RAF Waddington International Air Show

By Peter Cooper

It has been 26 years since its last operational roar, but the Vulcan bomber once again ruled the sky over Lincolnshire at the recent RAF Waddington International Air Show.

Just south of the city of Lincoln, ensconced deep inside the renowned World War II Lincolnshire “Bomber County”, lies the important Royal Air Force base of Waddington. Today, RAF Waddington has a specific role as the hub of British ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) and not only supports the UK Forces but also NATO.

Originally built as a training base for the Royal Flying Corps in 1916, Waddington has had a long association with RAF bombers. After the end of World War I, the base was closed temporarily in 1920, but reopened as a bomber base in 1937, when it became home to Blenheims and then Hampdens.

Hampdens from No. 50 Squadron at Waddington participated in Bomber Command’s first raid on a German land target in March 1940. Before long, Waddington’s Hampdens made way for Manchesters and then Lancasters, but it was the Lancaster that became most firmly associated with this base. Two Royal Australian Air Force Lancaster squadrons were based here in 1943 (Nos 463 & 467) and the Waddington Wing Lancasters made their last World War II sortie on 25/26 April 1945 against the oil refinery at Tonsburg.

After the war, Waddington was home to various squadrons of Lancasters, Lincolns and Washington B.1s (Boeing B-29). In 1953, the airfield was put under care and maintenance to await the arrival of an entirely different bomber force. In 1954, HM Queen Elizabeth II approved the incorporation of Lincoln Cathedral on the station’s badge. Seen through the early morning mist, this landmark had been an unforgettable sight for many World War II bomber crews as they returned exhausted after long night missions over Germany.

When the airfield reopened in 1955, two Canberra B.2 squadrons (Nos 21 & 27) immediately took up residence and the first of the V-bomber force—Vulcan B.1s—arrived in May 1957 to serve with 83 Squadron. By 1961, the V-force was complete at Waddington where Vulcan B.1s and, later, B.2s operated with Nos. 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons. To see a four-ship Vulcan scramble from here was an unforgettable sight!

Vulcans remained at Waddington until the type’s withdrawal from service and the last operational squadrons were based here. It had been intended that the last Vulcans would have been withdrawn by the end of June 1982, but the need to provide a long-range bomber to reach the Falklands brought the Vulcan and Waddington into the limelight once again.

On 9 April 1982, personnel at RAF Waddington were put on standby for possible action in the South Atlantic and five Vulcans were designated for possible deployment. Following urgent modifications, the first two aircraft departed for Wideawake on Ascension Island on 29 April supported by Victor K.2 tankers. On the night of 30 April/1 May, two Vulcans and 11 Victor tankers departed from Wideawake for Port Stanley in the Falklands on a mission codenamed “Black Buck”.

Vulcan B.2 XM607 (No. 44 Sqn) was designated to undertake the bombing mission when an in-flight snag forced the primary aircraft to return to Ascension Island. At 0746 hours, XM607 released twenty-one 1,000 lb bombs over the Port Stanley runway in an effort to deny the Argentine forces access to the airfield for jet operations. Although only two bombs actually struck the runway, they had a demoralising effect on the Argentine troops, who were concerned that the RAF had made an undetected attack in the first place.

The aircraft returned safely to Wideawake having achieved what was, at the time, the longest ever bombing mission after being airborne for some 15 hours. The same Vulcan (XM607) was deployed twice more on “Black Buck” missions. On 3 May, none of the bombs it dropped struck the runway, while on 15 May, the mission was cancelled before departure from Wideawake. The next “Black Buck” (mission No. 4), on 28 May, was given to Vulcan XM597 (No. 101 Sqdn) armed with Shrike missiles, but the aircraft was forced to return when the hose-and-drogue unit of its Victor tanker failed. The mission was rescheduled as “Black Buck 5” and departed from Wideaewake at midnight on 30 May. It launched both Shrikes at the Argentine AN/TPS-43F radar but while its transmissions ceased, subsequent intelligence disclosed that the missiles had not achieved a direct hit. “Black Buck 6” was launched on 2 June using the same Vulcan, this time armed with four Shrikes, two of which were launched and destroyed an Argentine Skyguard radar unit. During the return from this mission, the tip of the Vulcan’s air-to-air refuelling broke away, forcing the aircraft to divert to Brazil. But that’s another story.

The final Vulcan sortie during the campaign, “Black Buck 7”, was undertaken by XM607 from Wideawake on 11 June. This was another conventional bombing mission over Port Stanley airfield and was accomplished successfully. Following the success of this mission, the Vulcans returned to Waddington on 14 June and the Argentines surrendered on the same day.

Nos 101 and 44 Squadrons disbanded later in 1982, thus leaving No. 50 as the last Vulcan squadron. This unit survived for a while longer, as the few Vulcans on strength were converted to K.2 tanker variants in order to provide the RAF with much-needed additional air–air refuelling capacity—its Victors were in great demand to and from Ascension and the Falkland Islands after the conflict, and its VC-10s were still under conversion.

