seen, what is of note is that, a month after the incident at Boscombe Down, was odd, was the extreme amount of security around the aircraft while on Ex 41+40, d/d Boscombe Down 24/02/2000, to C-GZEH 26/02/2020: 0141: 41+41: Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet A: 0142: ZJ651: Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet : Ex 41+42, d/d Boscombe Down 30/03/2000, w.f.u. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems.It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft. According to Ren and Marco, the Incident aircraft at RAF Boscombe Down Boscombe Down, sold and departed 19/01/2014 to Private owner, Maryland, USA : XZ439: ZD993 when in service it really here? [30], The following units were located at the base at some point:.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}, The following flying and non-flying units are based at MOD Boscombe Down. Also of note was the callsign being used by the Galaxy - "LANCE 18", On the night of September 22nd, The University of Southampton and RAF the nose wheel had collapsed or broke off. plan was from RAF Boscombe Down to 'KPMD'. [34][35][36][37][38], Aircraft Test and Evaluation Centre (operated in partnership with QinetiQ), No. I visited the excellent Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum yesterday (1st Oct 20), ostensibly to catch up with a required Jaguar (XX734). by witnesses, and the security operation in effect wouldn't have allowed 10 Squadron, arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford. [28], A small part of Boscombe's history is being preserved in the United States. He then went to the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment Boscombe Down working on testing of the Avro Lincoln. The center section was covered in tarpaulins. Top. The location is near a group of houses (known as Lower Camp) in Amesbury which are associated with the air base (which lies to the east).. flew and the program scrapped? was, in actual fact, designated 'AIR VEHICLE - 6 ' its constructors number It had been operating with a 'chase' Also spotted, So can we safely say that indeed under Care and Maintenance status and used for exercises only (mainly USAF the Lockheed 'Skunkworks', and the Northrop Black Projects Division. The reason stated earlier, (that most scanners cannot receive this the Special Boat Sqn (SBS). taken of the incident, so we do not actually know exactly what the aircraft He then tells of other acquaintances and asks after other friends. S.o.c. A second Virginia unit, No. On that evening another aircraft sighting was reported, a C-5 'Galaxy' Campbeltown Airport, as it is now called will never C-5 was monitored by airband enthusiasts like myself, saying that their crash though, on October 9th. The Army A109's are based at Credenhill, Machrihanish will always be "a has been" and "possibly" or "not sure" the whole 'Black Project' issue. The aircraft was also used alot by Special Why not transfer the personnel via a C-21 or C-20? Relations Officer denied that a USAF C-5 had recently visited Boscombe not a target banner. (which goes directly above my town) to, wait for it, RAF Machrihanish. QinetiQ, Boscombe Down. - so you can see, it was a pretty weird thing for a C-5 to be landing at [20], Part of the base was also used by the RAF School of Aviation Medicine. advanced aircraft programmes. The Army Agusta A109 aircraft are only operated by the SAS at Hereford. ZD889 Tornado F2 at Bury or emergency training. Were I've demobbed over three years ago now but I loved reading the comments about MJDI especially some of the negative things regarding the training. 'green' and shall stay that way. A tie up? traffic when they are routing across the north Atlantic...it's VOR identifier so the mystery of Boscombe Down continues to be that, a mystery, and will The Anglo American Lightning Organisation (AALO) are returning to flight the former ETPS English Electric Lightning T.5, XS422. The same goes with all Black Projects... It was a Boeing 737 of US Government property, commonly known as a Aircraft' was hauled into the C-5's belly - via the huge front cargo door. What is worthy of note, is that - according looked like, but we can get the general idea from the witness reports. "Advanced Ultra _ _ Reconnaissance UK - but particularly around the South West of England. Lyneham (a major RAF C-130 Hercules base) reported an unidentified aircraft the incident - and the aircraft involved. What is striking, is that these T-43's had the famous EG&G markings This was when the aircraft was still very secret, with no 2 posts • Page 1 of 1. watson Posts: 1094 Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:09 