RAF Halton Christmas Day

We pulled the Gnats apart up in the main hangars and stacked the wings upside, this prat in charge, some flying officer had us stack them on the grass upside down and then tie them down so the wings would not fly off in any wind…… LOL the fuselages were then dumped on the airfield by the woods…….. Our course as we finished in the Hangars prior to going down to the airfield were given the job of destroying the Avons so that they couldn’t be reused prior to being sold, we were given big GS screwdrivers, Hammers and Sledgehammers, I can vouch how tough an Avon is, even wielding a sledge on the cases just resulted in vibration though the sledge’s handles and pain….. swinging them into the compressors was a similar result, but we wrecked them eventually.

Having come off Jags and a short period on the MU I found myself requested to show the Instructors how to mount the Adour replacements on the build stands thus reversing the role 🙂 alas we didn’t have the sockets to pull off module one at the time, but I showed them how to do it.

Not wishing to thread creep too far, but if plans go ahead the projected High Speed 2 rail link will cut a 100m-wide swathe through that view from Coombe Hill and the rest of the Vale of Aylesbury is set to be cluttered with pylons and power cables for the electricity supplies to the line.

Grrr. 😡

The South African war memorial has only just been restored in the past few months.

Aha that explains why the globe was shiny gold,thanks Dave…cheers baz

Thanks for reminding me of the area. In the 60s and 70s we used to live at Prestwood, a few miles from Halton, and often took the kids for a run on Coombe Hill.

Yes its a lovely Area Peter…rgds baz

Thanks for reminding me of the area. In the 60s and 70s we used to live at Prestwood, a few miles from Halton, and often took the kids for a run on Coombe Hill.

The snow pics reminded me of the night I had to abandon my car in Gt Missenden and walk the mile and a half or so, mostly uphill.

The South African war memorial has only just been restored in the past few months.

dave

Yes it was a lovely day AJM

OK so back out along the canal…walked a few yards along towards wendover and found this pretty little arch

Then drove up to Main Point and took a couple of the Hunter at SHQ…she looked like she had a canopy cover on 🙂

Next down to near the Pack Horse in wendover,icicles on thatched roofs

Up to the top of coombe hill

The Boer War memorial on Coombe Hill

Cheers TO, would of loved to have seen those events.

Vulcans landing on grass were partially covered here in 2009, including the RAF Newton example! 🙂

Cheers Baz.

Going off thread slightly i wonder if this was the first instance of Vulcans landing on grass? Were they one off’s, or had it been performed before elsewhere?

Yes Rob…the Vulcans and Comets were flown in,just a case of waiting for the right conditions.
Halton is a fairly large field (although not exactly flat/smooth)

Were the Vulcans and other large aircraft actually flown in, as i assume Halton is / was a grass only airfield with no actual hard surface runway?!
If so are there any photos or film of them coming in and landing?

Pleasure Scott…glad you liked them 🙂

wow, thanks for that, takes me back to 2005 when i did a weeks summer camp at Halton, the JP was part of the night exercise, aswell as the other JP which is in some bushes further round the base, next to a bridge and stream actually

we were moving in staggered formation accross the airfield and got to the bridge into cover, as pointman i was tasked to go over the bridge first…so i sets off, slowly walking/crouching, onto the bridge, i get half way and CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK! the whole forrest seamed to open up with GPMG fire ( i bloody Sh1t myself to say the least) running back to find cover i dives into the side of the bridge and almost break my shoulder( im not the smallest of people either)

ahh i miss those days now that im staff

thanks for the reminder baz

You know …I dont really remember Pete,I dont think that they had always been parked there,I have a vague memory of towing them down from MT with our landrovers …this was about 1 mile up the public road !!:) but obviously that would have become illegal due to towing regs.
I was one of only a few Apprentices to have an RAF road licence (F1629 B ?) – we needed that to get our Landrovers down to the airfield from the MT sect at main point (opp the Hunter).
Its funny how we remember some things very clearly,but other stuff just fades away :rolleyes:

Vulcan Alley

What about two of MBW’s finest lurking on the left Basz !!!
Were they parked there all the time when not in use.

Hi Rob…the Leon is so dirty I didnt think anybody would notice it LOL
Halton is still used for recruit training but the tech trg moved to Cosford some years ago.
Airfield is still active with RAFGSA gliders/light a/c and also 613 VGS grob 109’s.

rgds baz

Nice photos Baz, spoilt only by that old Seat car that someone’s dumped in the layby :D.

But seriously though i only went there once, on a secondary school trip around 1980. It was wall to wall Sea Vixens (i think crammed into a workshop type building), Gnats and JP’s as i recall in a hangar, and i’m sure i remember an Argosy or two as well… but sadly no pics i’m afraid. What goes on there now, if indeed anything?

Some pics of the Beaufighter engine running classroom (inc internal + running pics)

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&sqi=2&ved=0CGAQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forum.aerosoft.com%2Findex.php%3Fshowtopic%3D35456&ei=egYZTdiWNseShAeLuey2Dg&usg=AFQjCNHfH-v9pPHXZe6ydP_5TU9ZyC4ZfQ

Thanks guys…I was there 70-72 but have always visited 2/3 times every year since
Another 2 Halton Vulcan pics

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=24&ved=0CDYQFjADOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aircraft-photos.net%2Fforum%2Ftm.aspx%3Fm%3D4169&ei=fgIZTdqlMJSxhAf01Iy3Dg&usg=AFQjCNG55lfwSEf8O2Vv0Uo76tZOY_bn0w

In the Photo Gallery…some nice pics of the ground running Twin Pin etc

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=26&ved=0CEkQFjAFOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.216rafhalton.webeden.co.uk%2Fphoto-gallery%2F4534716846&ei=fgIZTdqlMJSxhAf01Iy3Dg&usg=AFQjCNHwLQbBKTS7bZ-2MSeOh1lOiLjbBw

Aw! the poor JP! I want to dig it out and hug it.

Nice shots btw.