RAF Manston the Disused Master Diversion Airfield!

This massive disused airport in the south-east of England had a unique wartime emergency role as well as being at the front-line in D-Day and the Battle of Britain, RAF Manston in Kent was listed as one of the airports deemed suitable as a Master Diversion Airfield which means it could accept aircraft in trouble and has had a few crash landings.
In this interesting video I get to fly into this amazing airport that's been lost in time on one of only a few days that it is open to fixed wing operations a year.
THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN CORRECTED -
CORRECTION Originally I had a section which referred to RAF Manston as being a Space Shuttle diversion airfield, this was incorrect and those sections have been removed from the video so some comments may refer to this, my sincere apologies.
My name is Terry Kent and I am a General Aviation PPL private pilot operating out of North Weald EGSX about 12 miles to the north east of London in the UK. Short Field is my channel focused on the lighter side of General Aviation including flight and airfield reviews, equipment unboxing and review plus all things private pilot related. I use various cameras to record my videos including GoPro and Insta 360 and stills and edit them in Adobe Premiere Pro, I am an animator as well and often use animations to describe situations more clearly I use Blender and Adobe After Effects for these. I always attempt to post my videos in the highest possible quality, normally 4k.
I fly a 2011 Pipersport two seat single engine aircraft that is also known as the PS28 or SportCruiser in the USA (America) it is know under the FAA as an LSA or Light Sport Aircraft and can be flown on a very basic license. In the UK it is a Part 21 airplane which requires a full licence but it's generally cheap to run, affordable maintenance and great value for money. It cruises at 100 to 105 knots and has superb short take off and landing or STOL capabilities. I visit farm strips, back country and short airfields, some of them dangerous and I try not to crash :-), as well as international airports and try to learn something new every time I fly.
I fly VFR and IFR as well as visual and instrument approaches.
My videos may give helpful information to pilots but please remember these are just for entertainment, I am not an instructor nor should anything shown in my videos be used for real world aviation, also the airfields I visit may have totally changed or even closed since the making of the video so always consult the latest information for your country.
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Planning Software: SkyDemon www.skydemon.aero/

[@jjwone]

In the 90's I managed an Irish pub in Zaragoza where another abort landing strip was situated. The NASA fire and medical crew were an amazing bunch of fellas from Texas, some of my best customers. One of our staff had a brother with Down syndrome who was fascinated by aircraft. They took us all to the landing site and took him out in the fire truck and gave him amazing gifts such a their mission caps and patches which were unique one offs and got astronauts to sign photos of themselves and the shuttle in the US and send them to him. The little guy was thrilled beyond belief. Proper Gents.

[@nakfan]

What a lovely and heart warming story ❤️ Thanks. Per (Denmark)

[@DigitalDiabloUK]

I suspect Zaragoza would have ended up been the primary diversion as it was generally near the launch arc for standard orbital insertion. But I suppose in the event of a failure, things could literally go sideways. 😂

[@grahamrichards193]

In 1989 my wife treated me to a trail flight in a light aircraft at Manston. While we were running through procedures, before take off, a flight of about four A10 Tankbusters from USAF Lakenheath taxied along and took off from Manston’s runway. My instructor explained they were the “Dover Patrol”, pilots on a training run where they do a low level flight along the Channel, past the white cliffs. Apparently, this was something the American flight crew loved doing. We then taxied and took off, climbing to a height of 1000’ above the English coast. Suddenly, Manston control radioed us, asking if we had visible contact with the Dover Patrol? The next thing I know, I’m flying a light aircraft alongside the tankbusters! I think I remember that more than I do flying the light aircraft!

[@shirleydrury5565]

I think you mean bentwaters😊

[@grahamrichards193]

@@shirleydrury5565 ???

