RAF UPPER HEYFORD – F-111 AARDVARKS, OPERATION EL DORADO CANYON, AND THE CHIEF, 1992-1994
WHEN I FIRST ARRIVED AT RAF UPPER HEYFORD, UNITED KINGDOM, IN OCTOBER OF 1992…
I had many in-processing meetings to attend on base. That’s when I first heard and saw the aircraft I would work closely with for the next two years, the Lockheed Martin F-111 Aardvark (nicknamed due to its long nosed – ant eater appearance).
THE 48,000LB ANT EATER WITH BOMBS
On takeoff, the ground shook like an earthquake, as a long plume of black exhaust filled their wake. These hulking brown, black, and green dinasoars, were post-Vietnam 1967 throwbacks. However, like an aging bodybuilder, they could still flex their muscles and hold their own.
With a wing span of 63 feet (31 feet wings swept back) and weighing in at a slight 47, 481lbs empty, these 73-foot long muti role tactical fighter bombers could cut the skies above Upper Heyford as high as 60,000+ feet at Mach 1.2 (over 760mph) at sea level; Mach 2.5 (over 1400mph) at staggering heights of 60,000+ feet.
Two Pratt & Whitney TF30-P103 turbofan engines, with 18,500lbs of thrust each and afterburner, propelled these aviation icons with ease of up to 3,565 miles (3,100 nautical miles) with external fuel tanks. (USAF)
The then, state of the art, two-man ejection optional pilot capsule, was revolutionary, and housed a pilot and weapons systems officer, seated side by side. With a price tag then of $18 million each, the F-111 was a premium United States Air Force (USAF) asset. It could carry to four nuclear bombs on pivoting wing pylons, with option of two in internal weapons bay. The wing pylons were capable of an external load of 25,000 pounds of bombs, rockets, missiles, or fuel tanks.
THE BASE AT RAF UPPER HEYFORD
RAF Upper Heyford served the British nation for 76 years from 1918 until it’s closure in 1994, officially becoming a bomber station in 1927. As a result of mounting tensions in Europe and the Cold War, the United States Air Force (USAF) took over, and RAF Upper Heyford was formally handed over to the USAF Third Air Force on 15 May 1951, and in January 1952 they relinquished full control and turned it over to U.S. Strategic Air Command.
From 1959 until 1965 the USAF deployed Boeing B-47 jet bombers on ‘Reflex Alert’ for 30-day periods. This meant that they were ready to take off in just under 15 minutes in response to potential Soviet aggression. 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing F4-Phantoms and RF-101 Voodoos, made their home at Heyford from 1966-1970.
That’s when my Alma mater fighter wing showed up. Older F-100 Supe Sabres were promptly replaced with the new super bomber, the General Dynamics F-111E Aardvark. The transfer was complete by 1971.
From 1979 onward, 59 Hardened Air Shelters (HAS) were built to house the F-111s to prevent possible damage from a soviet first strike preserving the ability to retaliate.
SAY NO TO NUKES!!
The F-111’s at RAF Upper Heyford did have a nuclear payload capability. Something frowned upon by many of the British public at the time. So frowned upon that in spring 1982, as tensions between the West and the USSR ramped up, 12 activists set a peace camp outside the air base. By 1983 larger protests emerged, culminating in a massive nuclear protest outside the base gates where 4,000 people converged as part of a campaign to prevent the expansion of the base. Police removed the protesters, physically, and 752 people were arrested.
One year later in 1984, the three squadrons of F-111Es operating at Heyford, were joined by F-111As, or Ravens / ‘Sparkvarks’ that had the awesome capability to lead the other F-111Es and jam hostile radar systems on the way into hostile targets.
AARDVARKS AT WORK
As the sun set on RAF Upper Heyford, on the evening of April 14th, 1986, four F-111A Ravens (Electronic jamming variant) trundled down the runway and took off in plumes of black smoke into the British springtime twilight. Independent of 18 F-111E bombers form RAF Lakenheath, all with coordinates for one destination, the Libyan coast.
Their mission? Operation El Dorado Canyon, retaliation for acts of terrorism then believed, and now confirmed, to have been sponsored by Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, in particular, the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing of April 6.
At 0200 on April 15th, a swarm of aircraft launched from a U.S. carrier in the Gulf of Sidra, combined with the F-111s from Heyford and Lakenheath, hell was rained down upon on 5 military targets.
In just 12 minutes, the F-111s alone, dropped over 60 tons of munitions on pre-defined targets. Sadly, as in any war, especially with 1980’s technology, some munitions went astray, hitting civilian populations and the French Embassy.
The Heyford Ravens had succeeded. Penetrating beneath radar at speeds over 1,100mph, the Aardvarks proved too low to be tracked by anti-aircraft missiles, too fast for ground fire. They jammed enemy radar with impunity while their F-111 brethren dropped their payloads.
HE COUNTED ON AMERICA TO BE PASSIVE. HE COUNTED WRONG.
President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation. “We Americans are slow to anger. We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of force — and we did. We tried quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions, and demonstrations of military force. None succeeded. Despite our repeated warnings, Gaddafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror. He counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong.”
