RAF Upper Heyford 4k PT1 with IKS - SECRETS UNCOVERED!!!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Upp...
Part 2 of this series here: • RAF Upper Heyford 4k P...
RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the Second World War the airfield was used by Bomber Command. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford was one of the former RAF bases chosen to house the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) strategic bombers on 90-day TDY deployments until 1965, from 1966 United States Air Forces In Europe (USAFE) tactical reconnaissance aircraft, and from 1970 F-111 strike aircraft.
7509th Air Base Group
In response to what was perceived as a growing worldwide threat, Strategic Air Command decided to house a strong force of American bomber aircraft in England. It was decided to convert four airfields in and around Oxfordshire to serve as their regular stations. Upper Heyford was one of those selected, the others being RAF Brize Norton, RAF Fairford and RAF Greenham Common.
On 26 June 1950, men of the 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion started work on extending the 6,000 ft (1,829 m) runway to 8,300 ft (2,530 m). Also new hardstands were constructed for the very heavy bombers of SAC's Intercontinental Bombing Force of B-36s and B-50s. A secure weapons storage facility was also added.
Visiting TDY rotational units at Upper Heyford were: 93rd Bomb Wing, 97th Air Refueling Squadron, 509th Air Refueling Squadron, 301st Bomb Wing, 8th Air Sea Rescue Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing, 5th Bomb Wing Detachment, and the 22nd Bomb Wing.
When the 3918th Strategic Wing was discontinued in the summer of 1965, the base was transferred to the United States Air Forces Europe and assigned to the Third Air Force and the newly organized 7514th Combat Support Group.
66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing
.
Base Flight Section of the 66th Field Maintenance Squadron maintained C-54, C-47, VT-29 (for the Commander 322d AD), supporting 3d Air Force operations and air transport requirements. The Wing also operated Detachment 1 at RAF Northolt supporting VIP operations outside of London.
Operation Desert Storm
On 25 January 1991, the wing was once again up to four flying squadrons when the 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron was reassigned to the 20th from the 66th Electronic Combat Wing.
On 17 January 1991, 20th TFW aircraft launched combat missions from both Turkey and Saudi Arabia and continued flying combat missions until the cease fire. The F-111Es flying from Turkey flew night missions throughout the war, using the TFR to penetrate the dense anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) environment at altitudes around 200 feet (61 m) for the first few nights.
Crews who flew those first few terrifying nights said that the illumination from the AAA was so bright that they didn't need the TFR to avoid the ground. After the missile threat was suppressed, crews flew their attacks at altitudes around 20,000 feet (6,096 m), above the range of most Iraqi AAA systems.
During the war, the F-111Es attacked a range of targets, including power plants, petroleum refineries, airfields, nuclear-biological-chemical processing and storage facilities, and electronics sites throughout northern Iraq,
When Desert Storm ended, the wing had deployed 458 personnel, flown 1,798 combat sorties without a loss, and dropped 4,714 tons of ordnance.
Post Cold-War era
With the end of the Cold War, the presence of the 20th TFW was deemed no longer necessary in the United Kingdom. The USAF presence at RAF Upper Heyford was gradually run down (phased down).
There are however many buildings which are still boarded up and it is currently unclear what the future of those will be. It seems that many of the buildings such as the hospital have been targeted by vandals who have smashed glass and walls in as well as internal fittings. Graffiti has also occurred, as well as the whole hospital suffering from damage from leaking rainwater that has subsequently caused extensive mould, damp floors and a flooded cellar. The building, however has now been secured as it is rumoured to be sold. The disused buildings have also become popular with local urban explorers.
Several of the hardened aircraft shelters were placed on the English Heritage list of scheduled monuments in 2010.[4][5] A bid was made in 2011 for the site to receive World Heritage Site status but it did not make the UK shortlist.[6]
LINKS
IKS EXPLORATION - / historicdepths
DENNY -
MUSIC:
Val_Holla by Audionautix.
The_Loner.mp3 youtube free music library DJ Williams
Dark_Alley_Deals. Aaron Kenny

[@philipbrown1399]

The building you were in from around 1:11, and the reason for the crazy levels of security, is because it’s where trigger mechanisms were assembled for the nuclear warheads. Most of the buildings close by are part of two sets of weapons stores (conventional elsewhere, nuclear stuff around the trigger assembly building you were in), all wrapped up within those extra double/triple fenced area. The trigger assembly building is one ground level only, all the rest is concrete and fake appearance, just those corridors and the little assembly room inside. You can rent the old weapons stores for business use, hence the lights working.

