Unst Airstrip

During the late 60’s the Royal Engineers embarked on a number of community projects in Scotland. 15 Field Support Squadron of the Royal Engineers was detached to Unst, where they were hosted by RAF Saxa Vord. Their purpose was to build an airstrip at Ordale on the south side of Baltasound. Most of their equipment was shipped to Unst on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Sir Bedivere, arriving in June 1967. A floating raft (known as a Mexe Float) with a large diesel "outboard" motor was used to offload some of the heavy items at the slip by the Baltasound pier but much of it was carried to a beach at Skeo Taing on the south side of the voe. At least one item of heavy equipment went overboard and could not be salvaged. The photos below, shot at the time, were taken by Rita McMeechan (now Carle). (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

The RFA Sir Bedivere was later involved in the Falklands conflict and was lucky to survive an attack in San Carlos Water. She suffered a direct hit from a 1.000lb bomb dropped from an Argentinean Skyhawk. The bomb pierced the steel plating of a 20 ton crane before bouncing off and exploding after entering the water.

Whilst the sappers were on Unst there was plenty of activity (sporting, social & in the NAAFI). In one incident a young RE officer, who had had a number of tricks played against him by junior RAF Officers took his revenge. The main RAF protagonist needed major repairs to the door to his room and a truce was called. Moral of the story – don’t play tricks on those who have access to explosives.

When the Engineers had finished their task Unst boasted a brand new airstrip. Loganair took some time before starting Shetland inter-island services as they had to wait for more rudimentary strips to be completed on other islands. Eventually the official opening took place early in 1970.

Numerous dignitaries attended the opening ceremony, Oil Company Executives, Council Officials and the AOC 11 Group. Not all went well. The AOC arrived in a twin-engine DH Dove (RAF - Devon). Unfortunately on touchdown the brakes were locked, resulting in 2 burst tyres and some red faces. The assembled men in the RAF Guard of Honour were quickly reassigned to pushing the aircraft out of the way so that other aircraft could land. The AOC was reduced to hitching a lift back to the mainland on an Oil Company aircraft after the ceremony was completed. As is typical in Shetland the winds got up and the Dove had to be tied to a 3 tonner to ensure it didn’t get blown away until it could be repaired. I am grateful to Andy Parkinson for the 3 photos below, two of the AOC’s aircraft just after it had landed and the third of the Andover which had to be sent up later with spare parts for the Dove.

The airstrip was a significant development for Unst. When it opened and scheduled Loganair flights began the inter-island RoRo Ferries were still a thing for the future. Flights were not particularly cheap but they helped to make the trip to mainland UK a lot quicker. I'm grateful to Pat Goulborn , who was at Saxa until early 1972, for the copy of the Loganair Timetable reproduced below:

Loganair also provided the Air Ambulance Service – it was the contract for this which made their Shetland Inter-Island operations economically viable. Below are two pictures: the first of Joe McAllister proceeding on leave with a Loganair Islander; the second is of a Shetland Times article about an RAF Casevac carried out in an Andover in the early life of the airstrip.

For a long part of its operational life the airstrip was extremely busy, North Sea Oil and the need to transfer personnel between the mainland and offshore oil platforms created a lot of air traffic. The oil company Chevron paid for the airstrip and its facilities to be upgraded – the runway was increased to 2099ft + a small amount of overrun. Six DH Twin Otters were chartered to carry oil workers from Aberdeen to Unst where they transferred to Bristow S61N Helicopters for flights to and from the rigs. In the first year of Chevrons operation there were nearly 6,000 aircraft movements and 50,000 passenger movements though Unst. Airworks Ltd were engaged to run the airport operations and Bristows had 5 houses built at Baltasound for essential staff. Later Brymon Airways using Dash 7s were contracted to replace the Twin Otters and there was so much activity that it was decided to open a new Air Traffic Control Unit – Shetland Radar – at RAF Saxa Vord (see earlier section of blog).

 

The last 4 photos came from this interesting site:- 

 http://www.terrytozer.co.uk/

There was no way that Unst could cope adequately with large groups of oil workers should there be a sudden unexpected change in the weather and they became stranded. Hagdale Lodge (later Hagdale Lodge Hotel) was opened  to provide accommodation for construction workers at Saxa but it went on  to meet this need. The establishment consisted of a number of portacabins joined together but at least it had a bar. It was situated to the west of the Keen of Hamar, near where Mills Garage is today. I did stay there one night and my opinion was the same as the one written and numerous vocal reviews I know of. To say it received a mixed reception is being polite; in my experience no “stars” were awarded. The one written review I’ve seen says that they were charging £60 for B&B in the early 80’s and the author was anything but impressed. The Lodge has long since been demolished (by gales at New Year 1991/2) and to the annoyance of Scottish Natural Heritage much of the debris ended scattered on the Keen of Hamar which is a National Nature Reserve.

