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RAF Waddington
Royal Air Force Waddington , commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) hub. It is home to a fleet of aircraft composed of the Beechcraft Shadow R1, Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, and General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft. Since October 2022, it has also been home to the RAF's Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows. History First World War Waddington station opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training aerodrome in 1916. Student pilots, including members of the US Army, were taught to fly a variety of aircraft. The station came under the control of the Royal Air Force (RAF) when it was created on 1 April 1918. It operated until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance. During and after the First Worl ...
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Waddington, Lincolnshire
Waddington is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated approximately south of Lincoln on the A607 Grantham Road. The village is known for its association with RAF Waddington. At the 2001 Census Waddington had a population of 6,086, increasing to 6,122 at the 2011 census. It grew to 12,622 and this included the village of Bracebridge Heath, History The name 'Waddington' means 'farm/settlement of the people of Wada'. The village is a documented settlement in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 and was mainly an agricultural community until the late 19th century. Horseracing also took place on the heathland areas, which are now part of the RAF station. At various times other activities including malting, brick-making and stone-quarrying have taken place in the village. Richard de Soham, a senior judge and Crown official in Ireland, was appointed parish priest of Waddington in 1303, and apparently retired there in 1305. In 179 ...
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1916 In Aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1916: Events * Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft simulate night torpedo attacks for the first time against Japanese fleet units in Tateyama Bay during annual fleet maneuvers, although no torpedoes are dropped. * The British Admiralty invites bids for aircraft catapults for the first time, asking for electric, hydraulic, and compressed air catapults. It does not pursue electric or hydraulic types, but two compressed-air types are produced. * Officers of the Chilean Navy begin flight training in Chile. It is the beginning of a Chilean naval aviation arm - the first Latin American naval air arm - which is subordinated to the Chilean Army's Military Aviation Service of Chile. * Spring – British officials order one million rounds of .303-caliber (7.7-mm) explosive and incendiary ammunition for use by aircraft against German airships. The ammunition will be issued to Royal Flying Corps home air defense squadrons during the summe ...
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Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. Development began with the ''Type 142'', a civil airliner, after a challenge from the newspaper proprietor Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, Lord Rothermere to produce the fastest commercial aircraft in Europe. The ''Type 142'' first flew in April 1935, and the Air Ministry, ordered a modified design as the ''Type 142M'' for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber. Deliveries of the new Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. In service the Type 142M became the Blenheim Mk.I which would be developed into the long-nosed Type 149, the Blenheim Mk.IV, except in Canada where Fairchild Canada built the Type 149 under licence as the Bolingbroke. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim but was already obsol ...
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Handley Page Hampden
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines but a variant known as the Handley Page Hereford had inline engine (aeronautics), in-line Napier Daggers. The Hampden served in the early stages of the Second World War, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the Bombing of Berlin in World War II, first night raid on Berlin and the Bombing of Cologne in World War II#First 1,000 bomber raid, first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne. When it became obsolete, after a period of mainly operating at night, it was retired from RAF Bomber Command service in late 1942. By 1943, the rest of the trio were being superseded by the larger four-engined Heavy bomber#World War II 2, heavy bombers such as the Av ...
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Hawker Hind
The Hawker Hind is a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931 in aviation, 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber defined by List of Air Ministry Specifications, Specification G.7/34, was purchased by the RAF as an interim aircraft, while more modern monoplane bombers such as the Fairey Battle were still in development. Structural elements were a mixture of steel and duralumin with the wings being fabric covered; the main differences compared to the earlier Hart was a new powerplant, (the Rolls-Royce Kestrel V) and the inclusion of refinements from the earlier derivatives such as the cut-down rear cockpit developed for the Hawker Hart#Demon, Demon. The prototype (United Kingdom military aircraft serials, Serial number ''K2915'') was constructed very rapidly due to Hawker's development work for other proposals and made its first flight ...
