RAF Milltown
RAF Milltown | |
---|---|
Near Elgin, Moray in Scotland | |
Coordinates | 57°40′12″N 003°14′04″W / 57.67000°N 3.23444°W |
Type | Royal Air Force station |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | Royal Air Force (1941–1946 and 1977–2001) Royal Navy (1946–1977) DCSA (2001–2006) |
Condition | Closed |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
In use | 1941–2006 |
Fate | Site sold by MOD in 2013, small number of station buildings remaining. |
Royal Air Force Station Milltown or RAF Milltown is a former Royal Air Force station located south of the Moray Firth and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) north east of Elgin, Scotland.
Flying stopped in 1977 and the site become a defence communication station. The site was returned to previous owners the Innes estate and will become the site of a solar farm.
History
RAF Milltown, lying to the southeast of Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth, began life as a bombing decoy for nearby RAF Lossiemouth.[1] Between 1941 and 1943, three runways and two hangars were constructed and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Lossiemouth.[1]
In July 1946, along with RAF Lossiemouth, Milltown was officially handed over to the Royal Navy as HMS Fulmar II, a Deck Landing Training School.[2]
Draw-down and closure
Closed for flying in 1977, the site was retained by the RAF as a high frequency signals station, with some 50 masts transmitting on the RAF VOLMET (using a 600W transmitter) and RAF STCICS systems. The signals station closed in December 2003 when the RAF's high frequency communications system was replaced by the Defence High Frequency Communications Service.[3] The site was sold in 2013 to the Innes Estate and returned to agriculture [4]
Units and aircraft
List of flying units permanently based at Milltown.
Source: Unless otherwise indicated details sourced are from: Hughes, Jim. (1999), A Steep Turn to the Stars. Peterborough, GMS Enterprises. ISBN 1 870384 71 7, pp. 79–82
Service | Unit | Aircraft / Role | From | Date From | Date To | To |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RAF | No. 20 Operational Training Unit (C Flight) | Vickers Wellington | RAF Lossiemouth | 5 September 1943 | 1 September 1944 | |
RAF | No. 224 Squadron | Consolidated Liberator | RAF St. Eval | 15 September 1944 | July 1945 | RAF St. Eval |
RAF | No. 311 Squadron | Consolidated Liberator | RAF Tain | 15 February 1946 | 15 February 1946 | Disbanded |
RAF | No. 111 Operational Training Unit | Consolidated Liberator, Handley Page Halifax | The Bahamas | July 1945 | 1946 | Disbanded |
RAF | No. 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit | Consolidated Liberator | July 1945 | 1946 | ||
FAA | 767 Naval Air Squadron | Fairey Firefly, North American Harvard, Supermarine Seafire | ||||
FAA | 766 Naval Air Squadron | Supermarine Seafire | ||||
FAA | Lossiemouth Handling Squadron | Gloster Meteor TT.20 | 1958 | 1962 | ||
Civil | Fulmar Gliding Club | 1976 | RAF Kinloss | |||
Civil | Highland Gliding Club | 1971 | October 1975 | Dallachy Airfield[5] | ||
RAF | No. 663 Volunteer Gliding Squadron | 1973 | February 1977 | RAF Kinloss | ||
RAF | No. 81 Signals Unit - Detachment (North) | High frequency communications | 1977 | 2003 - 2006 | Role transferred to DHFCS. |
Current use
The majority of the runways and taxiways are intact but a number of the aircraft stands have been removed. The area has been used for a variety of activities, including storage, truck testing and livestock grazing.[6]
2018 - planning for construction of a Solar PV power plant
2017-12-06 the Planning and Regulatory Services Committee of Moray Council agreed to raise no objection to the 50 MW Milltown Airfield Solar PV proposal.[7] The project was approved in May 2018 by the Scottish Government as the first solar project to be approved by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU).[8] The Solar Power plant will have a peak power of 50 MWp and include 200 000 solar panels. Assuming an insolation of 1160 kWh/m2,yr[9] this corresponds to a capacity factor of approximately 13% and an annual production of 58 GWh/yr, or 15 000 homes each with a consumption of 3 900 kWh/yr.
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b "RAF Milltown" (wiki). Secret Scotland. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- ^ "RN Air Station Milltown". Military Genealogy. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- ^ "Defence High Frequency Communications Service" (PDF). High Frequency Industry Association. Babcock International Group. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Gilmerton Land Services (2013). "Contract in Brief - the Former Milltown Airfield" (PDF).
- ^ "Club History". Highland Gliding Club. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ Amos, Ilona (29 May 2018). "Massive solar farm in Moray will be Scotland's biggest". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ "Moray council raise no objection to Milltown airfield solar farm". Elgin Energy. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ Pratt, David (29 May 2018). "Scotland's largest solar farm approved in first for government". Solar Power Portal. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ "JRC - European Commission - PVGIS Photovoltaic Geographical Information System". European Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
Bibliography
- Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
- Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.