Eventually politics and economics took their toll. The Oil Companies decided it would be best to consolidate their air operations at Scatsa near Sullom Voe. The Scottish Ambulance Service decided that their needs could be better met by a helicopter – Loganair lost the air ambulance contract. Because of this the Loganair Inter-Island services were deemed uneconomical so they have ceased. This led to the closure of the airstrip - the effect of this on employment on Unst, whilst not as significant as the closing of RAF Saxa Vord, was extremely important.

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Opening of the Skittle Alley in the Penguin Club - 1970

In late 1970 a Skittle Alley was opened in the Penguin Club. The official opening was performed by the AOC Air Vice Marshal Sir Ivor Broom. The first photo below shows Sir Ivor with the Station Commander Sqn Ldr Melbourne ensuring that the AOC didn’t cheat by overstepping the line!
Throughout the history of Saxa any event which was out of the ordinary was an excuse for a party and I am grateful to Andy Parkinson for the second photo which shows the celebrations following the opening ceremony.

Footnote: Sir Ivor Broom
1. Sir Ivor began flying training in the RAF in 1940 and qualified as a sergeant pilot later that year. He had a distinguished wartime career flying Blenheims and became particularly respected for the time he spent flying Mosquitoes.

2. After the war he flew many significant RAF aircraft including Spitfires, Canberras, Lightnings, Valiants, Gnats and he even learnt to fly helicopters.

3. He was AOC 11 Group from Feb 70 to Dec 72.

4. He was teetotal, didn’t smoke but liked to party. He was a popular boss by all accounts.

5. He was the only RAF Officer to become an International Rugby Referee.

6. He loved visiting RAF Saxa Vord – he came north at every possible opportunity and was probably on Unst more times than any other air ranking officer!

7. He died in 2003.


I remember most of the above because he once interviewed me when I applied for a change in my conditions of service. A friend briefed me to get him onto Saxa, Rugby and aircraft types. – it seemed to work !

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BBC Christmas Recording at Saxa - Andy Stewart 1964

In November 1964 RAF Saxa Vord was the scene of a performance by Andy Stewart and Ian Powrie and his Scottish Dance Band. At the Time Andy Stewart was an internationally known artist who had toured the USA & Australia. Amongst other things he wrote the lyrics of “A Scottish Soldier” and recorded it in 1961. The song was a massive hit around the world (incl, USA & UK, where it spent 36 weeks in the charts); total sales exceeded 3 million copies. The show was recorded by the BBC and part of it was broadcast at Christmas that year. Like his music or not he was certainly the most famous entertainer to visit Saxa.

Clippings from 2 newspapers of the period are attached below. I have also reproduced 2 pictures from the RAF Saxa Vord Magazine the "Saxa Voice", which were printed long after the event. (Left click to enlarge)

Note 29 Dec 10

It has just been pointed out to me that there is a short excerpt of this performance on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pj_UeGAIkU&playnext=1&list=PLE6B9652D65A1F35D&index=22

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Gala Day - 24 May 1969

How would you like a “Deluxe Estate Car” for £933? That was the price quoted for an “incredible” 4 door Cortina in the programme for the Saxa Gala Day. The Gala was held to raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund and for the RAF Museum. The programme contains a number of insights into the way life was then. For example, Conachies Newsagents in Commercial Street, Lerwick advertised with the Telephone Number Lerwick 67. Automation was in its infancy – the local Telephone Exchange for Unst was in the Baltasound Post Office.
Unfortunately I have no idea how much money was raised on the day – perhaps there is someone out there who was on the committee which arranged the event. A copy of the programme is attached below but it is preceded by a clip from the Press & Journal Newspaper to show the type of dubious advertising which was used to encourage the public to attend. The information below came from the scrapbook left by the late Hughie McMeechan.(Left click on photos to enlarge)

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Radar Equipment at the Top Site (updated 1 Sep 10, 27 Jan 11 & Aug 13)

In this section I intend to give brief details of the radars which were used on site during the lifetime of RAF Saxa Vord. As an ex Fighter Controller I had experience of working with some of the radars mentioned but I am not a radar expert so the information contained here will be insufficient to please the purist and, if any of the information is wrong, I would be happy to make corrections. I have stuck to the frequency band classifications I was taught. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has better photos I can use or has significant information to add.

