RAF Kinloss crest

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Home of 'The Mighty Hunter'

RAF Kinloss, the current home of the Royal Air Force Nimrod MR.2 fleet, comprising 120, 201 and 42(R) Sqns, is located beside Findhorn Bay, on the scenic Moray Firth and thirty miles east of Inverness. The airfield was opened 1st April 1939 with 14 Flying Training School (FTS) as its first resident unit.

At that time, many of the personnel who were posted to Kinloss had never heard of the station and were struck by how far north it was. Despite rumours of little daylight and biting northerly winds, a posting to Kinloss did have its advantages as it was soon discovered that the local hotels were at times an excellent source of food that could not be found further south!

Spring 1940 saw 14 FTS move south, to be replaced by 19 Operational Training Unit (OTU) training bomber crews for the offensive against the Axis forces.

During those early years contractors worked around the clock to lay concrete runways on the airfield. One of the main concerns at that time was the possibility of enemy attack and many attempts were made to camouflage the airfield. However one attempt to hide the airfield by painting building outlines on grass apparently amused the Germans more than confused them and the camouflage was photographed by a German aircraft and the pictures published in a magazine!

Throughout the majority of the war 19 OTU was the primary training unit. Between July 1940 and June 1941 it flew over 22073 hours - almost four times the rate achieved by 14 FTS the previous year.

The war seemed a long way off from Kinloss but as the months went by the station flag appeared to be almost permanently at half mast as aircraft frequently crashed on training sorties. Unfortunately the inexperience of the pilots being pushed through training to supply front line Sqns, the worn-out aircraft and poor weather caused many accidents; over sixty eight in the first year of 19 OTU's operations. Sadly, many of those arriving at Kinloss for the first time saw the remains of aircraft around the airfield and at one time, even on Tolbooth Street, Forres.

Not surprisingly many trainees ended up ditching in Findhorn Bay which was a Catch 22 situation. If you ended up in the bay when the tide was out the dinghy was useless as the bay was a quagmire, when the tide was in it occasionally flooded the airfield. This caught one crew out totally when they landed and saw the water, thinking they had overshot the runway they made a distress call and climbed into the dinghies, only to see the fire trucks drive right up beside them.

Not long after VE Day 19 OTU was disbanded and the arrival of 6 Coastal OTU saw the beginning of Kinloss’s long post war association with maritime operations.

The wartime Lancaster was adapted without major work for anti-submarine and search and rescue duties. RAF Kinloss changed from a Bomber training unit to a Coastal Command base training maritime aircrew. The airfield also became the final resting place for many surplus aircraft with 45 MU's job to dispose of them.

19 (C)OTU was split into 236 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) and the School of Maritime Reconnaissance in 1947 with 236 OCU remaining at Kinloss. A further change in 1956 saw the units recombine as the Maritime Operational Training Unit (MOTU), which remained at Kinloss until 1965. In April 2005, 206 Sqn was disbanded, leaving three Sqns; 120, 201 and 42(R).

Links with the local community were increasingly strengthened and new Clubs were also beginning to appear, such as the Sailing Club and the Mountain Rescue Team and later in the 1950's the Pipe Band. Since then countless climbers and hill walkers owe their lives to the Kinloss Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) and the Team have received many awards. In 1971 and again in 1981 the rescue work of the MRT, as well as the work of the Station personnel in raising funds for charity helped earn the station the Wilkinson Sword of Peace.

In July 1962, the Station received one of its highest honours, the Civic Freedom of the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Forres, allowing Kinloss personnel the right to march through the Burgh with swords drawn. This was the first time any military unit had been so honoured by Forres throughout the Burgh's 1400 year history.

Another neighbour was Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth, (now RAF) which was a constant source of good natured rivalry between the 'darker' and 'lighter' shades of blue. One particular story tells of Kinloss locking the Lossiemouth Air Traffic Controller in his tower, and wiping all the Lossiemouth crockery with petrol. The next morning two helicopters hovered over Kinloss threatening to dump white paint over the navy blue Neptune planes unless the keys to the control tower were returned.

Post-war RAF Kinloss Sqns have been involved in maritime operations throughout the world, with its aircraft detached to many overseas bases.

During the 'Cold War' Kinloss Sqns carried out anti-submarine duties, locating and shadowing Russian naval units as they made their way through the North Sea to the open Atlantic.

Kinloss aircraft’s ability to respond rapidly to emergencies and incidents were demonstrated when in 1967 Kinloss aircraft located and plotted the oil slicks to help prevent the cargo of oil from the Torrey Canyon from polluting Britain's coastline (more details of the Torrey Canyon incident can be found in the Lossiemouth history).

