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RAF Waddington is a major Royal Air Force station immediately south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, and one of the busiest military airfields in the country. It serves as the RAF's Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance hub, home to the Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, Beechcraft Shadow R1 and MQ-9 Reaper fleets, and since 2022 also hosts the Red Arrows aerobatic team. Its long, ILS-equipped runway and rich bomber-command heritage make it a notable landmark for any simulator pilot flying through the Lincolnshire area.
RAF Waddington sits beside the village of Waddington, just south of Lincoln, and is operated by the Royal Air Force under No. 1 Group (Air Combat). It is the RAF's principal ISTAR base, housing the RC-135W Rivet Joint, Shadow R1 and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, and since October 2022 has also been the home station of the Red Arrows aerobatic display team. For a simulator pilot the field is interesting both for its long, well-equipped runway and for its place at the heart of Lincolnshire's dense concentration of historic and active military airfields.
The airfield lies beside the village of Waddington, about 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south of the city of Lincoln, between the A15 and A607 roads. As an active RAF main operating base, it sits within military-controlled airspace typical of a busy fast-jet and ISTAR station, and pilots should expect it to be a prominent feature amid the cluster of former and current military aerodromes that characterise this part of Lincolnshire.
Waddington has a single physical runway, 02/20, a hard-surfaced and lit strip with slightly different published lengths for each direction: 9429 feet running as runway 02 and 9122 feet as runway 20. An instrument landing system serves runway 20, giving the station a precision approach befitting its role as a major operating base for large intelligence-gathering aircraft. Field elevation is 220 feet.
Waddington operates a full military air traffic service. Published frequencies include Approach on 250.85 MHz, ATIS on 29.167 MHz, CAC on 27.777 MHz, Departure on 123.3 MHz, Ground on 342.12 MHz, a miscellaneous frequency on 127.35 MHz, Zone Operations on 386.625 MHz and Tower on 256.67 MHz. Runway 20 is supported by an ILS.
The airfield began life as a Royal Flying Corps training aerodrome, opening in 1916 and hosting a succession of training squadrons before passing to RAF control on the service's formation in 1918. It closed in 1920 but was reopened in 1926, becoming home to No. 503 Squadron, redesignated No. 503 (County of Lincoln) (Bombing) Squadron in 1928. Ahead of the Second World War it was redeveloped as a fully equipped heavy bomber station, reopening in that role on 12 March 1937 with No. 50 Squadron and its Hawker Hinds and Handley Page Hampdens, joined shortly after by No. 110 Squadron and, later, No. 44 Squadron. Both No. 44 and No. 50 Squadrons were in action with their Hampdens on the very first day of the war, attacking German naval targets at Kiel, and Waddington squadrons went on to attack invasion barges in the Channel ports during 1940. In November 1940 the station became the first to receive the Avro Manchester heavy bomber, and on 2 March 1942 No. 44 Squadron became the first unit in RAF Bomber Command to fly the Avro Lancaster operationally from Waddington; the first Lancaster prototype had arrived for flight testing the previous September. The station, part of No. 5 Group alongside RAF Scampton, saw its aircraft fly numerous major raids, including the Augsburg raid of April 1942, and later squadrons such as No. 463 and No. 467 Squadrons RAAF flew Lancasters from Waddington until the end of the war in Europe, one aircraft of No. 463 Squadron completing sixty-seven missions. Waddington remained a bomber station for many years after 1945 before evolving into its present-day intelligence and reconnaissance role.
RAF Waddington remains one of the RAF's busiest stations, serving as the hub for UK Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance and as the main operating base for the Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, Beechcraft Shadow R1 and General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. Since October 2022 it has also been the home station of the Red Arrows aerobatic team, alongside the Display Wing headquarters and Hawk T1 continuing airworthiness management. As an active military aerodrome, prior permission is required for any visiting flight.
