I’ve found it!

It appears that Shoreham Aerodrome holds the honour of being the oldest in the country. The following comment is from the official website,

Shoreham Aerodrome was opened in 1910, making it the longest established airport in the country. The 1934-5 terminal building with its ‘fly-in bar & restaurant’ was an immediate contemporary of Embassy Court and the De La Warr Pavilion and shares the same streamlined modernist design, preserving many original art deco features.

I was expecting somewhere like Duxford, Farnborough or perhaps Biggin Hill to be older but I guess you learn something new every day!

New variant or type?

I guess this is a worthy point to raise. The B-52 first entered service in 1954 and has been continually upgraded to such a degree that the current models bear only structural similarities to the original.

How many mores modifications are going to be made before it becomes the B-53?

I guess the same could be said of the Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf-109s, during WWII they each underwent many significant changes yet never became known as a new aircraft.

The Lancasters that flew on the Dambusters raid in 1943 had significant changes to the aircrafts structure to carry the Upkeep bomb, the installation of the specialised release mechanism and the addition of searchlights to enable the aircraft to fly at the necessary 60 feet for successful dropping of the bomb. Yet this aircraft was still known as a Lancaster, why didn’t these changes warrent a change of aircraft model rather than simply variant?

FAR, my source for the subject of this thread was an article in the news section of this months Airforces Monthly magazine.

But the point I am making is about the Governments fascination with tending out military contracts to be owned and run by civilian companies. Civilian companies have to operate in such a way as to earn themselves a profit and as a result for the money being offered them have to supply limited numbers of products eg aircraft.

I know in the Army the REME have to repair certain vehicles (new Landrovers) in strict accordance with the manufacturers instructions as they are leased to the Army. In the ‘old days’ dents were banged out, parts were made the fit sometimes by bending and cutting and non standard parts used but today only certain products and techniques are allowed to be used.

I would have thought the same rules applied to the maintanence og the RAF Fireflys and the AAC Tutors….?