Flying into a closed airfield where planes went to crash!
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- This massive disused airport in the south-east of England had a unique wartime emergency role as well as being at the front-line in D-Day and the Battle of Britain, RAF Manston in Kent was listed as one of the airports deemed suitable as a Master Diversion Airfield which means it could accept aircraft in trouble and has had a fair few crash landings.
In this interesting video I get to fly into this amazing airport that's been lost in time on one of only a few days that it is open to fixed wing operations a year.
THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN CORRECTED -
CORRECTION Originally I had a section which referred to RAF Manston as being a Space Shuttle diversion airfield, this was incorrect and those sections have been removed from the video so some comments may refer to this, my sincere apologies.
My name is Terry Kent and I am a General Aviation PPL private pilot operating out of North Weald EGSX about 12 miles to the north east of London in the UK. Short Field is my channel focused on the lighter side of General Aviation including flight and airfield reviews, equipment unboxing and review plus all things private pilot related. I use various cameras to record my videos including GoPro and Insta 360 and stills and edit them in Adobe Premiere Pro, I am an animator as well and often use animations to describe situations more clearly I use Blender and Adobe After Effects for these. I always attempt to post my videos in the highest possible quality, normally 4k.
I fly a 2011 Pipersport two seat single engine aircraft that is also known as the PS28 or SportCruiser in the USA (America) it is know under the FAA as an LSA or Light Sport Aircraft and can be flown on a very basic license. In the UK it is a Part 21 airplane which requires a full licence but it's generally cheap to run, affordable maintenance and great value for money. It cruises at 100 to 105 knots and has superb short take off and landing or STOL capabilities. I visit farm strips, back country and short airfields, some of them dangerous and I try not to crash :-), as well as international airports and try to learn something new every time I fly.
I fly VFR and IFR as well as visual and instrument approaches.
My videos may give helpful information to pilots but please remember these are just for entertainment, I am not an instructor nor should anything shown in my videos be used for real world aviation, also the airfields I visit may have totally changed or even closed since the making of the video so always consult the latest information for your country.
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In the 90's I managed an Irish pub in Zaragoza where another abort landing strip was situated. The NASA fire and medical crew were an amazing bunch of fellas from Texas, some of my best customers. One of our staff had a brother with Down syndrome who was fascinated by aircraft. They took us all to the landing site and took him out in the fire truck and gave him amazing gifts such a their mission caps and patches which were unique one offs and got astronauts to sign photos of themselves and the shuttle in the US and send them to him. The little guy was thrilled beyond belief. Proper Gents.
What a lovely and heart warming story ❤️ Thanks. Per (Denmark)
I suspect Zaragoza would have ended up been the primary diversion as it was generally near the launch arc for standard orbital insertion. But I suppose in the event of a failure, things could literally go sideways. 😂
This was an absolutely brilliant video.We got a rescue dog brought up from Spain to Scotland in December 2020, and on the drive back down the Eurotunnel closed, hence the Spanish truck got stuck for a few days on Manston's runway! Crazy times!
I was stationed here in the RAF, January 1969 - March 1970, the cushiest posting ever😂..... I've just seen this pop up on my susbscribers feed, and haven't got time to watch at the moment, but will comment later when I've got more time. Lots of happy memories from the 15 months I was a resident🙂
awesome
In 1989 my wife treated me to a trail flight in a light aircraft at Manston. While we were running through procedures, before take off, a flight of about four A10 Tankbusters from USAF Lakenheath taxied along and took off from Manston’s runway. My instructor explained they were the “Dover Patrol”, pilots on a training run where they do a low level flight along the Channel, past the white cliffs. Apparently, this was something the American flight crew loved doing. We then taxied and took off, climbing to a height of 1000’ above the English coast. Suddenly, Manston control radioed us, asking if we had visible contact with the Dover Patrol? The next thing I know, I’m flying a light aircraft alongside the tankbusters! I think I remember that more than I do flying the light aircraft!
I think you mean bentwaters😊
@@shirleydrury5565 ???
