) , type = Military air traffic control centre , coordinates = , gridref = , image_map = , image_mapsize = , image_map_alt = , image_map_caption = , pushpin_map = Scotland South Ayrshire#UK , pushpin_map_caption = Location within South Ayrshire , pushpin_label = RAF Prestwick , pushpin_label_position = , ownership =

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, operator =

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, controlledby = , open_to_public = , site_other_label = , site_other = , site_area = , code = PW , built = , used = February 1936 – , builder = , materials = , height = , length = , fate = Operations transferred to RAF (U) Swanwick. , condition = Closed , battles =

European theatre of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Nazi Germany, Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 Sept ...

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, events = , past_commanders =

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Bruce Duncan (final station commander) , garrison = , occupants = , footnotes = , IATA = , ICAO = , FAA = , TC = , LID = , GPS = , WMO = , elevation = , r1-number = 00/00 , r1-length = , r1-surface = Concrete , r2-number = 00/00 , r2-length = , r2-surface = Concrete , h1-number = , h1-length = , h1-surface = , airfield_other_label = , airfield_other = Royal Air Force Prestwick otherwise known as RAF Prestwick, was a RAF unit based at the NATS air traffic control centre, adjacent to

Glasgow Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport () is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire and southwest of Glasgow. It is the less busy of the two airports serving the western part of ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

, in south west

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The unit was home to the Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre (Military) which provided an

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

service to military aircraft operating within its area of responsibility. Prestwick was also home to a Distress and Diversion (D&D) Cell which provided assistance to both military and civil aircraft in an emergency. The unit closed in December 2013 with operations transferring to the RAF unit at

London Area Control Centre The London Area Control Centre (LACC) is an air traffic control centre based at Swanwick, Hampshire, Swanwick near Fareham in Hampshire, southern England. It is operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), starting operations on 27 January ...

in Swanwick,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

History

Prestwick Airport was established on 17 February 1936 as a base for Scottish Aviation Limited.

Second World War

Royal Air Force Ferry Command, 1941-1943

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Prestwick was used an eastern terminus for the

North Atlantic air ferry route The North Atlantic air ferry route was a series of Air Routes over the North Atlantic Ocean on which aircraft were ferried from the United States and Canada to Great Britain during World War II to support combat operations in the European Theater ...

, one of a series of routes over which military aircraft were ferried from the United States and Canada to Great Britain, to support the war in Europe. A large number of heavy bombers, fighter aircraft and aircraft carrying diplomatic and VIP passengers transited through the airfield.

RAF Ferry Command RAF Ferry Command was the secretive Royal Air Force command formed on 20 July 1941 to ferry urgently needed aircraft from their place of manufacture in the United States and Canada, to the front line operational units in Britain, Europe, North Af ...

was formed on 20 July 1941 to take control of North Atlantic ferry flights but became part

RAF Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. ...

on 25 March 1943, with the role becoming the responsibility of No. 45 (Atlantic Ferry) Group. Ferry flights were initially controlled by the Overseas Movement Control Centre, operating from a location in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. As the number of flights increased, Trans-Atlantic Air Control (TAC) was relocated in November 1941 to Redbrae House, a

mock Tudor Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

home located near Prestwick Airport. A large United States military presence was established at Prestwick to support the ferry flights from North America. In late 1944, a Flying Control Centre was established in Redbrae House, providing an area control service for the region. The centre was operated by a combination of British, Canadian and American military personnel until the end of the Second World War in 1945. After the war, responsibility for TAC came under the control of RAF Transport Command after the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) presence dramatically reduced. The centre at Redbrae House, previously operated by an international alliance of military personnel, was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Oceanic Area Control Centre was created.

Post war

Prestwick Airfield, Scotland, 1944 TR1786

In November 1947, the RAF regional control centre was re-designated Scottish Traffic Control Centre (Military) (ScATCC(Mil)) to control military aircraft flying within the airspace above Scotland. Around the same time, a civilian air traffic control service began to meet the demand from the expanding civil aviation market. The unit was staffed by RAF Air Traffic Control Officers and Air Traffic Control Assistants. Both military and civilian aircraft were controlled by RAF controllers who provided a variety of air traffic services predominantly outside

controlled airspace Controlled airspace is airspace of defined dimensions within which air traffic control (ATC) services are provided. The level of control varies with different classes of airspace. Controlled airspace usually imposes higher weather minimums tha ...

or within

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...

designated as Military Training Areas. A Distress and Diversion (D&D) cell was co-located with ScATCC (Mil), tasked with assisting aircraft in distress and/or encountering emergency situations. In April 1977, the D&D cell and the Air Defence Notification Centre (North) (ADNC) moved into new premises at Atlantic House, followed by ScATCC (Mil) on 2 November 1978. ADNC (North) closed on 31 March 1997, with approximately 65 RAF staff remaining at Prestwick. The

