RNAS Yeovilton

RNAS Yeovilton
Characteristics
ICAO code	EGDY
IATA code	YEO
Coordinates	51 ° 0 '34 "  N , 2 ° 38' 20"  W Coordinates: 51 ° 0 '34 "  N , 2 ° 38' 20"  W.
Height above MSL	23 m (75  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	8 km north of Yeovil
Street	1 km to
Basic data
opening	circa 1940
operator	Royal Navy
Runways
09/27	2331 m of concrete
04/22	1462 m of concrete

The Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton , RNAS Yeovilton for short , and the additional designation HMS Heron , is a military airfield of the Fleet Air Arm of the British Royal Navy a few kilometers north of Yeovil in the county of Somerset , England . In addition to RNAS Culdrose, the base is one of two land bases for RN aircraft and also houses army aviation units. Yeovilton is the type base of the AgustaWestland AW159 reconnaissance helicopters. The Wildcats, subordinate to the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), will be part of an Aviation Reconnaissance Force that is currently being established .

history

In 1938, the then chief pilot of the aircraft manufacturer Westland Aircraft based in neighboring Yeovil recognized the suitability of the site as an airfield. The Church of England, as landowner, initially rejected the purchase offer, in the following year the state expropriated 169 hectares of land and the Admiralty Air Division began building the airfield. Due to drainage problems, the base was not completed until 1941 with a main runway 1111 m long and three further 914 m long runways.

Even before completion, the first flight squadron, the 750 Naval Air Squadron, occupied the new base, which was soon followed by the 751 and 752 and the Naval Air Fighter School . Westland also opened a repair facility in Yeovilton. From July 1940, the airfield was often targeted by bombers of the German Air Force . Part of the runway was marked as a flight deck for training take-offs and landings on the aircraft carriers of the fleet. Due to the high occupancy in the further course of the Second World War , the satellite airfields Charlton Horethorne and Henstridge were set up in the vicinity in 1942. Most of the aircraft types used during the war were those of the Fairey company .

After the war ended, the base initially served as a demobilization center for the RN, which decided in 1952 that Yeovilton should in future become the FAA's only land base for all-weather combat aircraft. For this purpose, the runway system was expanded in the 1950s and from 1953 the location also housed the headquarters of the Flag Officer Flying Training . Aircraft types used in these years were u. a. the Sea Vampires and Sea Venom .

BAe Sea Harrier FRS.1 of the 899 Naval Air Squadron at Yeovilton, 1982

In the 1960s the base housed the School of Fighter Direction and the aircraft types stationed were initially the Sea Vixen and later the Phantom FG.1 , the FAA's last horizontal take-off and landing carrier aircraft type.

In the 1970s, the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command (FONAC) relocated from RNAS Lee-on-Solent to Yeovilton and with the delivery of the phantoms to the Royal Air Force and the decommissioning of the last catapult launch aircraft carriers remained in Yeovilton next to the Wessex Commando helicopters HU.5 and Sea King HC.4 only Hawker Hunter GA.Mk.11 and English Electric Canberra TT.Mk.18 for target display and for ship attacks.

In the last two decades of the 20th century, the station once again became the land base of the Sea Harrier whiz. A “ski jump” ramp was used to train deck starts (STOVL) in those years. The Harrier flew their first combat missions in 1982 in the Falklands War . During Operation Deny Flight , Harrier flew close air support from aircraft carrier Invincible in the Adriatic Sea . With the decommissioning of the Sea Harrier mainly helicopter squadrons remained in Yeovilton again.

At the end of the 1990s, the Lynx helicopters previously stationed on the RNAS Portland also relocated to Yeovilton due to the closure. In addition, in September 2014 the station also became the base of the 1st Regiment of the Army Air Corps (AAC), which was previously located at Gütersloh Airport . The headquarters had already moved to Somerset at the end of 2013 and after the start of Wildcat flight operations in spring 2015, the regiment will consist of four squadrons after all the Wildcats have arrived. Parallel to the arrival of the Wildcats, the last Lynx HMA.8 continued to operate until the end of March 2017.

With a view to eventually end in March 2016 decommissioning was carried out of the Commando HC.4 that in the 845th and the 848th Naval Air Squadron were on duty, met the first in March 2015 Merlin HC.3 / HC.3A from RAF Benson Coming a.

Todays use

Currently (2017) the station is the base of helicopters from Army and RN, part of the RN squadrons is used for the operations of the Royal Marines .

• 727th Naval Air Squadron , squadron for the basic training of prospective naval aviators, equipped with the Tutor T.1
• 815th Naval Air Squadron , squadron equipped with the Wildcat HMA.2 (since April 2016)
• 825th Naval Air Squadron , school squadron equipped with the Wildcat HMA.2
• 847th Naval Air Squadron , operational squadron equipped with the Wildcat AH.1
• 846th Naval Air Squadron , equipped with the Merlin HC.3 / 4 , since March 2015
• 1st Regiment AAC , in addition to the 652nd Squadron as a joint Army / RN retraining unit, currently two Wildcat AH.1 squadrons , the 659th and 661st Squadron

Web links

Commons : RNAS Yeovilton  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage of the RNAS Yeovilton

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lynx final farewell flypast, Royal Navy website, March 20, 2017
2. ↑ It really is goodbye to the 'old girl', Royal Navy website, March 24, 2016
3. ↑ Wildcat pride heralds new era for 815 NAS, Royal Navy, April 19, 2016
4. ↑ Craig Hoyle: Commando Merlins make move to Yeovilton. In: Flightglobal.com. April 1, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2015 (English): “The Royal Navy's amphibious support helicopter transition from the Westland Sea King HC4 to the AgustaWestland Merlin HC4 / 4A has taken a significant step forward, with the return of its 846 Naval Air Squadron to RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset. "