RAF Sculthorpe

MOD Sculthorpe
Characteristics
ICAO code	EGUP
IATA code	ZXE
Coordinates	52 ° 50 '54 "  N , 0 ° 45' 38"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 50 '54 "  N , 0 ° 45' 38"  E
Height above MSL	65 m (213  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	30 km east of King's Lynn
Street
Basic data
opening	May 1943
operator	Royal Air Force
Start-and runway
06/24	3658 m × 60 m asphalt

The former Royal Air Force Station Sculthorpe , or RAF Sculthorpe for short, is now a military airfield of the British Ministry of Defense (MOD) used as a military school facility . MOD Sculthorpe is six kilometers west of Fakenhams in Norfolk , England. While one of the airfield's three runways is used by the military and is subordinate to the Stanford Training Area , the former barracks and accommodation area was sold to a real estate company, the Welbeck Estate Group, in 1997.

history

RAF Sculthorpe was established as a satellite airfield for RAF West Raynham from the spring of 1942 during World War II . The first user between May and July 1943 was the 342nd (Lorraine) Squadron of the Free French Air Force, a bomber squadron equipped with Boston .

In the second half of 1943 Sculthorpe was initially home from the end of July to one Australian and New Zealand squadron, which converted to Mosquito here . A British squadron was added at the end of September, and all three formed the 140th Wing , which stayed here until the end of the year.

In the first quarter of 1944 Sculthorpe was the base of heavy B-17 bombers, one squadron each for the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and was then converted into a base for very heavy bombers, which was not completed until 1946.

Sculthorpe served in the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Berlin Airlift in 1949 and was home to the 47th American bomber squadron for 10 years as a result of the beginning of the Cold War in 1952, with three squadrons of B-45 and from 1958 B-66 bombers as well One air refueling squadron and one tactical reconnaissance squadron were equipped. The latter two operated the KB-29 and KB-50 or the RB-45C and from 1957 the RB-66. For reasons of space, one of the three bomber squadrons was in RAF Alconbury . At that time Sculthorpe was the largest USAF base in Europe with 10,000 men.

After the squadron was disbanded in 1962, the base was only used sporadically, for example by squadrons whose home stations received a new runway surface.

After the end of the Cold War, the base was deactivated and the entire accommodation and technical area was sold to the Welbeck Estate Group. The airfield was still used by the military, officially as a training area for helicopters.

Most of the hangars were demolished around 2009, only the tower, the fire station and a small shelter remained.

Todays use

Today the airfield is mainly used by the 352nd Special Operations Group from RAF Mildenhall , a unit of the United States Special Operations Command Europe . There are also fighter jets from RAF Lakenheath and RAF Marham .

RAF West Raynham

The original base of Sculthorpe, the Royal Air Force Station West Raynham , RAF West Raynham for short , was about six kilometers southwest of Sculthorpe. The station was in operation from May 1939 to 1994.

During the war, the place was particularly home to twin-engine bombers. After the war it was initially used as a base for fighter planes and from 1964 the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron was located here , a mixed test unit of the USAF, Air Force and RAF to test the Kestrel vertical take-off. Regular flight operations were discontinued in the mid-1970s, and until 1991 the field was only used by the RAF regiment. The area was finally sold in 2006 and is used civilly today.

Web links

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