During the lifetime of the unit the radars experienced a number of significant “events” due to the local weather. I intend to write separate sections on this aspect of operations at a later date.

When the station became operational in 1957 it was equipped with a Type 80 Search Radar, a Type 14 as a standby Search Radar and a Type 13 Height finding Radar.

Type 80 - search radar. As a controller I worked with Type 80 radars at Bawdsey, Boulmer, Buchan and Saxa and had seen them in operations in other places, including Madalena in Malta. In reasonable weather conditions and a non-ECM environment I have never used a better radar for controlling aircraft. The 80 was an “S” Band (10cm wavelength) radar with a very large parabolic section aerial (75 x 25 ft in old money). The Type 80 had been designed to work in wind speeds of up to 80 knots and if the wind exceeded this speed the aerial assembly was allowed to weathercock.

This aerial system was twice detached from the turntable by high winds. The first time this happened was in late 1956 or early 1957, before the top site was completed and the Unit still not operational. If anyone had data or pictures of this even I would love to hear from them. It happened again for a second time in Jan 1961. The Type 80 was eventually enclosed in a radome in 1963. The Type 80 was retired in the 70’s when it was dismantled and replaced by the S649 (in the period 1976-79). (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

 

 

Type 14 – search radar. I don’t remember working with a Type 14 but I know that the RAF had a number of these radars. I have indistinct memories of a lesson at the School of Fighter Control (at RAF Bawdsey in my time – No 29 FC Course) when we were taught about Type 14 convoys. These convoys had a Type 14, a Type 13 Height finder, an operator’s cabin and engineering equipment – a sort of predecessor of the 1 ACC concept. Like the Type 80 it was an “S” Band (10cm) radar. The Type 14 at Saxa was never enclosed in a radome and one of its major limitations was its inability to operate in high wind speeds. The Type 14 was finally switched off in Sep 1964.

I believe that the Type 14 was mounted on a gantry which was located due west of the Type 80 but has long since been dismantled. I'm grateful to Lez Fishman (Saxa 1963/4) for allowing me to use one of the few Saxa Type 14 photos available;

 

AN/UPS1 Search Radar. I recently found out that there had been another search radar at Saxa which I had not known about. After Sep 1964, when the Type 14 radar was shut down for the last time, Saxa was left without an on-site standby search radar. Thereafter an S259 was deployed to the site to cover long scheduled maintenance periods. Whilst this may have been good training for those in the mobile radar world it did not make economic sense. In Jun 73 an AN/UPS1 was delivered to the Unit as a standby radar to provide cover for the Type 80. The AN/UPS1 was the American predecessor of the S259 and hardly state of the art technology.

The following extract is from www.radarpages.co.uk - an excellent site for those interested in UK military radars. The extract is taken from a joint warfare document called JSP6 (JSP = Joint Services Publication) – in my days it was classified “Confidential” and I remember having to study it for promotion exams.

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The Radar Pages - http://www.radarpages.co.uk/

 Tactical, Air Traffic Control and airfield radars

 UPS-1 Tactical Radar

 Radar type UPS-1

(sketch from JSP 6 via Richard Vernon)

The UPS-1 is a lightweight assault radar which can be lifted and positioned by Wessex type helicopters. It has a limited early warning performance but no height finding capability. It is fitted with Moving Target Indication (MTI). It has a limited fighter control capability. (from JSP 6)

Frequency : 1250 - 1350 Mhz
Wave length : L-band
Aerial rotation : 15 r.p.m.
Air transportable : Yes
Aerial : Parabolic slatted reflector
Vertical beam width : 10o
Horizontal beam width : 3.5o
Peak power : 1000 kW
PRF : 267 (800 on MTI)
Pulse length : 4.2 uS (1.4 uS on MTI)
RX amplifier : Lin, bandwidth 145
Range accuracy : ±2 nm on 275 nm range scale
Range resolution : 0.5 nm at 20 nm
Bearing accuracy : 1o
Bearing resolution : 4o at 50 nm
Height accuracy : N/A
Range on "Canberra" at 20,000 feet : 150 nm
Range on "Canberra" at 40,000 feet : 150 nm

Editors note: I am indebted to Richard Vernon for providing the sketches and the technical details of British operated versions of the UPS-1 tactical radar.