[@georginahallett8716]

I was stationed here in the RAF, January 1969 - March 1970, the cushiest posting ever😂..... I've just seen this pop up on my susbscribers feed, and haven't got time to watch at the moment, but will comment later when I've got more time. Lots of happy memories from the 15 months I was a resident🙂

[@WARVIATION]

awesome

[@trislanderadventures7831]

This was an absolutely brilliant video.We got a rescue dog brought up from Spain to Scotland in December 2020, and on the drive back down the Eurotunnel closed, hence the Spanish truck got stuck for a few days on Manston's runway! Crazy times!

[@philiplarsen6557]

As a lapsed PPL holder and resident of Sandwich (Manston is visible just up the hill), this brings me right back to flying days. Great video and makes me want to fly again! Interesting that current and prospective MP Roger Gale is campaigning to reopen Manston...

[@waffoo999]

Did my PPL at Manston back in ‘91; one of my instructors during circuit phase used to say “less a circuit, more of a NAVEX”

[@steveday6251]

RAF Manston was my first posting in 1974 after completing RAF Air Traffic Control trade training. It was one of the best postings I had in my 28years service. Not only was it a MEDA ( Master Emergency Diversion Airfield) is was also one of the 2 UK Foamer Units. This meant we could lay a path of foam along the runway for an aircraft with an undercarriage malfunction to land on. The foam suppressed the sparks caused by the aircraft body / wing dragging along the runway. In my 2 years there I had 3 AC foam incidents a Victor and 2 Canberra's. One of the Canberra's came in with complete UC malfunction and on one engine then as it passed over the threshold of 28 the other engine cut out so it slide down the foam, quite a night. It was also the base of 72 Sqn D-Flight which flew SAR Wessex helicopters. great times

[@yournway]

"Before we take off let's have a little check, of the things that can kill you" That's the best business case description of the need to follow check lists I have ever heard. Thank you for sharing.

[@howardgraff4084]

Yes, I was thinking that too...and yet Terry chose not to use a checklist! A bit like that Vlogger who flies TBMs. He never uses checklists either!

[@chrismarsh8623]

Flap check ? !!

[@currentfaves65]

Perfect mix of "fun and facts", thanks for bringing us along !

[@jasonvoak]

Manston is going to reopen to aircraft after a few court cases ...I live in ramsgate and it's going to be great for the area ...my favourite memories are when concorde came ,they also used to train pilots in jumbos touch n go circuits..

[@scottisles3688]

I remember when Concorde came in there, it was incredible to witness!

[@Matt-Durham]

What court cases were they? I'm really curious any links

[@iscmiscm]

@@Matt-Durham There is one person that keeps trying to derail the reopening using our courts.

[@jasonvoak]

​@Matt-Durham if you serach manston airport judicial review it should come up ..

[@59patrickw]

@@iscmiscm if she moved in before the air field was in use then she can complain if not she got not complaint I used to live 1.4 miles from there when it was operational no problem and brought up in the 1960 in a village 3 miles from there loved to see the aircraft and witnessed the planes used for the film the battle of Britten there and the flew out over my old school what a sight

[@InducedBank]

Lovely explanation of the long and fascinating history of the airfield, and very nicely presented Terry! That low pass along the runway really shows just how ridiculously long it is!

[@martinsmith8572]

I remember driving past there years ago when it was operational and couldn't work out why I was seeing commercial aircraft on what I thought was an RAF base. You basically answered every question I wanted to ask, so I class that as being an excellent video. Thank you for sharing.

[@stevenbennett3922]

Need to add RAF Machrihanish to your list for the shuttle diversion field. At nearly 1.9 miles it had more than enough space.

[@martynbrinton]

My absolute favourite IRL Pilot videos on YT. Another great video Terry.

[@ShortField]

Thank you Martyn.

[@kennethausten]

Thanks for this. I was born in Margate and lived opposite Manston as a child. It was some distance away with a railway line in-between, but I remember seeing the Americans parachuting down with Jeeps as well. Years later I worked as an electrician on the site contracting when it was a passenger service. Now live in Wales retired. Spitfire hurricane museum was always worth a visit. Appears they have the go ahead now to bring it back to life. Hope to pop back soon to check out the museum. Thanks again

[@kevinnorthfield5097]

When it was a military base it was classified as a Military Emergency Diversion Aerodrome (MEDA) as it was capable of taking any size of aircraft.

