RAF Benson

RAF Benson
Characteristics
ICAO code	EGUB
IATA code	BEX
Coordinates	51 ° 36 '59 " N , 1 ° 5' 54" W Coordinates: 51 ° 36 '59 " N , 1 ° 5' 54" W.
Height above MSL	69 m (226 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	15 km southeast of Oxford
Street	; 12 km to the
Basic data
opening	April 1, 1939
operator	Royal Air Force
Runways
01/19	1823 m × 46 m asphalt
06/24	1458 m × 31 m asphalt

The Royal Air Force Station Benson , RAF Benson for short , is a military airfield of the British Royal Air Force on the south-eastern outskirts of Benson in the county of Oxfordshire , England . In addition to RAF Odiham , Benson is one of two main bases of the "support helicopters " of the so-called Support Helicopter Force . The base is the type base of the RAF Puma transport helicopters.

history

In the course of upgrading in the run-up to the Second World War , construction of the airfield began in 1937 and was opened in spring 1939. The station was initially home to two squadrons of Fairey Battle light bombers . In addition to the bombers, medium-weight Vickers Wellington bombers since December 1940 , Benson was home to photo reconnaissance versions of the Spitfire and later also those of the Mosquito . While the Wellington squadrons were under the Bomber Command , the scouts belonged to the Coastal Command . Scouts from Benson, for example, photographed the destroyed German dams after Operation Chastise .

After the war, RAF Benson initially retained its role as the home base of scouts. From 1953 the station was subordinate to the Transport Command , which stationed up to two Argosys squadrons there between 1961 and 1970 . In addition, from 1946 Benson was home to the so-called "Kings" or "Queens Flight", which moved to RAF Northolt in 1995 , as well as various non-flying units including a group headquarters.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Benson was home to an Andover squadron, and in 1992 the 60th Squadron first moved a transport helicopter formation to Benson; this season flew the Wessex HC.2 at the time and was dissolved in 1997 as a Wessex unit.

The first Puma HC.1 arrived in Benson in 1997 and Merlin HC.3 had also been stationed here since 2001 . The former were initially only in service with the 33rd Squadron and in 2009 the 230th Squadron was added. The Pumas were modernized to the HC.2 standard by 2015.

The Merlins were operated by the 28th and, since 2007, the 78th Squadron . The Merlins, in addition to the HC.3 since 2007 also some of the HC.3A version, were officially handed over to the Royal Navy on October 1, 2014 . For this purpose, the 78th Squadron was deactivated on the same day, the 28th followed in July 2015. It was replaced by the 846th and 845th Naval Air Squadron . Both moved to RNAS Yeovilton in 2015 .

The 28th Squadron was immediately reorganized as an RAF helicopter retraining unit. In addition to the Pumas, some Chinook HC.4s have also been stationed in Benson since the end of October 2015 .

Todays use

Today (as of 2020) RAF Benson hosts the following Royal Air Force helicopter squadrons:

22nd Squadron test and evaluation squadron , also of the Army Air Corps , for Apache, Chinook, Puma and Wildcat (since 2020)

28th Squadron helicopter training unit for Puma and Chinook (since 2015)

33rd Squadron Puma Squadron (since 1997)

230 Squadron Puma Squadron (since 2009)

In addition to the helicopter squadrons, Benson is also the stationing location for the Eurocopter EC 135 police and rescue helicopters .

Incidents

On August 19, 1952, a Vickers Valetta C.1 of the Royal Air Force ( aircraft registration number VX559 ) flew into the ground three kilometers north of it after a night take-off from RAF Benson Air Force Base and caught fire. All 3 crew members were killed.

Others

Chalgrove Airfield

Only a few kilometers north was another RAF station, RAF Chalgrove . The airfield opened in 1943 for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

After the war, the British state leased it as Chalgrove Airfield to Martin-Baker , which had been testing its ejection seats here for decades .

In September 2016, the UK Ministry of Defense announced that it would be abandoning Chalgrove Airfield. Living space is to be created here; it is to be given to the Homes and Communities Agency.