RAF Waddington
| RAF Waddington | |
|---|---|
,_Thomson_Building_at_RAF_Waddington._MOD_45161026.jpg)
|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | EGXW |
| IATA code | WTN |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 70 m (230 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 6 miles south of Lincoln |
| Street | 1 km to 
|
| Basic data | |
| opening | March 12, 1937 |
| operator | Royal Air Force |
| Start-and runway | |
| 02/20 | 2743 m of asphalt |
The Royal Air Force Station Waddington , RAF Waddington for short , is a military airfield of the British Royal Air Force on the eastern outskirts of Waddington in the county of Lincolnshire , England . The base is one of the largest of the RAF and at the moment the aircraft's main base for special missions.
history
The Royal Air Force's predecessor organization , the Royal Flying Corps , opened the base as a training station in 1916, but was deactivated again in 1920.
In the course of upgrading in the run-up to World War II , expansion and modernization began in 1934, and flight operations began again on the field in 1937. The station was now assigned to the RAF Bomber Command . During the war, in addition to British squadrons , two squadrons of bombers from the Royal Australian Air Force flew their attacks on Nazi Germany . RAF Waddington was the bomber command station with the most losses in operations over the occupied continent and the German Reich . One of these attacks took place on April 17, 1942 on Augsburg . The target of the attack, which was also bomber from Woodhall Spa took part, was MANs production facility for submarine - diesel engines . The squadron commander, Squadron Leader John Nettleton, received after this operation, the Victoria Cross . In total there were 345 losses, 103 Hampdens , 15 Manchesters and 227 Lancasters .
RAF Waddington remained a bomber base for almost 50 years. Between 1953 and 1955 the base was closed and upgraded for the operation of jet-powered bombers. In the course of the Cold War three seasons British nuclear bombers were here V-bombers of the type Vulcan stationed, and in 1984 the last Vulcan squadron was decommissioned. Two years earlier, the last of the Waddington volcanoes were used in the Falklands War .
In the following years the station developed into the base of the reconnaissance aircraft for special missions, among other things all E-3D Sentry AEW1 , Nimrod R1 , Sentinel R1 and Shadow R1 reconnaissance planes were stationed here.
The "RAF Waddington International Airshow" took place for the first time in 1995 and between 2011 and 2014 annually.
The No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW) was set up on April 1, 2006 in Waddington. None of the flying squadrons belong to the EAW. The base commander is also the EAW commander.
Due to repairs to the airfield, there was no air day in 2015 and for safety reasons the 2016 edition of the annual air day was canceled and the decision was made to hold the event in neighboring Scampton from 2017.
Todays use
To date (as of 2018) Waddington is an important air base of the Royal Air Force on which the following flying squadrons are stationed:
- 5th (AC) Squadron , Sentinel R1 , since December 2008
- 8th Squadron , E-3D Sentry AEW1 , since July 1991
- 13th Squadron , MQ-9A "Reaper" , since October 2012. Most of the drones themselves are still stationed in Afghanistan, the rest at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada .
- 14th Squadron , Shadow R1 , since October 2011
- 39th Squadron , MQ-9A "Reaper", stationed at Creech Air Force Base since 2007
- 51st Squadron , RC-135V / W , since November 2013
- 54th (R) Squadron , reserve squadron, which acts as a retraining unit for all of Waddington's manned weapons systems, without its own aircraft, which can be borrowed from the squadrons if necessary.
- 56th (R) Squadron , reserve squadron, which serves as Waddington's test unit and also has no aircraft of its own
At the beginning of 2019 a third drone squadron will be added with the 31st Squadron , which will use the MQ-9B "SkyGuardian" (Protector RG1), which is also allowed to fly in European airspace. The base is also regularly by the AWACS early reconnaissance of NATO used.
Others
RAF Waddington is next to RAF Coningsby the last remaining flying station in Lincolnshire, on which a significant number of RAF forces are stationed. During World War II there were a number of other RAF Bomber Command bases in the county.
See also
Web links
- Official homepage in English
- Private homepage in English about the history of the RAF in Lincolnshire including the Waddingstons
- Homepage of the flight day
Individual evidence
- ↑ RAF Waddington runway fully reopens after £ 35.4m rebuild, the Lincoln Nite, November 21, 2016
- ^ RAF announces new Typhoon, Protector squadrons, Janes, July 12, 2018
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