In 1972 and 1976 the new Nimrod proved its capabilities when it flew surveillance sorties over Iceland's disputed fishing limits, providing support for the Royal Navy and British trawlers in the 'Cod Wars'. Indeed its long endurance and surveillance abilities, has also proved invaluable in many thousands of search and rescues. Formerly these included the 1979 Fastnet race when storm force winds had wrecked numerous yachts and in 1980 when the Alexander Keilland oil rig overturned in the North Sea with 280 persons on board and more recently to rescuers after the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion. In 2000, the Nimrod provided initial co-ordination of the rescue effort of the Russian submarine Kursk. More recently a Nimrod provided Dame Ellen McArthur a much needed boost in the final leg of her breaking round the world sailing challenge.

After the Argentines invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, Nimrod MR.2's hastily adapted for air to air refuelling and armed with self defence AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs, were deployed to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The 1990s saw Nimrod aircraft deployed to the Persian Gulf as an integral part of the coalition forces during the liberation of Kuwait (Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM); furthermore, Nimrod's were actively involved in the Adriatic as part of the United Nations peace-keeping force following the Bosnian conflict. More recently in 2003, the Nimrod played a pivotal role in Operation TELIC, seeing a return to action in the Middle East against Iraqi forces. Today RAF Kinloss continues to play a vital role in the ever more sophisticated and demanding task of protecting the UK's maritime interests, including a continued presence in very contrasting areas, the South Atlantic and the Persian Gulf.

Always on 24 hour stand-by is a specially equipped Nimrod to assist with search and rescue duties. Kinloss is also the home of the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre, co-ordinating RAF search and rescue assets throughout the UK and surrounding maritime areas, an area extending from the Faeroes in the North, the English Channel in the South, about halfway across the Atlantic Ocean and halfway across the North Sea. The area generates around 2000 scrambles a year with the ARCC providing assistance to about 1500 people.

The ARCC is permanently manned by experienced SAR personnel from the RAF, RN and MCA, many of whom have served on maritime patrol aircraft or SAR helicopters. It has direct data and voice links with emergency services and rescue assets in the UK and Europe. It is also the UK’s Mission Control Centre for the international COSPAS/SARSAT distress beacon detection system.

Kinloss also hosts one of the RAF’s four Mountain Rescue Teams (the other three teams being based at RAF stations Leuchars, Leeming, and Valley). Each team consists of seven full-time personnel and up to thirty volunteers. The unpaid volunteers give up their spare time for training on at least two weekends in four, as well as one evening a week.

Apart from their mountaineering experience the RAF MRT personnel are specialists in the management of aircraft crash sites. Once an accident site is located, they can provide first aid to any survivors, assist with evacuation and guard the area until crash investigators and further assistance arrives.

In 1992 the RAF started a Replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft (RMPA) procurement programme to replace the Nimrod MR.2 aircraft. To meet the requirement BAe proposed re-building each Nimrod MR.2 with new engines and electronics, christened 'Nimrod 2000'. The RAF considered bids from Lockheed with its P-3 Orion, the Loral Corp with rebuilt ex-US Navy Orion's and Dassault with the Atlantique 3, but in December 1996 awarded the contract to BAe for the Nimrod 2000 which was subsequently renamed the Nimrod MRA.4

The MRA.4 is essentially a new aircraft, with Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan engines, a new larger wing and fully refurbished fuselage. Much larger air intakes are required, because the airflow of the BR710 engine is significantly higher than that of the original Spey 250/251.

The rebuilt aircraft borrows heavily from Airbus technology; the wings are designed and manufactured by BAE Systems (the UK Airbus partner) and the glass cockpit is derived from that of the Airbus A340.

Development has taken longer than anticipated and the first of 18 MRA.4s have not yet entered service although the flying test programme has commenced. The contract was initially for the supply of 21 rebuilt Nimrod's, but due to technical problems the project was brought to a halt following the discovery that none of the Nimrod airframes supplied by the RAF for refurbishment were to a common standard. During 2004 it was announced that the programme would only see 16 aircraft upgraded, this was further reduced to 12 aircraft during July 2006 when the £1.1 billion production contract was signed.

Since their introduction into service the Nimrod's have maintained an excellent safety record, with only five major incidents recorded see here. 

The 2nd September 2006 saw the loss of a Kinloss based Nimrod MR.2 with 14 crew onboard (XV230 – the first of the type to enter operational service), whilst supporting anti-terror operations in Afghanistan. The incident serves as a reminder that Nimrod crews, as indeed many other RAF crews, face risks on a daily basis whilst supporting anti-terror operations around the world.

 

 Our condolences are offered to the families and friends of those who lost their lives.

The 12 RAF crew were all from 120 Sqn, with two members of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment also onboard.

Nimrod MR.2 XV230 R.I.P.

 

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© On Target Aviation 2008