USAF C-17 operating from Aldergrove in support of U.S. Presidential visit, 2003. Credit Ulster Aviation Society
RAF Aldergrove is Royal Air Force station situated 18 miles north-west of Belfast. It adjoins Belfast International Airport, sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove which is the name of the surrounding area. The station shares the Aldergrove runways but has its own separate facilities and helipad.
RAF Aldergrove first opened in 1918 but was not designated as an operational RAF station until 1925. Aldergrove’s location made it an important station during the Second World War of RAF Coastal Command in the Battle of the Atlantic. From the base long range reconnaissance aircraft were able to patrol the Eastern Atlantic for U-Boats.
Aldergrove was designated as a dispersal airfield for the RAF's V bomber force in the 1950s and was included in a reduced list of 26 airfields in 1962. In 1968 a maintenance unit (No.23 MU) for the F-4 Phantom in RAF service was established at Aldergrove, with 116 aircraft passing through on their way to front line service.
No. 72 Squadron operated Puma and Wessex helicopters from Aldergrove from 1991 until its disbandment in 2002.
RAF Northolt was one of the key airfields in the Defence of London during the Battle of Britain.
RAF Pembrey Sands is a bombing and firing range and is adjacent to the old Pembrey airfield on the south Wales Coast.
RAF Saxa Vord in the Shetland Islands has had an association with the Royal Air force since 1957 when it became a Radar Station, today it is a Control and Reporting Post as part of the United kingdom Air surveillance and Control system giving warning of any aircraft approaching from the North.
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