Kinloss Barracks

Kinloss Barracks RAF Kinloss
Characteristics
ICAO code	EGQK
IATA code	FSS
Coordinates	57 ° 38 '58 "  N , 3 ° 33' 38"  W Coordinates: 57 ° 38 '58 "  N , 3 ° 33' 38"  W.
Height above MSL	7 m (23  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	12 miles west of Cottesmore Elgin
Street	1 km to
Basic data
opening	April 1, 1939
operator	British Army
Start-and runway
07/25	2344 m × 46 m asphalt

The Kinloss Barracks are a barracks of the British Army near the village of Kinloss in the county of Moray , Scotland . The Kinloss barracks is located on the site of the former Royal Air Force (RAF) military airfield of the same name and is still used by the latter. The runway serves the nearby RAF Lossiemouth base as the so-called Kinloss Relief Landing Ground .

history

RAF Kinloss

Construction of the airfield began in the spring of 1938 and the Royal Air Force Station Kinloss , or RAF Kinloss for short , was opened on April 1 of the following year .

During the Second World War , the station was the base of an advanced school unit of the RAF Bomber Command , but combat missions by bombers were also started from there. The main user was the No. 19 Operational Training Unit (OTU).

After 1945, the 19th OTU was disbanded and the base was placed under the RAF Coastal Command . It became home to the No. 6 Coastal Operational Training Unit , which started Kinloss' longstanding association with maritime patrols . At first, converted Avro Lancaster bombers were used for this purpose . From the 6th OTU in July 1947 the No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit RAF , which was stationed here until September 1956 and in its place was the Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU) until 1965 . Instead of the Lancaster, the Shackleton MR.1 first appeared in 1951 , which was later operated in the versions MR.1A and T.4.

Besides Kinloss was also based on operational squadrons from 1951, the first was the first with Neptune MR.1 equipped 217th Squadron , which, however, was then dissolved in the summer 1957th In April 1959, the 120th Squadron arrived with their Shackleton MR.3, followed in 1965 by the 201st and 206th Squadron . The Shackletons flew as a maritime patrol aircraft until February 1971 and in 1972/1973 a squadron with the 8th Squadron was stationed here with copies in the AEW.2 early warning version.

The 40-year connection between the base and the Nimrods , at the beginning of the MR.1 series, began in 1971. The three squadrons were converted to the Nimrod MR.2 between 1980 and 1983. After the end of the Cold War, the aircraft were also outside of their classic style Range of use in the NATO north flank area. In addition to the Nimrods, the station became the location of the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center (ARCC) in 1997 .

The 206th Squadron was disbanded as part of a fleet downsizing in April 2005 and in September of the following year all 12 crew members were killed in the crash of a Nimrod of the 120th Squadron in Afghanistan .

Due to the decision to stop the successor program Nimrod MRA.4 in 2010, the RAF no longer had any use for Kinloss. With the decommissioning of the Nimrod patrol aircraft in 2010 and the formal decommissioning of the three squadrons on May 26, 2011, regular flight operations in Kinloss were discontinued on July 31, 2011 after 72 years. RAF Kinloss existed until July 26, 2012.

Kinloss Barracks

The facility was taken over by the British Army on July 26, 2012 , whereby RAF units still stationed here, initially a glider squadron in addition to the ARCC, initially remained stationed.

The ARCC was relocated to Fareham in the south of England in spring 2016.

The 39 Engineer Regiment (Air Support) of the Royal Engineers, which was already in the United Kingdom, was relocated to today's Kinloss Barracks as the first army association . Its task is the maintenance of the airfields of all branches of the armed forces.

A high-frequency reception system from the Defense High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS) is also located on the property.

In 2020, the successors of the Nimrods previously stationed here, the Poseidons , initially operated temporarily from Kinloss after their commissioning. Typhoons from "Lossie" will also use the piste in 2019/20 while the lifts are being repaired on their home ground.

Web links

Commons : RAF Kinloss  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Typhoon First For Kinloss Relief Landing Ground, RAF Homepage, June 20, 2016 ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Scots search and rescue center relinquishes responsibilities, STV, April 5, 2016