FighterControl

Can someone confirm if the Bristol UAS based at Colerne has been disbanded and/or moved ?

MTIA Mike

Believe they're still operating from Colerne, was a Tutor on Virtual Radar on Sunday.

I believe that they recently (February?) vacated Colerne and are now based at Boscombe Down. However, they are using their usual allocated blocks for general handling and hence why are flying in the general vicinity of Colerne still.

Cessna

thanks chaps .. that explains it. I'm hearing GA traffic on the VHF frequency but not the Grobs. Guessing it won't be long before it closes

Thanks for clarifying that Cessna,
. A

It is only a temporary move whilst their hangar is undergoing asbestos removal, the other Army occupied hangars are undergoing the same treatment.

Thanks Firefighter, I didn't know that.


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When I was at Colerne in 1993 the UAS hangar was quarantined because asbestos had been found on the Bulldogs.

It has been 'cleaned' no end of times, but they have always seem to find asbestos again. Surely the cleaners should have cleaned it properly in the first place.

Heard last week that staff had been officially told that Colerne Airfield is now closing by 18 April 2018 , and there seems to be no hope of the Tutors ever returning, BUAS will not disband as they will be found a new base to operate from . Airfield accepting civilian traffic to stay current.

Great shame, not many airfields left in Wiltshire! Wouldn't surprise me if UBAS moved down to Boscombe.

Boscombe is not one of the preferred options, a stop gap base has been bandied about until a more permanent home can be found.

Keevil - limited facilities
Netheravon- grass runways
Upavon - grass runways
Hullavington - sold to Dyson
Yeovilton - could co-locate with 727NAS
Merryfield - earmarked for the Hullavington CGS so a possibility

Cessna




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Speaking to one of their pilots at RIAT, he said they had looked at over, 20 sites but Kemble seemed the best option. They have ATC, fire cover and other OPS staff at Colerne, when they move to Kemble they will only need to provide one Met watch person, so you would imagine a saving in costs depending on what Kemble are charging for rent.

The OC, QFI's, ATC and admin staff are RAF/MOD and there's not many of them, but every one else is employed by Babcock, so not much of a money saving move. Any financial saving by the selling of the airfield could be swallowed up by Kembles demands, and they could be made homeless again by the proposed threat of the future selling of Kemble for housing.

'RAF Colerne Airfield, Wiltshire was due to close 2018, now delayed until 2025 Updated disposal date following detailed work to assess the optimum laydown required to support operational capability'. What does this all mean,BUAS to return from Boscombe!, meanwhile there is a staff shortage caused by the previous threat of closure.

My guess it's something to do with the skynet satellite ground station and clear field of view over the airfield. This is land earmarked for housing.

U1213/19: Colerne: Aerodrome closed
Q) EGTT/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5126N00217W005
AERODROME UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS
FROM: 22 Mar 2019 08:00 GMT TO: 20 Jun 2019 22:59 GMT (23:59 BST)
Air Traffic and Fire Services have been withdrawn.

So I wont delete the Colerne frequency out of my scanner just yet !