Six Vulcans were selected in May 1982 for conversion at British Aerospace, Woodford, and the first conversion (XH561) made its first flight on 18 June 1982. The airworthy Vulcan flying today—XH558—was one of these six. It flew from Waddington to Woodford for its conversion on 30 June 1982 and was first flown as a tanker on 3 September 1982. It remained at Waddington until the final withdrawal of the type and disbandment of No. 50 Sqn on 31 March 1984. By this time, sufficient VC-10 tanker conversions had been delivered to the RAF to warrant the Vulcans’ withdrawal. Thus the mighty Vulcan era at this famous bomber airfield came to a close—with the type’s first strike in anger coming in the twilight of its 27-year career. For its notoriety, Vulcan B.2 XM607 (the “Black Buck” veteran) is preserved and can be seen on the eastern side of Waddington airfield today.

Since the Vulcan days, Waddington has become the ISTAR base and is now home to the E-3D Sentry AEW.1 (AWACS) of No. 8 Sqn, the Nimrod R.1 of No. 51 Sqn, the Sentinel R.1 ASTOR of No. 5 (AC) Sqn and the Shadow R.1 (King Air 350ER). There is also an Unmanned Air Systems headquartered here—No. 39 Sqn, which flies five MQ-9 Reapers, although these are operated from Creech AFB in Nevada, USA. The RAF Air Warfare Centre is also housed at Waddington. The Centre undertakes tactical development, trials of new tactics and equipment, and integrated mission support to air operations, and maintains an electronic warfare database. No. 54 (R) Sqn is based here and acts as an operational conversion unit for the E-3D Sentry AEW.1, Nimrod R.1 and Sentinel R.1, with aircraft drawn from the respective operational squadrons when required.

In future, RAF Waddington will maintain its importance and continue to house the Sentry AEW.1, the Sentinel R.1 and Shadow R.1. The Nimrod R.1 will be retired in March 2011 and will be replaced by three ex-USAF RC-135V/W Rivet Joints under a programme known as AIRSEEKER. Whether MQ-9 Reaper operations will actually be flown from here remains to be seen. The RAF aerobatic team the “Red Arrows” is destined to move here from nearby RAF Scampton during late 2011, so this will add more personnel and aircraft to this base, which currently has some 19 aircraft (not including the Reapers) and approximately 2,800 service personnel assigned to it.

The Waddington Air Show is one of the few nowadays that is organised by the RAF and it is an international show—albeit not on the same scale as the RIAT show at Fairford. Nevertheless, there were some interesting displays at Waddington this year. Perhaps the most poignant of them all was the battle scenario staged to commemorate the 70^th year since the Battle of Britain. The scenario began with a Messerschmitt Me.109 (Hispano HA1112 Buchon) undertaking ground-strafing runs, with appropriate gunfire and smoke. Spitfires and the Hurricane of the Fighter Collection soon arrived after a scramble take-off and chased the Messerschmitt around the sky before finally shooting it down. It was an interesting scenario and the sound of four individual Merlins (three Spitfires and the Buchon—the Hurricane had to land due to a snag) roaring around the sky together was pure nostalgia. The fight scenario was followed by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BoBMF) with a Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster 1. Their usual aerial display was another fitting tribute to the events of 70 years ago and the crews who paid the ultimate price for freedom.

After the thrills and spills of yet another Messerschmitt “shoot-down”, it was time to remember the daring and brave intrepid aviators of World War I and their flimsy bi-planes and tri-planes, as the Great War Display Team flew a selection of replica aircraft of that time. These included a 7/8 scale S.E.5A, a Sopwith Pup, a Fokker Triplane, a Junkers CL.1 and a Nieuport 17. A Sopwith Triplane that was supposed to have been part of the display had been damaged the previous day and was out of action. The battle is fought right in front of the crowd, and the aircraft cavort all over the sky performing tail-chases, ground attacks and dog-fight shoot-downs. It was a far cry from modern air warfare, but to put it into perspective, it was 95-odd years ago that these were the aircraft of their day and only just over a decade since man’s first ever heavier than air powered flight. These were truly the pioneering days of air warfare and aviation.

Waddington’s “home team”—Nimrod, Sentry and Sentinel—put on a fly-past before the Nimrod departed for a five hour sortie, from which it returned later in the show. The Sentry is celebrating 20 years of RAF service at Waddington. The first example was delivered in 1990 and there are a total of seven examples now on strength. This aircraft is an important asset to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is engaged in airborne early warning, command and control, and air battle management. Four of the aircraft are assigned to NATO as the UK’s contribution to the NATO AEW & Control Force (NAEW&CF).

