and Typhoon flying off it was time to head for home: What a cracking day out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Despite having spent £Millions on refurbishment the USAF will be pulling out of Fairford by the end of the year. & now that the Space Shuttle has been retired they no longer need to keep it operational for that, it was the designated emergency runway in the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Some nice shots there. The plane you were on is a KC 135 Sratotanker. And from the tail-codes donates that it is a Mildenhall based aircraft. The F15E with the "LN" code is from the 48th FW from Lakenheath. Most U.S bases run quad bikes as part of the airforce police security detail. I think the most secure U.S installation ive been on is RAF Feltwell(Listening station) They want to know the ins and outs of a nats arse to get on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 A great day out - and a lot of us would have liked to have been there with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 I dont know why. But i always find that MV,s look better when potographed in inside hangers. Regarding the new hangers. Fairford has always been a FOB for the B52 and B1-Lancer and was used during previous gulf wars. Its also one of a selected few bases around the world that is used as an emergancy runway for the space shuttle should it run in to trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Despite having spent £Millions on refurbishment the USAF will be pulling out of Fairford by the end of the year. The airfield (now that Greenham has gone) is the longest airfield in Europe. At the moment there is a military presence of just 50 who are winding the place up. The future is a little uncertain, but I believe that it will be kept in mothballs until such time that a use for it is found, or that the Government is so short of money that they sell it for houses. According to this http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/4630311.American_military_personnel_to_leave_RAF_Fairford/ the Airshow will continue there & Instead of having personnel on hand ready to prep bombers 24-hours a day it will now take 24-48 hours notice for personnel to be brought onto the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedawnpatrol Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Yep, I agree Tim, a very good day, very well organised, even down to the dry weather! Thanks for your company as always. Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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