RAF Binbrook & The EE Lightning Days

Looking at the map of Binbrook in it’s current sorry state, and reading this fantastic article on the Last Last Lightning Show, and this article 10 years after the Lightnings left Binbrook, I was wondering if any regular attendees of Binbrook in its heyday could answer a few questions?

When you were there, where, on the map, were the best observation points?

Were all 3 runways in use?

How many sorties per day, on average, could you expect to see?

Where on the map were all the Lightning carcasses stored at the end of service prior to the scrapmen having a field day?

And, lastly, describe in your own words what I missed out on…:(

Thanks chaps, looking forward to some great stories!!

Apart from the final airshow, I visited Binbrook only once.
I had to do a survey of Debenhams in Hull, must have been 1986. Fortunately my youthfull assistant was a bit of a keen type when it came to aviation. We’d stayed the previous night with some of my pals in Sheffield and vowed to visit Binbrook to see the last of the Lightnings, and, to make the experience even more memorable, I drove up in my elderly MGBGT.
When we finished the survey and emerged from Debs, it was thick fog.
We drove over the Humber Bridge and couldn’t see a thing. We arrived at the crash gate on the western side of the runway and all we could make out were a couple of derelict airframes and that was that, once in a lifetime and nothing to see.
We drove back visiting various airfields in Lincolnshire, the fog had cleared by then and we watched Tornados taking off from Cottesmore in the fading light, but it wasn’t the same.

The map is indeed a bit outdated. Look at the extended section of the main runway for comparison, as it is all gone now….

That Binbrook map must be an older collection of photographs as the Q shed still has its concrete apron, which has been gone now for some years.

XL391 Might I suggest you contact Andy Bonsell of The LIGHTNING PRESERVATION GROUP, he does post on this forum but you will definitely get a response if you visit their site.

Andy is a total Lightning nut, and one of the mainstays of LPG, the group grew from a number of enthusiasts who initially were Lightning watchers at Binbrook.

If you ever get the chance, a visit to them at Bruntingthorpe is a pleasure.

Active Runways

Only 1 Runway was in use. 03/21 the other two were not used , however you could land on 21 and turn off onto the disused if the wind was strong enough. If memory serves me the active runway was about 7000 feet , hope this of some help. Oh if anyone is interested i can ( with the use of the map) give the location of a fairly large amount of Gloster Meteor fuselage, not sure which mark but it was dumped there in the 1970’s rgds