[@alisonhilll4317]

Thank you very in formative , did you work there ? .

[@nathanrichmondhoag1021]

you notice the people who made this video aren't actually interested in facts at all! they are woke idiots.

[@johndufton9686]

I met the IKS guys during a tour of Daws Hill Bunker in High Wycombe. It's great seeing these collaborations between the two best channels of this genre on KZbin.

[@petermurphy6216]

Amazing Matthew thank you for taking us along with you on this explore I really can’t wait now for part 2 .

[@TheAlexthemole]

Anyone interested in this site... Get yourself on the guided tour run by the preservation group on site. The former USAF tour guide is, as can be imagined, a treasure trove of information. We were allowed in alot of the buildings, including the 'pit' (Command Centre) like the one you see NASA using for Command and Control in films. Food and drink were provided too. Most of the buildings we were allowed in featured brilliant artwork and were very much intact in terms of technology, as if they could be reactivated with little notice.

[@TheSecretVault]

Do you have a link for them, I will put in description... Might go on that

[@weTHEpeopleRECON]

That intro was breath taking 👌can't wait for this one

[@bengello]

Thanks for posting this boys. I really enjoyed watching it.

[@lavenderrainbow5041]

Thanks for taking me on another GREAT adventure! I love the music at the beginning along with your incredible drone work. It was also neat to see where you were by drone prior to going in xx

[@gtesteve9434]

keep them coming thanks love the history

[@paulvamos7319]

Great footage. On to part 2 now.

[@kermitfrog76ify]

Great vid as always Matt, you really dont disappoint with your content, cant wait for part 2 keep up the good work 👍

[@kishmibooty9156]

Great fun and so interesting Matthew, thanks for the upload, 👍

[@MrVxrman]

Awesome video m8y 🍻 Thanks for posting and keep up your great work. 🙂🍻👍🏻

[@barrybilicki1341]

Thanks was stationed there 1977-1981 in the Fire Dept loved it

[@blancsteve4819]

Most enjoyable. You are a core observer.

[@markharris4956]

Top exploring guys can’t wait for part two .Nice to see a place that has not been totally trashed and vandalised and with the electrics still on Keep up the good work

[@crownfam882]

Amazing footage as always Matt beautiful exploration💝

[@eliasbarnes8061]

Thanks for the post brought back lots of great memories, WSO 79th TFW

[@AdventuresWithJay]

Decent explore this one. Cant wait for part 2

[@columbo7927]

Thank you Matte walkthrough walkaround lovely jubbly.

[@MattyEngland]

Another great vid. Cheers. 👍 👍

[@Urbanlad-Yorkshire]

Awesome video once again buddy 👍👊

[@kennethbarker852]

GREAT VIDEO TO WATCH THANKS

[@Outandaboutwithpoggy]

Why was history at school never this interesting, your videos bring everything out in the open, nice easy going presentation inbetween the visits to the toilet, when i did my RAE for my Ham licence the guy running the classes breifly covered j loop antennas and said they were commonly used around places like hospital grounds and similar for pagers but I think the Motorola and similar ones were in the VHF range around 153 to 165 Mhz, so Im not sure to be honest, a normal antenna for the 2mtr 144-145.999 Mhz uses vertically polarised dipoles, although I have used Slim Jim antennas ( Shaped like Trombones ) I dont know if a J Loop would resonate the same and its polarisation pattern would be similar, very interesting video, thanks to you Matt, Ian , Chris and the other guy who I think you said his name was John, many thanks everyone, cracking footage and looking forward to Part two ( And probably another trip to the Toilet )

[@Outandaboutwithpoggy]

Miles High , Thank you

[@TheSecretVault]

I have made J loops for HAM VHF 145mhz. I think my trip to the toilets were suitably edited later on ;-)

[@Outandaboutwithpoggy]

I dont do much radio these days, only got a Yaesu handheld, I was licensed in 1993 and after 27 years it got a bit boring so moved on to other things, Ive tried watching AllysLaw but some of his videos I find stomach churning, hes got more guts than I ever had at his age, watched Parttwo of Upper Heyford at 2 am this morning , very good as usual, cheers for the reply

[@NX-gw7wg]

@@Outandaboutwithpoggy have you ever tried any of the newer digital modes such as DMR, NXDN, or D-STAR? They can be a lot of fun.

[@NX-gw7wg]

@@TheSecretVault I just got done building a J Pole for 440mhz the other day.

