Tuesday 20th September
The Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport organised a base tour of RAF Mildenhall, home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing on September 20th and were joined by Cleveland Aviation Society and Friends of Leeming Aviation Group.
FoDTVAs Events Officer Paul Watterson followed in the footsteps of our own Dave Anderson, by jumping on a coach to RAF Mildenhall after having just become a father! Though Dave still holds the crown as he waited only an hour after the birth before setting off...at least Paul gave it a couple of days!! First stop was Weatherby services to pick the last person up aside from those meeting us at Mildenhall, after this FoDTVA Secretary Chris engaged everyone over the PA system, welcoming everyone on the trip, introducing the FoDTVA committee members present and giving a brief talk on the trip and the history of FoDTVA. Afterwards Stuart made a killing selling raffle tickets which was drawn on the return journey, the first prize being a 30 minute introductory flying lesson with DTFT/PTT Aviation. Those on board also all received a goodybag with various airport related merchandise and literature.
On arrival we went through security screening to find they had Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the TV - that was me sorted leave me in here!! First we went to the tower where we were split into two groups, the first went up the several flights of stairs (broken lift!) to the tower whilst the other group stayed at the bottom and observed the fantastic Air Traffic Control simulator, before switching round. The guys in the simulator had a good laugh by throwing anything and everything into the circuit, there were F22s, space shuttles, E-3s, V22s, F16s, you name it they threw it into the mix, there was near-misses galore and they even set a KC-135 on fire mid-air. Next we went to the food hall for lunch which includes outlets like Taco Bell that you don't otherwise find in the UK. There's also American car and bike dealerships, and even a Turkish shop selling rugs and dodgy looking smoking devices!
The second half of the visit consisted of a visit to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the main based squadron, where we were given a presentation on the history of the squadron followed by a Q&A and an opportunity to buy squadron badges and other merchandise. Next we all boarded a proper American school bus that took us out to a KC-135 (63-8884) where once again we split into groups, with some going to the boom operator station, some to the cockpit and the rest around the outside of the aircraft, before switching around. The pilot and boom operators all gave detailed and interesting talks on their respective areas.
A fantastic visit was had by all and our thanks and appreciation go out to RAF Mildenhall for accomodating us, especially to our hosts. Unfortunately we didn't quite have time to visit Lakenheath next door as the driver was soon out of hours, so it was back on the coach for the three hour drive back to DTVA, which was still busy from "Super Sunday" two days prior which had seen constant bizjet arrivals over a two hour window during the evening!
RAF Mildenhall
MHZ / EGUN
| SERIAL / CODE | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| 08-0050 | Bell/Boeing CV-22B Osprey | US Air Force - 7SOS / 352AMW | |
| 11-0061 | Bell/Boeing CV-22B Osprey | US Air Force - 7SOS / 352AMW | |
| 12-0063 | Bell/Boeing CV-22B Osprey | US Air Force - 7SOS / 352AMW | |
| 58-0094 | Boeing KC-135T Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | Unmarked |
| 58-0100/D | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 58-0118/D | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 59-1470 | Boeing KC-135T Stratotanker | US Air Force - 92ARW | Fairchild AFB |
| 59-1471/D | Boeing KC-135T Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 60-0324 | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | Unmarked |
| 60-0331 | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 940ARW / AFRC | |
| 60-0335 | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 22ARW | McConnell AFB |
| 63-7999/D | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 63-8011 | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 6AWM | MacDill AFB |
| 63-8021/D | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 63-8884/D | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | US Air Force - 100ARW | |
| 10-5714 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 11-5731 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 11-5733 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 12-5757 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 12-5759 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 12-5760 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 13-5778 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 13-5786 | Lockheed Martin MC-130J Super Hercules | US Air Force - 352SOW | |
| 01-2001/LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 48FW / 494FS | |
| 91-0307/LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 48FW / 494FS | |
| 98-0132/LN | McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle | US Air Force - 48FW / 494FS |
Click here to view some photos from the visit, all photos Chris Smith except the final group shot which is credit to Stuart Reid.