The Sentry is equipped with an array of sensors including the distinctive dorsal mounted Westinghouse AN/APY-2 radar. This large dome scans at six revolutions a minute, and can detect and track airborne and surface targets at a distance of more than 200 miles. Other sensors include a pulse Doppler radar out to the horizon and a pulse radar beyond the horizon, an AN/APX-103 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), a passive detection system and an Automatic Identification System (Maritime IFF). It also carries tactical data links, and a secure communications suite enabling contact to be maintained between forces headquarters and tactical assets deployed in the battlefield. The Sentry carries a flight deck crew of four, plus three technicians, one communications operator and ten mission crew. During their 20 years of service thus far, the Sentries have been deployed operationally in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, where they still operate.

Of three remaining Nimrod R.1s assigned to No. 51 Sqn, only two are now operational. One was at Waddington for the air show whilst the other was deployed in Afghanistan. These aircraft have a different role to that of the Sentry and are used for electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering. This includes airborne electronic surveillance and monitoring of radio and electronic emissions, the data from which is passed through downlinks to provide warning of threats, and increase situational awareness of developing scenarios or hostilities. The Nimrod carries a flight crew of four (two pilots, a flight engineer and a weapons systems officer), and an electronic reconnaissance crew of 24 system operators including a mission supervisor.

The arrival of the Sentinel R.1, ASTOR (Airborne Stand-off Radar System)—a much modified Bombardier Global Express—has introduced a new capability into the British Armed Forces. The aircraft is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), housed in a ventral fairing, which produces high resolution images from radar returns and a moving target indication (MTI), which detects target movement in the air and on the ground. This system is at the cutting edge of ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) technology that gives the RAF a formidable capacity it never possessed in the past. The Sentinel also carries an extensive suite of communication equipment, including SATCOM, housed in the upper fairing, as well as VHF, UHF and HF radios, and data-link systems for air to air and air to ground secure communications, plus a defensive aids suite. It carries a crew of five, comprising two pilots, an airborne mission commander and two airborne image analysts, although the aircraft has a nine-seat configuration.

The four Shadow R.1 aircraft, which were delivered in 2009, are assigned to No. 5 (AC) Sqn and are based at Waddington when in the UK. At present, they are in use in Afghanistan to supplement the Sentinel R.1. Not much is known about these aircraft and the UK MoD is somewhat tight-lipped about them and their operations. The aircraft feature numerous aerials, sensors, RWRs (radar warning receivers) and an under-fuselage belly pod with a FLIR and are very similar to the USAF-operated MC-12W Liberty.

Another “theme” of the Air Show was the remembrance of Hendon RAF Pageant days that started in 1920. This began with a string of vintage and replica aircraft making fly-bys. Although these were followed by more modern types (such as an Anson, a Venom and a Hunter), which would not have appeared at Hendon, it is worth realising that the early days at Hendon eventually led to the SBAC displays, which began at Hendon in 1932, and continue today at Farnborough.

The “Blades” aerobatic team flew sequences in their four Extra 300 LPs, the “Turkish Stars” (Turkish Air Force) displayed their eight NF-5A/Bs accompanied by an eccentric and humorous commentary, and of course, the Hawk T.1s of the RAF’s “Red Arrows” put on their usual polished performance—all these great displays kept the air show goers enthralled!

A new event for this year was a synchronised display by the BoBMF Spitfire and a Typhoon—and very good it was too, particularly when one considers the difference in speeds, manoeuvrability and handling of both types, which are several generations apart! Two Tornado GR.4As gave a lively demonstration of beating up the “enemy” in a ground attack offensive amidst gun fire smoke and fire, highlighting their “mud-moving” role. The “Vipers”—two BAC-167 Strikemasters and two Hunters (FGA.9 and T.8B)—put on their very first display using these two types; in the past, it had always incorporated four Strikemasters.

The Belgian Air Force (BAF) gave a fly-by of its new Airbus A330-322 (the first time the A330—leased from the Portuguese operator Hi-Fly—had been seen at a UK show), accompanied by two BAF F-16AMs. The Czech Air Force displayed an L-159 Albatros and a JAS 39C Gripen, while a French Air Force Alpha Jet completed the overseas flying participation.

On the ground was a selection of current military types as well as a large number of current civilian and vintage aircraft—such is the depletion of military hardware that civilian aircraft now fill the gaps. The Italian Air Force provided two colourful F-16A Fighting Falcons wearing 90^th anniversary markings; the Czechs showed a further L-159 Albatros, a JAS 39D Gripen and an Antonov An-26 wearing 90^th anniversary markings to celebrate Kbely Air Base near Prague; the Polish Navy had an M-28 Bryza; the French a C-160NG Transall; the Germans a Tornado IDS; the Austrian Air Force had a C-130K (an ex-RAF Hercules C.1P); and the USAF had a pair of F-16Cs from Spangdahlem, Germany, and a RC-135W Rivet Joint from Offutt AFB, an E-3B from Tinker AFB, a C-130J from Ramstein, Germany and a UK-based KC-135R.

Overall, the whole show was a good display with plenty of variety throughout and most attendees would have gone home with plenty to remember. If only air show organisers would listen to what the photographers say and provide more room around the static display aircraft instead of placing barriers frustratingly far too close, perhaps everyone would go home happy!