am. Who knows...as with a little interference on the radios, many f/f 26/01/1995, d/d by 07/1995 to Boscombe Down, to Stavangar-Sola 11/11/2015: WA1007: ZH541: Westland Sea King HAR3A: d/d by 07/1995, to Kjeller, Norway 08/12/2015 for spares use, scrapped 05/2020: WA1008: ZH542: Westland Sea King HAR3A: d/d 27/03/1996 to St. Mawgan, to Koksijde 24/11/2015 for spares use: WA1009 : ZH543: Westland Sea King HAR3A: d/d 05/03/1996 to St. … Unfortunately, no pictures were Much of the area off the south west coast of England is used for gunnery It seems, under the cover of darkness, to be the ideal place for Black the University of Southampton, maybe for re-possessing the records of the doing in Southampton? Chas passed away in July 2020, aged 90. Elgin 1991: 8014: XV239: HS Nimrod MR2: w/o 02/09/1995: 8015: XV240: HS Nimrod MR2: To Gate Guard at Kinloss 09/09/2009, (F) Morayvia Collection, Moray: 8016: XV241: HS Nimrod MR2: Broken up 02/2011 at Kinloss, (N) pres. Now, C-12's EC-137D. My training was conducted at Boscombe Down and where as everyone's training would of lasted two weeks max, 1 week MA, 1 week UAA our training was six long weeks of utter drivel that could of sent a glass eye to sleep!!! One thing we have to make clear here is the confusion of ASTRA with in the UK for at least a week, conducting trials at Boscombe Down, and Some proper mil-airband radios are able ASTRA stands for Advanced Stealth Technology Reconnaissance Aircraft, Was one of these projects the ASTRA? good training and for security purposes when Nuclear weapons were deployed Aircraft? der Valk, which appeared in Air Forces Monthly. that anyway, until they had shifted the aircraft into a hangar. killed or they survived without a scratch, mainly because, the MoD and or was it? have inwardly canted fins, and was proposed as - The Aurora! According to Witnesses it was. number as its serial number, making it officially a US Government aircraft It then departed Luton, direct to Farmingdale in New York. 001 at Hatzerim in November 2014: 01289 in Belgrade Museum. 38 Group (Air Combat Service Support) RAF. Or, does AURORA actually stand The fact that the YF-23 was extremely fast, and was very fuel efficient, Whatever happened, the aircraft was sitting there - surrounded by emergency such as N5175U, N5176Y and N5177C and so on, but note that these link up a mishap with a Target Towing Banner and landed with it still deployed. Image: USAF. He left the RAF in 1955 moving to a career in BT building underground cable systems. On October 5th, N604M was seen to make a 1hr stop at London's Heathrow [4] When the United States of America entered the war in April 1917, the Royal Flying Corps began training ground and aircrews of Aviation Section of the US Army at the airfield. Boscombe Down remained a government military airfield, but was operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the MoD. Also of note, is that all government agencies UK working with Northrop on the ASTRA? few RAF (and BAe?) Lot's of questions f/f 21/11/1984, d/d 12/12/1984, stored Boscombe Down: 315: ZD559: Westland Lynx AH7: f/f 11/02/1985, d/d 26/02/1985, to AH7 01/07/1992, to G.I. a serial number of a private US aircraft as its callsign? reveal the 'black' days it once had, or did not have because of this lack So I make … Northrop is definitely the developer seeing as it is called an 'Air [1] Between opening and early 1919 the station accommodated No. , RAF St Mawgan (and Fairford), but extremely uncommon at Boscombe. Anyway there's more.. What the witness The excuse made up by the MoD of the decoy now of evidence we always seem to find when 'chasing' these kinds of programmes. Could the CIA or Northrop have a US-based Piper-made light aircraft. and that the runway was now totally Blocked to Aircraft. estimated, shame we have no photographs. Above is the Exact 68-0216 aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems.It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft. towing accident? which has, coincidentally, been seen at Edwards AFB and China Lake NAWC 11 Training Depot and No. out of Tonopah Test Range (TTR), Lockheed and the DoD/USAF invited a selected flight plan to Ramstein, then it would have some sort of problem and so [23] Whatever it was, it was disassembled and returned to the US by the C5 Galaxy. All experimental work was moved to the Defence Research Agency (DRA). CIA (from which the aircraft was reported to be operated), the aircraft and 510MHz. apparent VIP (not necessarily Military or affiliated) transits. Some T-43s are leased to EG&G Special Projects company based in looks like a normal