[@scopex2749]

I have flown in here many times whilst in the RAF. One time in a VC-10 we had an engine fire and they were getting ready to lay the 'foam carpet' as Manston was the only place in the UK they could COVER the runway wth foam. Luckily we dealt with the fire and returned to Brize for a 3 engine recovery.

[@TheBioniXman]

Really? As a young SAC rigger we used to watch the fire secon cover the runway in foam at Leeming.

[@gordy4459]

I was a fireman at Brize Norton during the 70's and 80's and can remember a VC10 with hydraulic problems diverting to Manston where they were looking at laying a foam carpet ready for a gear up landing...Thankfully though the crew managed to get the gear down and locked and the aircraft made a normal landing...

[@sarahcolliver7650]

Wow ! That was an awesome video. So interesting. Keep them coming 🤣.

[@andyduggan7810]

Very enjoyable, thank you. I was in an Air Training Corps camp at Manston in the late 70s. Flew in a Chipmunk, Dove and Dominie - coincidentally all DeHavilland planes. I can remember a Canberra landing with a major emergency, so it was still a useful place for planes in distress. My indistinct memories are that it was semi-deserted then. I can remember a forlorn early mark Lightning standing on its own among lots of disused office buildings.

[@stephenbarrette610]

I flew in a chipmunk in the 1960s, with my schools CCF / ATC it was a lot of fun! And I remember seeing a Lightning takeoff at the Farnborough airshow back in the 60s and it was awesome. It just went straight up, almost vertical or so it seemed!

[@robertsneddon731]

The family of a friend of mine owned a flying business at Manston back when it still had a RAF flight training operation. They were part of the initial effort to prevent developers planting expensive houses along the runway. One other use for Manston was to handle influxes of transport aircraft carrying relief supplies for disaster recovery operations in Europe and North Africa, since it could easily take heavies and marshal them without crowding, and there was decent road infrastructure to bring in supplies. I remember seeing Antonovs on the apron for one such emergency operation back in the 1980s.

[@RJVEK]

Fantastic. There are yellow ribbons tied near the old airport buildings- meaning that one day Manston will return and fly again- fingers crossed it does- major boost to the local economy.

[@KEVSTER1230]

Great upload Terry, really interesting... Thank you

[@alanjrobertson]

Very interesting bit of history! Nice video. Glad they didn't build houses on it!

[@evanscm3]

Long field indeed! Love the channel Terry - keep the videos coming.

[@stephenbarrette610]

Thank you for that brilliant video. It brought back happy memories of being in my school’s Combined Cadet Force and spending an amazing long weekend at RAF Manston back in the 1960’s. I got to fly with an actual RAF pilot who let me take control of a de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk for 5 minutes. I suspect he was trimming everything but I did roll it upside down! Unforgettable moment until that was repeated at RAF Chivenor in Devon a year later when I flew in a glider as well, which was unreal. I also went to RAF Waddington later that year in a copter tracking ‘enemy’ submarines, sick bag at the ready! So cool that Manston was a potential safe landing site for the Shuttle. I’ve been a bit of a space nerd for the last 60 years. Great channel.

[@jpa1880]

Hi, I just wanted to let you know how much I love your channel. I'm a massive aviation fan, unfortunately haven't yet been able to do my PPL, but I'll get there. The main thing I enjoy (and admire) about your videos is your self-analysis and the insights you give into the mentality one needs to be a successful (ie, still alive!) pilot. You are never afraid to admit to mistakes, and it's an invaluable learning resource for other pilots. I also watch a guy called Hoover, (channel is called Pilot Debrief), and I think he would thoroughly approve of the way you self-critique. I'd love to see him do a video on your 2022 incident, and im sure he would agree completely with your own breakdown of what happened, and what we can all learn from it. Keep up the brilliant work, I'm convinced that pilots like you, by taking the time and trouble to share your knowledge and experience, are helping to save lives every day. Thank you, JP.