[@TokyoTom]

Great music and love the visuals

[@shayne109]

Top banana and my favorite music clip from the pigeon whisperer looking forward to pt2

[@paulatkins3613]

Great video guys.

[@TheFreedom7272]

Cheers Mat something good to watch while eating my dinner

[@TheFreedom7272]

When is part 2 going to be up.

[@rewind12354]

Great video enjoyed it.

[@paulroossien5322]

Great vlog Matt plenty of history there looking forward to part 2 good pigeon grab lol

[@sandmanbub]

If you buy the off-road electric "hover boards" with the all terrain wheels, you all could enter and cross a field, lying down on them and have a much better chance of being un-seen. Wear colors that match the ground you will be crossing. Good luck with your future explorations. I love this stuff.

[@nicolem8882]

As soon as you moved that sliding door at 29:30 mins I too thought of your channel intro track, lol at the pic

[@jaytiarks2592]

Well done, stationed at RAF Alconbury in the 80's made it around the country to many of the other bases because I was in transport. Don't remember being there pretty sure l played football there.

[@delzek1]

Hi Matthew, I got my first Corvette from Upper Heyford , I traded a Mark one Capri three litre Broadspeed Bullet for it in 1980/81 , I swapped a few cars and motorcycles with the Americans! Used to be great fun back then , I was at C.A.D Kineton then Long Marston Supply Depot/Vehicle Depot before moving over for a while at the Munich "Magraw Koncern" A.A.F.E.S . RR/ USA Deployment,Central HQ for a while. I also traded British Cars for American ones from there.great times!

[@rapidman1376]

Amazing place!!!

[@PrinceJohn84]

Great explore. Really interesting site. 13:00 - An actual secret vault 😀

[@DpacOP]

You got be on the binge

[@davidbeeson1178]

That is one really cool place, I am really curious to what is inside the one that is locked. Only you my friend can bring these awesome places to me, never a dull explore. Can't wait for part 2.

[@farralad734]

2 best u tube channels combined...brilliant lads👍catch the pidgeon🤣

[@oakblossom539]

Any building with a garage, sleeping quarters, and kitchen is usually a fire station. Nice explore and drone, always a pleasure!

[@katesdad0]

In this case it was the aircraft alert area, not the fire station.

[@allinmyhead]

Bloody fascinating

[@treasurehoag610]

Dang! Love how you just put the pigeons out.

[@vickidianacoghlan8946]

Mr Secret Vault. A man on a mission.

[@numberonefan4699]

Possible 1 of the best videos so far. Apart from the video of angel and her baby's. I can not wait until part 2 thanks.

[@TheSecretVault]

She had a bath last night. is in old lady heat and being all broody and "dont leave me".

[@dbpropertymaintenance8660]

My favorite video yet! So awesome to see the history behind a Cold War Reaction facility.

[@dbpropertymaintenance8660]

The response time must have been horrid with the components sperated and needing assembly. But easier to build that below ground silos that so many people have privatized in the US that have been decommissioned and sold off.

[@gregelsner8744]

Thanks for taking ms down memory lane with your tour thru the weapon maintenance bldg. Spent 2 years doing evals on the maint. troops in the '80s. As for the comments about "trigger" assemblies, I call bollocks!

[@hotsonaj]

What a treat

[@SueGirling68]

If caught you could say the fences were down so we thought that bit we were in wasn't active. You should have stayed in one of those storage bunkers till night and then do the rest under cover of darkness 😉.I peed my pants nearly whilst laughing at your pigeon flying display 😂😂. I'm sorry but I skipped the toilet scene lol 😳😳. A very cool explore guys, awesome. Remember "Secret Vault" 😉. xx

[@shaneunknowndoesyoutube3869]

If security guards didnt take there job seriously then they wouldnt be security guards.

[@shaneunknowndoesyoutube3869]

@@urban_fox_cub_urbex It is indeed.

[@mollymurphy999]

They’re keeping u trespassing scaly wags on ur toes 😆 gg

[@markphillips2076]

I moved to Bicester back in 1993 and when I moved into my house, it was full of American cleaning products... it had been rented previously by an American couple. lol. The F-111s from Upper Heyford were really noisy. Even after it closed down, one night Bicester got buzzed by a pair of F15s on full afterburner. I think they woke the whole town up. The last time I went through Upper Heyford it was a very sad sight, seeing all the old American buildings.I now live in Portsmouth. Lots of military history all around here too.Not sure why there's so much security there. These days it's just civilian businesses on a glorified industrial estate.

