Damage to fence near CG1

[slogen51]

Reporting it is fine but it will be too late , the damage will have occurred and now been brought to the attention of the authorities whom may put up a new fence.

If you see someone damaging a fence that might effect your long term photo opportunities then you obviously need to step in.

However the culprits are more likely doing this discreetly over a period of time which is why I reckon it is more likely to be a minority of locals ' improving' their favourite spot.

I am not having a dig at any specific airfield as this is becoming a wide spread issue - we have all seen the lens shaped hole at pollards lane - been like it for years.

[Blue Diamond]

Aside from right or wrong,

I think what plmc135 is attempting to point out is the explosion of new blood to the hobby care of the likes of Social Meeedya… Look at some of the Facebook groups out there....

There's been idiots around for years. At the 1984 Alconbury show, the RAF put a list by open hangar doors of the serials of the aircraft within. Very helpful but that wasn't enough for one lot, they were caught trying to crowbar open one of the doors on a closed hangar, presumably to see if anything was inside.

[The Phantom]

Also seems an incredibly stupid thing to do at this time of heightened terrorism fear. I would have thought in cutting a fence you would run the risk of being surrounded by armed police a minute later!

[roughcutter]

There's been idiots around for years. At the 1984 Alconbury show, the RAF put a list by open hangar doors of the serials of the aircraft within. Very helpful but that wasn't enough for one lot, they were caught trying to crowbar open one of the doors on a closed hangar, presumably to see if anything was inside.
[/quote]


I can recall a rumour in the nineties of a "spotter" wandering around the hangars during an open day, armed with a diy cordless drill hidden in his bag. For creating new rivet holes to peep through!

[tm74sqn]

In the 1960s at Kidlington some idiots cut the canvas carrying military serials from rear fuselages of Auster AOP a/c being converted to civil use. Sheer stupidity and lack of respect.

[PR9]

Chain link plenty big enough to pan with 58mm diameter.

Be them drainpipe lot.

[StevenNFFC]

Sadly the mentality of some that I must get the numbers or a photograph is getting too rife. All down to the internet I am afraid which alerts the masses to what is around.

Absolutely correct. The advent of Facebook groups etc means that information is available to the masses without having to do any ground work etc.

However the culprits are more likely doing this discreetly over a period of time which is why I reckon it is more likely to be a minority of locals ' improving' their favourite spot.

I don't think this would be the case purely because if you're local and/or a frequent visitor you will know where to go to achieve what you want without causing criminal damage.


In my opinion - I think the answer lies somewhere between joe public taking the kids for a day out and the local spotter - i.e. someone who is interested in military aviation but doesn't visit the base enough to care about the regular spotters or the local land owners' and is simply there to get the shots they want and leave again.

[milky_01]

A new 10ft solid fence is replacing the old fence at CG1, The new gates are solid and 10 ft tall as well,
another good safe spot that you could take your children will be no more. We see all the good work at
Coningsby that the local spotters and the RAF Police have done over the years being undone for that
prat that cut the fence for that one picture.

[slogen51]

I can't understand why photographers even go to crash gate 1 because surely you are looking into the sun?

No good for number crunching either.

[deerhunter]

There you go Milky it only takes one prat to undo years of goodwill

If ever I see one it will be reported

[The Phantom]

So if the people who were witnessing him cutting the fence had reported it to the base or police straight away (or just stomped his guts out!) rather than leaving it till after the event, this idiot would have been arrested and dragged away, and not had time to finish cutting a hole in the fence!
And now we have all this and the person responsible just drives away and probably couldn't care less!

[ChrisCwmbran]

Having just returned from a week in the Coningsby area I have to say I am shocked by the state of the fence at crash gate 1. Not only are there a reasonable number of points on the wire fencing where links have been cut and are held together with cable ties, AND there be temporary fencing to make safe the fence itself where I am told a vehicle reversed into it, BUT someone has actually cut a hole in the wire fencing big enough for a person to actually pass through - which itself is now blocked by another section of temporary fencing.

If the story about the vehicle hitting the fence is true, my understanding it that it was a fairly large truck and hopefully accordingly the base are aware that it wasn't aviation enthusiasts were to blame. Similarly I find it quite hard to believe an aviation enthusiast felt the need to cut a hole large enough to pass through - that said it is difficult to imagine why anyone did. One presumes that it was to gain access to the inside of the base rather than to get out of the base, and also that it was for illicit reasons rather than being a strange sanctioned visit and accordingly I'm lost given the number of fence panels around the perimeter of the base why anyone would select a panel in such a visible location. Accordingly it is hard to understand why anybody would actually have wanted to make such a hole.

The really sad thing is that we observed links cut, clearly for the purposes of photography, at other points used by the aviation enthusiast community too - so don't be surprised when the fencing is upgraded at other points too.

On the plus side I saw very little if any litter - so even though I'd taken a rubbish bag with me to tidy up a bit - there was nothing for me to do. This also included a 30 minute visit to the forest entrance at Lakenheath which was also litter free!

[baz1]

so we have idiots carrying wire cutters with them what next I wonder?

[ChrisCwmbran]

The sad thing is, I get the feeling a lot of the people on here look at this thread as an isolated, non-relevant thing.

In reality, the people who do this at Coningsby are bound to do it in other locations too....

[bizfreeq]

It is being discussed as if it's something new, I have been in this hobby since the late 70s and seriously since the early 80s and it was going on back then too, at both civilian and military airfields. It will always happen I'm afraid because some people are a**eholes. If they are caught doing it and reported then I am pretty sure someone else will come along at a later date and do the same. We as a comunity can go some way to help alleviate the problem by reporting it but in the end it will never totally go away as history has already proved.

[ChrisCwmbran]

A new 10ft solid fence is replacing the old fence at CG1, The new gates are solid and 10 ft tall as well,
another good safe spot that you could take your children will be no more. We see all the good work at
Coningsby that the local spotters and the RAF Police have done over the years being undone for that
prat that cut the fence for that one picture.

Fortunately Milky_01 (and no disrespect is meant by this), this IS poppycock.

[ChrisCwmbran]

Just to clarify the replacement fence will be of similar nature and size to the existing fence.

I don't have his permission to name the source but I think we can say his knowledge is definitive.

[MRTT]

I too have seen the message in question, certainly genuine.

[ChrisCwmbran]

Sorry for the delay in making this posting. I was waiting for permission to make the content available:

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AoOAUeu7fqnZh-VlJjBmK1pjobxvjA

Clearly this confirms that the fence replacement will be on a like for like basis, and that fortunately relations between the aviation enthusiast and the base are not in tatters.

Clearly, once the fence is replaced, should anyone be seen damaging it you are urged to report it, with photographs if possible, to avoid any such issues in the future.

Thanks for reading!

[reheat module]

Well it seems definitive, but I must say the grammar is appalling, and very much below the standard I would previously have expected from a Sqn Ldr, especially when sending such communication to a civilian.