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

of the

was awarded to RAF Prestwick on 17 July 2009. In November of that year, the unit moved to the new NATS Prestwick Centre, built adjacent to Atlantic House, which accommodates the NATS civilian controllers providing oceanic and Scottish area control services. The Prestwick Distress & Diversion Cell closed in December 2012 when D&D operations moved to RAF (Unit) Swanwick in

Role and operations

Prior to its closure, RAF Prestwick's mission statement was "To contribute effectively to the delivery of airpower by assisting with the protection of the integrity of the UK’s airspace and being at the forefront of excellence in the provision of the air traffic control, airspace management and support services." The main responsibilities of RAF Prestwick was to provide air traffic control (ATC) services to military aircraft carrying out the following activities. * Flying between 25,000 ft and 66,000 ft * Crossing the national airways system * On transit flights operating below 25,000 ft outside controlled airspace * On operations (such as

air-to-air refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft ...

) The Distress and Diversion (D&D) Cell was one of two D&D Cells (the other RAF (U) Swanwick) established to provide assistance to both military and civil aircraft experiencing an emergency. The cell maintained a continuous listening watch on both guard frequencies, 121.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

for civilian aircraft and 243.0 MHz for military aircraft and was responsible for co-ordinating responses within UK airspace north of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and contacting the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC), which at the time was based at

RAF Kinloss Royal Air Force Kinloss or RAF Kinloss is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland. The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishme ...

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

. The unit at RAF Prestwick was parented by

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Units

The following units were based at RAF Prestwick at some point: *

No. 1 Civil Air Navigation School RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(August 1938 - November 1939) became No. 1 Air Observers Navigation School RAF (November 1939 - July 1941) * 'D' Flight of

No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF was a training unit operated by the Royal Air Force RAF Coastal Command, Coastal Command. The unit was established during April 1940 by the renaming of a Coastal Command unit and disbanded during Octo ...

(August - November 1940) * 'D' Flight of

No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF was a training unit operated by the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. The unit started operating from late 1940 and disbanded during early 1944. History The unit formed on 1 October 1940 at RAF Catfo ...

(November 1940 - July 1941) * No. 2 Supplementary School of Wireless Telegraphy RAF (September 1939 - October 1940) * No. 3 Radio School RAF (December 1940 - August 1942) became No. 3 Radio Direction Finding School RAF (August - December 1942) * No. 4 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA (September 1940 - January 1942) & (August 1942 - October 1945) * No. 4A Ferry Pilot Pool ATA (January - August 1942) * No. 4B Ferry Pilot Pool ATA (January - August 1942) * Detachment of No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (March - June 1941) * Detachment of No. 7 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (January - May 1941) *

No. 10 Air Observers Navigation School RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

(November - December 1939) disbanded into No. 1 Air Observers Navigation School RAF *

No. 12 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF This is a List of Reserve flying schools of the Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air ...

(February 1936 - September 1939) became No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (September 1939 - March 1941) *

No. 1425 (Communication) Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(October 1941 - April 1942) * No. 1527 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (October 1941 - September 1945) became No. 1527 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF (September 1945 - February 1946) * No. 1680 (Western Isles Communications) Flight RAF (March - April 1944) became

No. 1680 (Transport) Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(April 1944 - February 1946) ;Squadrons

Heritage

The station badge showed a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, (symbolising strength and valour), holding a shepherd's crook, (symbolising watchfulness), within a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, (symbolising a place of refuge, strength and safety). The station

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

, ''Faire Agus Gliocas'', is

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

for "Watchfulness and Wisdom".

Closure

The Minister for Armed Forces announced on 31 March 2013 that RAF Prestwick would close by the end of 2013. Due to technological advances, there was no longer a requirement for two military area radar control centres in the United Kingdom.The unit subsequently closed on 6 December 2013, when the RAF Ensign was lowered for the final time, representing the end of a 77-year association between Ayrshire and the RAF. Prestwick's operations and thirty personnel were transferred to the RAF unit based in the NATS

London Air Traffic Control Centre The London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) was an air traffic control centre based in West Drayton, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, approximately north of London Heathrow Airport. Operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) it ...

in Swanwick,

, forming a single military area radar unit. A small number of RAF personnel remained at Prestwick until January 2014 to complete the transfer.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
NATS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prestwick, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Ayrshire 1936 establishments in Scotland Airports established in 1936 Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Scotland Air traffic control centers Air traffic control in Europe