RNAS Ford

[hobby]

Peter
I shall send some pictures to you tomorrow. Rather late to start tonight. Many thanks for your offer.

[steve p]

Oops. A bit late in finding this thread. The RAF Museum has a vast collection of UK airfield plans. Although it is an "RAF" museum, I would imagine that they probably have plans for the FAA bases. I've bought photocopies from them in the past and they are excellent. It normally takes about three weeks for them to arrive though. The cost is usually about six quid for a set of A3 photocopies. Well worth it!

Best wishes
Steve P

[hobby]

For Peter and Nazca Steve: Pictures sent this pm.

For Steve P: Many thanks will be intouch with them later this week.

[hobby]

Through the kind offices of Peter Mcleland I can now post the following pictures of my learning execise called 'HMS Hobby' which for "some reason" has the same geographical position as the real life RAF Ford/HMS Peregrine.

At the start I had to guess at the runway length from a present day 'Google' image so 24/06 is 1000ft too short and 14/32 is also too short. I had progressed too far with this exercise to bring the runways up to their correct lengths at the time when I found the wartime lengths (in one of "The Mighty Eighth" books by Roger Freeman!) to alter my afcad2.

The rest of 'HMS Hobby' has had to be entirely fictional but it has served as a useful learning exercise. I hope that these images portray an airfield awaiting new aircraft! I am short of a Bofors AA gun or two, can anyone model one please? Also it would be good to have AI models of the Gannet(s), Valetta, Skyraider AEW, Sea Venom, does anyone know how to convert these from available models please?

Once I have a photo from the Imperial War Museum I shall use the knowledge gained to attempt to produce a model of RAF Ford/HMS Peregrine 1950-60ish.

Herewith the pictures of my 'HMS Hobby' to be reagarded as strictly WIP, all constructive comments welcome.


HMS Hobby approach to rnwy 24.


HMA Hobby Busy day today 3rd sortie another one to go.


HMS Hobby home at last! Groundcrew will be busy.


HMS Hobby looking towards the bomb dump.


HMS Hobby runway 24.


HMS Hobby Sea Fury back home.


HMS Hobby take off rnwy 24.


HMS Hobby They build controltowers like battleships


HMS Hobby waiting for the Sea Hawks to arrive.

[petermcleland]

Looking good Hobby...I think the Seahawks will like it there :flying:

[hobby]

The airfield was built solely with AFCAD2 but I shall have a look at an alternative program to build RAF Ford using AFCAD2, EZ-Scenery and runway 12 elements where they are advantageous.

Thanks for your encouragement Peter M.

[Garry Russell]

Comming on very nicely Hobby.

Somefields are quite garish at times but this is very easy on the eye

Garry

[nazca_steve]

Indeed, Peter, I think they'll be very happy there! I want to move there myself! Plenty of roomy parking spaces in those tin hangars for starters.

[Trev Clark]

I am planning to build RNAS Ford for FSX and Horizon GenX VFR scenery, I found this thread through a 'Google' search! I too am trying to get any info available, such as control tower and domestic site details. I know that during WW2, a lot of blister hangars were used (along with 5 Bellmans on the technical site), does anyone know if they were in use by the 1950's, the period I want to model? I have an OK ish aerial photo of the site, but not a lot else!!

[hobby]

I did buy a really good official 2 page plan from the RAF Museum Hendon for a very small sum and I built the RNAS Ford using those plans plus EZScenery and AFCAD2.2. This is quite a large airfield, Dave B was quite surprised at the size of the place.

The plans I used are dated February 1945 and have the official numbers: 10370/55 and 10371/55. All the buildings are listed by building number and description in the right margins.

The control tower in my FS9 version was a gift with everything else provided from EZScenery items.

The current image from Google Earth is of very little help because the airfield site has now been built upon to a very large extent. It is helpful in getting some idea of the Lat and Long of taxyway/runway junctions.

I would advise anyone building any airfield for FS use to get in touch with the RAF Museum Hendon, an invaluable source of information with very helpful staff. The FAA Museum did not have the required info on RNAS Ford.

Later I developed a complete AI plan for my FS9 version of Ford with the time set as just before the Suez Crisis 1956. This features the fictional Station Flight acft (Dominie, Meteor T7, Chipmunk) going about their comms business. It is imagined that a carrier has just landed the air wing so we see Sea Hawks, Gannets and Sea Venoms on air test and patrols. Visitors include C47s from France, USAFE and RAF. A Shackleton appears early morning from Gibraltar and a Canberra from Malta which is joined by another Canberra from the UK OTU. In preparation for receiving Sea Hawks a Dutch Meteor T7 pops in for tech meetings from Valkenburg. A German Gannet can also be seen visiting daily. This AI program has never been released for general use because one has to 'greatly suspend one's sense of reality' ie Sea Hawks on 'patrol' actually fly to Jersey while Sea Venoms similarly fly to Manston; acft remain in these locations for realistic patrol times prior to returning to RNAS Ford. Acft visiting the ranges in the Wash land at Marham while those on similar duties in Scotland land in the Western Isles before returning to RNAS Ford. I also installed a fictional ILS, VOR and NDB.

The Air Ministry plans were very useful but so also are the booklets often produced by local groups of aviation enthusiasts sometimes found for sale in village shops presently situated adjacent to wartime airfields. The USAAF airfields are well catered for in Roger Freeman's books.