[@zGJungle]

Get on the HeritageCentre tour guys, it's a long and indepth tour taking around 4 hours, you get to go inside alot of the buildings, the guides are very well informed, I highly recommend it to anyone. I even got to open a set of those huge curved doors on the hangers.

[@AlpacaMade]

Yosemite Sam! Brought to you by the sense of humor of the U.S.A.F. Sam is one of the arch enemies of Bugs along with Elmer Fudd. He hates wabbits but Bugs is #1. Once again the music was great; I think you and I share the same music era memories. I can't quite work out why one bunker is dedicated to topiary; stealth hemp? ;)

[@VrillonAura2012]

wow working lights !

[@kevanparker908]

Back in the mid 1980's I visited two American air force bases with some friends from Derby one was Alconbry where the A10 tank buster planes where based (got to sit in one) and the other / may have been Upper Hayford the U2 spy planes took off from the base looked over a F111 then we went in the decompression chamber. some good trips !

[@docski71]

Great overflight intro.....loved the open g music too ;)

[@docski71]

Opening*

[@RobertMorgan]

Yay! An actual secret vault on The Secret Vault.

[@lewiski1]

I like the nuclear fuse store footage, that safe door is awesome.

[@oggyosbourne]

Nice video like always :) Set of binoculars would be handy to check that car 1:43:30

[@simonj48]

I'd buy one of those bunkers to live in as well. Seems like they'd be pretty easy to convert to live in conditions. Nice big front doors, open plan living room, bedroom and bbq outside. Fields just over the fence to shit in. Sorted

[@alexandergrey5913]

Used to work on the base with the USAF back in the late 80’s before shutdown

[@jackdaw6873]

Great video I have been once when the Yanks had left, a James bond movie was filmed here I wish I had visited when the UH Swinger's were there (F-111s) cheers Guys.

[@bigglesace1626]

Yep, that was Octopussy and UH was represented as a German base, I believe. Not one of the best 007 movies...

[@kernow..exp.]

Been missing your videos mate regards from Mark in Cornwall

[@nit1pearl2]

I was stationed at RAF Upper Heyford from 1957 to 1963. These videos I see were all centered on A&E sections. I did not recognize anything from the runway and A&E areas. Wish which were some video or pictures from my time there. We only had B-47 bombers there basically with butler sheds and two-story barracks. Rode the bus to Banbury each weekend mostly, sometimes to Oxford. After I got married, we lived in an apartment above the Red Lion pub in Lower Heyford. Later we moved to Bicester, spelled Bichester back then until I returned to the states.

[@geezus1201]

We have a similar place like that here in Radford Virginia. Called Grucci fireworks plant that has bunkers and plants like those there but its attached to a military powder plant and has very high security.. Shoot on site is their orders for trespassing

[@astromanian_UK]

I still have a pass/ID when I worked at USAF UH in the late 70's

[@TheSecretVault]

One to treasure.

[@argyll_exploring]

Quality exsporeing. Lot of history there wish I knew what was realy there back in the day. Scary shit.

[@user-uf2ij6nc6k]

ชอบมากๆ

[@jordangipson1125]

Couple of things... I love how you lot were still trying to be sneaky, and Chris’ giant self is just standing at attention at the end of the row of ammo bunkers staring off into the distance for the whole world to see 🙄😂, also my guess is the antenna is a TACMO VLF antenna from Cold War era. And Matt... You see a bunker and you’re all “F**k the rest of this place! I’m going in there!!”... bit excitable aren’t ya? Except when the whole lot of ya are sitting there staring at a DOOR for 10 bloody minutes... 😂😂😂 Anyways, enjoyed the video as always! Can’t wait for the next one!

[@MrCRAIGJSTEVENS]

Should have done the tour matt! You'll be taken to all the good abandoned stuff and be guided by a usaf ex military policeman who served their. Highly recommend it.

[@TheSecretVault]

Ive written to them asking if we can come on the visit and film with a little less public around. Many thanks.

[@endaf]

Cool, been looking for a new vid from you, will watch in awe

[@simonj48]

Felt like I was playing 7th guest with this video thanks to fat man, lol. great audio track chosen.

[@stevearnott7693]

EWS tank is the water pool. Emergency Water Supply and yes it is used by the base fire department to tap into. Many are about 10,000 gallons but I have seen some with sign plates containing about 50,000 gallons

[@OkenWS]

And I'd imagine after all these years they are absolutely disgusting, always thought that when I saw the EWS points at St Athan. The sheer flow rate that can be delivered from those fire mains is also insane, you can tell it was designed for war - there used to be one outside of the officers' mess, 5 minutes' walk from the airside, so clearly for fighting major fires anywhere on the station. I wonder if any of it has had to be decommissioned to make it safe as the airfields get closed, and whether the taxpayer or the land buyers have paid.