As a lapsed PPL holder and resident of Sandwich (Manston is visible just up the hill), this brings me right back to flying days. Great video and makes me want to fly again! Interesting that current and prospective MP Roger Gale is campaigning to reopen Manston...
Fantastic. There are yellow ribbons tied near the old airport buildings- meaning that one day Manston will return and fly again- fingers crossed it does- major boost to the local economy.
The family of a friend of mine owned a flying business at Manston back when it still had a RAF flight training operation. They were part of the initial effort to prevent developers planting expensive houses along the runway.
One other use for Manston was to handle influxes of transport aircraft carrying relief supplies for disaster recovery operations in Europe and North Africa, since it could easily take heavies and marshal them without crowding, and there was decent road infrastructure to bring in supplies. I remember seeing Antonovs on the apron for one such emergency operation back in the 1980s.
Did my PPL at Manston back in ‘91; one of my instructors during circuit phase used to say “less a circuit, more of a NAVEX”
RAF Manston was my first posting in 1974 after completing RAF Air Traffic Control trade training. It was one of the best postings I had in my 28years service. Not only was it a MEDA ( Master Emergency Diversion Airfield) is was also one of the 2 UK Foamer Units. This meant we could lay a path of foam along the runway for an aircraft with an undercarriage malfunction to land on. The foam suppressed the sparks caused by the aircraft body / wing dragging along the runway. In my 2 years there I had 3 AC foam incidents a Victor and 2 Canberra's. One of the Canberra's came in with complete UC malfunction and on one engine then as it passed over the threshold of 28 the other engine cut out so it slide down the foam, quite a night. It was also the base of 72 Sqn D-Flight which flew SAR Wessex helicopters. great times
"Before we take off let's have a little check, of the things that can kill you"
That's the best business case description of the need to follow check lists I have ever heard.
Thank you for sharing.
Yes, I was thinking that too...and yet Terry chose not to use a checklist! A bit like that Vlogger who flies TBMs. He never uses checklists either!
Flap check ? !!
I remember driving past there years ago when it was operational and couldn't work out why I was seeing commercial aircraft on what I thought was an RAF base. You basically answered every question I wanted to ask, so I class that as being an excellent video. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for this. I was born in Margate and lived opposite Manston as a child. It was some distance away with a railway line in-between, but I remember seeing the Americans parachuting down with Jeeps as well. Years later I worked as an electrician on the site contracting when it was a passenger service. Now live in Wales retired. Spitfire hurricane museum was always worth a visit. Appears they have the go ahead now to bring it back to life. Hope to pop back soon to check out the museum. Thanks again
Beautiful!!
Terry, I’ve been away from aviation related content for some months and now to find a back-log of Short Field episodes is stoking the fires again!😊
Thanx for being there.
Bill in south Shore, Ky
You are awesome Bill thanks brother.
Lovely explanation of the long and fascinating history of the airfield, and very nicely presented Terry! That low pass along the runway really shows just how ridiculously long it is!
Manston is going to reopen to aircraft after a few court cases ...I live in ramsgate and it's going to be great for the area ...my favourite memories are when concorde came ,they also used to train pilots in jumbos touch n go circuits..
I remember when Concorde came in there, it was incredible to witness!
What court cases were they? I'm really curious any links
@@Matt-Durham
There is one person that keeps trying to derail the reopening using our courts.
@Matt-Durham if you serach manston airport judicial review it should come up ..
@@iscmiscm if she moved in before the air field was in use then she can complain if not she got not complaint
I used to live 1.4 miles from there when it was operational no problem and brought up in the 1960 in a village 3 miles from there loved to see the aircraft and witnessed the planes used for the film the battle of Britten there and the flew out over my old school what a sight
Need to add RAF Machrihanish to your list for the shuttle diversion field. At nearly 1.9 miles it had more than enough space.
Very interesting bit of history! Nice video. Glad they didn't build houses on it!
Great video - so interesting to see you land at Manston. Read so many accounts from pilots in ww2 who were based there. What a great entry for your logbook!
Perfect mix of "fun and facts", thanks for bringing us along !
Manston was also one of my landaways on my QXC, staring at Lydd, plus I live in Maypole. Thanks for posting this.
