527th Aggressors Bentwaters

[TankBuster]

Nice little trip down memory lane, when F-16's lived in Suffolk .

Looks like the final few ops of the squadron, as some of the birds have been stripped of markings for deactivation and departure .

Footage starts at 03.20... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oSXVTrn1un8

TankBuster

[cottesmore09]

Only moved to Wickham Market in 2013 and never knew how close Bentwaters was until I was told

It is a massive shame flying days came to an end years before my arrival to the area, from what I have seen of Bentwaters Parks and Rendlesham and old video's it looked a nice base!

[TankBuster]

Only moved to Wickham Market in 2013 and never knew how close Bentwaters was until I was told

It is a massive shame flying days came to an end years before my arrival to the area, from what I have seen of Bentwaters Parks and Rendlesham and old video's it looked a nice base!

It certainly was a nice base, usually quite busy too with a good variety of resident and visiting aircraft. Bentwaters had many good vantage points around the perimeter fence which was a bonus, however the yanks did spoil it a bit when they built a wall around the EOR checkpoint near 'Commie Corner', which was one of the more popular viewing locations for us enthusiasts.

TankBuster

[Snoop 95]

Very interesting and nostalgic. Whilst I visited the base several times and saw many of the resident A10's, unfortunately I never got to see any of the AS F16's.

[kristianrj]

Cool footage of the only F-16 squadron to be based in the UK

I had a rather epic day at Bentwaters back in the day with a load of Hahn F-16s launching alongside 527th F-16s plus the based A-10s

As far as I recall both bases were good for photos but Bentwaters was the better of the two

[TankBuster]

Woodbridge was ok for viewing, but was often the quieter of the two bases from an enthusiasts point of view. There were several good viewpoints around the base, it was pretty much bang in the middle of Rendlesham forest so there were a large number of tall trees to climb up for a better view if one fancied a challenge .

I think the old viewing area car park is still at Woodbridge near 'Folly Cottage' at the 27 end of the runway?

TankBuster

[davekench]

I remember walking around in the forest at Woodbridge, and you could get right up to the fenceline without any hassle.

Dave

[kristianrj]

Yup, I remember watching A-10 ops about halfway down the runway from the fence line too, you parked up and walked down to a crash gate, not as good a view as Bentwaters as I recall though

[TankBuster]

Yup, I remember watching A-10 ops about halfway down the runway from the fence line too, you parked up and walked down to a crash gate, not as good a view as Bentwaters as I recall though

Yes, that would be the famous 'East Gate' associated with the UFO business. That was a good place for viewing the EOR checkpoint which was very close to the fence as I recall, until like Bentwaters they built a wall around it .

TankBuster