RAF Barkston Heath: Тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Barkston Heath or RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force Relief Landing Ground under the command of RAF Cranwell near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. RAF Barkston Heath has the Naval Element of No. 3 Flying Training School RAF (3 FTS) which, for a period between approximately 1995 and 2010, operated the Slingsby T67M260 Firefly, followed by the Grob Tutor T.1 operated between 2010 and 2018. No. 3 FTS currently provide elementary flying training for Royal Navy students on the Grob Prefect T.1. A secondary role of RAF Barkston Heath is as a Relief Landing Ground for the flying training activities at RAF Cranwell.

Barkston Heath was constructed in 1936 and was initially used as a satellite station for RAF Cranwell.

In late 1943, Barkston Heath was made available to the United States Army Air Force's Ninth Air Force. It was earmarked for basing troop carrier units scheduled to be transferred from Sicily to participate in the forthcoming cross Channel invasion, Operation Overlord. During its time as a USAAF airfield, Barkston Heath was designated as USAAF station 483.

An increased demand for theatre air transport brought the 349th TCG from Baer Field, Indiana in late March 1945, with its Curtiss C 46 Commando transports. Group headquarters was established at Barkston on 30 March, but the group only remained three weeks before moving to Rove/Amy, France, on 18 April.

The USAAF returned control of the airfield to the Air Ministry in June 1945 when the war in Europe ended. In 1996 the Army Air Corps (AAC) joined JEFTS and the school operated as a tri service organisation until 2003 when the RAF decided to instead provide elementary flying training through its network of University Air Squadrons. JEFTS as a result was renamed the Defence Elementary Flying Training School in July 2003, with the FAA element re establishing itself as 703 Naval Air Squadron (703 NAS) and the AAC element as No. 674 Squadron. In November 2009 the Fireflies were retired and replaced with the Grob Tutor T.1.

The RAF Barkston Heath site extends to
The airfield has limited facilities and relies on its parent station RAF Cranwell for support. The main building at Barkston Heath is the Operational Support Building which was re opened in January 2018 after refurbishment as part of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. It was renamed the Esmonde Building in memory of Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, a distinguished Fleet Air Arm pilot who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Out of six T2 type hangar and one B1 type constructed during the Second World War, only two T2 type remain on the site. The airfield contains the decaying remains of an English Electric Canberra at the northern edge of the airfield site.

RAF Barkston Heath is home to the Defence Elementary Flying Training School, comprising 57 Squadron RAF, operating the Grob Prefect T1 in the elementary flying training role. Aircraft and support are provided by a civilian contractor, Ascent Flight Training, as part of the UK Military Flying Training System contract. Ascent also provides a significant proportion of the instructional staff, the Air Traffic Control service is provided by NATS Solutions Ltd, Affinity provide engineering personnel and other Station support personnel are provided by NBC and the MoD. Although the school trains Fleet Air Arm crews, it is under the command of the RAF's No. 3 Flying Training School, based at nearby RAF Cranwell.

703 NAS trains Fleet Air Arm pilots destined to fly both rotary (AgustaWestland Merlin and AgustaWestland Wildcat) and fixed wing aircraft (Lockheed Martin F 35B II Lightning and BAE Hawk). Helicopter students graduate to No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, whereas fast jet students move onto No. 4 Flying Training School at RAF Valley in Anglesey.

Barkston Heath acts as a Relief Landing Ground for the flying training activities at RAF Cranwell, which is four minutes flying time away.

The following flying units are based at RAF Barkston Heath. The station is also regularly used as relief landing ground by aircraft based at nearby RAF Cranwell.

No. 22 Group (Training) RAF

No. 3 Flying Training School / Defence Elementary Flying Training School
No. 57 Squadron – Grob Prefect T.1