Hi Terry Thanks for super video of Manston as i am 81 born 11 Nov 1942 and like aircraft regards Mike keep safe Terry.
@3:50 I'm surprised you mention the engine noise. What's annoying from the ground is the prop noise! Anyway, great video!
Takes me back to 1974 when I was stationed at RAF Northolt and was able to hitch a ride on the H S 125 to do circuits and bumps at RAF Manston. I was 17 at the time and it was the first time I had ever heard of the place and the first I had ever Flown. Happy Memories
HS125 - no need for all those gaps.
@@heli-crewhgs5285 Thank you so much for pointing out the glaring e r r o r ! ! 🖕
I have flown in here many times whilst in the RAF. One time in a VC-10 we had an engine fire and they were getting ready to lay the 'foam carpet' as Manston was the only place in the UK they could COVER the runway wth foam. Luckily we dealt with the fire and returned to Brize for a 3 engine recovery.
Really? As a young SAC rigger we used to watch the fire secon cover the runway in foam at Leeming.
I was a fireman at Brize Norton during the 70's and 80's and can remember a VC10 with hydraulic problems diverting to Manston where they were looking at laying a foam carpet ready for a gear up landing...Thankfully though the crew managed to get the gear down and locked and the aircraft made a normal landing...
Super video and really interesting, thanks.
So nice of you Stewart.
Stayed at RAF Manston for a cricket tour in 1992.From RAF Valley. Great time and some lovely Cricket venues in Kent.
When it was a military base it was classified as a Military Emergency Diversion Aerodrome (MEDA) as it was capable of taking any size of aircraft.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know how much I love your channel. I'm a massive aviation fan, unfortunately haven't yet been able to do my PPL, but I'll get there. The main thing I enjoy (and admire) about your videos is your self-analysis and the insights you give into the mentality one needs to be a successful (ie, still alive!) pilot. You are never afraid to admit to mistakes, and it's an invaluable learning resource for other pilots. I also watch a guy called Hoover, (channel is called Pilot Debrief), and I think he would thoroughly approve of the way you self-critique. I'd love to see him do a video on your 2022 incident, and im sure he would agree completely with your own breakdown of what happened, and what we can all learn from it. Keep up the brilliant work, I'm convinced that pilots like you, by taking the time and trouble to share your knowledge and experience, are helping to save lives every day. Thank you, JP.
My absolute favourite IRL Pilot videos on YT. Another great video Terry.
Thank you Martyn.
Did my RAF flying scholarship and PPL at RAF Manston at TG Aviation in 1987. It was indeed a huge runway, and I recall thinking of the winds were strong enough that I’d be able to land across that runway 😅
Very enjoyable, thank you. I was in an Air Training Corps camp at Manston in the late 70s. Flew in a Chipmunk, Dove and Dominie - coincidentally all DeHavilland planes. I can remember a Canberra landing with a major emergency, so it was still a useful place for planes in distress. My indistinct memories are that it was semi-deserted then. I can remember a forlorn early mark Lightning standing on its own among lots of disused office buildings.
I flew in a chipmunk in the 1960s, with my schools CCF / ATC it was a lot of fun! And I remember seeing a Lightning takeoff at the Farnborough airshow back in the 60s and it was awesome. It just went straight up, almost vertical or so it seemed!
We in the USAF flew into manston occasionally. It was great on weekend cross-countries in the 1980s because of the "Dover tour" started there. A retired RAF controller who I later worked with said they would do a running commentary from manston all the way down to Dover while maintaining VFR offshore position. It was a brilliant ploy to increase traffic and the cost of doing business at manston. It allowed controllers to train with various performance aircraft and was a lot of fun for us flight crew members doing it. Somewhere. I have a video on one of those flights that we flew as a two ship of Phantoms maintaining 3 Mi offshore and the controller giving constant description of what we were looking at. Great memories indeed. Thank you Carole
thank you for this video , we are looking forward to manston opening again soon ..
