Boscombe Down 1970s

[Mike]

I had a visit to Boscombe Down with the air cadets on the 6th of September 1968 and we had a 1hour 30 minute flight in Valetta WJ491 which I assume would have been the one on the dump. Always remembered as we were just starting the takeoff run seeing the Beverley XB261 taxying out to take off after us. I managed to log quite a few of the aircraft we saw but were not allowed to take any photos. Not sure if anybody would be interested in seeing the log but not sure where to put it on the forum if there is any interest in seeing it.

We'd love to see your log, you could post it in the Boscombe section :- viewforum.php?f=41

[Stratocruiser]

A great nostalgic post!
I remember seeing the dump regularly when I travelled along the A303 in the 70's and I would regularly visit the airfield when I was stationed at Tidworth and Larkhill in the 80's.
Thanks to Mike's request, I also enjoyed viewing the log by Gruncle 01.
Many thanks for sharing your superb pics

[Doddy754]

Nice to see this thread resurrected, what a great place Boscombe was back then! I used to visit frequently living in Wiltshire,it was always busy and what a variety of aircraft rotary and fixed wing. Annoyingly the only based aircraft I never saw on the ramp or in the air was the Lightning T5! Even on a base visit with the fire service in the early eighties the Lightning was nowhere to be seen, although the visit was superb in other ways. We were taken in a mini bus to the end of the runway in monsoon conditions to watch the first RAF Tristar which was being evaluated at Boscombe landing which was interesting to say the least! Later when it was hangared still dripping wet we were allowed on board. Due to the terrible weather conditions that day nothing else was flying this meant the hangars were packed with a tasty selection of types, of course no photography was allowed on base sadly! We were also given a tour inside Boscombe's Comet "Canopus" which was on jacks being prepared for a series of tests overseas it was packed with all sorts of secretive looking equipment with technicians testing it with furrowed brows. Happy days!