Taken in 1988 when I was stationed at RAF Woodbridge.
Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) are heavy-duty aircraft hangers designed to prevent the wholesale destruction of planes as witnessed in the movie Independence Day at Marine Station El Toro. However, I think the Soviets were considered a more urgent concern than aliens at this particular time. (Oh, how times change.) This particular HAS contained A-10 “Warthogs”– a slow ugly plane that was built around a Gatling gun and that we were about to scrap until we started getting into wars that showed that if one wasn’t fighting dogfights with the Soviets–but rather fighting ground troops and armor of militaries devoid of operational air forces, e.g. in Iraq or Serbia– the A-10 was pretty much the most useful combative plane in the inventory.
I guess there were plenty of sunny days like this, but somehow my memories of England only come when it’s raining.
Tags: A-10, Air Force, aircraft hangers, hardened aircraft shelter, HAS, military, photographs, photos, pictures, RAF Woodbridge, Warthog
By B Gourley in England, Military, photographs, Photos, pictures on May 22, 2013.