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A-4 Skyhawks were present at the retirement of the F-4F Phantom II from German Air Force service, celebrated by an airshow at Wittmund AFB. N432FS flew a spirited display with a stunning high speed pass
Categories:
McDonnell Douglas - A-4 Skyhawk - Fast Jet - Cold War Aircraft - Wittmund 2013
Completed on the 11th of May 1961, delivered to 27 Squadron five days later, moving on to 101 Squadron. She flew into Duxford on the 13th of March 1982. Displayed inside Hangar 1, then outside while it was redeveloped as Airspace, moving back inside on completion.
The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a Jet-Powered, Tailless, Delta-Wing, High-Altitude, Strategic Bomber, which was Operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and Company (Avro) designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V Bombers produced, the Vulcan was considered the most 'Technically Advanced' hence the riskiest option. Several Reduced-Scale Aircraft, designated Avro 707's, were produced to Test and Refine the Delta-Wing design principles.
The Vulcan B.1 was first delivered to the RAF in 1956, deliveries of the improved Vulcan B.2 later in 1960. The B.2 featured more Powerful Engines, a Larger Wing, an improved Electrical System, and Electronic Countermeasures, and many were modified to accept the Blue Steel Missile. As a part of the ''V-Force'' the Vulcan was the backbone of the United Kingdom's Airborne Nuclear Deterrent during much of the Cold War. Although the Vulcan was typically Armed with Nuclear Weapons, it could also carry out Conventional Bombing Missions, which it did in ''Operation Black Buck'' ( en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck ) during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982.
The Vulcan had no Defensive Weaponry, initially relying upon High-Speed, High-Altitude Flight to evade Interception. Electronic Countermeasures were employed by the B.1 (designated B.1A) and B.2 from around 1960. A change to Low-Level Tactics was made in the mid-1960's. In the mid-1970's, nine Vulcans were adapted for Maritime Radar Reconnaissance Operations, Redesignated as B.2 (MRR) In the final years of Service, six Vulcans were converted to the K.2 Tanker Configuration for Aerial Refueling. After retirement by the RAF, one example, B.2 XH558, named 'The Spirit of Great Britain' was restored for use in Display Flights and Air Shows, whilst two other B.2's, XL426 and XM655, have been kept in Taxiable condition for Ground Runs and Demonstrations. B.2 XH558 flew for the last time in October 2015, and is also being kept in a Taxiable Condition
Despite its radical and unusual shape, the Airframe was built along traditional lines. Except for the most highly stressed parts, the whole structure was manufactured from standard grades of light alloy. The Airframe was broken down into a number of major assemblies :-
▪︎ The Centre Section, a rectangular box containing the Bomb Bay and Engine Bays bounded by the Front / Rear Spars and the Wing Transport Joints
▪︎ The Intakes and Centre Fuselage
▪︎ The Front Fuselage, incorporating the Pressure Cabin
▪︎ The Nose
▪︎ The Outer Wings
▪︎ The Leading Edges
▪︎ The Wing Trailing Edge and Tail End of the Fuselage
▪︎ A Single Swept Tail Fin with a Single Rudder was on the Trailing Edge.
A Five-Man Crew was accommodated within the Pressure Cabin on two levels, the First Pilot and Co-Pilot sitting on Martin-Baker 3K (3KS on the B.2) Ejection Seats whilst on the Lower Level the Navigator Radar, Navigator Plotter, and Air Electronics Officer (AEO) sat facing rearwards and would abandon the Aircraft via the Entrance Door. The original B35/46 specification sought a 'Jettisonable Crew Compartment' but this requirement was removed in a subsequent amendment, the Rear Crew's Escape System was often an issue of controversy, such as when a practical refit scheme was rejected. A rudimentary sixth seat forward of the Navigator Radar was provided for an Additional Crew Member, the B.2 had an additional seventh seat opposite the sixth seat and forward of the AEO. The Visual Bomb-Aimer's Compartment could be fitted with a T4 (Blue Devil) Bombsight, in many B.2's, this space housed a vertically mounted Vinten F95 Mk.10 Camera for assessing Simulated Low-Level Bombing Runs.