What a beautiful flight, thank you so much for this! We need to keep hold of our history fields
Thank you for that brilliant video. It brought back happy memories of being in my school’s Combined Cadet Force and spending an amazing long weekend at RAF Manston back in the 1960’s. I got to fly with an actual RAF pilot who let me take control of a de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk for 5 minutes. I suspect he was trimming everything but I did roll it upside down! Unforgettable moment until that was repeated at RAF Chivenor in Devon a year later when I flew in a glider as well, which was unreal. I also went to RAF Waddington later that year in a copter tracking ‘enemy’ submarines, sick bag at the ready!
So cool that Manston was a potential safe landing site for the Shuttle. I’ve been a bit of a space nerd for the last 60 years.
Great channel.
Fabulous video! I had no idea of its history!
Great video. My dad flew a Piper tri-pacer out of Maypole before moving to Clipgate farm a few years before Maypole closed. We flew in and out of Manston several times, also using the grass runway. Also did many airfields and strips in Kent, Essex and the near Continent.
Thanks for posting...Manston airport will be back😊
Thanks for a great little video on Manston. Those of us that have fought hard to get the Airport reopened are highly delighted that it will now reopen. I spent many years flying at Manston and it's great to see it coming back life.
And there are more of us who are not looking forward to Manston reopening as a cargo hub, if the plan ever gets investment which I doubt. Ramsgate residents won't appreciate the early morning and late night landing slots that are being touted as the main selling point of the proposed operation, with arrivals from the east passing over the town at 800 down to 400 feet. Don't get me wrong, I had my first ever flight from Manston in a Chipmunk and the occasional RAF traffic in the 1960's was fine. I was also one of the last to fly my plane out of the airfield on its last day of operation. But causing so much disturbance, loss of tourism etc. for the sake of seeing aircraft again and creating a small number of jobs is not progress I'm afraid.
@pivotalmike so, apparently you are a private pilot. So where are you flying from now, if anywhere. Very strong anti Airport views. I'm also a Ramsgate resident living directly under the flight path. I find it amazing that you still believe that the airport is not good for the area. The planes are coming and the jobs are coming as well, so you'd better get used to the idea.
@@robinlaurence8468 I was a private pilot for 15 years, but medical issues stopped me 3 years ago. At that time I was based on a strip near Cambridge. I don't believe that the airport is viable for cargo, wrong place and plenty of capacity elsewhere. As for jobs, remote tower almost certainly, and not many jobs required for cargo. Not sure what they are smoking at RSP but several reports have said so as well. In the 10 years lost so far it could now be a thriving town with a commercial park and could even have retained a GA field/helicopters. As you are strong pro-airport let's agree to disagree and call it a day?
Terry, I live very near to the former RAF Ash and look across the valley at the Manston Runway. I noticed several Light Aircraft parked up when I went past the Museums. I enjoyed the Video, very interesting and well presented. You certainly 'Filled your Boots' Phil
I served at RAF Ash. Dozens of radar positions down in that bunker that never got used properly.
@@littlepippin8445 I met a chap who served there (he lived in the MOD houses in Sandwich) and he told me the former station commander bought the place off the MOD in 1996 for £1,000,000. It is a big site.
Flew in and out of RAF Manston during Navy BFT raining in a Gazelle helicopter back in 1984. Had a bird strike on take off -made a bit of a mess on the canopy.
Flew chipmunks here in with cadets in the 70’s 80’s got my PPL here too. Can see the runway from miles off. some great air shows every year ❤
That was great! Will have to check out this in MSFS. I kind of think of the UK as one big airfield 😉
Great program, well done, you should have tried your luck for a few touch and goes Tornado style 😂😂
Next time!
I went there a couple of times when it was a commercial airfreight airfield. From the ground, it was odd to watch aircraft disappear over the horizon on the ground, to reappear airborne a short time after.
Manston was the emergency landing strip for Concorde if Heathrow was fog bound, I saw it take off from there in the early nineties also saw the Vulcan XH558 fly from there the day before its last flight before being sold off.
Manston is just down the road from me. There is a little air museum with a cafe which is well worth a visit.
Great stuff, glad to hear it will likely stay as an airfield! I am organizing a fly-in at the Disused Colerne airfield in wiltshire, would be great to have you there if it goes ahead (still getting permits at the moment).
Watching from Zimbabwe... Awesome video!
