A little history:
A Royal Air Force Radar Station in operation between 1938-1955, RAF Stenigot was a vital piece of a communications network that prevented both German attacks during World War II and Russian air strikes in the years following, but today the disused dishes simply rust away as enormous relics of wars gone by.
Originally built in 1938 as part of the "Chain Home" network, the station did not initially feature any large dishes. In the beginning the site's main features an octet of aerial towers; four for receiving, four for transmitting. These were supported by some low-lying buildings and stood on large concrete pads. This initial installation was in place to intercept German air raids.
Once WWII ended, the site was retooled to serve as a NATO-run early warning system to warn against Russian airstrikes. To this end, four huge, 60-foot-wide parabolic dishes were installed, replacing the previous towers. This new network carried the jaunty name, "ACE High," standing for "Allied Command Europe." While this newer version of the station performed well, the whole site was decommissioned in the 1980s, and by 1996 the entire station was all but dismantled.
When i first saw this place posted on a forum it rushed straight to the top of my list of must do"s.I actually had dreams of flying betty over head ,so much so - it began to become a recurring nightmare lol.
On one saturday i made up my mind to go and at 3am on sunday morning i ventured out on a very wet and windy morning driving over a 150 miles to get this monkey off my back.
I took on seven sites this day but this was the first and the furthest away - in total i drove around 370 miles but for me every single mile was worth it for this one explore.
some photos i took on the day:
When i arrived it was incredibly windy - normally i never put betty at risk but as i had driven so far i was determined to get the footage i was after - at one point a huge backdraft of wind hit the one dish as i was doing a close up and pulled the old girl right down - i powered up straight away and luckily got away with one slightly sheered prop - landed put a new prop on and carried on.
this is the flying footage:
This last video - errmm lol - make of it what you will but its sort of a celebration for me of doing one of the explores i always wanted to do - laugh if you will but i hope you enjoy.
Lastly thank you to mikey mutt who is a complete gentleman
Thanks for watching
A Royal Air Force Radar Station in operation between 1938-1955, RAF Stenigot was a vital piece of a communications network that prevented both German attacks during World War II and Russian air strikes in the years following, but today the disused dishes simply rust away as enormous relics of wars gone by.
Originally built in 1938 as part of the "Chain Home" network, the station did not initially feature any large dishes. In the beginning the site's main features an octet of aerial towers; four for receiving, four for transmitting. These were supported by some low-lying buildings and stood on large concrete pads. This initial installation was in place to intercept German air raids.
Once WWII ended, the site was retooled to serve as a NATO-run early warning system to warn against Russian airstrikes. To this end, four huge, 60-foot-wide parabolic dishes were installed, replacing the previous towers. This new network carried the jaunty name, "ACE High," standing for "Allied Command Europe." While this newer version of the station performed well, the whole site was decommissioned in the 1980s, and by 1996 the entire station was all but dismantled.
When i first saw this place posted on a forum it rushed straight to the top of my list of must do"s.I actually had dreams of flying betty over head ,so much so - it began to become a recurring nightmare lol.
On one saturday i made up my mind to go and at 3am on sunday morning i ventured out on a very wet and windy morning driving over a 150 miles to get this monkey off my back.
I took on seven sites this day but this was the first and the furthest away - in total i drove around 370 miles but for me every single mile was worth it for this one explore.
some photos i took on the day:
When i arrived it was incredibly windy - normally i never put betty at risk but as i had driven so far i was determined to get the footage i was after - at one point a huge backdraft of wind hit the one dish as i was doing a close up and pulled the old girl right down - i powered up straight away and luckily got away with one slightly sheered prop - landed put a new prop on and carried on.
this is the flying footage:
This last video - errmm lol - make of it what you will but its sort of a celebration for me of doing one of the explores i always wanted to do - laugh if you will but i hope you enjoy.
Lastly thank you to mikey mutt who is a complete gentleman
Thanks for watching
