RAF West Drayton

RAF West Drayton

RAF West Drayton at West Drayton west of London was a Royal Air Force station and the main centre for military air traffic control in Britain. It was co-located with the civilian London Terminal Control Centre to provide a vital link between civil and military flying and airspace requirements.

RAF West Drayton was also the home of the Linesman System (Hence the main Ops Building being known as the L1). The system used Link 1 to exchange Air Defence data between the UK and Europe. There were links to Reitan, Maakeroy, Vaedbek, Niew Milligan, Glons and Doulons (Apologies for any spelling mistakes!).

The Operators (Aerospace System Operators) (ASOps or Scopies) were responsible for the tracking and identification of every flight - Military and Civil, that entered or left the UK Air Defence Region (UKADR). This was a labour intensive task in the days before automatic initiation and tracking systems, but a big improvement on the Plotting Table and little perspex plaques with the information written on them. The School of Fighter Control was still teaching plotting and writing backwards until 1974!

The School of Fighter Control moved to RAF West Drayton from RAF Bawdsey and used to train junior Officers to be Fighter Controllers. In addition to teaching RAF Officers, Foreign and Commonwealth students also attended and there was one course of Yugoslavian Mig pilots!

RAF West Drayton closed as an official RAF station in the mid 1990s. The area control, responsible for Air Traffic Control outside the London Terminal Control Area moved to Swanwick, Hampshire in 2002, the remaining centre being renamed the London Terminal Control Centre. RAF personnel are still based on the site, since military control functions for the eastern side of England remain.

All remaining control functions, both civilian and military, are due to move to Swanwick in Nov 2007 (civil) and Jan 2008 (military), after which the West Drayton site will be sold.

The site at West Drayton also contains the MT section of the Queen's Colour Squadron, which is based nearby at RAF Uxbridge. Both the squadron and the MT section will shortly be relocated to RAF Northolt when facilities become available.


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