I was stationed at Mac for 2 years, during this time I was asked by many people about the Aurora aircraft and most of the locals quite openly admitted to knowing about the "secret underground bunker" all of this is however crap. There was no Aurora, no underground bunker, hell one of the theories at the time is that black hanger (Gaylon) had a false floor and a super secret C130 spectre gunship hidden below. I heard them all and all made me chuckle. The truth in the matter is that Mac has a very long runway and an empty SSA that could be brought into operation if the Ruskies ever tried anything on. For decades now and long before the RAF side closed it was being used twice a day by Logan Air as an air link from Campbeltown to Glasgow, can anyone see American Airlines flying from Heathrow to Groom Lake for people flying to Vegas? no.

As for security it was RAF police, the gate guards were made up from normal station personnel i.e Mt driver, Fitters, ATC, supply, fire service etc. All very boring stuff but still my favorite tour due to the amount of alcohol consumed over that 2 year period.

Hey,
would just like to say I visited RAF Machrihanish just after the RAF had finished with it. The strange thing is that the Gaydon Hangar looks so out of place with its surroundings. I have been inside the hangar and I can tell you that it didn’t have a false floor or any of that rubbish, but I did have hundreds heaters on the roof which I have never seen before like that. Something strange bust have been going on there for them to spend this much money on it...oh and there was U.S Navy Seals posted there at the time

my friend Jimmy lives next to raf macrahanishand has seen quite a lot of unusual aircraft going in and out in the dead of night at the base.On one occassion the stealth plane that broke down onits way to the gulf was takeninto the hangers with the heat vapours still comimng off it....jimmy said this was unusual cos they normally let the planes sit outside for a while before putting them into the hangers.
Its all down to need to know stuff.Its all very fair and well cos its national security etc.but the one bit that gets me is the case of the chinook accident at the mull of Kintyre.I remember it well.I can still recall the oily feel to my clothing as the mist was full of aviation fuel.Did you know that there were two peoplen on bikes that were there at the time of the crash....they dont seem to appear in any official reports though....is it because they felt a blast in the air and the noise before a second bang and a vibration through the ground?mmm that tends to clear the pilots of flying straight into a hillside dosn't it.
These poor pilots were being blamed for a greater good and I understand the reasoning for it but surely to god they could let the families know.
was it not supposed to be high ranking officers on board?mmm well since when did oficers of that rank carry their gear in kit bags?isn't that what the other ranks use.....Did you know there was a survivour?he died later.they inflated a lifejacket under him to help him breathe better.

hello, a few facts about the place, it is now inactive but wont really be sold as it is of no use to anybody else,hence it is not really for sale as such...
It was used as a training site for US Navy, Navy seals, Airforce and Navy Air core used it and nothing interesting happened there, yes anybody who says about the security is right is was high, because of where it was, it was in a handy area for enemy subs to drop off a trouble making beach party, that was why, there are still the old pillboxes at all of the gates to this day, falling apart, the place was badly designed when it was built during ww2.
There was a check on ID before you had your car gone over and under with mirrors and a dog, checking for devices, there were always a couple of UK RAF Regiment guards on the gate, as well as US Navy guards on site and very rarely Royal marines when there was a change over, other than that there were civilian guards patroling the outer roads, and only a couple of them had a licence to carry weapons, they were quite strict about even military carrying weapons there due to the risk of civillian staff being shot by accident.
I used to go onto site every now and then, there was a US shop, a Naffi shop, small petrol station, bowling alley, and I used to like going onto the range, I remember going to School with American kids as well...
There is nothing there now, all the old buildings are falling apart and some have been knocked down, the big hangar is still there, empty, did you know they used it for the Saab paper plane car advert in the 1980's..the outer buildings, guard house etc have windows covered up with steel sheets and there is a wind turbine factory (vesta ) which I think is even closing and moving away.
The only security there is civilian contractor security to keep traveling people from going there and stealing all the metal, there is a couple of million pounds worth of metal buildings on there to care for, otherwise they would have been vandalised.
The place is abandoned as it gets, I went the long journey down there a couple of months ago (like a 4 hour drive from me) and had another look for old times sake, falling apart, weeds everywhere, ghost town, empty houses, nobody for miles...

I was stationed at RAF Mildenhall in the early 90s. Often, I had work to do at other RAF bases, mostly Lakenheath and Atwells. I made it up to Machrihanish a few times. I repaired comm/nav equip, primarily on aircraft.

I saw many awesome, and on occasion unique, aircraft come through. I never saw anything like what you describe, but I am curious.

Originally posted by tamusan, but I am curious.

So am I on some of those you did see

PS Owed you a star so found this post

HI, i am just starting out on my voyage of discovery on black projects and other milltary projects.

i have found out some info relating to this discussion, well the RAF base.

- the base was owned by the USNAVY until 1995--- source BBC coverage of Prime Ministers Questions 2004.
- According to the US treasury, (i dont know the offical name), the Aurora was the code name given to the B2 SPIRIT programe finacial section, i.e. cost for materials, training, development etc.---------- i will find the website i reaqd this from and post as a source later.
- i have heard that the USNAVY SEALS had one of their 3 'overseas' teams based there, not sure on this, will do some digging and see what i can fins out.

-the Royal Marines/SBS, train on the sight occasionally--- source friend in the RMC.

i do not intend to start arguments with this info, i thought it might help to clear up some othjer points or just for extra knowledge on the subject.

i am happy to be corrected from reliable sources

p.s can someone fill me in on the RAF chinook crash, Kinnslow???????????
thanks

The British military have black projects just like any other country, but they arent as well known or published as the US black projects, The British Black projects are mainly worked on by BAE Systems

I know quite a lot about this due to one of my close friends delivering parts to some military sites, the private courier company my friend works for has some pretty major contracts with certain companys that deal in the military industry.

There would not be a secret black project USAF operation on a sovereign British base. That's like BAE developing their Tyrannis Stealth UAV at Area 51.

To presume that only the USAF has black projects is partly understandable since parallel British projects are seldom the topic of discussion, but to presume the do, and are allowed, to test it in a foreign country is beyond reality I'm afraid.