A group of friends visited RAF Upper Heyford today and had a tour of the various historic buildings, many of which are now listed though in very bad condition. Upper Heyford was a military airfield used in both World Wars and Post-War. During World War Two, the airfield had three concrete runways and six aircraft hangars (Type A).
In 1950, the United States Air Force moved into the airfield as part of the NATO defences against the Cold War. The Americans lengthened the airfield’s main runway and built new facilities including bomb store structures with an “igloo”-like appearance in a fenced compound, protected by guard towers. In the 1970s and 1980s the role changed to a fighter base and further modifications were made, making it the largest base of its kind in Europe at that time, Some of these additions included the avionics maintenance building (a semi sunken bunker designed to survive nuclear attack).
In 1980, 56 Quick Reaction Alert hardened aircraft shelters were added. There was also a battle command centre and hardened telephone exchange. In 1993 the USA left and the airfield returned to the Royal Air Force control, closing in 1994.
First some infrared images of the buildings and summer sky.
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