Fuel was carried in 14 Bag Tanks, four in the Centre Fuselage above and to the rear of the Nosewheel Bay, and five in each Outer Wing. The Tanks were split into four groups of almost equal capacity, each normally feeding its Respective Engine, though cross-feeding was possible. The centre of gravity was automatically maintained by Electric Timers, which sequenced the Booster Pumps on the Tanks. B.2 Aircraft could be fitted with one or two additional Fuel Tanks in the Bomb Bay. Despite being designed before a Low Radar Cross-Section and other Stealth Factors were ever a consideration, an RAE Technical Note of 1957 stated that of all the Aircraft so far studied, the Vulcan appeared by far the 'Simplest Radar-Echoing Object' due to its shape; only one or two components contributed significantly to the echo at any aspect, compared with three or more on most other types
Messing about in abandoned cold war bunkers is definatly where its at.
I definatly cant tell you where this one is so quit asking!
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
Color slide of a photograph of a view looking out along the coast of the New River towards the U.S. Naval Hospital, taken from the 6th Marine Regiment Avenue on Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1957. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune [1957].
From Donald C. Gonder Navy Slides, CLDW 83, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
FISSILE CORE STORAGE –
The fissile cores were stored in small buildings arranged around the large non-nuclear component stores. In total there are 57 of these buildings, which are divided into 48 Type 'A' and 9 Type 'B' stores. The fissile core stores are organised in four uneven groups around the non-nuclear stores. The two southerly groups of stores are arranged symmetrically to the south of the large non-nuclear stores, each group having sixteen small store buildings. The north-eastern group contains eleven stores and the north-west group fourteen. All but the south-east group contained a mixture of Type 'A' and Type 'B' stores.
The store buildings are linked together by pedestrian width walkways, fenced by tubular steel pipes 37in tall with strands of white between the horizontal members. The area was lit by pre-cast concrete lamp-posts, each of which had a red panic button at chest height. The Type 'A' storage buildings 1-48 are small kiosk-like structures. In plan they measure 8ft 4in by 7ft 10in and stand 9ft above ground level. The foundations of the building are constructed of 3ft thick mass concrete. The walls are of cavity wall construction and are formed of solid concrete blocks, while the roof is a flat over-hanging reinforced concrete slab with a drip mould, and is covered with bituminous felt. The design drawing (Drg. No. 3563B/52) shows a variety of irregular roof plans designed to disguise the structures from the air. These were never built, all the roofs being rectangular in plan.
Fittings on the walls indicate that they were all originally protected by copper earthing straps. On the front of many of the stores a stencilled notice records ''Date of last lightning conductor test April - 63''. Internally the walls are finished in unpainted, smooth gritless plaster. The side and rear walls are ventilated by four small controllable ventilators, two at the base of the wall and two at the top. In the floor of each of the Type 'A' stores is a single keyhole shaped cavity. Each hole is 1ft 5in in diameter and 1ft 9in deep. The shaft of the hole measures 10in wide and is 8in long and is shallower than the main hole at 3½in. A scar around the hole suggests it originally contained a vessel with the asphalt brought up around its lip. This is confirmed by the survival of the surrounding lip in similar stores at RAF Faldingworth, Lincolnshire, and by the rare survival of a number of stainless steel vessels at the bomb store at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The electrical system of each store was contained within small bore metal pipes; circular junction boxes led to other electrical fittings, which have in most cases been removed. In a number of the stores 'Walsall' Type 1174X flameproof switch boxes remained. On their covers is cast ''5 Amp 250 Volt Flameproof switchbox type Walsall 1174BX Group 2 FLP 302 Group 3 Test P60 Isolate supply elsewhere before removing this cover''. A small formica sign confirmed that ''The electrical installation in this building is standard 'A' in accordance with AP 2608A''. All the stores originally had external fuse boxes to the left of their doors.
The doors are wooden and open outwards, their outer faces being protected by a steel sheet. They are secured by a combination lock and internal vertical locking bar operated by an external handle. A metal fitting in the path allowed the door to be secured half ajar. Above the door, and attached to its frame, is a spring-loaded electrical contact, which probably recorded on the control board in building 63 whether or not the door was open or closed. Externally and internally the doors are painted light blue. On the door of building No. 1 is a 1ft diameter radiation symbol in yellow and out-lined in black, below it is a 11½in yellow square with a black star at its centre.
