Nose Dock Hangar At Former Raf Upper Heyford (Building 327)

Nose Dock Hangar at Former RAF Upper Heyford

A nose dock hangar built in 1951 to designs made around 1950-1, almost certainly by the British Ministry of Works. The design followed the form of a wartime hangar originally used to service Sunderland flying boats, but was adapted for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command.

The hangar is constructed with aluminium cladding on an aluminium frame, with a corrugated steel roof. It has a stepped T-shaped plan with a long cantilevered front section that creates the extended opening necessary to accommodate the large American B50D and KB29P bombers, and later the B47 Stratojets based at the station. The long front elevation is fitted with folding doors of aluminium, and the internal bracing is also of aluminium.

Historical Context

RAF Upper Heyford was established as a bomber station in 1923 as part of the Home Defence Expansion Scheme. Following the Berlin Crisis of 1948 and the breakdown of East-West relations, it was identified in 1950 for use by the USAF Strategic Air Command as a permanent base. The existing hangars proved too small for the massive new bombers, prompting the development of a specific hangar type known as the nose dock. As the name indicates, these hangars sheltered only the front section of the aircraft, allowing work to be undertaken on the nose and engines under cover, while the rear fuselage was left exposed.

From the end of 1951, Upper Heyford was served by squadrons of KB-29P refuelling aircraft, and from June 1953 by the B47 Stratojet. Aircraft were deployed on 90-day rotations, so that only routine maintenance and emergency repairs were carried out at the base. By the late 1950s, a policy of "reflex alert" was established, which meant Upper Heyford was used intensively while other bases saw little activity. The base became the centre for F111-E operations in 1970 and remained the only European airfield for these aircraft until 1977, when Lakenheath was similarly upgraded.

Significance

The three nose dock hangars at Upper Heyford represent the most complete survivals of this hangar type and are of particular interest as early examples of aluminium used as a building material. In 1956, American journalist John Peter observed that "aluminium has been more widely used for large structural applications in Great Britain than in any other country. British engineers have produced brilliant designs whose ingenuity and precision have brought structural use of this easy-to-erect material to a cost roughly equivalent to that of steel."

The hangars hold historic interest as rare survivals of the Cold War era, demonstrating the special relationship between Britain and the United States. They also have technical significance in their early adoption of aluminium as a structural building material. The three hangars form a group with other survivals of similar interest, together illustrating the phases of the American nuclear deterrent in Britain in a way found at no other base.