RAF Heathfield RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prestwick, South Ayrshire in Scotland | |||||||||||
Coordinates | 55°29′10″N004°35′56″W / 55.48611°N 4.59889°W | ||||||||||
Type | Royal Air Force station Parent Station | ||||||||||
Code | AR [1] | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force Royal Navy United States Air Force | ||||||||||
Controlled by | RAF Fighter Command 1941-44 * No. 13 Group RAF Fleet Air Arm | ||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1940 | ||||||||||
In use | April 1941-1946 | ||||||||||
Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II | ||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||
Elevation | 15 metres (49 ft) [1] AMSL | ||||||||||
|
Royal Air Force Heathfield, or more commonly RAF Heathfield, sometimes known as RAF Ayr/Heathfield due to its proximity to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which was also used by military flights, is a former Royal Air Force station. It opened in April 1941 as an airbase for day and night fighter squadrons. In September 1944 it transferred to Fleet Air Arm control and commissioned as HMS Wagtail. The Royal Navy paid off the airbase in March 1946 and it was reduced to care and maintenance. The United States Air Force used it for storage between 1951 and 1957, with the designation USAAF Station 570.
Like many other wartime airfields, its runways were of the triangular layout.
The following units were posted here at some point:
The airbase was transferred on loan to the Admiralty, from No. 13 Group RAF, on 6 September 1944. The Royal Navy took over with the Commanding Officer, Commander (A) H.L. McCullock. Known as Royal Naval Air Station Ayr (RNAS Ayr), it was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 20 October, as HMS Wagtail. [11] One runway was redesigned and used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to practice aircraft carrier landings.
The airbase was home to various Royal Navy units which were part of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) including: the Bombardment Spotting School, No.3 Barracuda Servicing Unit and the Flag Officer Carrier Training Squadron. Also operating out of RNAS Ayr was 772 Naval Air Squadron which was a Fleet Requirements Unit. The airbase also included accommodation for disembarked FAA squadrons and additionally there was accommodation for two RAF Squadrons. [11]
The following units were posted here at some point:
RNAS Ayr was 'paid off' by the Royal Navy on 10 March 1946 and it was reduced to Care & Maintenance Status, administered by RNAS Abbotsinch. [11]
The site was used by the United States Air Force (USAF) between 1951 and 1957, designated USAAF Station 570, for aircraft storage use. From then on the USAF decided to solely use the adjacent Prestwick. [2]
The site is now a mixture of housing, farmland and a golf club. [2]
Royal Air Force Tangmere or more simply RAF Tangmere is a former Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain.
Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent,, is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately 4 miles (6.44 km) west of Portsmouth, on the coast of the Solent.
Royal Air Force Nutts Corner, or more simply RAF Nutts Corner, is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) east of Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and 9.2 miles (14.8 km) north west of Belfast.
Royal Air Force Ballyhalbert or more simply RAF Ballyhalbert is a former Royal Air Force station at Ballyhalbert on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland
Tain Air Weapons Range is a Ministry of Defence air weapons range on the Dornoch Firth near Tain in Scotland. Royal Air Force aircrews from RAF Lossiemouth are trained in air weaponry on the range, along with NATO aircrew.
Wick John O' Groats Airport is located one nautical mile north of the town of Wick, at the north-eastern extremity of the mainland of Scotland. It is owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. The airport provides commercial air travel connections for Caithness, with scheduled services to Aberdeen Airport and, until early 2020, Edinburgh. It remains regularly used by helicopters servicing local offshore oil operations and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm. It also serves as a stop-over for light aircraft ferry flights between Europe and North America via Iceland. The airport also operates an out of hours call-out service for air ambulances, coastguard and police flights.
Royal Air Force Drem, or more simply RAF Drem, is a former Royal Air Force station, just north of the village of Drem in East Lothian, Scotland. The motto of the station was Exiit Hinc Lumen which means "Light has departed from this place".
Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, located in the village of Westhampnett near Chichester, in the English County of West Sussex.
Royal Air Force Detling, or more simply RAF Detling, is a former Royal Air Force station situated 600 feet (180 m) above sea level, located near Detling, a village about 4 miles (6.4 km) miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent.
Royal Air Force Zeals, or more simply RAF Zeals, is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, sited to the north of the village of Zeals, next to the village of Stourton and the Stourhead estate.
Royal Air Force Bramcote, or more simply RAF Bramcote, is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-east of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England used during the Second World War. It was later transferred to the Admiralty and was known as Royal Naval Air Station Bramcote,, and when commissioned became HMS Gamecock. When it subsequently transferred to the British Army from the Admiralty, it was called Gamecock Barracks.
Royal Air Force Dundonald or more simply RAF Dundonald is a former Royal Air Force station located in South Ayrshire, Scotland, three miles north-east from the coastal town of Troon.
Royal Air Force Eastchurch or more simply RAF Eastchurch is a former Royal Air Force station near Eastchurch village, on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England. The history of aviation at Eastchurch stretches back to the first decade of the 20th century when it was used as an airfield by members of the Royal Aero Club. The area saw the first flight by a British pilot in Britain.
HM Prison Ford is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex, England, near Arundel and Littlehampton. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Royal Air Force Ballykelly, or more simply RAF Ballykelly, is a former Royal Air Force station which opened in 1941 in Ballykelly, County Londonderry. It closed in 1971 when the site was handed over to the British Army as Shackleton Barracks. A small part of the base has been used as a refuelling point by army helicopters and small fixed-wing aircraft usually operating out of Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove near the town of Antrim.
Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton was a Royal Navy airbase located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north east of Eglinton, in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station in 1941, before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm in May 1943.
Royal Air Force Macmerry or more simply RAF Macmerry is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland and 11.4 miles (18.3 km) east of Edinburgh. It was situated immediately to the north east of Macmerry on the north side of the A1 road. It has also been called RNAS Macmerry and unofficially RAF Tranent and RAF Penston during its life.
Royal Naval Air Station Maydown is a former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm airbase located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) northeast of Derry, County Londonderry and 11.4 miles (18.3 km) west of Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Royal Naval Air Station Twatt, is a former Royal Navy Air Station located near Twatt, Orkney, Scotland. It was built by the Admiralty and was commissioned on 1 April 1941. On 1 January 1942 it became an independent command as HMS Tern. The airbase was designed to provide accommodation for disembarked Front-Line squadrons and accommodation for disembarked Ship's Flight Aircraft and was home to the Home Fleet Fleet Requirements Unit, 771 Naval Air Squadron.
No. 22 Sector RAF is a former Royal Air Force Sector that was operational during both the First and the Second World Wars.