PDA

View Full Version : Archived: Predannack Airfield



oldskool
11-08-2011, 01:14 PM
Visited with Host, Dangerous Dave,Deejay Flavor & Collingwood

Part of mine and Hosts Cornwall road trip..

Predannack Airfield is situated near Mullion on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula in the United Kingdom. The runways are operated by the Royal Navy and today it is used as a satellite airfield and relief landing ground for nearby RNAS Culdrose.

World War II
Building work began for an RAF advanced night fighter base to protect the nearby ports of Falmouth and Penzance during 1940 and RAF Predannack Down opened in 1941 as part of Portreath Sector. It later transferred to RAF Coastal Command until it went into care and maintenance on 1 Jun 1946. During the Second World War Coastal Command squadrons flew anti-submarine sorties into the Bay of Biscay as well as convoy support in the western English Channel using aircraft such as Bristol Beaufighters and De Havilland Mosquitoes.


World War II memorial at Predannack main gate, April 2007
A plaque at the entrance, commemorating those who served at RAF Predannack Down during World War II was unveiled on 11 June 2002. It reads: "Like a breath of wind gone in a fleeting second only the memories now remain".Postwar uses
Royal Navy
After a short period of experimental use by Vickers under the supervision of Barnes Wallis around 1951, the base was taken over by the Royal Navy on 15 Dec 1958.
The airfield was allocated the ICAO code EGDO but this fell out of use as it became a satellite airfield for nearby RNAS Culdrose, to handle intensive helicopter operations and as a relief landing ground. There is also a small arms range on the site and the RN Fire Fighting School moved here in 1971.
Current use
It is also home to RAF 626 Volunteer Gliding Squadron unit and the Royal Naval School of Fire Fighting, which holds a number of dummy aircraft for fire extinguishing practice, together with a number of retired airframes for personnel rescue practice, such as this disused , there are a number of Sea Harrier airframes to be seen in the area, with a group of four further to the east.

1.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3947-1.jpg
2.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3941-Copy.jpg
3.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3882.jpg
4.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3868.jpg
5.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3799.jpg
6.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3792.jpg
7.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3791.jpg
8.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3784.jpg
9.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3783.jpg


British Aerospace Sea Harrier


The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval VTOL/STOVL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft, a development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar". Unusual in an era in which most naval and land-based air superiority fighters were large and supersonic, the principal role of the subsonic Sea Harrier was air defence from Royal Navy aircraft carriers.
The Sea Harrier served in the Falklands War, both of the Gulf Wars, and the Balkans conflicts; on all occasions it mainly operated from aircraft carriers positioned within the conflict zone. Its usage in the Falklands War was its most high profile and important success, where it was the only fixed-wing fighter available to protect the British Task Force. The Sea Harriers shot down 20 enemy aircraft during the conflict with one loss to enemy ground fire. They were also used to launch ground attacks in the same manner as the Harriers operated by the Royal Air Force.
The Sea Harrier was marketed for sales abroad, but by 1983 India was the only operator other than Britain after sales to Argentina and Australia were unsuccessful. A second, updated version for the Royal Navy was made in 1993 as the Sea Harrier FA2, improving its air to air abilities and weapons compatibilities, along with a more powerful engine; this version continued manufacture until 1998. The aircraft was withdrawn early from Royal Navy service in March 2006 and replaced in the short term by the Harrier GR9, now itself retired, although the intended long term replacement is Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. The Sea Harrier is in active use in the Indian Navy, although it will eventually be replaced by the Mikoyan MiG-29K.

10.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3917.jpg
11.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3857.jpg
12.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3843.jpg
13.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3829.jpg
14.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3822.jpg
15.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3815.jpg
16.
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3813.jpg
17
http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn350/traktor999/_DSC3806.jpg

Thanks for looking Oldsk@@l..........