The strikes were devastating. Libyan Dictator Gaddafi himself, barely escaped, only able to shelter from the strike allegedly after receiving last minute advanced warning from then-Italian Prime Minister…”
RAF Upper Heyford F-111s also deployed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 1992 in support of Gulf War operations against Iraq.
After the Berlin Wall was dismantled, and the Cold War came to an end, the decision to close RAF Upper Heyford surfaced and loomed on the horizon.
IN-FLIGHT EMERGENCY RESPONSES AND COLONEL SCHWALIER
I was fortunate, I had the opportunity to serve from 1992-1993 as a USAF Firefighter with actively flying Aardvarks out of Heyford. That year, the flightline rumbled and thrived at full capacity. We responded to the usual emergencies, hot brakes, hydraulic leaks, in-flight emergencies, while responsible for the fire protection of the entire base itself.
Our base commander between July 1992 – July 1993, was Colonel Terryl J. “Terry” Schwalier (A full bird Colonel back then). Whenever we had an emergency on “the Chief,” the base commander’s F-111 (Now retired at the RAF Duxford Air Museum), he would attempt to wave us off.
Part of fire protection protocol was to follow each “emergency response” aircraft as it taxied back to its hardened shelter. Via radio he would assure us that he didn’t need a taxi escort, and we could go. Our Shift Chief always politely (and rightfully) declined. And we always followed the mammoth, complete with its now famous native American Chief nose art, back to its shelter. Base Commander or not, protocol and safety trumped rank.
Finally, in 1993 the old F-111 war horses were retired, and the three remaining 20th Fighter Wing Squadrons were re-activated in the USA. I relocated to RAF Lakenheath to finish my service in 1996.
I visit “the Chief” numerous times at the RAF Duxford Air Museum when I return to the United Kingdom. It’s unreal to me that I used to man crash truck’s and follow this exact F-111 back to Its shelter, after active missions, and now it sits, a museum monument to a cold war partnership, never to be forgotten. I feel very old.
SAD DAYS
Finally in 1994, The British Ministry of Defense (MOD) sold off RAF Upper Heyford after the USAF vacated the base. They sold it to private home developers. I was there for the draw down. Slowly but surely the F-111s took off and never returned. Inventories took place, goods loaded on transports for America, and keys handed back over. We still provided fire protection for both flightline and base, but day by day it got quieter and emptier.
“In May (1994) there were nearly 8,000 people associated with the base, including 3,000 US military personnel, 4,000 dependents, 440 civilians employed by the MoD and 145 by the Americans. After the departure of the last aircraft last week there are 5,000, including 2,000 military personnel and 2,500 dependents.” (Bellamy)
After closure, USAF Colonel Mark Schmidt sadly remarked, “The silence, is deafening. ‘The runway closed on 15 December . . . the engineers painted large Xs on it. The approach landing systems are turned off . . . the control tower is unoccupied. We’ve ceased air traffic control operations. The air space has reverted to UK control. The concrete remains.” (Bellamy)
RAF Upper Heyford nestled in the Oxfordshire countryside, a hop to London on the M40 Motorway, centrally located to the spires of Oxford, Bicester, and the rest of the Cotswold’s, still exudes rural charm. The rolling sheep country still surrounds the old flightline and the villages still maintain their historic beauty.
Development took place and a massive new housing scheme has slowly replaced the Cold War buildings and airfield of Heyford. I have been back. It’s sad to see. The old RAF Upper Heyford I knew is gone.
With a new Heritage Center, and “the Chief” residing at the Duxford Air Museum, the F-111s that once rumbled across the skies and swooped over the idyllic Cotswold countryside, of Upper and Lower Heyford, and the wider Oxfordshire, will NEVER be forgotten. The Raven’s nest may be empty, but I can still hear them as they clatter down the runway and soar through my memory.
In 1992, two pilots of one such F-111, paid the ultimate price, and remain at Upper Heyford for eternity. That my friend’s is another story.
See my other Roll Calls about RAF Upper Heyford, they were a nice part of my young life and, like many others who served there, is forever etched in my memory.
I’ll also be visiting my old home this December. I’m sure to pen my thoughts and post some current images upon return.
See you at the next Roll Call.
Shift dismissed.
SOUTCES/CITATIONS
- https://usaf.com/plane/f-111
- Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the United States Air Strike Against Libya – https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/address-nation-united-states-air-strike-against-libya
- Paul Evancoe, Operation El Dorado Canyon – The 1986 Bombing of Libya – https://usmilitary.com/operation-el-dorado-canyon-the-1986-bombing-of-libya/
- https://www.heyfordpark.com/
- Christopher Bellamy, Eerie silence hangs over US bomber base: When Upper Heyford closes, only memories and a severely depleted local economy will remain. Christopher Bellamy reports – https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/eerie-silence-hangs-over-us-bomber-base-when-upper-heyford-closes-only-memories-and-a-severely-depleted-local-economy-will-remain-christopher-bellamy-reports-1468568.html
- Andrew French, Parties and protests at Upper Heyford air base – https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19831977.parties-protests-upper-heyford-air-base/#gallery5