I went to the same Manston fly-in, one to get in my logbook, and it fitted in perfectly to the schedule of a French tour; Border Force were on site so I was able to land there from Calais on the Saturday. The museum is well worth a visit, we spent an enjoyable afternoon there before heading back home about 5:30pm.
Did my AEF most weekends from Manston. 1 AEF in Chipmunks or 617 VGS in grob 103s. I remember watching Concord take off and land during one weekend of gliding. Amazing having a birds eye view of Concord.
Great upload Terry, really interesting... Thank you
Brilliant as always - such a cool place!
At 4:58, is that the Insta 360 you use? I’ve just bought the Insta 360 X3, and wondered if you had a special case for mounting on the outside of your plane? I pop a go pro on the tail tie down loop on my Cessna 150, and was wondering if the Insta 360 would be as secure?! Thanks!
nice landing.
A nicely presented vlog, RAF Machrihanish and RAF Finningley were also MDA's for the shuttle, I never did get around to doing my PPL after leaving the RAF I wish I had now.
RAF Brawdy in Pembrokeshire and RAF Llanbedr in gwynedd were also MDA's, as well from what I remember.
Wow ! That was an awesome video. So interesting. Keep them coming 🤣.
Bit mixed in terms of whether Manston was a NASA Emergency Shuttle diversion strip between sources. There are a few in the UK, RAF Fairford and the equally as big RAF Machrihanish (which I lived next to when still active), both 1,000ft longer than Manston. Nice video.
I can't find any reliable source that says Manston was. As you note, the runway is too short -- the Shuttle needed 10,000ft -- but also the Shuttle's supersonic approach wold be right over London if it landed at Manston.
@@beeble2003 Yeah, I had these thoughts too regarding proximity to London. Also, Manston transferred back to the RAF and civies in the 60's, Fairford - Machrihanish - Zaragosa all were/are USAFE bases. Given the sensitive natural of some Shuttle launches, they'd really want a USA military presence. The likes of Machrihanish had one of only two "off-soil USA" deployments of SEALS due to the nuclear weapon storage and aircraft movements etc..
It was not an ELS either.
very interesting airport ! loved the video stay safe!
The history alone makes this great runway worth to be preserved. I visited the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection today and the aircraft I spend the longest time admiring was, of course, the great Spitfire. Thanks for your nice videos, often with interesting bits of history.
Greetings from Oslo!
Back in the '80's. I had a share in a light a/c and we used to fly to Calais/Le Touquet/Oostende most weekends. Always called Manston at 'North Kent Coast', 'Canterbury' and 'Coasting Out' at Dover. Even then, our aircraft was a quite old C172. Just checked and it's still flying!😮
I was stationed there in the late 1970's and remember some light aircraft landed across the runway, yes it is that wide.
I honestly can't get over your editing! So many professional cuts between cameras. Incredible. It's like watching a programme on TV. Do you work as a video editor Terry?
So kind Howard, no sir just an amateur trying to learn sir.
@@ShortField You're very good. It must take you a lot of time. Can I ask what software you are using please?
RAF Fairford was the only Transoceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3 km long), Fairford also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the base.
True but there were many diversionary airfields that were identified and placed on standby throughout the World. These were not primary but were capable of accepting a shuttle in trouble and were in the shuttles database. Manston was one of those.
RAF Fairford was the main ABLS in the UK for the Shuttle. All the fire Service on the base at that time was trained for shuttle landings.
@@diamondderek848 why not repeat the first comment 🙃
I did think, before I watched this particular video, he was going to about RAF Fairford, (or should I say, USAF Fairford)
@@anthonyg4671 why not repeat the first comment🙃
Great video with lovely views over Kent and must be similar length to the old SW/NE runway at Throckmorton...🤔
Lovely vid Terry - the first of yours I'm aware of watching. I've probably seen your plane dozens of times - I live on the southeast edge of Harlow on the downwind leg of North Weald!
Lovely plane. A work colleague flew me from Huntshaw grass strip near Torrington and over my house in Bideford. I used to make close-fitting covers and seats for them. Good memories.
