Heart of the RAF

To visit as many Royal Air Force, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service Stations and Units, past and present, or any airfields,airports or aerodromes!

These locations are all over the UK and indeed the world, you may be quite surprised how close you live to a location that was once operated by the Royal Air Force or its forebears!

Military aviation in this country began in 1908 and the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service began life in 1912 and saw active service during World War One.  They were amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force on 1 Apr 1918.  http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/index.cfm

Heart was released from Royal Air Force Halton; originally opened by Lord Trenchard in 1918 for the Royal Air Force Apprentice Scheme, Royal Air Force Halton has a long and successful history of training that spans over eighty years.  The Station’s current role is to train personnel for the Air Force of tomorrow. In a collegiate-type atmosphere, this includes Recruit Training for Airmen, Leadership and Management Training for Non-Commissioned Officers, and Specialist Training courses across Defence.

You might be surprised at how many locations there are around the UK, and indeed the World, that the RAF or its forebears have operated from.  There are a number of websites that can help you to locate these units:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/stations.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Corps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNAS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_stations
http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/regional/

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) is "The Heart of the RAF Family" - The Royal Air Force has a proud tradition of looking after its own. The RAF Benevolent Fund is the RAF’s leading welfare charity and is an extension of that tradition.

Since its foundation in 1919, the Benevolent Fund has been there, through thick and thin, supporting the RAF family. They are there for all serving and former members of the RAF as well as their partners and dependent children.

Winston Churchill famously said "The RAF Benevolent Fund is part of the conscience of the British nation."

http://www.rafbf.org/481/about-us.html

Should you wish to help Heart in achieving its mission, you may feel that you would like to donate to this worthy cause:

http://www.rafbf.org/171/donate-now.html