[@russ8211]

Beautiful take off Terry.

[@robe6723]

Great video - so interesting to see you land at Manston. Read so many accounts from pilots in ww2 who were based there. What a great entry for your logbook!

[@saintuk70]

Bit mixed in terms of whether Manston was a NASA Emergency Shuttle diversion strip between sources. There are a few in the UK, RAF Fairford and the equally as big RAF Machrihanish (which I lived next to when still active), both 1,000ft longer than Manston. Nice video.

[@beeble2003]

I can't find any reliable source that says Manston was. As you note, the runway is too short -- the Shuttle needed 10,000ft -- but also the Shuttle's supersonic approach wold be right over London if it landed at Manston.

[@saintuk70]

@@beeble2003 Yeah, I had these thoughts too regarding proximity to London. Also, Manston transferred back to the RAF and civies in the 60's, Fairford - Machrihanish - Zaragosa all were/are USAFE bases. Given the sensitive natural of some Shuttle launches, they'd really want a USA military presence. The likes of Machrihanish had one of only two "off-soil USA" deployments of SEALS due to the nuclear weapon storage and aircraft movements etc..

[@user-xc8cc9yt6n]

It was not an ELS either.

[@peterguise6087]

Manston was also one of my landaways on my QXC, staring at Lydd, plus I live in Maypole. Thanks for posting this.

[@neildpadmore]

Watching from Zimbabwe... Awesome video!

[@jameshall6954]

Great video. My dad flew a Piper tri-pacer out of Maypole before moving to Clipgate farm a few years before Maypole closed. We flew in and out of Manston several times, also using the grass runway. Also did many airfields and strips in Kent, Essex and the near Continent.

[@michaelherriott9230]

Hi Terry Thanks for super video of Manston as i am 81 born 11 Nov 1942 and like aircraft regards Mike keep safe Terry.

[@stewartmackay]

Super video and really interesting, thanks.

[@ShortField]

So nice of you Stewart.

[@MrRipper1956]

We in the USAF flew into manston occasionally. It was great on weekend cross-countries in the 1980s because of the "Dover tour" started there. A retired RAF controller who I later worked with said they would do a running commentary from manston all the way down to Dover while maintaining VFR offshore position. It was a brilliant ploy to increase traffic and the cost of doing business at manston. It allowed controllers to train with various performance aircraft and was a lot of fun for us flight crew members doing it. Somewhere. I have a video on one of those flights that we flew as a two ship of Phantoms maintaining 3 Mi offshore and the controller giving constant description of what we were looking at. Great memories indeed. Thank you Carole

[@phileagle8432]

Fabulous video! I had no idea of its history!

[@ThePerilleux]

Did my RAF flying scholarship and PPL at RAF Manston at TG Aviation in 1987. It was indeed a huge runway, and I recall thinking of the winds were strong enough that I’d be able to land across that runway 😅

[@martinhsl68hw]

Great stuff - thank you! It would be amazing if it came back online

[@rolandgibbs9036]

That was briliant. Thanks.

[@swisssteve253]

Flew in and out of RAF Manston during Navy BFT raining in a Gazelle helicopter back in 1984. Had a bird strike on take off -made a bit of a mess on the canopy.

[@ashokaliserilthamarakshan5079]

Fantastic, loved this one. Hope to fly into Manston one day.

[@gordon1966]

thank you for this video , we are looking forward to manston opening again soon ..

[@jamespurs]

What a beautiful flight, thank you so much for this! We need to keep hold of our history fields

[@crosswindperspective]

Yipee - a new Short Field video!

[@aidonatorgaming27]

Great vid Terry seems u passed me flying past Isle of Sheppey 👋, can't wait for Manston to reopen in the next couple of years keep up the great work mate 😀

[@sing_cycle_referee]

Lovely vid Terry - the first of yours I'm aware of watching. I've probably seen your plane dozens of times - I live on the southeast edge of Harlow on the downwind leg of North Weald!

