Авиабаза Королевских ВВС Бенсон: История и современность

Royal Air Force main operating base in Oxfordshire, England

Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front line station and home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, used primarily for the transportation of troops & equipment. Flying squadrons comprise No. 33 Squadron flying the Puma, No. 22 Squadron which provides operational evaluation and training for all aircraft in Joint Helicopter Command and No. 28 Squadron, which is the combined Puma and Boeing Chinook HC6A training unit. Other units include the Oxford University Air Squadron and No. 6 Air Experience Flight, both flying the Grob Tutor T1 light training aircraft used for student and cadet flying training. The National Police Air Service and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance are also based at the station, both operating Airbus H135 helicopters. RAF Benson opened in 1939 and during the Second World War it was tasked with training aircrews on the Fairey Battle light bomber and Avro Anson training aircraft. It was later home to squadrons flying the Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito which operated in the photographic reconnaissance role. Benson operated under RAF Transport Command throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s, various communications and administrative units were present and in the early 1990s the station began its association with the support helicopter force.

Construction of RAF Benson began in 1937 as part of the 1930s RAF expansion programme which was largely a response to the threat of war with Nazi Germany. Construction was undertaken by contractors John Laing & Son. Benson was officially opened as an RAF station under No. 6 Group in early 1939. In the early hours of 2 August 1940, a Battle took off from Benson for a cross country training exercise but crashed into a nearby hill. The crew included Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, founder of the Shuttleworth Collection, who was killed. Benson's long association with royalty began in September 1940, when the King's Flight relocated to the station. This initial association was short lived, as the flight was disbanded in 1942 to form the core of No. 161 Squadron at RAF Newmarket, to which responsibility for the transportation of royalty was transferred. The Battles and Ansons of No. 12 OTU were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers. Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, including the provision of battle damage assessment images after Operation Chastise, the attack on German dams by No. 617 Squadron in May 1943. By December 1944, Benson had two runways extending to which had been constructed using concrete and wood chips. There was a selection of hangar types, including four C type hangars, four over size (O) blister hangars and fourteen extra over size (EO) blister hangars. Ten concrete hard standings were available, and a total of 3,198 personnel were based at the station.

Post war demobilisation saw the disbandment of No. 542 Squadron and No. 544 Squadron in August and October 1945 respectively, with No. 540 and No. 541 Squadrons following in September 1946. The King's Flight reformed at Benson in 1946 and received four Vickers Vikings during the following year. The unit was renamed the Queen's Flight on the coronation of Elizabeth II in June 1953. Benson retained a photographic reconnaissance role into the early 1950s. Thereafter, Benson became the focus of the RAF's medium range tactical transport fleet, operating the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1. The first of six aircraft arrived on 20 November 1961 to form the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) which trained Argosy crews. The OCU later moved to RAF Thorney Island. In February 1962, No. 105 Squadron formed to establish the first front line unit for the type. It was soon followed by No. 215 Squadron. By the end of 1963 both units had departed for the Middle East and Far East respectively. Two further Argosy units were established, No. 114 Squadron and No. 267 Squadron, both operating from Benson until the early 1970s.

Benson's current support helicopter role began in 1992, when No. 60 Squadron reformed at the station, flying the Westland Wessex HC2. The Mobile Catering Support Unit (MCSU), featuring a training facility and three Air Combat Support Units, returned in November 1992, having previously been stationed at Benson during the 1970s. June 1997 saw the Westland Puma HC1 introduced at Benson, when No. 33 Squadron arrived from RAF Odiham. The Puma Operational Conversion Flight, previously part of No. 27 Squadron at Odiham moved in during February 1998. Due to the increased level of helicopter activity at Benson, it was necessary to relocate the University of London Air Squadron to RAF Wyton during 1999. In October 1999, as a result of the Strategic Defence Review, the RAF's Support Helicopter Force was amalgamated into the newly formed tri service Joint Helicopter Command. The new command, reporting to the British Army's Land Command, combined the battlefield support helicopters operated by the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps.

