Vulcans at Finningley

[geoffs]

Would anybody have any recollections or info on Vulcans deployed to Finningley? Can't remember real dates but maybe around 1980. Mum & dad lived 3 miles from Finno and remember 4 Vulcans from 35 Squad on 2 separate occasions flying from Finno for a week, usually at night cos you hear the racket. Presuming dispersal exercise? Pretty sure if memory serves they were sat on the old QRA pan.
Often later thought they wouldn't really still be doing that sort of cold war training stuff around that time but would they?
Cheers.

[Exrigger]

I remember at least one deployment to RAF Finningley that I was on between 70-72 with 230 OCU from RAF Scampton, and yes we used the QRA pans at the end of the Runway, which was as you suggest our dispersal site during the cold war. The detachment I was on had a display practice by the Red Arrows and one of the singletons flew really low over my head while I was up top cleaning the windscreen, thankfully left the smoke off . I left in 72 so could not tell you anything about later ones.

[Enobob]

They certainly would! 1980 was right at the peak of the Cold War and the RAF force of six Vulcan B2 squadrons was the SACEUR Theatre nuclear strike force (along with USAFE F-111's) and SACEUR's only long range nuclear assets. They regularly practised dispersal operations to a range of UK RAF stations using the dispersals built in the days of the QRA nuclear dispersed deterrent.
Nobody used the QRA ORP pans at the end of the runway as if they did that airfield could not use that runway. Those dispersals were for airshow and VIP visit use, and for the time in the old deterrent days when the force had dispersed and there were just 4 aircraft left at the base with the ORP. It is a common misconception that the ORP was where the nuclear armed QRA aircraft were dispersed. In fact they were on normal H type dispersals.

[NAM Updater]

By 1980 the Vulcans operational role was well past its nuclear deterrent phase and the type was on wind down to preliminary retirement in 1982.

In 1977 there was a mock Vulcan scramble as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee Commemorations at RAF Finningley and I believe our Vulcan XM594 was part of that scramble!

[Exrigger]

Enobob, when we dispersed from the OCU we always used those ORP pans on the edge of the end of runway both at Finningley and at Waddington and they did not hinder the movement or use of the runway as they were to one side angled to allow a running take off of high, low, high, low, or the other way around, the detachment to Waddington was not funny as they actually launched on one occasion and in the early 70's we were told that they would only launch if it was for real, obviously this was a bit of hype as they did practice launches even then, as we found out, oh the joys of being a newly joined up young impressionable airman on his first tour in the real airforce.

Edited to add:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vu ... ORM=WRVORC

Further edit: Looking at RAF Finingley arial photos they only show something that looks like an offset dispersal area, rather than like the RAF Waddington defined 4 ORP pans, so unless Finningley has had a make over then the offset area was where we were parked but I am certain that I remember correctly that the runway carried being in use while we were there, old age tends to make you question some memories more than others

[Exrigger]

Thank goodness for that old age and decrepitude not quite setting in yet:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... /205391335

[geoffs]

Thanks very much chaps on the info – much appreciated. I was a nipper right through 60's and my school was under the circuit at Finno. Went to the first BOB in a push chair and saw plenty of the mock scrambles for the airshow. Think the flying always kicked off with it. Got more seriously into the planes about 11/12 years old but by then the Vulcans had gone and we got served up 6 FTS Varsity's and Jet Provosts instead...not so good. Cheers.

[NAM Updater]

This YouTube film features the Vulcan 'scramble' at the RAF Finningley Silver Jubilee display in 1977; it's at a bout the 6 minute mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x9S18whxus

[Grey Ghost]

Sleepy Fred Mulley, Minister of Defence in action or inaction on the dais during the display. Afterwards I was told that a brass plate was screwed to the floor of the dais with something like "Sleepy Fred slept here". At the time, I was ensconced on the other side of the airfield in a disused sand pit with 2 Wessex waiting to pop up during the airfield attack segment.

[geoffs]

Thanks on the '77 film NAM. Not seen that before. Remember it well especially the German based Harriers who came for a couple of weeks before the show to practice. Dead glamorous for Finningley! Didn't the 4 x vulcans sequence go wrong on the day and the something like the 4th got off the pan before the 3rd? Cheers

[Yunglee]

Further edit: Looking at RAF Finingley arial photos they only show something that looks like an offset dispersal area, rather than like the RAF Waddington defined 4 ORP pans, so unless Finningley has had a make over then the offset area was where we were parked but I am certain that I remember correctly that the runway carried being in use while we were there, old age tends to make you question some memories more than others

If you have Google Earth (desktop application) and use the "show historical imagery' tool you can turn the sat image back to 2002 and on there you'll see all the pans as they would have been at the end of RAF service. The ones at the north east corner have largely been removed/ covered with a the new earth bundwall that were built as the airport went in to civilian hands.

Hope that helps, Lee.

[geoffs]

That link to the IWM pic above from Exrigger above shows the orig pan brilliantly. Thats a fantastic pic.

[Yunglee]

From the Google Earth historical data those pans show in the 2002 and 2003 images and then were removed before the airport became civilian.