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Re: There were rumours that Brize was to close...

Posted by Ron Henry on Fri Nov 01, 2002 01:33:29 PM

In reply top Re: There were rumours that Brize was to close... posted by Julian on Fri Nov 01, 2002 10:51:50 AM

: Brize? Surely not...
:
: But then, I suppose if they are hell-bent on shedding our
: Air Force, then we won't need airfields... Well, perhaps t
: hree self-propelled aquatic ones, but I hear they won't ha
: ve anything to fly off them for a couple of years...


Yes, that was an official concept at one time within the last couple of years. It was all tied in with the curious idea (still current) of having civil contractors purchase, and operate, a new fleet of AA tankers for the RAF. There is at least a couple of consortia bidding for it. IIRC, one of them was going to base the fleet at Boscombe Down, and, in that case, Brize could have been surplus. Anyhow, the Boscombe idea has fallen at the first hurdle, and I believe there has now been an official announcement that Brize will not close.

As for German aircraft buried beneath the runway.... I'm inclined to suggest that this may be an aviation myth. The aircraft in question are the captured aircraft that were brought from Germany to Farnborough at the end of WW2. They were despatched to Brize (then a RAF Maintenance Unit - No 32??)by late 1946. In those times, UK was near-bankrupt, and I think that scrap aluminium was probably regarded as a valuable resource - so why bury it? Burying scrap aircraft also involves the extra cost and labour of making a large hole, putting the aircraft into it, and then filling it in again!

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