RAF Kinloss

RAF Kinloss stands on the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland, near the village of Kinloss. The station opened in 1939 as a flying training school and later became a Coastal Command base. During the Second World War it housed training units and maintenance facilities for many aircraft types. After the war it shifted to maritime patrol duties, tracking Soviet ships and submarines. The Nimrod MR.2 fleet operated from here until 2010, when the type was retired. The site is worth visiting for its Cold War history and the scale of its wartime operations. Up to 450 aircraft were stored here at one time during the Second World War. The station trained crews on heavy bombers and maritime aircraft, including Whitleys, Wellingtons and Shackletons. Its runways were extended to 1,828 metres to handle larger planes. The nickname ‘Ice Station Kilo’ came from its northerly latitude and a 1968 film. Visitors find wide runways, hangars and support buildings still standing on the site. The landscape around Kinloss includes farmland and the Moray Firth coastline. Remains of wartime aircraft wrecks can still be seen in nearby fields. The base now serves as Kinloss Barracks for the British Army’s engineer regiment. The contrast between the open runways and the surrounding countryside gives a sense of the station’s former scale.