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Heavy Bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the largest and most powerful Military aviation, military aircraft at any point in time. In the second half of the 20th century, heavy bombers were largely superseded by strategic bombers, which were often even larger in size, had much longer ranges and were capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Because of advances in Aerospace engineering, aircraft design and engineering — especially in Aircraft engine, powerplants and aerodynamics — the size of payloads carried by heavy bombers has increased at rates greater than increases in the size of their airframes. The largest bombers of World War I, the ''Riesenflugzeuge'' of Germany, could carry a payload of up to of bombs; by the latter half of World ...
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RAF Digby
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Defence Intelligence#Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG), Joint Forces Intelligence Group of Strategic Command (United Kingdom), Strategic Command. Other units include the RAF Aerial Erector School, No. 54 Signals Unit and No. 591 Signals Unit. Formerly an RAF training and fighter airfield, it is one of the country's older Royal Air Force stations, predated only by RAF Northolt, which is the oldest and predates the Royal Air Force by three years, having opened in 1915. Flying at Digby ceased in 1953. History First World War There are dated photographs that show that the airfield was already in use for flying training by Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Naval pilots in the summer of ...
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Duxford Aerodrome
Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the civil parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village. The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the American Air Museum. Duxford Aerodrome has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (Number P678) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Cambridgeshire County Council). The aerodrome is not licensed for night use. History Early Use The area around Duxford was first used for military purposes as part of the Army Manoeuvres of 1912. It was not until October 1917 that construction was started on a more formal airfield. The new aerodrome was built as part of a pair with a sister station at Fowlmere. The hangars built in the period correspond to a Directorate of Fortifications and Works drawing number 332/17. The drawing was signed by ...
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Hucknall Aerodrome
Hucknall Aerodrome was a former general aviation and RAF aerodrome located north north-west of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, and west of Hucknall town. The aerodrome had been operated by the Merlin Flying Club since 1971 and then by Rolls-Royce Group plc. Before its closure, it was owned and operated by ITP Aero. Hucknall Aerodrome had a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P507) that allowed daytime flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee and was not available for public transport passenger flights required to use a licensed aerodrome. It was a C.1916 grass aerodrome of significant historical importance. On 1 March 2015 the aerodrome closed indefinitely to be turned into a housing and industrial estate. History The Great War Hucknall Aerodrome dates to 1916 when it opened under No. 12 (Training) Group, 27th Wing, housing No. 15 Training Depot of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) operating the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. ...
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RAF Andover
RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Transport Auxiliary were also stationed at the airfield. The airfield has a notable place in history as the site of the first attempt to develop a viable long-range electronic navigation system, during the World War I, First World War, and also of the first British military helicopter unit and first European helicopter flying training school, during the World War II, Second World War. RAF Andover was also used before and after the Second World War for a variety of other aeronautical research and flight testing. The RAF Staff College, Andover was founded here in 1922, the first college to train officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of running an air force. RAF ...
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Stonehenge Aerodrome
Stonehenge Aerodrome or Stonehenge Airfield was a short-lived military airfield of the Royal Flying Corps on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, in use from 1917 to 1921. It was built around south-west of Stonehenge on the site of existing cottages, and spanned both sides of the New Direct Road turnpike (later designated as the A303). The base was opened in November 1917, construction having started earlier in that year, as part of the scaling up of military flying capability for World War I. The aerodrome was not complete when the war ended, but construction continued past the end of the war. The airfield closed in 1921, and was fully demolished by the early 1930s as part of a concerted effort to restore the natural landscape around Stonehenge. Military use The airfield was used for the training of bomber pilots at the No 1 School of Aerial Navigation and Bomb Dropping. The establishment has been described as a "finishing school" for bomber pilots and navigators, and provid ...
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Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area. The canalised section of the river Aa begins at Saint-Omer, reaching the North Sea at Gravelines in northern France. Below its walls, the Aa connects with the Neufossé Canal, which ends at the river Lys. History Saint-Omer first appeared in the writings during the 7th century under the name of Sithiu (Sithieu or Sitdiu), around the Saint-Bertin abbey founded on the initiative of Audomar, (Odemaars or Omer). Omer, bishop of Thérouanne, in the 7th century established the Abbey of Saint Bertin, from which that of Notre-Dame was an offshoot. Rivalry and dissension, which lasted till the French Revolution, soon sprang up between the two monasteries, becoming especially virulent when ...
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