Lovely to see it might reopen again. My father was Commandant of the Fire Training School when it was there. I remember visiting it there and just as he did feel sorry about all the old planes there that they used for practice fires. Pity you didnt mention that.
Flew into Manston onboard an EUJet Fokker 100 many years ago. Was a very quiet airport by that time already.
I work for one of the charities that befits from the fly in THANK YOU.
from your newest subscriber.
Flew in there in my microlight, as part of the RAF MFA, in the late 1990s. Concorde was loading up as we were parking up on the other side of the pan. The RAF was just in the process of closing the military part down at the time.
Here in the states my hometown lost both grass airstrips on either side of town. Both used to be cool recreation airports with one serving peoples businesses on that side of town.
Last time I was at Manston was on a course at the fire school just before they shut it down . Another space shuttle emergency landing ground would be wide awake airfield on Ascension Island , another place i spent some time at .
13:49 Istres le Tube have à 5000m runway!!( 16.500feet😮😮)
Shannon airport in ireland and a field on the south of Portugal are the first emergency landing ports for the US shuttles
I'm a fan of the Space Shuttle program and I think you might be wrong about this airport. As far as I know only RAF Fairford was the only emergency landing site in the UK. Haven't seen this airport being mentioned in any documents I've read so far in the last 15 years
I got this info from the operators. I think there were many airports deemed suitable although not desirable, Manston was one of these. Obviously they would need to try and land somewhere regardless of whether it was a listed diversion field or not. I understand that lots of airfields that could take a shuttle were on notice during a launch and although not where they would head too. The chance of it ever landing here would be very remote but the possibility that it could do means they would be as prepared as they could be. As a glider, anywhere on land would be preferable to ditching and a long runway prepared for a landing even more so. Probably not listed but certainly would be in the database.
Nope - see my reply above re RAF Machrihanish in Kintyre ; extended during the cold war for use by our V-Bomber forces , and also B-52s , in the event of Nuclear War ; later by other NATO forces , the 3049m runway was the prime TAL due to its isolated location on a peninsula with water either side and surrounded by open countryside with very low population to be put at risk in the event of a mishap .
I thought RAF Machrinanish was a divert airfield for the Space Shuttle on a Transoceanic Abort, as it had a runway of over 10,000ft
i grew up near brize - needless to say would have made my day to see the space shuttle gliding in for a landing 😆
You would need binoculars as Manston is a very long way from Brize.
Thumrait in Oman was also a designated shuttle emergency location. My late Father was part of the team who built the runway there.
Grandparents lived in a farm house at the east end on the left in the village, Demilished in 1997 redeveloped with 10 mock farmhouses known now as Highlands Glade.. spent many hours spent watching planes arrive leave/ Red Arrows training there back in 70's, and the wooden gliders launched by landrover fron infront of the contrl tower, Th Yellow Search and Rescue Sea-kings were stationed there until they moved to Ipswch? i was lucky enough to to take a Concorde pleasure trip from Manston there in May 2000, As a child i remember the runway being widened late 70/80's? huge huge works and there is lots of hidden infrastructure there..
👍👏 At least it was not being used as a lorty park for any cross channel backlog when you were there! 🙄😖🤣
Greenham Common was also an emergency shuttle landing site within 60 miles of London.
My Grandad worked at Manston for decades, and as a history-lover from a very early age I used to frequent the museums there endlessly with my Grandparents. My Grandad had many funny stories from his time there: standing at the urinals next to Douglas Bader and Bob Stanford-Tuck; multiple Russian (Soviet) pilots who insisted on taking him to their cabin to drink their homegrown concoctions; and a flight with a German pilot on a Lufthansa flight, who retorted that the last time he had flown over the airfield he was bombing it! It is a superb place, and hopefully won't be lost to property development; however, its time as a large-scale airport look difficult due to the amount of investment in the facilities and infrastructure it needs, and I think development encroachment on the flight line make future permissions probably impossible to obtain unless under emergency circumstances.
Fantastic, loved this one. Hope to fly into Manston one day.