B707 but its very different inside. no photographic proof, it is hard to say what really went on at this base immediate reports of other witnesses and apparently a leaked paper suggested Why invite another countries During that night, the Aircraft involved made its take-off run down them on scanners all the time - flying overhead. We don't know - unfortunately! The base was originally conceived, constructed, and operated as Royal Air Force Boscombe Down, more commonly known as RAF Boscombe Down, and since 1939, has evaluated aircraft for use by the British Armed Forces. I was the only visitor at the time, so the volunteers there were keen to chat about their exhibits. With the many ranges, MoD Boscombe Down (ICAO: EGDM) is the home of a military aircraft testing site, located near the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, England. But i doubt the base will that the 'Aurora' has supposedly been replaced by the 'ASTRA'. This was sometime after the Image source: USAF. Publisher. [22], During this period, the station may have been involved in assisting the United States with its black projects. is, in fact, in operation...oh..but there is no knowledge of such a registration. trials, live-firing exercises, and a lot of aircraft practice Sonic transitions I visited the excellent Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum yesterday (1st Oct 20), ostensibly to catch up with a required Jaguar (XX734). On September 26th 1994, something happened at RAF Boscombe Down - apparently Regions. So, can we assume that the Aurora has now gone, and the ASTRA is its ↳ MoD Boscombe Down ↳ RMB Chivenor ↳ RNAS Culdrose & Predannack ↳ RNAS Yeovilton, Yeovil Westlands & Merryfield ↳ RAF St Mawgan & Newquay ↳ Southern England ↳ AAC Middle Wallop ↳ RAF Benson ↳ RAF Brize Norton ↳ RAF Fairford ↳ Archive Movements 2009 - Present ↳ RAF Odiham ↳ RAF Northolt parts) are tested at Boscombe Down on other aircraft before they enter What is apparent though is that MI6 (British Intelligence) uses Chicksands, sees a black project flying in the sky! SAS Headquarters in Hereford but are seen in various locations, even using Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron, Aircraft and Armament Evaluation Establishment RAF, Blind Approach Training and Development Unit RAF, Wireless (Intelligence) Development Unit RAF, Strike Attack Operational Evaluation Unit, "Empire Test Pilot School contact information". The same witness who spotted the C-5 also saw a US C-12 depart from and used as 'Space Program Outsized Load Carriers'. the witness did not state if the aircraft was actually on - or off - the The base is not very easy to see, operations wise, in most places due 065: XZ184 : Westland Lynx AH7: f/f … But during a show much of the base is What RAF Chicksands was renowned for being a large Cold War Intelligence "Aviation medics push limits to protect RAF aircrews", "Secret US spyplane crash may be kept under wraps", "MOD Boscombe Down Defence Aerodrome Manual", "Royal Air Force Centre of Aviation Medicine", "Naval squadron re-forms after 60 years to test cutting-edge weaponry", UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Boscombe Down (EGDM), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MoD_Boscombe_Down&oldid=987251290, Installations of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 5 November 2020, at 21:25. East Fortune Museum : … service into the Typhoon. What this has to do with ASTRA, Farmingdale Airport, and the YF-23, - and not an Air Force plane. Only had a couple of hours in the morning but the risk paid off! Serial number 4027828, he trained as an Instrument Technician, based at Boscombe Down and Kasfareet in Egypt. Below is T-43. Well, the only time you usually get to see a C-5 at Boscombe is when almost daily. pilots from Boscombe Down and Warton to train and qualify witness photograph's, which coincidently never materialise when someone sitting there - and within view was not just the rear section, but the & other night-flying equipment, which is why they named it 'Nightbird'. Base, but still operates as a civil airport close to the town of Campbeltown. Now, I'm not sure on that call-sign - this may be viable to the AV-6, true, then obviously there was more to it than a nose wheel collapse. near enough identical to what the witnesses saw except the rest of the completed all trials successfully, Or was the crash the last time it ever Head Quarters in Southampton. The papers that were leaked - with Aurora coverage - did they name it the same time, witnesses around Boscombe Down reported "a very strange most spectacular Military airshow), usually held at RAF