[@crispin.]

Great video! Fun fact : This place was used for the final scenes in Octopussy .. when Bond finally makes it to the ‘Feldstadt US Air Force Base’ and only has seconds to defuse the nuclear device...

[@hammyh1165]

Think this place was used to film The Numbers Station with John Cusack too

[@bunglefarian9853]

Phenomenal work as usual ! looking forward to part 2

[@eyesofthefalcon3309]

epic

[@yorkie4k]

Wish we could use this as a new venue for Drag Racing in the UK.

[@jamesblaydon9109]

I can see this base and a few others been bought back into some form of use quite soon the way things are going

[@MARKBART02]

I think you should start adding Mission Impossible music everytime you are sneaking into a place

[@jamesluck2969]

48:00 well it may cause static most lab equipment here in the usa wants anything 110-120 Volts and 50-60 Hertz, you really wont cause static unless the cycles dip into the 40s. Edit: 1:07:07 if the antenna is a loop with the curve aiming upward it could be a folded dipole antenna, size would determine what its aimed for. One such version I've seen is a quarter wave for around 136mhz. So not too low. Unless the loop is downward I dont exactly think it qualifies as a j-pole.

[@dbpropertymaintenance8660]

Very brave traversing the mine field fences. That's true devotion.

[@mdtruestream7325]

Standard fireworks factory is based in my home town Huddersfield

[@dji1862]

Come on part 2!!!

[@PyrateAsylumParanormalAgency]

Ian : Jesus Folks.... You: the pigeon whisperer 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@TheSecretVault]

I like pidgeons, lovely things... cuddly and make cute noises.

[@PyrateAsylumParanormalAgency]

This is a great video.... the pigeon rescue was the icing on the cake 😂😂😂😂😂

[@justinthewoods.1394]

50:35 I want to break free... lol awesome

[@lindsayyoung5424]

Think you will find the building with the bat cave and hoists in the ceiling was used for the maintenance and overhaul of guidance systems in missiles.. also battery refresh facilities..... there is alot of power on site.... the main run way is still on an emergency use list....hence it's good condition..... why don't you go and play around the Police training facility on site and they can practice arresting people....the double fence allowed for service dogs to run between.... the place had a whole dog unit....

[@blimburn1]

My local explore!

[@jaytiarks2592]

Hope your feeling better from hospital stay

[@roccomiers477]

I was stationed at Heyfored from 78-80. All of the US made electrical devices I used worked fine except for clocks. . . they ran 10 minutes slow per hour due to the 50 vs. 60hz power supply on the base.

[@TheSecretVault]

Dont tell Miles Johnston that... itll be an alien MK Ultra time vortex... lol

[@TheSecretVault]

Would yu like to chat about your experiences on the base, be really cool to do a voice over track for the video if you would care to do a voice only interview???

[@MickJ666]

1:24.21 looks like looney tunes character Yosemite Sam riding that bomb :-)

[@ExploringWithBeard]

I believe VCSS stands for Voice Communications Switching System

[@tray8411]

I was stationed there from 82 to 84

[@derekpyne]

They filmed World War Z here probably why some electric is on . Great video 👍

[@buymebapestass4419]

There is a new built neighbourhood/village next to the old air base called heyford park

[@russellpetrie119]

29 40 love it is it co incidence it was the sam noise or but love it

[@bazmully]

I grew up on a air base RAF Benson in oxford

[@djravus]

Grab em and chuck them out !!!!

[@scopex2749]

I am ex RAF I know this base well, its now open and used as a film set a lot of the time. The interference you see regularly on the video shows they have operational radar on the base! These days as long as you arent a pikey nicking metal or a Graff team they dont give two hoots, they KNOW people go exploring. I mean its a bit of a give away when I fly my drone over a site, that someones doing a recce for an explore 😂😂😂

[@robertmackiey89]

It’s strange hearing you mention standard fireworks which were originally from Huddersfield where I was born and raised and still live.

[@gtesteve9434]

part 2 please

[@TheSecretVault]

Its up now

[@jmcover9000]

Original Barrel Folks, Unbeleivable!

[@thra5herxb12s]

The strongroom was for the Detonators for the Nukes.