Page 44 - Cranwell Photographs

44
Cranwell
When the Engineering Officer training function was transferred from Henlow to Cranwell in 1966, the Servicing Instruction Flight was set up in a solitary T2 hangar, near to the Aerodynamic and Thermodynamic Laboratory site on the extreme eastern edge of Cranwell South airfield. The flight was issued with a variety of retired aircraft which were used to give student engineering officers practical experience of aviation servicing in an operational environment. To meet the require- ments of this unit, the aircraft were maintained in a taxiable condition. In more recent years these aircraft have been replaced by several Hunters and examples of the Jet Provost, Harrier and Jaguar.
Vulcan B.1 XA901/7897M arrived in November 1965, and was eventually broken up on site in September 1972. Lightning F.1 XG329/8050M, was at Cranwell by May 1970 and when eventually surplus to requirements, found its way to the fire compound at RAF Swinderby. Canberra 8(1)8 WT339/8198M arrived 27th June 1972 and when withdrawn ended its days on the fire dump at Barkston Heath. Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ609/8172M was taken on strength at Cranwell in September 1971 and departed to
Abingdon on 14th November 1980. The latter three were all photographed in January 1975. All W J Taylor