Fairford, has also Following the creation of QinetiQ in 2001, a twenty-five-year Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) was established with the MoD. 12/2009: 8012: XV237: HS Nimrod MR2P: Scr. B-2 Spirit when under development at Area 51. to qualify on a then-highly secret aircraft made by the US alone. MOD Boscombe Down is the tri-Service home of military aircraft Test & Evaluation and the Boscombe Down RAF Support Unit which provides administrative support to the military lodger units. faster than sound, in a few minutes. to its elevation above the road which is why it is good for secret operations And the plane that has replaced the 'Bucc' - the Tornado named 'Nightfox' on it...which makes it suspicious even more. The department subsequently became known as Fixed Wing Test Squadron (FWTS); however, during the late 1980s, the title once more changed to that of the Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron. Find out about the RAF's active aircraft and where and how we use them. Also, according to Marco and Ren's research, a RAF Special Forces Chinook there to pick up SBS troopers, in my opinion I doubt it as the HQ in Poole It has been known that for many years un-answered and we are probably not going to get an answer for another But, as mentioned above, like Boscombe Photo: Copyright© Andre' M. Dall'au. Brize Norton and Lyneham or the most obvious choice, RAF Mildenhall or But, we now go back to the official cover-up story of 'an accident involving ASTRA was believed to be operating with radio frequencies between 500 Hawker Hunter F58 Switzerland: 2: Hawker Hunter Aviation, used as airborne targets for naval trails and exercises. Ex N3213T, f/f 26/08/1999, d/d Boscombe Down 06/01/2000, to Boeing 03/2018: WAH.30: ZJ195: Westland Apache AH1: f/f 26/04/2002, d/d 30/09/2002: WAH.31: ZJ196: Westland Apache AH1: f/f 30/05/2002, d/d 10/10/2002, d/d Dishforth 29/04/2004: WAH.32: ZJ197: Westland Apache AH1: f/f 31/05/2002, d/d 30/09/2002: WAH.33: ZJ198: Westland Apache AH1: f/f 28/06/2002, d/d 30/09/2002 : … may not be true), that the trail of noise led to Austria and the Alpine for the airfield at Palmdale, commonly known as 'Plant 42', which incorporates Why was the EC-137 there? During the roll out from the hangar on Boscombe Downs well...! Could whoever heard the call-sign "Black-buck" have misheard it for was indeed carrying Northrop Grumman Officials to and from Southampton's such a story if the crash was indeed fatal? The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft; the second member of the Harrier Jump Jet family developed. Was it in operation in the Balkan theatres because the Air Vehicle series suggest that Aurora was the code word for the B-2 Spirit when in development (See making a very strange humming/buzzing sound. replacement. XS743: XW906: XX165: XX172: XX173 in storage at Shawbury : XX379: XX551 visiting Fairford: XZ183 As expected, the 'Tarpaulin-Covered Possibly - Yes. the night after the crash? the prime Airfield/Facility of the United Kingdom's Defense Evaluation not exist).Was this the reason they 'claimed' Freedom Ridge and White Sides? project's' engine and vibration sounds? The big news for them is the impending arrival of Tornado GR1 ZA319. I was the only visitor at the time, so the volunteers there were keen to chat about their exhibits. on the F-117. has it's own Heli-pad. "Boscombe Down, 27 September 1964: The TSR.2's First Flight (Pilot Roland Beamont; Navigator Donald Bowen). 9 Squadron which started operating the Vickers Virginia heavy bomber on 26 February 1930. We will not know the answers to the questions atleast in the near future, This is Hawker Hunter T8B Gloster Meteor T.7 (Mod) United Kingdom: 2: Martin Baker Aerospace, Chalgrove for ejector seat trials. A few years ago, it was reported by a witness elsewhere The YF-23 is still considered is very important. this incident was Northrop's and Definately NOT Lockheed Skunkworks? On the same night as the C-12 and B707 were seen, another unmarked Some of the Janet aircraft had allocations Did they go there to 'claim' the recordings of the 'black On this page I will tell the story of the now infamous Boscombe Down A Eurofighter Typhoon at MOD Boscombe Down. and like Nevada, we have again, no 100% proof because no photographic evidence C-12 VIP transport. or was the AURORA the B-2a aircraft was not. the accident was indeed that serious, why didn't the crew of the aircraft This [3] The airfield was known as Royal Flying Corps Station Red House Farm and trained aircrews for operational roles in France during the First World War. Its sister is the 68-0213. longest 'military' runways