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Diversionary Airfields

A forum for discussing all things related to MILITARY AVIATION including Military Aviation news. No off-topic discussions here please.
YellowBelly
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 8:16 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by YellowBelly » Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:18 am

Pi wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:32 pm
Believe Brize have used Heathrow or Manchester as diversion airfields before and guess still do.
in over 30 years i cant recall LHR ever being used or nominated as a BZZ div. MAN, PIK, EMA and BHX have and still are Jetplan divs :thumb:

Spitfire88
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:45 pm
Location: Fairford, Gloucestershire

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Spitfire88 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:28 am

Going forward fairford will be available a lot of the time as it grows it’s operations, by then fairford will have a 12000 ft runway ( when the overuns are finished ) which is 185ft wide, word Is the base will be open all the time and Notam’d when closed.

MRTT
Posts: 6545
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:43 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by MRTT » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:32 am

How wide is Fairfords runway at the moment then?

Spitfire88
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:45 pm
Location: Fairford, Gloucestershire

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Spitfire88 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:40 am

It’s 185ft the width is not changing

MRTT
Posts: 6545
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:43 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by MRTT » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:40 am

Ah right, thanks for the confirmation.

Spitfire88
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:45 pm
Location: Fairford, Gloucestershire

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Spitfire88 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:42 am

Your welcome

User avatar
Pi
Posts: 209
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:00 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Pi » Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:04 am

Well when the RAF Tristar dep Mild Air Fete in 93 the VFR flt plan had LHR as a nominated div

Malcolm
Posts: 4169
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:26 am

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Malcolm » Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:14 pm

YellowBelly wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:18 am
Pi wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:32 pm
Believe Brize have used Heathrow or Manchester as diversion airfields before and guess still do.
in over 30 years i cant recall LHR ever being used or nominated as a BZZ div. MAN, PIK, EMA and BHX have and still are Jetplan divs :thumb:
From very hazy memory, I don't think LHR is allowed to be nominated as a diversion airfield on flight plans, but that's largely irrelevant to the question asked.

The diversion airfield on a flight plan is the airfield you would like to go to if you are unable to land at you primary destination - due to weather, or the runway being blocked, or some other event that means you can't land there safely.

Things change entirely if the aircraft in question has a problem resulting in it declaring a fuel priority, PAN or full on Mayday. The aircraft captain decides where to land based on the options available and nature of the emergency. AIUI most long haul flights carry a 'bible' of airfields that are suitable to handle that type of aircraft. If something goes to rats over Mongolia and you need to land pronto then someone else has already worked out a list of suitable airfields (which you've never heard of) for you. At the end of the day, if push comes to shove a USN EP-3 can and will land at a military base in Russia if there are no better alternatives. An engine on fire is fairly high up the levels of "priority".

Snoop 95
Posts: 1885
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:17 pm
Location: West Suffolk

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by Snoop 95 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 3:28 pm

A couple of days ago a hole appeared in the runway at Lakenheath and several F15's diverted to Mildenhall. As we can see in the 'RAF Mildenhall to Close' section the Hall is not now expected to close until 2029 at the earliest, but I wonder what would be their diversionary 'field after closure...... Marham?

normski
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 4:37 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by normski » Mon Jun 24, 2019 3:09 pm

I remember in the 70's driving the stop/follow me Landrover for x 9 F-111's that had diverted into Valley due to poor weather in East Anglia.

I had a problem keeping them behind me!

POL
Posts: 16715
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:26 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by POL » Mon Jun 24, 2019 3:53 pm

Snoop 95 wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 3:28 pm
but I wonder what would be their diversionary 'field after closure...... Marham?
It's fairly common to see posts on here where he Lakenheath ATIS, and the squadron ops units, give out the nominated diversion airfield - from memory Marham, Leeming, Valley and Lossiemouth have all been used!

YellowBelly
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 8:16 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by YellowBelly » Mon Jun 24, 2019 7:21 pm

Malcolm wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:14 pm
YellowBelly wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:18 am
Pi wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:32 pm
Believe Brize have used Heathrow or Manchester as diversion airfields before and guess still do.
in over 30 years i cant recall LHR ever being used or nominated as a BZZ div. MAN, PIK, EMA and BHX have and still are Jetplan divs :thumb:
From very hazy memory, I don't think LHR is allowed to be nominated as a diversion airfield on flight plans, but that's largely irrelevant to the question asked.

The diversion airfield on a flight plan is the airfield you would like to go to if you are unable to land at you primary destination - due to weather, or the runway being blocked, or some other event that means you can't land there safely.

Things change entirely if the aircraft in question has a problem resulting in it declaring a fuel priority, PAN or full on Mayday. The aircraft captain decides where to land based on the options available and nature of the emergency. AIUI most long haul flights carry a 'bible' of airfields that are suitable to handle that type of aircraft. If something goes to rats over Mongolia and you need to land pronto then someone else has already worked out a list of suitable airfields (which you've never heard of) for you. At the end of the day, if push comes to shove a USN EP-3 can and will land at a military base in Russia if there are no better alternatives. An engine on fire is fairly high up the levels of "priority".
correct, the preferred airfield is nominated on the jetplan to ensure the crew have enough fuel to actually get there in the event of a non-emergency diversion, emergencies however will always be decided on urgency and reason on a case by case basis.

YellowBelly
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 8:16 pm

Re: Diversionary Airfields

Post by YellowBelly » Mon Jun 24, 2019 7:44 pm

Pi wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:04 am
Well when the RAF Tristar dep Mild Air Fete in 93 the VFR flt plan had LHR as a nominated div
interesting, the only reason i can think for this is the tristars still went to BA for servicing, work, etc and it maybe made sense to do that for a non pax flight. (cant recall when maintenance moved to the middle east).

when i was a lad about 86, i travelled with a tristar crew to LHR by coach, plan was to route something like LHR-HAJ-LTN-HAJ-BZZ on a double school kids run (i was going on a duty free run as you do).

when we got to BA Eng at LHR, we were told our aircraft was in that hangar over there, to which the Loady replied the hangar with hundreds of cars parked in front of it :Oops:

so after about 7 hours sitting in the eng crew room, we boarded the aircraft and after an hour of engine runs, departed for BZZ landing about 15 mins later, task and DF run cancelled :@

did get a tour around one of the hangared concordes, so not all bad :thumbs:

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