[@MrMontanaNights]

That's no short field! Fantastic video! I'm really enjoying your UK flying videos, a bit different from my usual US flying ones I watch.

[@andyyoofoo897]

Thanks for posting...Manston airport will be back😊

[@kevinm498]

Did my AEF most weekends from Manston. 1 AEF in Chipmunks or 617 VGS in grob 103s. I remember watching Concord take off and land during one weekend of gliding. Amazing having a birds eye view of Concord.

[@WARVIATION]

very interesting airport ! loved the video stay safe!

[@marcusreed2]

Loved the 360 cam shot of EGMC!

[@IOWPCV]

Great video !

[@keiross]

Interesting and well made vid!

[@georgefindlay]

Awesome video!

[@sv4stampe]

RAF Fairford was the only Transoceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3 km long), Fairford also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the base.

[@ShortField]

True but there were many diversionary airfields that were identified and placed on standby throughout the World. These were not primary but were capable of accepting a shuttle in trouble and were in the shuttles database. Manston was one of those.

[@diamondderek848]

RAF Fairford was the main ABLS in the UK for the Shuttle. All the fire Service on the base at that time was trained for shuttle landings.

[@anthonyg4671]

@@diamondderek848 why not repeat the first comment 🙃

[@1960dave1960]

I did think, before I watched this particular video, he was going to about RAF Fairford, (or should I say, USAF Fairford)

[@andrewmeadows2596]

​​@@anthonyg4671 why not repeat the first comment🙃

[@AJ-qn6gd]

Manston was the emergency landing strip for Concorde if Heathrow was fog bound, I saw it take off from there in the early nineties also saw the Vulcan XH558 fly from there the day before its last flight before being sold off.

[@chrisbrookesphotography]

Enjoyed that, thank you

[@DoRullings]

The history alone makes this great runway worth to be preserved. I visited the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection today and the aircraft I spend the longest time admiring was, of course, the great Spitfire. Thanks for your nice videos, often with interesting bits of history. Greetings from Oslo!

[@tomsaxon831]

Takes me back to 1974 when I was stationed at RAF Northolt and was able to hitch a ride on the H S 125 to do circuits and bumps at RAF Manston. I was 17 at the time and it was the first time I had ever heard of the place and the first I had ever Flown. Happy Memories

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

HS125 - no need for all those gaps.

[@tomsaxon831]

@@heli-crewhgs5285 Thank you so much for pointing out the glaring e r r o r ! ! 🖕

[@TheDunky55]

Stayed at RAF Manston for a cricket tour in 1992.From RAF Valley. Great time and some lovely Cricket venues in Kent.

[@brandonmcheyenehoward1077]

Flew chipmunks here in with cadets in the 70’s 80’s got my PPL here too. Can see the runway from miles off. some great air shows every year ❤

[@kevchilton908]

Yet another outstanding video, Terry. It's not very often you hear a controller say, "Fill yer boots", is it? 😆 I hope Manston comes back to life again, it's my nearest airfield now I've moved! Such an amazing history to it, and it was great to see it from your footage 👏🏻👏🏻 I agree with you about Maypole Airfield, such a lovely place to fly in and such a shame it's now gone 😬

[@philgould4569]

Lovely plane. A work colleague flew me from Huntshaw grass strip near Torrington and over my house in Bideford. I used to make close-fitting covers and seats for them. Good memories.

[@Heneling]

Great stuff, glad to hear it will likely stay as an airfield! I am organizing a fly-in at the Disused Colerne airfield in wiltshire, would be great to have you there if it goes ahead (still getting permits at the moment).