The Type 'B' store buildings 49-57 are slightly larger than the Type 'A' measuring 9ft 7in by 7ft 10n. Otherwise the details of the stores are identical to the smaller stores. The principle difference between the two types of structures is that the Type 'B ' had two storage holes in their floors. Each of these buildings was also equipped with a small wooden counter adjacent to the doors; the counters measure 2ft 6in by 1ft 6in and standing 4ft tall. They have been removed from stores 53 and 55. At some point during the operational life of the station the holes in the floors of all the Type 'B' stores were filled and covered by gritless asphalt. The asphalt surfaces in the stores are continuous, often with a slight depression marking the position of the holes, which implies that the original floor was lifted and new floors laid. The holes in store 52 have been reopened, as indicated by fragments of the asphalt surface thrown back into the holes. This is in contrast to RAF Faldingworth where the holes have been left open.
In total there were enough holes to store 66 fissile cores. One source states that the single hole stores contained plutonium cores, while the double-hole stores were, used for cobalt cores. Currently available documentation does not reveal if one fissile core may be equated with one bomb, or if a bomb contained more than one fissile core. Recent research has shown that Britain probably produced no more than twenty Blue Danube warheads, with this number on the active stockpile between 1957 and 1961. It is therefore likely that no more than a handful of weapons were stored at RAF Barnham at anyone time.
The significance of the filling of the holes in the Type 'B' stores is also unclear. It may coincide with the withdrawal of the first generation nuclear weapon, ''Blue Danube'', and the deployment second generation atomic bomb, ''Red Beard'' (from 1961), or it may be related to the introduction of first British hydrogen bomb, ''Yellow Sun'' (from 1958). Given the number of available nuclear warheads in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it is unlikely that the RAF Barnham store was ever full. Part of RAF Barnham's function, along with other bomb stores, was to convince the Soviet Union that Britain had more nuclear weapons at her disposal than was in fact the case.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
Front view of the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II prototype now on display at the Ft. Worth Aviation Museum.
Nancy Sinatra
-Some Velvet Morning
-Tony Rome
-You Only Live Twice
- Lady Bird
Label: Reprise
Country: Australia
Catalogue: EP-2325
Date: 1968
Format: EP
Title: You Only Live Twice
Producer: Lee Hazlewood
Arranger: Billy Strange
A defensive fighting position overlooking one of the airfield entrances at USAF Upper Heyford. It is American in designand constructed from prefabricated concrete panels. Similiar in design to the ubiquitous Second World War pillbox, these defences were sunken into the ground and provided protection against ground attack. They date from around 1986 (based on plans in Cold War: Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989, figure 4.18, published by English Heritage)
The Post War, Cold War era Yarnold Sanger Guard Post is reminiscent of the World War Two Norcon Pillbox, it's made of cast concrete sections rather than sections of pipe previously used. It's named after it's inventor Flt Yarnold Sangar whom came up with the idea in 1986. It's manufactured by the Amey Roadstone Corporation (ARC) the standard design consists of five sections:
▪︎Floor Section - solid concrete base (same as roof section)
▪︎Blank Section - two of these
▪︎Loophole Section - four equally spaced loopholes
▪︎Roof Section - solid concrete roof
▪︎Additional Sections - added to suit position.
Extra sections can be added for extra height or added loophole sizes, half wall sections can be added to provide a protective screen around the entrance, banking up earth to loophole level with an access trench gave further protection, this example flic.kr/p/2jBHwCK at RAF Neatishead is a great example of how the Yarnold Sanger Guard Post can be adapted to its purpose. Normally a free standing sentry or guard post sited near gateways, they were often painted white, green or camouflage colours. They were used by all three forces, found in RAF stations, barracks and military instilations, and are used as sentry posts at the gateways, those who regularly stood on guard never complained of their vulnerability, but how cold they were inside !
Sourced from:
www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/advanced-pillbox-designs/p...
