RAF Waddington

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Five miles south of Lincoln, Waddington's history can be traced back to 1916 when it was home to two flying training squadrons. After World War I the station was placed into care and maintenance before being reactivated as a bomber station shortly before World War II. Two famous bomber squadrons, Nos 44 and 50, spent much of the war here eventually equipping with the Lancaster bomber. In the early 1950s, the station was prepared for the forthcoming V-bombers and, after a couple of years with Canberras based at the station, No 83 Squadron reformed at Waddington as the first RAF Vulcan unit.

For almost 30 years, Waddington became a mecca for Vulcan-watchers but just as the type was finally leaving RAF service, Argentina invaded the Falklands and a number of Vulcans were hastily deployed to Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. From here, Vulcans bombed Stanley airfield in marathon 16 hour missions. The Vulcan's finally left Waddington in 1984 when it was hoped that the first Nimrod AEW3 aircraft would replace them, but the project was cancelled and the Boeing E-3D Sentry selected instead.

Today, Waddington is the RAF's main reconnaissance base and is home to 4 squadrons; No 8/23 Squadron flies the Sentry AEW1 in the Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) role; No 51 Squadron with the Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft and, most recently No 5 (Army Co-operation) Squadron with Sentinel R1 battlefield surveillance aircraft. Despite much of the work of the squadrons being secretive, the base has a fairly open attitude to spotting and is one of the few RAF bases with a dedicated area for enthusiasts. Known as the WAVE (Waddington Aircraft Viewing Area) it is located next to the 21 end of the airfield adjacent to the A15.