You'd have been better called a Benbeculian then, the radar was at almost zero feet ASL on the civilian airfield.. We had a landy 109 on the station, a Sherpa mini bus, which was the most used vehicle, and theJust shows you could buy a vehicle at cheap price that can still last to this day. I remember driving in 1988 a old fart of a landy that struggled to get up saxavord radar site. Mid seventies type with it tongue out and headlights bulging but still got me up there miss that bugger.
thats a lot of money 20k, you still got the porsche? never had a porsche but love the look of the cayenne, the gts in particular
yea subaru forester is actually amazing in the snow from the clips i saw years ago on youtube but obviously depends on the driver, nice cars though
If I remember rightly you had three bases on the west coast of highlands. Machrahanish Mull of Kintyre Benbecula and Stornaway. Didnt you lot have to close the shop on Sunday for religious reasons and transfer to us on SAXA VORD to keep a eye on Soviets holiday tourists.You'd have been better called a Benbeculian then, the radar was at almost zero feet ASL on the civilian airfield.. We had a landy 109 on the station, a Sherpa mini bus, which was the most used vehicle, and the
F.LT. C.O. had a Cortina. The current radar is up a mountain on North Uist though.
I first drove landys at RAF Neatishead, old series 2 109 with side ways seats in the back the section transport, before they replaced it with a mini....
landrover 109 fire engine,
landrover 109 soft top snowplough, chilly, but better than being out there with a shovel.
First car Austin 1100 about £100 of rust back in 1976.
The 110 £2500 in about 2002, but I've spent a lot more on it since.
The most expensive car , a new Kia Rio for SWMBO in 09 £6000, that will probably be replaced in 23 when I retire.
The 911 was sold many years ago. Oddly, my like for Porsche stopped after the 964 model...subsequently, Porsche's are all overweight buses and a little too bling for my liking. The Cayman/718's in certain models are okay but no modern Porsche truly drives like the 1973-1994 era. The Forester XT is a brilliant device, as fast as a Porsche, incredible in poor weather conditions, can be packed to the gunwales, is uber comfortable and even more reliable.
If I remember rightly you had three bases on the west coast of highlands. Machrahanish Mull of Kintyre Benbecula and Stornaway. Didnt you lot have to close the shop on Sunday for religious reasons and transfer to us on SAXA VORD to keep a eye on Soviets holiday tourists.
Bad enough for us because if they did invade Saxa, most of us weren't there anyway as we closed on Friday 5pm till Monday 8am Mostly guard duty was defending against Sheep incursion going through the camp recently painted white picket fence or driving in the sherpa or old farter for the odd bbq.
What was your miserable role in life in the RAF, I was just lonely Supplier SAC driving old farter around the Saxa hill, south to lerwick sumburgh aberdeen buchan in the new 90ty with soft tyres that wobbled when hit by shetland weather.
RAF Macrihanish was a USA nuclear store, and US navy seal Base, occasionally visited by the RAF or the SAS.
RAF Stornoway was a signals Base (electronic countermeasures testing). Later a Tornado Standby base, there is was a RN refuelling depot there as well.
RAF Benbecula was is a Radar station lodging on an army rocket base, but the Radar was on a civilian airfield. Now on a mountain on North Uist.
I was a LtechGR later an LTechAD, or translated an Electronics Technician Ground Radar, later Electronics Technician Air Defence. Basically a Radar Technician.
Luckily no sheep on the airfield, but we did have some Scottish wild cats on the base. We had no guard duties, as we lived on the army base and they had plenty of spare squaddies needing something to do. We didn't need to guard the radar station ( except exersizes) we were off down the side of a civilian airfield, sometimes someone bothered to shut the gate.
When the only supplier was off, the SGT Radar or CPL had to issue equipment, clothing stores were ordered from Buchan when the supplier was on duty and issued by him maybe a couple of weeks later..
The islands north of Benbec are populated by members of the very strict " Free Church of Scotland" and everything closed on a Sunday, the islands South of Benbec are populated by Catholics and opened after morning church.
On arrival on Benbec you were given a lecture. No going to North Uist on Sunday ( connected by causeway), no hanging out washing on the MQs on a Sunday, no being seen with Booze outside on a Sunday..
Did the trip to Buchan once, long trip, for a day there, then a long trip back.
The main disadvantage of living on an army base was the crap food, on a par with Swinderby, like RAF Staxon Wold radar station ( near Scarborough) you lived there on an army base , the food there was crap too.
The other disadvantage was the occasional power mad Army Sgt (or above) we had one search the RAF airman's accomodation and waking men sleeping off shift, without authority.
What was he searching for?
Tea spoons missing from the mess.. He got seriously into trouble for that and very nearly got done for theft, as he took an RAF airman cooks set of privately owned chefs knives. Didn't find tea spoons though.. They were taken by visiting squaddies on Benbec for rapier or other missile firing, and were gone ...
RAF Benbecula never closed and the only day workers Monday were the, one supplier, The CO, the Warrant officer eng, the two mechanical techies,, the 4 officer radar operators and the spare radar tech and operator . All the rest of the manpower were on the 4 shifts, a radar Sgt with a radar CPL or a JT, and two Scopie operators per shift. There was an officer's mess verses SGTs mess doo a couple of weeks after I arrived, so I as a newly minted Cpl was left in charge of a radar station!!!
This was the second time I'd lived out there, 1971-75, Dad got posted there as a civilian at the Army base, I went to school in Inverness. Car to North Uist, ferry across to Skye, school bus across Skye picking up more pupils, ferry to Lochalsh, train to Inverness picking up more pupils on the way. School buses to the council run hostels for girls or boys ( a good distance apart). You stayed there in prison all term..
Some comedian posted me out there again, I didn't volunteer!! I actually saw the radar I later worked on, arrive during my school holidays..
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