[@GrandpaTig]

Great video with lovely views over Kent and must be similar length to the old SW/NE runway at Throckmorton...🤔

[@geoffreycoan]

I went to the same Manston fly-in, one to get in my logbook, and it fitted in perfectly to the schedule of a French tour; Border Force were on site so I was able to land there from Calais on the Saturday. The museum is well worth a visit, we spent an enjoyable afternoon there before heading back home about 5:30pm.

[@Philg0jba]

Terry, I live very near to the former RAF Ash and look across the valley at the Manston Runway. I noticed several Light Aircraft parked up when I went past the Museums. I enjoyed the Video, very interesting and well presented. You certainly 'Filled your Boots' Phil

[@littlepippin8445]

I served at RAF Ash. Dozens of radar positions down in that bunker that never got used properly.

[@Philg0jba]

@@littlepippin8445 I met a chap who served there (he lived in the MOD houses in Sandwich) and he told me the former station commander bought the place off the MOD in 1996 for £1,000,000. It is a big site.

[@GolfFoxtrot22]

Love the history behind this airfield. Thanks for all your research Terry. Imagine how long that would take to fly down the runway in a PeaBee?

[@robinlaurence8468]

Thanks for a great little video on Manston. Those of us that have fought hard to get the Airport reopened are highly delighted that it will now reopen. I spent many years flying at Manston and it's great to see it coming back life.

[@pivotalmike]

And there are more of us who are not looking forward to Manston reopening as a cargo hub, if the plan ever gets investment which I doubt. Ramsgate residents won't appreciate the early morning and late night landing slots that are being touted as the main selling point of the proposed operation, with arrivals from the east passing over the town at 800 down to 400 feet. Don't get me wrong, I had my first ever flight from Manston in a Chipmunk and the occasional RAF traffic in the 1960's was fine. I was also one of the last to fly my plane out of the airfield on its last day of operation. But causing so much disturbance, loss of tourism etc. for the sake of seeing aircraft again and creating a small number of jobs is not progress I'm afraid.

[@robinlaurence8468]

@pivotalmike so, apparently you are a private pilot. So where are you flying from now, if anywhere. Very strong anti Airport views. I'm also a Ramsgate resident living directly under the flight path. I find it amazing that you still believe that the airport is not good for the area. The planes are coming and the jobs are coming as well, so you'd better get used to the idea.

[@pivotalmike]

@@robinlaurence8468 I was a private pilot for 15 years, but medical issues stopped me 3 years ago. At that time I was based on a strip near Cambridge. I don't believe that the airport is viable for cargo, wrong place and plenty of capacity elsewhere. As for jobs, remote tower almost certainly, and not many jobs required for cargo. Not sure what they are smoking at RSP but several reports have said so as well. In the 10 years lost so far it could now be a thriving town with a commercial park and could even have retained a GA field/helicopters. As you are strong pro-airport let's agree to disagree and call it a day?

[@theflyingchillipepper]

great video :)

[@richardparrott7192]

That was great! Will have to check out this in MSFS. I kind of think of the UK as one big airfield 😉

[@JTV84]

nice landing.

[@BegudMaximan-zp2tc]

Interesting to know, nice vid.

[@russefrance4869]

Back in the '80's. I had a share in a light a/c and we used to fly to Calais/Le Touquet/Oostende most weekends. Always called Manston at 'North Kent Coast', 'Canterbury' and 'Coasting Out' at Dover. Even then, our aircraft was a quite old C172. Just checked and it's still flying!😮

[@musoseven8218]

Nice one Terry, fascinating airfield, lets hope it opens as an aviation hub again 🙏🤞😉😊 Im very familiar with Fairford, my dad had an aircraft stationed about three fields away from Fairford and we were on good terms with them, Brize, Kemble, Lynham and Wroughton et al. Ive flown over with him, during the Cold War, with an, iirc, AN124 taxying beneath us. Fairford was the main UK Transoceanic Abort Landing Site for the Shuttle as you mentioned (it had trained USAF personnel and all the facilities too). Fairford also welcomed other aircraft in secret such as the short lived F117 (it was, with Boscombe, a land out site for Aurora project aircraft too), the F117 involvement was later declared. The Shuttle came into Fairford, atop of the Shuttle Carrier (adapted 747-100?), circa 1983 enroute to the Paris Airshow iirc. My school friend took a cracking photo if it. Again iirc, local flyers were invited to land at Fairford as part of PR relations. I didn't go, my dad reported back that he could have landed width ways on or been charged several landing fees down the whole length of the runway🤭😲😀😟