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My memory recalls it being described as a US Marine Corps beach-head radar. Its time at Saxa can not be described as glorious. It was used in Sep 73 to cover a scheduled Type 80 maintenance period but its use was suspended in Oct when water was found on the cabin floor. It was taken inside the Type 80 Radome and dried out – the roof was resealed to stop the leak and it was put outside in late Nov. However, the cabin roof started to lift in Dec and eventually it was returned to the Type 80 Radome. Spare parts were ordered and it was off the air until 10 Jul 74. Almost as soon as it became operational it went unserviceable. It remained U/S until Nov when it was returned to the Type 80 Radome for storage. A lot of messages were exchanged with higher authorities but it was decided to concede defeat - the radar was prepared for transport and finally shipped out to Wattisham on 8 Jul 1975. The UPS1 had been on site for two years but its operational use was limited to a few days!
I have been unable to locate a picture of the UPS1 at Saxa but I am grateful to Martin Jones for allowing me to use one of his photos - a UPS1 at Muharraq in 1971 - you can see where the S259 got its' looks from!

I am also grateful to Laurence Bean who has allowed me to reproduce two of his UPS1 photos.

I had always thought (and been told) that there was no difference between the UPS1 and the S259 externally - the only differences were with the electronics inside. However, I would like to thank Bob Jenner for pointing out that the waveguides are actually different, as can be seen in the photos below:

 I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has a picture of the UPS1 at Saxa Vord which I can use on this blog: gordon.carleATgmail.com (replace the AT with the usual symbol).

S259 - search radar. The S259 was a British (Marconi) update of the American AN/UPS1 radar (It was also known as the Type 95). It was air transportable and for many years it formed the centrepiece to the RAF's Tactical radar deployment system (1 ACC). I’m not sure how many of these radars the RAF had but I found it surprisingly effective when it was deployed to Ascension during the Falklands conflict. An S259 was deployed to Saxa quite frequently when it was used as a back-up during` maintenance periods for the Type 80. The cost of deployment and recovery lead to 1ACC relinquishing control of an S259 and it was passed to Saxas inventory in Feb 1975, along with some staff! This transfer probably took place because of the lack of success of the AN/UPS1. The S259 was used extensively during the period 1976 to 79 whilst the Type 80 was demolished and the HF200 and S649 radars were installed. This radar operated in the “L” Band (wavelength around 23cm).

The S259 was retained as a standby and was later housed in its own radome on part of the base of the Type 80. You can get an indication as to the relative sizes of the 2 radars in the picture below.

Type 13 – height finder. My memories of the Type 13 are very favourable. In the hands of a skilled operator it was pretty accurate and I like to think that the guys I worked with were very skilled. My views are obviously coloured by the fact that when on duty at Saxa Vord I was the only controller and had my own dedicated height finder. On most other units the controllers could ask for heights but had to wait in a queue for an occasional update from an FPS6 or HF200. Its range was not as good as the Type 80 but you always knew that if you were seeing a response on the Type 80 beyond the range of the T13 then the target was at a reasonably high altitude. During its 20 year operational life at Saxa it was frequently damaged by the weather which meant that many parts of the equipment had to be repaired or replaced (including a complete cabin replacement in 1970). The Type 13 was also an “S” Band (10cm wavelength) radar.

HF 200 - height finder. In 1978/9 a more modern height finder, the Plessey HF200 was installed. From the start this radar was planned to be in a radome. It was more accurate than the Type 13 and had a far greater range. I have been told, however, that it was prone to oil leaks. The HF200 was another radar working in the “S” Band (10cm wavelength).)

S649 - search radar. At the same time that the HF200 was being installed work was also in progress on a new search radar. This was the Marconi S649, also known as the Type 96. This had two large, back to back aerials housed in a radome. I presume this radar used two frequency bands like some earlier Marconi types (S316/S318 for the RAF site at Bukit Gombak in Singapore for example) in which case it is likely that it operated in L and S Bands. Like the HF200 it was originally installed in a radome. However, the storm at New year 91/92 destroyed the radome and damaged the S649. The Radar was repaired but the radome was not replaced. This “exposure to the elements” is blamed for need to replace it with the Type 93 (see newspaper clipping below)

 

T93 – 3D radar. The Type 93 was a long range, mobile radar which encompassed both search and height-finding capabilities in a single radar. It was built by Plessey. One was located, in a purpose built radome, at Saxa Vord in the mid 90’s and was there until 2005, a few months before the Station closed. I believe that this radar also operated in the “S” Band (10cm wavelength).

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