No. 28 Squadron reformed at Benson in July 2001 to equip with the new AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 support helicopter. A further Merlin unit, No. 78 Squadron, reformed in late 2007 to operate six Merlin HC3As which had been purchased from the Royal Danish Air Force. However, in November of that year, the Puma force was brought together when No. 230 Squadron relocated from JHC Flying Station Aldergrove to Benson. The ceremony marked the disbandment of No. 78 Squadron and its replacement by 846 Naval Air Squadron (NAS). The final Merlin along with 845 NAS departed on 16 June 2016, bringing nearly 15 years of Merlin operations at Benson to a close. In May 2015, it was announced that the Chinook Operational Conversion Flight, comprising six Boeing Chinooks and 150 personnel would transfer from RAF Odiham to Benson, to form a joint Puma and Chinook OCU, training crews on both aircraft types. The move began in December 2015 as the unit joined their Puma counterparts under a reformed No. 28 Squadron. During 2016, the Joint Helicopter Support Squadron moved from RAF Odiham to Benson. BAe 146 aircraft of No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron temporarily relocated to Benson between 15 April 2019 and late October 2019 due to the resurfacing of the runway at RAF Northolt. In May 2020, the Rotary Wing Operational Evaluation and Training Unit, which had been at Benson since 1997, adopted the No. 22 Squadron nameplate and took on the operational testing and evaluation role for the whole of Joint Helicopter Command.

The RAF Benson site extends to It has one runway (01/19) which is long and is constructed from asphalt and concrete. A second runway (06/24) along with the western taxiways are no longer in use, The airfield features two areas known as load parks (north and south), which are used by helicopters for practising under slung load operations. Aircraft hangars at Benson date from the Second World War and comprise four C type (known as hangars A to D) and a T2 hangar.

The Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility (MSHATF) is home to six helicopter flight simulators (three Chinook, two Merlin and a Puma version). The facility was established in October 1997 and is operated by CAE Aircrew Training Services through a Private Finance Initiative contract. It employs around 70 personnel and trains RAF, Royal Navy, British Army, NATO and foreign crews. As well as the simulators, there are also four computer based ground school training classrooms and a tactical control centre, allowing for operational mission training. In October 2017, the MOD announced it would invest £90 million in the facility over eight years.

Group Captain Chris Royston Airey was appointed as Benson station commander in November 2022. Prince Michael of Kent was appointed Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson in 2002 and was promoted to Honorary Air Marshal of the RAF in 2012. The Support Helicopter Force is under the direction of Joint Helicopter Command, whereas other elements on the station are under the RAF's No. 2 Group (Air Combat Support).

The station is home to No. 33 Squadron and No. 230 Squadron, both operating the Westland Puma HC2, and forming part of the RAF's Support Helicopter Force. The Puma is a medium lift helicopter used for tactical troop and load movements across the battlefield. The aircraft can carry up to sixteen passengers or twelve fully equipped troops, or up to two tonnes of freight carried either internally or as an under slung load. No. 28 Squadron is the combined Puma and Boeing Chinook HC6A OCU. It receives crews from No. 1 Flying Training School at RAF Shawbury and builds on their existing skills learnt from basic and advanced helicopter training to qualify them on the Puma and Chinook. Flying operations are supported by units such as No. 22 Squadron (the Operational Evaluation Unit for Joint Helicopter Command) and Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility which operates a variety of simulators.

RAF Benson is also home to the Grob Tutor T1 light training aircraft of the Oxford University Air Squadron and No. 6 Air Experience Flight. The units offer basic flying training to University undergraduates and graduates and encourage members to embark upon a career in the RAF.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) operate an Airbus H135 helicopter from Benson. Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) which moved from White Waltham Airfield in January 2007 and also operates the Airbus H135.

Flying and notable non flying units based at RAF Benson.

RAF Benson's badge, awarded in August 1955, features a red rampant lion against the backdrop of an escallop. The lion relates to the Manor of Benson, having been granted in the 13th century to the Earl of Cornwall in whose Armorial Bearings a lion appears. The escallop, which is symbolic of early pilgrims, refers to the mobility function of this station. The station's motto (Spectemur agendo) is in Latin and translates as "Let us be known by our actions".

The station is home to two K8 telephone kiosks which are grade II listed. They are described by Historic England as "intact examples of the K8 model kiosk, an inventive modernist adaptation of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's classic K6 design".