Here are the personal details of a Helga Treickel, whose DTSB mitgliedbuch was the first one I bought two years ago. The DTSB (Deutscher Turn-Und Sportbund or German Gymnastics and Sports Association) was the last major mass organisation to be created by the East German Government in 1957 and I can't see anything about membership being compulsory but I'm guessing that it was.
Once the so-called German Democratic Republic (because there was nothing fucking democratic about it!) was dissolved and Germany was reunified, the DTSB was disbanded and either the individual sports associations continued to exist independently or they joined their Western counterparts.
As for Helga Treickel, well, she joined the DTSB quite late for someone born in 1935...she didn't join until 10 May 1989 but as you can see her mitgliedbuch is stamped 7 July at the residential sports community in Potsdam-Waldstadt and it would appear that she was a member of the DTSB to the very end because there are membership stamps (as well as those of the wohnsportgemeinschaft) right up to December 1990.
This Canberra was originally a B.6 and was the 100th built by Short Brithers in Belfast. It flew with 9 Squadron RAF Binbrook Station Flight and 32 Squadron at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus - the colour scheme now displayed. Retired to be a training airframe at RAF Cosford in 1970 as 8101M.
Built at Short Bros Belfast in 1955 under contract 6/ACFT/5790, WH984 was the 100th Canberra built at this site, it was immediately issued to 49MU for Special Fit. On 14th September 1956 WH984 was issued to 9 Squadron at RAF Binbrook with the Squadron Code of "E". Five months later, on 11th February 1957 it was transferred to 32 Maintenance Unit for more Special Fit work before being returned to RAF Binbrook's Station Flight. Still as a B.6, WH984 was then sent, on 12th July 1957, to Marshalls of Cambridge for modifications and returned, once again, to 9 Squadron in January 1958. The modification program continued with WH984 being sent to BAe Salmesbury for a further series of modifications on 25th June 1959. This work lasted around a month and this Canberra was back with 9 Squadron again on 14th July 1959.
On the 18th April 1961 WH984 was transferred to RAF Boscombe Down, possibly for conversion to B.15 (although this conversion may have been earlier) then transferred to the charge of 32 Squadron Near East Air Force at RAF Akrotiri on 7th March 1962 as part of the package to replace 32 Squadron's B.2's with the more formidable B.15 / 16's. WH984 was next off to 103 Maintenance Unit (NEAF) on 17th December 1963 (Major?) and back to 32 Squadron by 21st January 1964. Then, on 11th June 1968, it became part of the 32 / 73 Squadron Air Strike Wing at RAF Akrotiri. It was transferred to No.1 Engineering Squadron, NEAF on 12th March 1969 with 2,303 hours "on the clock" and this was effectively its last flight. By August 1970, WH984 was assigned code '8101M' and made a Ground Instructional Airframe at No2 SoTT at RAF Cosford. Eventually, the cockpit was sent to RAF St Athan and the airframe scrapped.
The cockpit section now belongs to Mr John Sheldrake who moved it to the City of Norwich Aviation Museum, formerly RAF Horsham StFaith, on 30th November 2005. The update information was passed to the Canberra Tribute Site by Mr Kelvin Sloper of the Museum. With WH984 now in a museum environment it is hoped that this B.15 will be restored to fine display state over the coming months.
English Electric Canberra general characteristics:-
▪︎Role: Bomber / Reconnaissance Aircraft
▪︎National Origin: United Kingdom
▪︎Manufacturer: English Electric
▪︎First Flight: 13th May 1949
▪︎Introduction: 25th May 1951
▪︎Retired: 23rd June 2006 (RAF) / 11th May 2007 (IAF)
▪︎Primary Users: Royal Air Force / Royal Navy / Indian Air Force / Peruvian Air Force
▪︎Number Built: 900 (UK) / 49 (Australia)
▪︎Developed Into: Martin B-57 Canberra
▪︎Crew: 3
▪︎Length: 65ft 6in / Height: 15ft 8in
▪︎Wingspan: 64ft / Wing Area: 960 sq ft
▪︎Empty Weight: 21,650lb / Gross Weight: 46,000lb / Max Takeoff Weight: 55,000lb
▪︎Powerplant: 2 x Rolls-Royce R.A.7 Avon Mk.109 turbojet engines, 7,400 lbf thrust each
