RAF Coningsby , is a
Royal Air Force station in
Lincolnshire
, England
. It
has been commanded by
Group Captain
John Hitchcock since 15 December 2008.
The station is the home of
No.
XVII Squadron - the
Operational Evaluational Unit,
No. 29
Squadron - the Operational Conversion Unit and
No. 3
Squadron - the first Typhoon Operational Squadron, flying the
Eurofighter Typhoon F2 and
T1. No
11 Squadron joined the station as a Typhoon unit in 2007.
Since June 2007 the Typhoons of No.
3(F) Squadron have formed part of air
defence of the UK along with RAF Leeming
near Northallerton in North Yorkshire and RAF Leuchars
near St Andrews,Fife,Scotland
, both of
which were equipped with Tornado F3
fighters but Leeming lost its last Tornados in 2008 with the
disbandment of 25 Squadron and its concentration on being the RAFs
communications hub.
The station is also home to
No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing.
History
The base was opened in 1940 as a bomber base.
Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore
Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and
the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 64
No. 106
Squadron and
No. 97 Squadron arrived in 1941.
No. 617
Squadron were at the base from August 1943 - January
1944.
Halpenny, Bruce
Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of
Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page Following
World War II, the base received its
first jet aircraft - the
Canberra - in 1953.
Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore
Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and
the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 67 In 1956, the base expanded
with the runway being extended.
Avro Vulcans
arrived in 1962, which were transferred to RAF Cottesmore
in November 1964. From 1964-66, the station
had been designated to receive the proposed RAF fighter, the
TSR2 project, which was cancelled for
economic reasons in April 1965. Its intended replacement, the
F-111 was shelved when its
costs overshot the UK's budget.
Spey-engined
Phantoms (the plane the government eventually
bought) arrived in 1966, with all RAF Phantom training taking place
on the base, and the base became part of
Fighter Command until December 1967. The
Phantoms were initially in a ground attack role, changing to air
defence in October 1974 when the base joined
RAF Strike Command in
No. 11
Group. In November 1984, the Tornado F3 squadrons began to
form.
Halpenny, Bruce
Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of
Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 221
Tornado
training took place until April 1987, when the Phantoms left (to
RAF
Leuchars) and
Coningsby had the first (No. 29) Tornado air defence
squadron.
Halpenny, Bruce
Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of
Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 222 To
accommodate these new aircraft extensive
hardened aircraft shelter (HAS)
and support facilities were built.
Coningsby was the first airfield to receive the Phantoms, the
Tornado ADV and was the first to receive its replacement, the
Eurofighter Typhoon.
56
Squadron was based there until March 2003 but relocated to
RAF
Leuchars and in 2008
to RAF
Waddington
to allow
airfield improvements required for the arrival of the
Typhoon. 5 Squadron also
flew F3s from Coningsby until its disbandment in 2003 (this unit is
now at Waddington). Typhoon arrived in May 2005 with
No. 17 Squadron, after the RAF first
publicly displayed the aircraft at Coningsby in December 2004. In
July 2007, the Typhoon became operational from the base (and the
UK).
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF)
Coningsby
is also the home to the Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight (since March 1976 when it arrived from RAF Coltishall
) and their Visitor Centre. The BBMF operate
one of two remaining airworthy
Avro
Lancaster bombers in the world besides five
Spitfire of various types, two
Hurricane, a
Dakota, two
Chipmunk and at least one
De Havilland Tiger Moth - these latter two types being used for
pilot training.
Operational Evaluation Units
Also based
at Coningsby is the RAF's Fast Jet and Weapons Operational
Evaluation Unit (FJWOEU), a merger of the Strike/Attack OEU
(previously at Boscombe
Down
), the Tornado F.3 OEU (previously at RAF Waddington) and the Air-Guided Weapons OEU (previously at
RAF
Valley
). Today, the unit operates under the shadow
squadron numberplate of No.41(R) Sqn since 1 April 2006 and is
tasked with operational testing and evaluation of existing and
forthcoming aircraft and weapons.
No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing was formed at Coningsby on 1 April
2006 and encompasses most of the non-formed unit personnel. The EAW
does not include any of the flying squadrons. The
Station Commander is triple-hatted as the Commanding
Officer of the Wing and as Typhoon Force Commander.
Current structure
The RAF Coningsby structure as of April 2008:
Station Commanders
The following Station Commanders are listed in the rank held at
the time of appointment:
List incomplete
See also
Notes and References
- Handover of Station Commander - RAF Coningsby
retrieved 15 December 2008
- RAF Coningsby squadrons retrieved 29 December
2008
- Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Visitor Centre
- Air Forces Monthly, April 2008 issue, pp.
44
- Bruce Barrymore
Halpenny Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of
Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 (updated
version) (ISBN 978-1852604059)
External links
- News items
- Video clips
in November 1999.
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