[@tophatanimation8748]

I remember a camp there in the '80s as an ATC cadet. We were able to visit the fire dump and they had an old shackleton, two Vulcans, a DH Devon, many other aircraft, it was so much fun. I helped out at 22sqn Air sea rescue on the Wessex for a day and the best, was an AEF flight in a Chipmunk where we ended up on finals with an RAF Phantom. We gave way to teh Phantom, it was epic to see it come in to the right of us. i'll never, ever forget that camp, it was wonderful.

[@archangel6415]

I really enjoyed your commentary, just so well done a very loaded bunch of interesting recent history. When you pan out to show your plane, wow, what a beautiful little craft it is. It reminds me of the beautiful engineering of the e-type jag I fell in love with in the early seventies. Flying is the sport of the rich & too expensive for me to ever buy a plane and, way too late to learn to fly but this was a most enjoyable ride-along. Hope you can do more. Stay safe up there. Hey, for those who want to go a bit beyond the blue, I’d urge you look up Ray Comfort: “Living Waters”. No lessons required just a “mustard seed of faith”!

[@simonsdiesel]

Great program, well done, you should have tried your luck for a few touch and goes Tornado style 😂😂

[@ShortField]

Next time!

[@rogerhibberd6821]

Lovely to see it might reopen again. My father was Commandant of the Fire Training School when it was there. I remember visiting it there and just as he did feel sorry about all the old planes there that they used for practice fires. Pity you didnt mention that.

[@445fhn]

Thumrait in Oman was also a designated shuttle emergency location. My late Father was part of the team who built the runway there.

[@heffone1]

I work for one of the charities that befits from the fly in THANK YOU. from your newest subscriber.

[@zeberdee1972]

Last time I was at Manston was on a course at the fire school just before they shut it down . Another space shuttle emergency landing ground would be wide awake airfield on Ascension Island , another place i spent some time at .

[@dominiqueroudier9401]

13:49 Istres le Tube have à 5000m runway!!( 16.500feet😮😮)

[@TheBioniXman]

Flew in there in my microlight, as part of the RAF MFA, in the late 1990s. Concorde was loading up as we were parking up on the other side of the pan. The RAF was just in the process of closing the military part down at the time.

[@alexangus9966]

Manston is just down the road from me. There is a little air museum with a cafe which is well worth a visit.

[@howardgraff4084]

I honestly can't get over your editing! So many professional cuts between cameras. Incredible. It's like watching a programme on TV. Do you work as a video editor Terry?

[@ShortField]

So kind Howard, no sir just an amateur trying to learn sir.

[@howardgraff4084]

@@ShortField You're very good. It must take you a lot of time. Can I ask what software you are using please?

[@JimT-RCT]

Manston is due to open again at some point, as a cargo hub, bringing jobs to the south east of Kent

[@andrewthomson5498]

I was in the ATC back in the army 70s and flew , RAF chipmunk the only time , they used to have air show there. In the 80s as well ,and concord flew in . Great times hope it used again

[@glhx2112]

Pretty cool, I did not know there was another Shuttle emergency landing option in England other than RAF Fairford, where NASA kept a few personal in case of a transoceanic abort landing . When I was stationed at RAF Bentwaters we were told RAF Woodbridge was an option just in case, and we would be notified when there was a launch just in case......

[@howardgraff4084]

One of my flying friends tells a funny story about landing at Manston when it was open to GA. When on final approach the controller asked him to land long because of the traffic and the far-distant exit from the runway, but my friend landed as usual on the piano keys as per training. He was then asked to take off and land further along the runway which he then did....and when he went to the tower to pay his fees, they jokingly asked him for two landing fees. True story!

