RAF Leuchars – Closure Fears!

The thing is though, should it ever come to an all out shooting match again, fixed bases are going to be at the top of the priority target list. The most stupid thing is getting rid of the Harrier and Aircraft carriers before we had a viable replacement operational.

Makes you sort of wonder what we would do if the Argentinians got a dose of brave water again !!!!!!!!

Heh heh – during a news item today about the RAF Kinloss closure date, the BBC also said that “A decision on RAF Lossiemouth, and that of RAF Leuchars in Fife, will be announced after the Scottish elections on 5 May.”
Why would the Scottish elections influence the announcement date, I wonder???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-12492509

Aye Al, I wondered that too…. Funny how they can push through their AV reform for the voting system, and make a statement about Marham, but have to wait for a decision on the Scottish bases.

Methinks they are waiting to find the best time to place the baseball bat somewhere it don’t belong. Not as though the ruling party don’t have a well documented policy of doing that up here….

Heh heh – during a news item today about the RAF Kinloss closure date, the BBC also said that “A decision on RAF Lossiemouth, and that of RAF Leuchars in Fife, will be announced after the Scottish elections on 5 May.”
Why would the Scottish elections influence the announcement date, I wonder???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-12492509

Ah! you old cynic, you…and the BBC are not always right……;)

Having seen the effect on morale of almost constantly being on detachment to temporary locations I really feel sorry for those few left in the RAF. The plum detachments have almost all gone so there is no fun in being sent out of home base anymore. The hardest hit have been the RAF regiment especially those with families.

It is all made harder to report when the definition of closed is so varied, there is Care and Maintenance, Relief Landing ground, RAF out and run by Army but airfield still used by RAF, RAF out airfield closed totally but Army running much of existing ground as barracks, Airfield sold, then leased back with only turnrounds and daytime operations with mobile support brought in by RAF.

Aaargh my head aches with the possible ways this could turn out.
But the Govt wants to save money and puts targets to MOD. MOD will fudge the outcome and will save money but the result will be very unhappy serving RAF people, they will end up being all over the place on detachments, rather than sending aircraft to fixed already manned bases.

The thing is though, should it ever come to an all out shooting match again, fixed bases are going to be at the top of the priority target list. The most stupid thing is getting rid of the Harrier and Aircraft carriers before we had a viable replacement operational.

Al – I think you are reading an awful lot more between the lines than there is actually there.

Heh heh – during a news item today about the RAF Kinloss closure date, the BBC also said that “A decision on RAF Lossiemouth, and that of RAF Leuchars in Fife, will be announced after the Scottish elections on 5 May.”
Why would the Scottish elections influence the announcement date, I wonder???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-12492509

One thing that has amazed me through all these rounds of defence cuts is how the UAS always pull through seemingly unscathed. I get that they are a valuable intro to RAF Flying and being an awfcer, but against the background of the need for front-line jets/helicopters and equipment for troops they don’t come close, especially now with a decline in aircrew places.
I think Topcliffe is AEF motor gliders but Colerne, Church Fenton and Woodvale are other UAS/Tutor only bases, Wittering will become one and after the VC-10 minors are finished so will St Athan.
I really hate to see the drop in military flying and some wonderful old bases closing, but some of these descisions as to what bases are kept going just seem odd.

Half the Time the uAS squadrons dont seem to be very close to the university so why dont they put all the bases except one that only have UAS on care and maintenance or whatever they call it these days and put all the UAS stuff in one hole the same with basic training it would seem logical instead of spreading all the basic stuff around here there and everywhere to centralise that .Then when economics permit open up fully the stations you need again.
Another daft one is that At Leeming they have a Hawk refurbish and maintenance line and it is one of two in the country why do they need two doing the same job.I am all for keeping guys in works but why do we have to duplicate everything anymore ?sorry if its a bit controversial but if we aint got the money because we are giving it away in aid to folks who dont really need it then we need to make sensible ALTERATIONS not necesarily cuts.

But to coin a phrase of my eldest the powers at be seem to be a load of No Brainers !!!

One thing that has amazed me through all these rounds of defence cuts is how the UAS always pull through seemingly unscathed. I get that they are a valuable intro to RAF Flying and being an awfcer, but against the background of the need for front-line jets/helicopters and equipment for troops they don’t come close, especially now with a decline in aircrew places.
I think Topcliffe is AEF motor gliders but Colerne, Church Fenton and Woodvale are other UAS/Tutor only bases, Wittering will become one and after the VC-10 minors are finished so will St Athan.
I really hate to see the drop in military flying and some wonderful old bases closing, but some of these descisions as to what bases are kept going just seem odd.

I think he is Scotty, there dosen’t seem to be the same thing being said about the other base closures and how it is all down to political seats etc.
Also as I’ve mentioned above, Leuchars was set for closure before the election and the SDSR.

I thought that Kinloss had been confirmed as becoming an Army Barracks for units withdrawing out of Germany, Cosford or St Athan in similar position.
I can’t see any real strong argument for keeping Leuchars (or indeed three stations in Scotland) in the face of large RAF cuts, bases simply can’t be kept going purely for jobs or political gain.

I see your point James, and you are right – bases cannot be kept open just for political gain, although stranger things have happened.

I don’t think Al is exaggerating, as I’ve heard a lot of mumblings through the course of my work who think Scotland is over subsidised, and would welcome giving the Scots their independence. I’m not sure that is a good idea, but in any case is for another forum.