I was in the ATC back in the army 70s and flew , RAF chipmunk the only time , they used to have air show there. In the 80s as well ,and concord flew in . Great times hope it used again
Pretty cool, I did not know there was another Shuttle emergency landing option in England other than RAF Fairford, where NASA kept a few personal in case of a transoceanic abort landing . When I was stationed at RAF Bentwaters we were told RAF Woodbridge was an option just in case, and we would be notified when there was a launch just in case......
Great stuff - thank you! It would be amazing if it came back online
I did hear many years ago that elvington just outside york was also on the list for emergency shuttle landing strips. do you know anything about that?
Seems unlikely -- like Manston, its runway was only 9,000ft, while the Shuttle needed 10,000ft.
Beautiful take off Terry.
Sorry, but the idea of Manston being a Space Shuttle emergency landing site is just an urban legend. For example, the RAF Manston History Museum doesn't mention the Space Shuttle on its website. The key issue is that the Shuttle required a 10,000ft runway and Manston's is only 9,000ft (2740m).
The UK Transoceanic Abort Landing site was RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. TAL is a very specific scenario in which an engine failure 150-300 seconds into the mission means that the Shuttle is going too fast to return to the east coast of the US, but too slow to get into orbit. Several other air bases in the UK (all with 10,000ft runways) were designated as possible emergency landing sites if the Shuttle needed to urgently leave orbit, e.g., because of a medical emergency.
You also have the timeline way off. You say that, around the time RAF Manston transitioned into a civilian airport, NASA was looking for "emergency landing sites for its brand-new Space Shuttle programme". Kent International Airport opened in 1989, by which time the Shuttle had been flying for almost a decade! Also, NASA very much preferred military bases -- ideally USAF bases, which Manston hadn't been since 1958 -- as landing sites. When they used civilian airports in the US, it's generally ones with attached Air National Guard bases. Unless necessary to save lives, they're not going to want to leave the Space Shuttle in the hands of the Kent Constabulary while they get their own personnel in from, er, wherever the closest US military presence to Ramsgate is.
Although Manston is in a quiet location, its approach path is not at all suited to the Shuttle. The Shuttle glides supersonic until about 30 miles before landing, so landing at Manston would crack sonic booms all over London.
Actually , the best known TAL site was RAF Machrihanish on the Kintyre Peninsula . The second airfield to be built on the site , after the original WW1 field which was used s an airship base , was used by the RNAS and then later upgraded during the cold war for use by our V-Bomber forces and also NATO forces , which included storage of nuclear weapons and training facilities for US Navy Seals .
Because of its isolated location , and the fact that the runway exceeded 10,000ft , this was the prime TAL site for the shuttle , given it was surrounded by water east and west , and open country for the most part .
RAF Machrihanish closed in the 1990s with parts of the site being sold off to the community , and with Campbelltown Airport now operating there , using approx 2/3 of the runway - although the entire runway is still there .
I really enjoyed your commentary, just so well done a very loaded bunch of interesting recent history.
When you pan out to show your plane, wow, what a beautiful little craft it is. It reminds me of the beautiful engineering of the e-type jag I fell in love with in the early seventies. Flying is the sport of the rich & too expensive for me to ever buy a plane and, way too late to learn to fly but this was a most enjoyable ride-along. Hope you can do more. Stay safe up there.
Hey, for those who want to go a bit beyond the blue, I’d urge you look up Ray Comfort: “Living Waters”. No lessons required just a “mustard seed of faith”!
Well Terry, that sure was a trip down memory lane! I see you parked up in the old VASF "Y" parking bays and 22 Sqn Whirlwind HAR10's were just a little further along the taxiway, about where the Phantom resides at the moment before it gets moved to Kemble(I think!).....I guess you saved on using your brakes on inbound😉.....I have photo's of a Canberra that used the "foamer" way back in April 1969, just some of my treasured memories from way back when!......Sadly I'm not in the league of piloting my own aircraft, but as an excellent freeware has just been released for EGMH circa 2014, on MSFS I shall be reliving Chipmunk flights I took back in 1969 when 1AEF were resident giving "rides" to the ATC Cadets (we used to be able to hitch a ride if not too busy!!)....happy days, thank you so much for the video😊
Great film Terry, it answered along standing question of mine. I had an acquaintance who was a smuggler. He was involved in the first smuggling of illegal aliens, mainly asians, in the mid sixties. As well as by boat they also used a twin engine small plane and he told me they used to land at Manston. The modus operandi was based on the fact Manston had a very long runway. The far end of the runway could not be seen from the control tower . They would do an 'accidental' long landing to the far end where out would jump their passengers. 50 yards across the grass, over a waist high fence and into the car waiting on the A2. The plane would then taxi back to the hangars to clear customs. Easy. I saw the road was still there in your movie.
