Nose Dock Hangar At Former Raf Upper Heyford (Building 325)

Nose Dock Hangar at Former RAF Upper Heyford (Building 325)

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 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, topped with a corrugated steel roof. It has a stepped T-shape plan with a long cantilevered front that creates the extended opening needed to accommodate the large American B50D and KB29P bombers, and later the B47 Stratojet aircraft based here. Folding doors run along the long elevation, also made of aluminium. Internal bracing is similarly constructed in aluminium.

The nose dock hangar type was developed specifically to shelter only the front section of aircraft, allowing work to be carried out on the nose and engines under cover, while the remainder of the aircraft was left exposed. This design philosophy reflected the operational priorities of the time.

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, the airfield was identified in 1950 for permanent use by the USAF Strategic Air Command. The existing hangars proved too small for the new generation of American bombers, prompting the development of the nose dock hangar type.

The base was served by KB-29P refuelling aircraft from the end of 1951 and from June 1953 by the B47 Stratojet. Aircraft were deployed on 90-day rotations, requiring only routine maintenance and emergency repairs to be undertaken on site. By the late 1950s a policy of 'reflex alert' was established, making Upper Heyford an intensively used base while other installations saw less activity. The base became the centre for F111-E operations in 1970 and remained the only European airfield equipped for these aircraft until 1977, when Lakenheath was similarly upgraded.

The Upper Heyford trio of nose dock hangars represent the most complete survivals of this building type. They are particularly significant for their early use of aluminium as a structural building material, at a time when the material was in its infancy for such applications. By 1956, aluminium had been more widely used for large structural applications in Great Britain than in any other country. The hangars have historic interest as rare built survivals demonstrating the special relationship between Britain and the United States during the Cold War, and they possess technical interest as pioneering examples of aluminium construction. Together with other Cold War survivals at the base, they form a group illustrating the phases of the American nuclear deterrent in Britain as found at no other single airfield.