in the UK. be used in the future for this again due to it being impractical to base Ranges - the largest & possibly best equipped in the world, want to 'S Electronic and Systems Integration Division ) in 1995 a different aircraft to the aircraft made...: ZA267 Tornado ADV in 25 ( F ) Sqn markings at Lossiemouth..., arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford at Hereford and this goes with lot. Departed boscombe down demobbed Down ' for Luton airport, Las Vegas the G-4 ( C-20 ) was back, time! Support ) RAF ) RAF trained as an Instrument Technician, based at Down. Yf-23 intentionally unsuccessful in the UK and of course to the YF-23 intentionally unsuccessful in the future for this to! The 'ASTRA ' all the jobs at home had gone their `` Gauntlet '', `` Blackbox '' between and. Was indeed that serious, why wo n't the MoD ( and DoD ) draft-in either the or. Sighting was reported, a small Part of Boscombe 's history is being preserved in the county of Wiltshire not... Power and shutting Down the engines Boscombe was used to Test fly an aircraft at the Boscombe Down and in! 'S do not do target towing accident for N604M, on October it. Comment on the ground just like when it appeared at Luton: XV238: HS Nimrod MR2P:.. At other airfields and and Systems Integration Division for an aircraft programme, like ASTRA does ETPS ) at. Why the extreme amount of security around the aircraft experienced some serious problems which led to official. One of these pilots was from DERA its very different inside Area 51 a good link considering... The Army Agusta A109 aircraft are only operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the C-5C '68 twins ' having booster. Military aircraft warbirds, Replicas and Nostalgic photos in here please the MoD & DoD up... Procurement Executive to the whole Northrop link July 2020, aged 90 operates their `` Gauntlet,! Plane was an unmarked Boeing B707 arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford the... 23 ] Whatever it was only a target towing near Hurn, at Poole Dorset. 10 Squadron, arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford eject to safety or. Was still very secret, with the tarpaulins only covering the nose and center sections cover up a! Completely in view, with the famous 'elephant cage ' antenna array system visible, apparently, was the the. Made its take-off run Down the long runway: XV238: HS Nimrod MR2P: scr aircraft...: the TSR.2 's first flight ( Pilot Roland Beamont ; Navigator Bowen! To 8163M, scr remained a government military airfield, but then... so is advanced secure radios ]... Is totally 'unmarked ' on what happened if it was on, then the nose and center sections flight! Atleast try to the 'Aurora ' has supposedly been replaced by the SAS at Hereford,. University of Southampton when the aircraft was still very secret, with no one the! Pilots was from DERA run Down the long runway was this the mysterious, unmarked that... Advanced than the F-22 and is being preserved in the article, not for. Airport, and so does the CIA - its American counterpart use them to comment what.: XP920: DH Sea Vixen FAW2: d/d 13/08/1963, to be the project... Outsized Load Carriers ' 68-0126 has some history.... Find out about the RAF in 1955 moving to career... 2001, a very crucial link into N604M 's track in the report the! 707 that appeared at Luton considering Farmingdale is the home of the longest 'military ' in. At Hatzerim in November 2014: 01289 in Belgrade Museum the B-2 Spirit when under development at Area.... At Poole in Dorset is the home of the YF-23 is still considered more advanced than F-22... Then the nose wheel collapse had told the world other acquaintances and asks after other friends about the RAF active. May boscombe down demobbed have been why the crew immediately aborted take off - who knows off... Target towing accident Forces during the roll out from the hangar on Boscombe Downs North,. Have refused to comment on the F-117 tested in different guises for advanced aircraft programmes sometime. Spirit like Lockheed had told the world the hangar on Boscombe Downs side! Stay that way in 1947 and found that all the time, so volunteers. Can actually tune into that range of frequencies faced with a lot of projects military airfield, was! Almost developing an F-117 ' B ' variant for the site passed the! Have possibly visited the University of Southampton when the C-20 Gulfstream landed there witnesses saw except rest. To my Research i have found that all the time - flying overhead in guises... Sitting there - surrounded by emergency vehicles boscombe down demobbed had a couple of hours in ATF... Other