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No doubt they will all make their way back when their free houses are built.
@@abercass4683 I would imagine by now 50 years on those still alive will not be wanting to go back to wherever in asia they came from. Its the ones coming now we need to stop.
I built the new primary radar lattice tower there in Jan 14. Only for it to be taken down again shortly afterwards!
It was located next to the taller secondary radar tower. When erecting the tower, a guy came over and told us the job from our crane was creating a shadow in the secondary radar coverage and to postpone the lift until later.
Had a nosey round the museum and a great bacon roll in the cafe. There were a few mothballed passenger aircraft there at the time. Not sure what these were for. All in all an enjoyable place to work and a shame to see it closed.
Bit more info for you.
In the 1950's I was in a crowd at an air display where an F86 Sabre approached the crowd line from the rear at about 200 feet. Different times. Must have been Manston as travel elsewhere would have taken many many hours
In the 1960's the runway had the official designation of 'Diversionary'. I had the pleasure of 3 or 4 Chipmunk flights as an ATC member in the early 1960's
The station included the RAF Fire Service, and I was told that it had the longest runway in Europe at that time before Jumbo's or Concords. An ideal place to lay a foam carpet for aircraft in trouble. The usual reason was a lack of 3 green undercarriage lights. And so a fly past was conducted and if the undercart looked ok, the aircraft landed before a foam carpet. A collapse would carry them through the foam. I attended just such an incident in 1966/7, when an Avro Vulcan landed ok and rolled through the foam. I never understood why spare instrument bulbs were not carried in the cockpit
During the 90's or 00's it was used by the major airlines 'heavies' for pilot training, doing circuits and bumps
It was named London Manston for a while and considered for a location for London's 3rd airport
One of my flying friends tells a funny story about landing at Manston when it was open to GA. When on final approach the controller asked him to land long because of the traffic and the far-distant exit from the runway, but my friend landed as usual on the piano keys as per training. He was then asked to take off and land further along the runway which he then did....and when he went to the tower to pay his fees, they jokingly asked him for two landing fees. True story!
Great vid Terry seems u passed me flying past Isle of Sheppey 👋, can't wait for Manston to reopen in the next couple of years keep up the great work mate 😀
Yet another outstanding video, Terry. It's not very often you hear a controller say, "Fill yer boots", is it? 😆
I hope Manston comes back to life again, it's my nearest airfield now I've moved! Such an amazing history to it, and it was great to see it from your footage 👏🏻👏🏻
I agree with you about Maypole Airfield, such a lovely place to fly in and such a shame it's now gone 😬
Went to the Gambia years ago.
Their airport was also on the list of emergency runways.
Can you imagine....??
I was there in 1951 with the USAF.At that time there was a FIDO system installed.Is it still operating
That's brilliant. I had no idea Manston was an emergency shuttle landing site! Where do you find out about the fly in. Would be great to take the PA28 there next year from Earls Colne.
"I had no idea Manston was an emergency shuttle landing site!"
As far as I can see, it wasn't. The RAF Manston History Museum makes no mention of it, and the real killer is that the runway is too short. The Shuttle needed a 10,000ft runway and Manston is only 9,000. And there are all kinds of other problems with using Manston, such as the Shuttle's supersonic approach being right over London.
@@beeble2003 Agree, it was not in the list of runways for any use.
Is it true that RAF Skulthorpe was also a Space Shuttle emergency landing site ? Due to irs very long heated runway.
Doesn't seem so, no. Like Manston, the runway at Sculthorpe was only 9,000ft, which is 1,000ft too short for the Shuttle.