RAF Lyneham

RAF Lyneham
RAF Hercules in flight
IATA: LYE – ICAO: EGDL
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Royal Air Force
Location		Lyneham, Wiltshire
Elevation AMSL		513 ft / 156 m
Coordinates		51°30′19″N 001°59′36″W / 51.50528°N 1.99333°W / 51.50528; -1.99333
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
06/24	7,828	2,386	Asphalt
18/36	5,991	1,826	Asphalt

RAF Lyneham (IATA: LYE, ICAO: EGDL) is a Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, England. It is the home of all the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The station is also home to No. 38 Expeditionary Air Wing.

History

Originally constructed in 1939, RAF Lyneham is scheduled for closure by 2012 with functions and aircraft relocating to RAF Brize Norton. The base will remain open until the last of the C-130K fleet is retired. At this point the 24 new generation C-130Js will move to Brize Norton where they will join the A400M, the C-17 Globemaster and the aerial refueling fleet.

Units based at RAF Lyneham

There are four Royal Air Force Squadrons at Lyneham. They are:

• 24 Sqn and 30 Sqn which operate Lockheed C-130Js.
• 47 Sqn and 70 Sqn operate the ageing, but very adaptable Lockheed C-130Ks.

There are also two Royal Air Force Reserve Units based at Lyneham:

• No. 4626 (Aeromedical Evacuation) Squadron RAuxAF
• No. 1359 (Hercules Reservist Aircrew) Flt

The base is also home to No. 1 Air Mobility Wing, formerly known as the United Kingdom Mobile Air Movements Squadron. They operate as tactical air movements specialists, providing world wide movements teams to handle RAF Transport Fleet aircraft whenever or where ever required.^[1]

47 Air Despatch Sqn RLC, which operates here is an army unit, part of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC but formerly under 29 Regiment RLC at RAF South Cerney.

No. 38 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW) was formed at Lyneham on 1 April 2006 encompassing most of the non-formed unit personnel on station. The EAW does not include the flying units at the station or the other formed units ie Tactical Medical Wing. The station commander is dual-hatted as the commander of the wing.

The nearby village Lyneham (from which the RAF station takes its name) is home to 2491 (Lyneham) Squadron, an Air Training Corps squadron, part of the Dorset and Wiltshire Wing. The station is used for many Air Cadet annual camps.

Operational units

• Wings
  • No. 38 Expeditionary Air Wing
  • No. 1 Air Mobility Wing
  • Tactical Medical Wing (TMW)
• Squadron
  • 24 Sqn
  • 30 Sqn
  • 47 Sqn
  • 70 Sqn
• Other units
  • 47 Air Despatch Sqn, RLC
  • Air Transport & Air-to-Air Refuelling Operation Evaluation Unit
  • Hercules Engineering Development and Investigation Team
  • No 4 Force Protection Wing Headquarters (No 4 FPWg HQ)
  • No 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
  • No 612 Air Transportable Surgical Squadron

References

See also

• List of RAF stations

No 1 Air Mobility Wing (formerly the United Kingdom Mobile Air Movements Squadron (UKMAMS) operates here. Divided into three squadrons, 44 MAMS, 45 MAMS and HQ Squadron. With an average of 300+ RAF Movements personnel (TG18b). Collectively they cover most operational posts, from telic to herrick. This is done using the Force Rotation Cycle (FRC), 4 flights on 44 MAMS and 4 flights on 45 MAMS.

External links

• The Official RAF Lyneham Website
• BBC News: Lyneham to close
• Airport information for EGDL at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.

Clubs and Associations

• RAF Lyneham Old Boys Association: LOBA
• UKMAMS Association
• UKMAMS Old Bods Association