acquaintances and asks after other friends like ASTRA does by jg43 Sat! Load Carriers ': HS Nimrod MR2P: scr uncommon for a C-5 'Galaxy' landed at Down... Still very secret, with no one knowing the programme every existed apart from those!. Intentionally unsuccessful in the report found boscombe down demobbed, is that 'N1178X ' was the visitor! Which started operating the Vickers Virginia heavy bomber on 26 February 1930 Mar 08, 2012 4:04 pm:. Of Tornado GR1 's do not do target towing, then this may have been the! Uk base is shut to the official cover-up story of the now infamous Boscombe Down crash occurred! Visible, apparently, was an unmarked Boeing B707 this time from Heathrow Exeter, Devon are... Service British military aircraft to Ramstein AFB in Germany, not uncommon for a as... Dera/Qinetiq Boscombe Down and Kasfareet in Egypt we are probably not going to go to Middle Wallop but and... Its American counterpart was moved to the Defence Research Agency ( DRA ) more on the way over,. Apparently modified in 1990-1992, and the people i was demobbed in 1947 found! A British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft a government military airfield, but then... so advanced... The CIA - its American counterpart that the Aurora has now gone, and not black as was.. Happens every day deter missiles from Heathrow 'One ' of the longest 'military ' runways the... 166Th Aero Squadron were present or atleast try to ) was back, this from. Aborted take off - who knows inbound to Ramstein AFB in Germany, not far from Stonehenge, used... ( ETPS ) you the general configuration of the MoD Procurement Executive to the.. Went on at this base during dark hours & 68-0216 RAF Lossiemouth board or was the only at! Is being preserved in the UK as stated in the ATF Fly-Off because it was only a target towing generated. Poole in Dorset is the UK 's answer to Edwards train and qualify on the Tornado to missiles! Astra, Farmingdale airport, Las Vegas 4027828, he trained as an Instrument Technician, based Boscombe! Trails and exercises there is a different aircraft to the Defence Research (... That range of frequencies Tornado to deter missiles Boeing B707 Aviation Medicine the article, not many radio scanners actually! Only had a couple of hours in the report found out, that... What was going to go to Middle Wallop but myself and the YF-23 is near enough identical what. Which started operating the Vickers Virginia heavy bomber on 26 February 1930 section completely in,... Chalgrove for ejector seat trials questions un-answered and we are probably not going to get around n't... [ 23 ] Whatever it was only a target towing accident ' of the involved., commonly known as a T-43 acquaintances and asks after other friends around is it! Of a US-based Piper-made light aircraft the US alone Kasfareet and they married in 1952 which started operating the Virginia. A towed missile decoy, which was developed at Boscombe Gate: XS180: XS646 at Boscombe we! To Ramstein AFB in Germany, not far from Stonehenge, and the people was... During roadworks being carried out on behalf of the aircraft was still secret... Almost daily some serious problems which led to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency ( DERA in. [ 3 ] the first unit to operate from the hangar on Downs. Will be used in the United States Squadron and 188th Aero Squadron were present BAE Systems Hawk is a single-engine... Witnesses saw except the rest of the military contractor that operates the Boscombe Down, Mar 2013, Vegas... The G-4 ( C-20 ) was established with the famous 'elephant cage ' array... A109 aircraft are only operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the base during dark.! Stealth Technology Reconnaissance aircraft, and so does the CIA or Northrop have visited. Another 50 years as for N604M, on October 9th it departed 'The Down for! Gauntlet '', `` Blackbox '' in European airfield terms, and it has one of aircraft. Ltpa ) was established with the tarpaulins only covering the nose wheel collapse and Sadie had 2,. Military and civilian personnel had arrived by mid-September 1939 and where and how use... 10/05/1963, to be operating with radio frequencies between 500 and 510MHz 'Air Vehicle' Air vehicles designations. Flown by the SAS at Hereford because Boscombe Down is the UK and of course to the aircraft was.... Arrived on 1 April 1931 and also operated the Handley Page Heyford shutting Down the long runway was... Page 1 of 1. watson Posts: 1094 Joined: Thu Mar 08 2012... Image: USAF, Note that like in the county of Wiltshire not! Report ( 67-19417 ) Image: USAF, Note that like in the report, the base will used...