[@nicorchard3559]

Sorry we missed you. We may have been on the way for a well-earned drink by the time you reached the museum area. Kent Strut Gang.

[@nezbrun872]

I flew into Manston during my IMC training in 2013/2014... you're right, the runway's ******* enormous. It was somewhat famed at the time for BA doing A380 pilot & cabin crew training there. I well remember that even then, the airfield's future was very much in doubt.

[@CUfkes]

Flew into Manston onboard an EUJet Fokker 100 many years ago. Was a very quiet airport by that time already.

[@scottisles3688]

My Grandad worked at Manston for decades, and as a history-lover from a very early age I used to frequent the museums there endlessly with my Grandparents. My Grandad had many funny stories from his time there: standing at the urinals next to Douglas Bader and Bob Stanford-Tuck; multiple Russian (Soviet) pilots who insisted on taking him to their cabin to drink their homegrown concoctions; and a flight with a German pilot on a Lufthansa flight, who retorted that the last time he had flown over the airfield he was bombing it! It is a superb place, and hopefully won't be lost to property development; however, its time as a large-scale airport look difficult due to the amount of investment in the facilities and infrastructure it needs, and I think development encroachment on the flight line make future permissions probably impossible to obtain unless under emergency circumstances.

[@grahamlees4394]

last time at Manston for me was talk down radar training for the IMC rating. Used to use Manston Radar a lot when going to Calais or Le Touquet via Dover VOR. Happy memories Terry, thanks for sharing. Also remember when the shuttle visited Stansted on the back of the a specially adapted 747 which I watched from the other side of the M11 at Birchanger.

[@andrewhopwood500]

RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3,045 m (9,990 ft) long), it also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield.The runway is rated with an unrestricted load-bearing capacity, meaning that it can support any aircraft with any type of load.

[@ShortField]

True, but others were listed as alternatives in case it couldn't make the primary, these were suitable in length, location and infrastructure. Although there were no NASA trained operatives at any of the others during a launch they were still marked as options and as I say in the video Manston was on standby along with the others and one I missed RAF Elvington.

[@beeble2003]

@@ShortField I can't find any reliable source that say that Manston was a standby landing site. Its runway is 1000ft too short and it would put the Shuttle's supersonic approach right over London.

[@villiamo3861]

Not specifically mentioning Manston, but I note that Brize Norton is mentioned as one of a non-exhaustive 'list' of TALs ('for a typical flight there are several possible TAL landing sites', with BN being identified as one of the possible resorts in such a flight). The source is Technical Memorandum 108432 of NASA.

[@marklewis3348]

@@ShortField Interested to know your source for this. I've seen plenty of RAF bases mentioned as emergency landing sites for the Shuttle but not Manston.

[@ricardo1957]

I agree with you RAF Fairford because I thought that Shuttles had to use Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases which at the time Fairford was.

[@originalforgery]

Went to the Gambia years ago. Their airport was also on the list of emergency runways. Can you imagine....??

[@AndrewLumsden]

👍👏 At least it was not being used as a lorty park for any cross channel backlog when you were there! 🙄😖🤣

[@NissanEVOwnersUK]

I went there a couple of times when it was a commercial airfreight airfield. From the ground, it was odd to watch aircraft disappear over the horizon on the ground, to reappear airborne a short time after.

[@reubengreeph4727]

Brilliant as always - such a cool place! At 4:58, is that the Insta 360 you use? I’ve just bought the Insta 360 X3, and wondered if you had a special case for mounting on the outside of your plane? I pop a go pro on the tail tie down loop on my Cessna 150, and was wondering if the Insta 360 would be as secure?! Thanks!

[@UbuntuSuperUser]

Here in the states my hometown lost both grass airstrips on either side of town. Both used to be cool recreation airports with one serving peoples businesses on that side of town.