Talk:RAF Manston

Untitled
I have undone the redirect here, for the sake of categories. If we don't do this then 'Kent International Airport' shows up in the 'Royal Air Force bases' category with no explanation. Until we can override the text that appears in the category, I suggest that this is the least confusing approach. DJ Clayworth 03:33, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Restoration of Article
I have restored the RAF Manston article, splitting relevant information from Kent International Airport, as they are clearly different things! The history of the RAF airbase is of only passing relevance to the commercial operation, and having a separate article will allow the addition of new information (RAF Manston crest for instance)

Apart from this, there is still a military base here (FSCTE Manston), which has been in continuous operation as part of the RAF operation since 1959! This article allows successful linking between articles, and is of historical relevance

Thanks Owain.davies 16:37, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanet Landing Strip Location?
This article (and the one on Kent International Airport) states the Thanet airfield was

a small and precarious landing strip for aircraft at Westgate, above the cliffs at the foot of the sea where a seaplane had been based at the end of the promenade.

This doesn't make sense, but I do not know enough about Thanet to correct it Arjayay (talk) 08:23, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * You're right, the wording doesn't make sense. The strip was at St. Mildreds bay, on top of the cliff, with several planes overshooting!  OwainDavies (about)(talk) edited at 15:56, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

USAF usage after 1960
The article says that USAF withdraw from the airport in 1960, but I distinctly remember, when visiting my grandparents in St Peter's under Manston's flight path in the 1970s, regularly seeing USAF KC-135 refuelling aircraft operating from Manston. It would obviously be original research for me to add my own reminiscences to the article, and I don't have time to look for sources at the moment, but anyone interested in this article may want to follow this lead. Phil Bridger (talk) 18:14, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Ramsgate aerodrome
While I'm in a reminiscing mood, I remember there being a Ramsgate Aerodrome through which, in the 1960s, I used to walk when going from my grandparents' house in St. Peter's and my great-aunt and great-grandmother's house in Ramsgate. It was a grass airfield catering for light aircraft with no hard runway, and, from looking at a map, I think it may have been where Pyson's Road Industrial Estate now stands. I'm posting this here because this seems the most likely place that I would find someone with a knowledge of the history of aviation in Thanet. Is there any such person watching this page? Phil Bridger (talk) 18:50, 25 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Try here: http://oldramsgate.blogspot.com/2007/02/out-of-town-and-miscellaneous.html.


 * It appears it was known as Ramsgate Municipal Airport.
 * Wow! I really wasn't expecting anyone to reply to this, and I'm pretty pleased with myself that I got the location right - those memories must be from when I was about six or seven years old, before my great-grandmother died. And to think I can't remember where I put my glasses down five minutes ago... Phil Bridger (talk) 23:20, 28 September 2009 (UTC)


 * LOL! - I'd never heard of the one at Ramsgate, but then my only experience of Manston was flying in a Chipmunk from there, back in about 1975 when I was in the ATC.


 * There's some more pictures here: and here:


 * There's now an article on Ramsgate Airport. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.4.57.101 (talk) 15:10, 22 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Here's a 1952 Flight news item on Ramsgate Airport re-opening after the war:  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 16:43, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Removing yacht rescue
There's so much to write about Manston, that I thought we really couldn't justify the following which has only a tenuous link - but might be worth a brief mention in the Ramsgate or Goodwin Sands articles?


 * An item of some interest and great curiosity relating to the inter-war history of Manston and its personnel, is one of the long list of inspired rescues off the Thanet coast. A link between the airfield and the Goodwin Sands is revealed in the pages of: The History of R.A.F Manston by Flt. Lt. Rocky Stockman RAF, and is told by Wing Commander Bryson who recalled an adventure at sea involving the high speed launches stationed at Ramsgate Harbour in 1936 for duty with the no. 48 (gr) Squadron.


 * He reports: "we had two of these launches, equipped with old aero engines by a firm in Cowes - they had never run for more than 15 minutes without conking out. One afternoon the Royal Temple Yacht Club had a race from Ramsgate. A squall blew up and the yachts ran aground on the treacherous quicksands. With trepidation I ordered out the two high speed rescue launches, which, miraculously, managed to keep going and rescued the boats - as if old Culmer White had been watching over them!" Le Deluge (talk) 13:38, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Battle of Britain (film)
There is no mention that Manston was a base for filming, and probably had the unique honour of hosting a large collection of German aircraft on UK soil? I cycled up to see them from St Lawrence Ramsgate in the summer of 1968(approx) and watched filming overhead Ramsgate and local sea area.PeterPEarl (talk) 11:13, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

The what?
which for the fortunate pilot had been on its inward tide

Why is this fortunate? And what is an inward tide? Rising tide? Why is that fortunate? Maury Markowitz (talk) 13:06, 2 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Because the inward tide washes the pilot towards the shore and safety, rather than out to sea.


 * Downed airmen are at the mercy of the winds and tides as their Mae Wests or inflatable dinghies are mere flotation devices intended to keep them afloat long enough for rescue to arrive. In other words, they have no navigation capability, i.e., no way of propelling themselves any distance. So an outward tide will wash them further out to sea and away from safety.


 * This problem was why the airborne lifeboat was developed, as it could be sailed considerable distances. IIRC, one was sailed by a downed crew back to the UK from the Bay of Biscay. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 11:20, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Balance of info in article
There is a lot of info about the various squadrons and numbers of planes which the USAF had there during the Cold War period. In contrast, the info about the squadrons and numbers of planes and even the various planes themselves that were stationed there during WWII is relatively scanty, IMO. Boscaswell  talk  18:42, 25 October 2016 (UTC)

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