▪︎Maximum Speed: 580mph at 40,000ft / Maximum Speed: Mach 0.88
▪︎Combat Range: 810 miles / Ferry Range: 3,380 miles
▪︎Service Ceiling: 48,000ft
▪︎Rate of Climb: 3,400 ft/min
▪︎Wing Loading: 48 lb/sq ft
▪︎Thrust / Weight: 0.37
▪︎Armament:-
**Guns - 4 x 20mm Hispano Mk.V Cannon mounted in rear Bomb Bay (500 rounds/gun) or 2 x 0.30in Machine Gun Pods.
**Rockets - 2 x Unguided Rocket Pods with 37 2in Rockets / 2 x Matra Rocket Pods with 18 SNEB 68mm Rockets each.
**Missiles - A variety of Missiles can be carried according to mission requirements, e.g: 2 x AS-30L Air-to-Surface Missiles.
**Bombs - Total of 8,000lb of payload can be mounted inside the internal bomb bay and on two underwing hardpoints, with the ability to carry a variety of Bombs. Typically, the internal Bomb Bay can hold up to 9 x 500lb Bombs / 6 x 1,000lb Bombs / 1 x 4,000lb Bomb, while the pylons can hold 4 x 500lb Bombs / 2 x 1,000lb Bombs.
**Nuclear Weapons - In addition to conventional ordnance, the Canberra was also type-approved for Tactical Nuclear Weapon delivery, including the Mk.7 B28 (Mod 2, 70 kiloton yield) B57 and B43 (as part of a joint program with the United States) plus the Red Beard and WE.177A (Mod A, 10 kiloton yield) Nuclear Bombs. )All nuclear weapons were carried internally).
Sourced from www.bywat.co.uk/wh984.html and en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Electric_Canberra
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71, unofficially known as the "Blackbird," is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on Dec. 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., in January 1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s on Jan. 26, 1990, because of a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation.
Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. From 80,000 feet, it could survey 100,000 square miles of Earth's surface per hour. On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for its class -- an absolute speed record of 2,193.167 mph and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet.
On March 21, 1968, in the aircraft on display, Maj. (later Gen.) Jerome F. O'Malley and Maj. Edward D. Payne made the first operational SR-71 sortie. During its career, this aircraft accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., Palmdale, Calif., Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, and RAF (Base), Mildenhall, England. The aircraft was flown to the museum in March 1990.
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Armament: None
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney J58s of 32,500 lbs. thrust each with afterburner
Crew: Two
Maximum speed: Mach 3+ (three times the speed of sound) or over 2,000 mph
Range: More than 2,900 statute miles
Ceiling: Over 85,000 ft.
Span: 55 ft. 7 in.
Length: 107 ft. 5 in.
Height: 18 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 140,000 lbs. loaded
The German Rheinmetall RH 202 twin-gun 20mm anti-aircraft system came into service in 1972 to meet the requirements of low a-level air defence. In addition it can also be used against ground targets.
Mounted on a wheeled carriage it consists of twin 20mm guns, their ammunition, a Wankel 8 hp engine for power and optical sights, which include a design to prevent firing on friendly targets. Single barrel guns have also been mounted on vehicles and remain in service.
The anti-aircraft system was used by the German and Portuguese Air Force until 1992 and was also used by the Argentina during the Falklands conflict in 1982. This weapon was captured by the British Forces from Goose Green and gifted to the Museum. It has rifle damage, sustained when it was captured.
Specifications -
▪︎Tactical Range: 1,600 metres (5,000ft)
▪︎Rate of Fire: 1,000 per minute
▪︎Elevation: -5 to + 83°
▪︎Traverse: 360°
▪︎Weight: 2,100kgs (2.3 tons)
▪︎Crew: 3 - Gunner / Layer + 2
▪︎Towing Vehicle: Mercedes Benz 4x4 Truck.
Information from The Muckleburgh Military Collection.
20,000 GALLON STATIC WATER TANK –
To the south of building 63 is a covered 12,000 gallon water tank (Drg No. 400/53) and pump (Ta) for fire fighting. This was supplemented by three 20,000 gallon Static Water Tanks arranged around the inner access road.
