Parking space for aircraft, separated by blast walls
USAF F-4D Phantom II fighters in their revetments at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, c. 1967F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters in their revetments at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, 2013
A revetment, in military aviation, is a parking area for one or more aircraft that is surrounded by blast walls on three sides. These walls are as much about protecting neighbouring aircraft as it is to protect the aircraft within the revetment; if a combat aircraft loaded with fuel and munitions was to ignite, a chain reaction might lead to the destruction of its neighbours. The blast walls around a revetment are designed to channel any blast and damage upwards and outwards, away from neighbouring aircraft.
A blast pen and memorial at the former RAF KenleyA Hawker Hurricane in a revetment at RAF Wittering in 1940
A blast pen was a specially constructed E-shaped double bay at British Royal Air Force (RAF) Second World Warfighter stations, being either 150ft (46m) or 190ft (58m) wide and 80ft (24m) front-to-back, accommodating aircraft for safe-keeping against bomb blasts and shrapnel during air-attacks.
Although the pens were open to the sky, the projecting sidewalls preserved the aircraft from all lateral damage, with 12in (300mm) thick, 9ft (2.7m)-high concrete centres and banked-up earth on either side, forming a roughly triangular section 18ft (5.5m) wide at their base. The longer spine section behind the parking areas usually encloses a narrow corridor for aircrew and servicing personnel to employ as an air raid shelter.
Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley is a former airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain as one of the three RAF stations specifically tasked with the defence of London. It is located near Kenley on the edge of Greater London. The site remains in use with the Ministry of Defence, as Kenley Airfield.
No. 1435 Flight is a Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 unit of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Mount Pleasant, providing air defence for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Permanently based in the islands, the aircrew and groundcrew from the UK are cycled through No. 1435 Flight, providing a 365-day, 24-hour alert.
The siege of Malta in World War II was a military campaign in the Mediterranean theatre. From June 1940 to November 1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of the British Crown Colony of Malta pitted the air and naval forces of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy.
Kenley is a residential suburb within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 13 miles (21 km) south of Charing Cross and within the southern boundary of London, England. Surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt on three sides, it includes the large open spaces of Kenley Common and Kenley Aerodrome. Kenley was part of the ancient parish of Coulsdon in the county of Surrey and was connected to central London by rail in 1856. As the population of the area was growing, it became part of Coulsdon and Purley Urban District in 1915 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. At the 2011 Census, Kenley had a population of 14,966.
Royal Air Force Woodbridge, or more simply RAF Woodbridge, is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England.
Dispersal is a military practice of dispersing or spreading out potentially vulnerable military assets, such as soldiers, aircraft, ships, tanks, weapons, vehicles, and similar equipment of an army, navy, or air force. Its primary objective is to minimise any potential effects of collateral damage, from incoming munitions such as artillery, bombs and missiles. Dispersal increases the number of artillery rounds needed to neutralise or destroy a military unit in proportion to the dispersal of the said unit. If a division doubles the area it takes up, it will double the number of artillery rounds needed to do the same damage to it. As more targets are spread out or dispersed, more artillery and / or bombs are required to hit all the individual targets.
Royal Air Force Leiston or more simply RAF Leiston is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.5 km (0.93 mi) northwest of Leiston and 1 km (0.62 mi) south of Theberton, Suffolk, England.
Raymond Brown Hesselyn, was a New Zealand fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War, credited with the destruction of at least 18 enemy aircraft while flying with the Royal Air Force (RAF) over Europe and the Mediterranean.
No. 217 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the RAF. It was formed and disbanded four times between 1 April 1918 and 13 November 1959. In World War I it served in a strike role against enemy bases and airfields in Belgium. In World War II as part of RAF Coastal Command it served first in a maritime patrol role along the Western Approaches and later in an anti-shipping role in the English Channel. Ordered to the Far East in 1942, the squadron was retained for two months in Malta in an anti-shipping role, protecting Allied convoys, before moving to Ceylon to defend the approaches to India, serving in an anti-submarine and anti-shipping role. It was equipped and training for a strike role, when the war ended. In the postwar period, it served for five years in a maritime reconnaissance role, and then briefly in a support role for Operation Grapple, the British hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island.
The Port Moresby Airfield Complex was a World War II military airfield complex, built near Port Moresby in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. It was used during the Battle of New Guinea as a base of Allied air operations primarily in 1942 and early 1943. It later became a support base as the battle moved to the north and western part of New Guinea. It was closed and the facility turned over to civil authorities after the end of the War in September 1945.
Juvincourt Airfield is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the commune of Juvincourt-et-Damary in the Aisne department of northern France.
Aircraft cavern, a calque of the German word Flugzeugkaverne, is an underground hangar amongst others used by the Swiss Air Force.
Operation Calendar was an Anglo–American operation in the Second World War to deliver 52 Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft to Malta in April 1942. Spitfires were necessary to challenge Axis air superiority over Malta because they had the performance that Hurricane fighters lacked. Aircraft carriers were necessary to get fighter aircraft to positions in the western Mediterranean from which they had the range to reach Malta but British aircraft carriers were busy elsewhere, under repair or too small to deliver enough Spitfires to be effective.
Operation Bowery was an Anglo-American operation during the Second World War to deliver fighter aircraft to Malta, an operation known informally as a Club Run. Spitfires were needed to replace the remaining obsolete Hurricane fighters, to defend Malta from Axis air raids.
The Hardest Day was a Second World War air battle fought on 18 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain between the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF). On that day, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on that day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history to that time. Both sides suffered heavy losses. In the air, the British shot down twice as many Luftwaffe aircraft as they lost. However, many RAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground, equalising the total losses of both sides. Further large and costly aerial battles took place after 18 August, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including 15 September, the Battle of Britain Day, generally considered the climax of the fighting. For this reason, Sunday 18 August 1940 became known as "the Hardest Day" in Britain.
Royal Air Force Hutton Cranswick or more simply RAF Hutton Cranswick is a former Royal Air Force station located to the south of Driffield and immediately south west of the village of Hutton Cranswick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The station was developed as a fighter base with many Spitfire fighter squadrons passing through. It was used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and several Polish Fighter Squadrons of the RAF. It was opened in 1942, and disposed of in 1946.
Royal Air Force Wing or more simply RAF Wing is a former Royal Air Force station, situated just west of the village of Wing, in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England.
Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in function to Ta Kali were located at RAF Hal Far and on Malta's second island of Gozo at Xewkija airfield. The base's name reflects an anglicised corruption of the correct Maltese spelling of Ta' Qali, other phonetic variants of the correct name also appear regularly.
Royal Air Force Charmy Down or more simply RAF Charmy Down is a former Royal Air Force station in Somerset, England, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north-northeast of Bath and 96 miles (154 km) west of London.
John Donald Rae, was a flying ace of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War. He was officially credited with the destruction of twelve enemy aircraft, as well as eight probably destroyed and six damaged.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