But it’s interesting how Church Fenton can be kept open for UAS, and does Scampton have any permanent aircraft units at the moment? If not, why not close them? Would save a fortune….

Kind regards as always

Scotty

It is all made harder to report when the definition of closed is so varied, there is Care and Maintenance, Relief Landing ground, RAF out and run by Army but airfield still used by RAF, RAF out airfield closed totally but Army running much of existing ground as barracks, Airfield sold, then leased back with only turnrounds and daytime operations with mobile support brought in by RAF.

Aaargh my head aches with the possible ways this could turn out.
But the Govt wants to save money and puts targets to MOD. MOD will fudge the outcome and will save money but the result will be very unhappy serving RAF people, they will end up being all over the place on detachments, rather than sending aircraft to fixed already manned bases.

Down here in Gods Country Top Cliff went army but the RAF still use a hanger and the runway for Tucano circuits and bumps but with the training cuts it could all go Army.Church Fenton is now pretty much jsu University air squadron and not a lot else.

Lauchars was slated quite a while back, before SDSR even. Lossie is set to be the one remaining flying station for the RAF in Scotland and will recieve a major upgrade for the F-35 when it eventually arrives.

The way this government is hacking drasticaly I think that even the F-35 wont happen.

I don’t think he is, but that’s for another forum….

There’s no real confirmation Kinloss is definitely getting taken over by the Army is there?

I think he is Scotty, there dosen’t seem to be the same thing being said about the other base closures and how it is all down to political seats etc.
Also as I’ve mentioned above, Leuchars was set for closure before the election and the SDSR.

I thought that Kinloss had been confirmed as becoming an Army Barracks for units withdrawing out of Germany, Cosford or St Athan in similar position.
I can’t see any real strong argument for keeping Leuchars (or indeed three stations in Scotland) in the face of large RAF cuts, bases simply can’t be kept going purely for jobs or political gain.

Al – I think you are reading an awful lot more between the lines than there is actually there.

I don’t think he is, but that’s for another forum….

To take it back to a historical PoV, I didn’t know Leuchars had been used as Dundee’s airport. Can’t see why it would be a complete disaster now, as Dundee and area is growing, and it’s no further from the city centre than Aberdeen from Dyce, or Edinburgh from Turnhouse….

Errol airfield just along the northern banks of the Tay from Dundee has also been mooted as another potential for a major airport, and not so long ago either. The local news reported on it about 5 years ago, but I think it is getting redeveloped for housing.

The exisiting airport at Dundee is fairly limited, and I don’t think you can get any commercial passenger jets on it anyway. I don’t know if there would be much usage for this, but St Andrews is just around the corner from Leuchars…

There’s no real confirmation Kinloss is definitely getting taken over by the Army is there?

Kind regards
Scotty

It is all made harder to report when the definition of closed is so varied, there is Care and Maintenance, Relief Landing ground, RAF out and run by Army but airfield still used by RAF, RAF out airfield closed totally but Army running much of existing ground as barracks, Airfield sold, then leased back with only turnrounds and daytime operations with mobile support brought in by RAF.

Aaargh my head aches with the possible ways this could turn out.
But the Govt wants to save money and puts targets to MOD. MOD will fudge the outcome and will save money but the result will be very unhappy serving RAF people, they will end up being all over the place on detachments, rather than sending aircraft to fixed already manned bases.

Al – I think you are reading an awful lot more between the lines than there is actually there.

Doesn’t matter that it’s Ming Campbell’s seat – the Tories know full well they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever coming to power in Scotland, and the independence body is becoming larger all the time.
They’ve made up their minds that it’s time to asset-strip Scotland before we get independence, and as punishment to the Scots for hardly voting for them at all. The Tories may even want independence too – if Scotland was out of the voting equation, they would never have to worry about losing elections again – the rest of the UK might like to take some time to digest that fact…

That hits the nail firmly on the head, both paragraphs. The last sentence very nicely put……

What About the Air Display?

And of course Leuchars holds the best Air Display in Scotland every September – so that will go as well .

What’s happened to the Perth Airshow? None listed so far for this June

Colin

That’s the political slant, but the facts are with the round of base closures (Lyneham, Cottesmore etc) all over the country, in different party areas, that three huge bases in scotland are simply not required anymore. I first heard of Leuchars being on the cards to close well before the elections last year.

Baloffski I can’t see Marham closing, as I understand it Lossie will dwindle in Tonka activity, close to based squadrons while it undergoes a big rebuild programme and will re-open with F-35. Marham is slated to continue with Tonkas and F-35.
However with aircraft numbers always changing I suppose anything can happen.

Scotavia makes a great point about RAF St Mawgan, get rid of your airfield, squadrons, Air Traffic, Fire Crews, Medics, electricians, cleaners, and all the infrastructure, sell the runway to the local council who run it as Newquay airport and then hire back slot times for excercising your military jets – good business sense!

Doesn’t matter that it’s Ming Campbell’s seat – the Tories know full well they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever coming to power in Scotland, and the independence body is becoming larger all the time.
They’ve made up their minds that it’s time to asset-strip Scotland before we get independence, and as punishment to the Scots for hardly voting for them at all. The Tories may even want independence too – if Scotland was out of the voting equation, they would never have to worry about losing elections again – the rest of the UK might like to take some time to digest that fact…

I doubt that anyone seriously takes this as anything more than muscle flexing, do they? An imminent attack on us by Russia? I don’t think so………….