RAF Barnham (also known as Barnham Camp) is a Royal Air Force station situated in Suffolk two miles south of Thetford, it is located to the north of the village of Barnham on Thetford Heaths, the camp is a satellite station of RAF Honington. During the 1950's and 1960's a part of RAF Barnham Station was set aside as high-security storage facility for Nuclear Weapons, this area of the site is now a scheduled monument. Earlier than that, RAF Barnham had been used as a Chemical Weapons Store and Filling Station from the 22nd August 1939. In the early 1960's, the Nuclear Weapons Storage facility was put up for sale, and now forms the privately owned Gorse Industrial Estate.
The Chemical Weapon Store and former Chemical Weapon Filling Station are situated down the dead-end Station Road. The present main gate of RAF Barnham can be found directly off the Bury Road A134 between Barnham village and Thetford, the entrance to the former Nuclear Weapons Store (now Gorse Industrial Estate) can be found on the Elveden Road between Barnham village and the old A11.
Military facilities have existed at Barnham since the First World War, and during the Second World War Barnham had been a Chemical Weapons Storage and Filling Station for Mustard Gas. During 1953 and 1954 construction began on a high-security RAF Bomb Store on the Thetford Heath. The site was to become known as RAF Barnham and construction was completed in 1955 with the site operational from September 1956. RAF Barnham was constructed as a sister-site to a similar facility constructed a few years before at RAF Faldingworth. Both sites were built to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs and RAF Barnham was able to supply the Bomber Squadrons at RAF Honington, RAF Marham, RAF Watton, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood and RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Barnham came under the control of the RAF's No. 94 Maintenance Unit.
The operational life of RAF Barnham was relatively short, by the early 1960's this type of Storage Facility became obsolete as Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs were superseded as the weapon of choice, for the British Nuclear Deterrent, by the Blue Steel Stand-Off Missile. The storage and maintenance of Nuclear Weapons moved to the V Bomber Airfields. The last Nuclear Weapons were probably removed from the site by April 1963, the site was sold in 1966, and since that date it has been used as a light industrial estate.
The site was built specifically to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs, such as 'Blue Danube' this specific purpose was reflected in the facility's layout, the site was roughly pentagonal in shape, it consisted of three large Non-Nuclear Component Stores, surrounded by earthwork banking and a number of smaller Storage Buildings to hold the Fissile Cores, the Cores were held in Stainless Steel Containers sunk into the ground, with the larger buildings stored the Bomb Casings and the High-Explosive elements of the weapons.
The smaller Stores known as ''Hutches'' were constructed to hold the Fissile Core of the weapons, these Hutches were further divided into type 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' Type hutches having a single borehole for the storage of Plutonium Cores and the 'B' Type Hutches having a double borehole for storing the Cobalt cores. In total, there were 55 Hutches giving enough capacity to store 64 Fissile Cores. RAF Barnham had sufficient storage capacity for 132 Fissile Cores although it's likely that only a small number were ever stored there as only 25 Blue Danube Bombs were ever built at a cost of £1M per bomb !
In addition to the storage buildings, the site consisted of a number of other buildings including a Fire Station, RAF Police Flight, Administration Block, Mess block, Mechanical Transport Section, Kennels and Workshops. The Perimeter of the Site was protected by a double system of Chain Link Fencing and an Inner Concrete Panel Wall, all of which were topped with Barbed Wire. In 1959 security was enhanced by the building of Watch Towers around the Perimeter.
The former Nuclear Bomb Storage facilities are designated as a scheduled monument by English Heritage with several buildings on the site having listed building status. RAF Barnham is a Satellite Station for RAF Honington and is used by the RAF Regiment for training, It is used as an accommodation and training venue for the Potential Gunners Acquaintance Course (PGAC) The adjacent MoD Training Area remains the property of the Ministry of Defence and is still used by the RAF Regiment, as well as the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force for training.
In January 2016, it was announced that RAF Barnham would close, A 'Better Defence Estate' published in November 2016, indicates that the Ministry of Defence will dispose of the site by 2020, domestic accommodation will be relocated to RAF Honington, with access to Barnham Training Area maintained, this was later extended to 2022.
Information sourced from – en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barnham