Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery
RAF Upper Heyford EGUA 1955-1962

File Description:
EGUA RAF Upper Heyford 1955-1962 The airfield was originally built in 1918 by the Royal Air Force on land owned by New College Oxford, closed briefly after the end of the First World War and then re-opened in the 1920s. During the Second World War it was used by units of RAF Bomber Command but these were training rather than operational forces, even if aircraft of the 16th OTU (Operational Training Unit) may sometimes have taken part in bombing operations against the Third Reich. New runways were laid in 1942. During the Cold War Upper Heyford was chosen as one of the airfields used to operate bomber aircraft belonging to the US Strategic Air Command, and in 1950 the main runway was extended while new hardstandings were constructed for the bombers concerned. However, units were not stationed there permanently, but did Temporary Duty Assignments from their bases in the US. They included the 93rd Bomb Wing, 97th Air Refueling Squadron, 509th Air Refueling Squadron, 301st Bomb Wing, 8th Air Sea Rescue Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing, 5th Bomb Wing Detachment, and the 22nd Bomb Wing. Aircraft included the B-50 Superfortress, (briefly) the B-36 Peacemaker, the B-47 and from 1960 the B-52. There were further significant developments after 1962 which fall outside the remit of this scenery, Upper Heyford being finally returned to the British Ministry of Defence in 1994 after the end of the Cold War.