Royal Air Force Sydenham or more simply RAF Sydenham is a former

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 ...

station in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In the 1970s it was the main servicing base for

Blackburn Buccaneer The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy (RN). Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough, it was later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccanee ...

aircraft, employing 650 civilian workers.Northern Ireland Committee of Irish Congress of Trade Unions, "The Defence Stations in Northern Ireland: The Case for Retention", March 1976

History

The following units were posted here at some point: ;Royal Air Force *

No. 88 Squadron RAF Number 88 Squadron was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed at Gosport, Hampshire in July 1917 as a Royal Flying Corps (RFC) squadron. First World War After forming at Gosport in July 1917, the squadron was moved to Fran ...

No. 226 Squadron RAF No. 226 Squadron RAF was a unit of the British Royal Air Force that existed as a bomber squadron during the First and Second World Wars, and as part of the UK's nuclear ballistic missile force in the early 1960s. Squadron history First formed o ...

;Units * No. 3 Civilian Fighter Control Co-operation Unit RAF (March 1957 – June 1958) * Detachment of No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1943) *

No. 8 Ferry Pilots Pool ATA The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

(March 1941 – May 1942) became No. 8 Ferry Pool ATA (May 1942 – August 1945) *

No. 13 Air Experience Flight RAF No. 13 Air Experience Flight (AEF) is an Air Experience Flight of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF, based at Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove in Northern Ireland. Sharing three Grob Tutor T1 trainer aircraft with the Northern Ir ...

* No. 23 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (September 1939) * No. 24 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (January – September 1939) became

No. 24 Elementary 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 ...

(September 1939 – February 1942) *

No. 75 (Bomber) Wing 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 ...

(June 1940 & February – April 1941) became No. 31 Wing RAF (April – June 1941) * No. 79 Wing Calibration Flight RAF * No. 203 Gliding School RAF (September 1949 – November 1952) * Detachment of No. 1480 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (September 1942) *

No. 1494 (Target Towing) Flight 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 ...

(April 1942 – April 1943) * Belfast University Air Squadron (January – May 1941) became Queens University Air Squadron (May 1941 – December 1945 & March 1947 – January 1992) * RAF Northern Ireland Communication Flight RAF (October 1940 – October 1942 & December 1945 – December 1946)

Current use

The site is now

George Best Belfast City Airport George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Northern Ireland base closes
''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

'', 15 April 1978, v. 113, no. 3604, p. 1035. {{Royal Air Force

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...