Valley Air Base

[Helldiver]

Has anybody know of a realistic version of Valley Air Base in Anglsey Island in North Wales. It's really needed. A lot of B-17 and B-24 were welcomed there after crossing the Atlantic. Any scenery designers interested?

[IanP]

It'll be in Gary's next pack for UK2000 VFR airfields, but it no longer looks even vaguely like it used to, so as a reception point for period Transatlantic flights, you'll be disappointed. It's home to pretty much every Hawk in the UK and three bright yellow SAR helos now. That's it.

[Tako_Kichi]

There are some modern versions of RAF Valley kicking around the usual sites but I don't think anyone has taken it back to the war years as far as I can recall.

A lot has been added to Valley over the years so it would be a really stripped down version if anyone did it.

[IanP]

...actually, I backtrack on my previous statement after looking it up in Wales and West Midlands...

Apparently, apart from runway extensions, the general layout hasn't changed as much as I thought. One large hardstand has been added (comparatively recently) but other than that the layout would be fairly familiar.

I'll take a look at aerial photos at some point and see if I can pick out the old from the new. It won't be what HD wants, though, I strongly suspect, if I do anything. ;)

[Helldiver]

No, I would do with a late version of Valley. I'm curious, how did it become Valley. It isn't in any Valley that I can see.

[sandar]

Helldiver; One of my interests is the origin of place names in the UK. Most place names have a long and torturous gestation.

Valley, on the island of Angelsey, North Wales probably has little Welsh influence in the origin of the name.

The Welsh name for Valley is currently Y Fali, which is modern Welsh and originates from the anglicised version. Older Welsh opinion maintain the name should be Dyffryn.
Historians are of the opinion that the place name is Irish in origin. North Wales was heavily settled by Irish tribes around 450 to 550 AD. The suggestion is that the original name for Valley was the Irish
Baile, which I understand is pronounced 'Bally' and means in old Irish 'a settlement'.
Welsh language historians cannot find a Welsh word that could offer a true Welsh origin,so the Anglicised version, Valley has stuck. It has nothing at all to do with valley's.

RAF Valley is one of the busiest RAF bases in Britain. It is the fast jet training base for all UK fast jet pilots and many from other nations as well. It is not uncommon to see aircraft of all shapes and sizes from all NATO and other, countries visiting Valley.

I still have FS9 and have Garry Summons British Airports, of which there is a fairly good rendition of RAF Valley.

[letsgetrowdy]

There are some modern versions of RAF Valley kicking around the usual sites but I don't think anyone has taken it back to the war years as far as I can recall.

A lot has been added to Valley over the years so it would be a really stripped down version if anyone did it.

ooooo... where abouts??

[DaveWG]

There's a Valley here: http://www.arm-computers.co.uk/html/fsx.html

Scroll down, it's number 23. Click the piccy to download.

[letsgetrowdy]

Cool, that's not for just GenX users, though?

[Helldiver]

Thanks Dave. That was a lot of help.
The explanation of the name Valley was also very interesting.
So the Irish tribes ran over Anglsey Islands in 450. I can see how Bally got corrupted to Valley.

[Motormouse]

Thanks Dave. That was a lot of help.
The explanation of the name Valley was also very interesting.
So the Irish tribes ran over Anglsey Islands in 450. I can see how Bally got corrupted to Valley.

Yes indeed, the Irish tribes (and other near neighbours) took advantage
of the end of Roman rule in Britain @ 408 to expand their own fiefdoms.

ttfn

Pete

[BASys]

Hi Folks

You may be able to pick out some development history detail
from RAF Valley's history page (http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafvalley/aboutus/stationhistory.cfm).

I hadn't been aware of Valley's '43 onwards import/export role. :icon_lol:

HTH
ATB
Paul

[IanP]

I've looked at a number of the sceneries from the site that Dave G suggests and none of them have been directly usable. Yes, they will display in the sim without photoscenery and with default mesh, but they have no flatten files or excludes, so surfaces vanish underground and your aprons and runways will be heavily overgrown if you use autogen.

I may do Valley better than the basic AFD update on my site right now anyway, because I want to, but while my operational airfield will be accurate to whichever period I base it on, the support structures will be generic and not accurately placed. Hence it will not meet your original spec, Helldiver.

I'm under no illusions as to the narrow scope of interest that what I knock together has. ;)

[falcon409]

I was also looking at trying to do what Helldiver was wanting, but I found nothing in the way of visual history on that base, unlike many of the other WWII British bases that have detailed aerial maps and even closeup images of the hangar styles and barracks.

With RAF Valley, it seems the only interest is in the current base and it's mission. The original base seems to have been left to historical text only.

[IanP]

Because Valley is still active, there will be more limitations on information on it than there will be for sold off or closed RAF Stations. Unlike the U.S. Which has a rationale of providing information unless necessary, the assumption in the U.K. Is to classify first and then declassify if forced to. It can be very frustrating.

However, I do have a period layout in a book which will allow me to do the operational side. Like I said, only landside would be representative in anything I do. Airside would be as accurate as I can make it with limited sources.

[BASys]

Hi Folks


they have no flatten files or excludes,
so surfaces vanish underground
and your aprons and runways will be heavily overgrown if you use autogen
Ian -
The flatten, terrain blend, etc. are in the CVX file.
There's an autogen exclude built in to the AFD file.

Are you saying they don't work ?
(can't test myself as I've video card probs ATM).



There was also something nearby,
possibly an emergency/dispersal/decoy field,
at the location of what is now the Ty Croes / Anglesey Racing Circuit (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=53.189947%2C-4.499166)

Interested to know what it was.



HTH
ATB
Paul

[Tako_Kichi]

There was also something nearby,
possibly an emergency/dispersal/decoy field,
at the location of what is now the Ty Croes / Anglesey Racing Circuit (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=53.189947%2C-4.499166)

Interested to know what it was.

RAF Mona was just a few miles to the SE of RAF Valley. I believe it is now a small commercial/club airport. A buddy of mine was thinking of re-doing Mona for FSX and was in contact with the owners/operators a couple of years ago with a view to them supplying photos of buildings. They were all gung-ho and excited about the prospect of having a realistic Mona in FSX but unfortunately some RL issues cropped up that prevented him from completing the project.

[BASys]

Hi Folks

Bob -
Mona is to E, or ENE.

See googlemap link in my o/p to the location I'm referring to.
Possibly its Ty-Croes Anti-Aircraft Artillery Range
at the now demolished Llangwyfan Isaf village, (MoD).




the assumption in the U.K.
Is to classify first
and then declassify if forced to.
Ian -
Had to laugh.
I'd just dug out some early 60's O&S maps,
Valley is shown as sand dunes,
overlaid by the words Valley Airfield.

Whereas RAF Mona is shown to taxiway LOD.

ATB
Paul

[sandar]

<TABLE class="vcard geo" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=secthdr colSpan=4></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD></TD><TD rowSpan=99 noWrap></TD><TD class=adr colSpan=2>Mona, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD></TD><TD class="fn org" colSpan=2>RAF Mona</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD noWrap>ICAO:</TD><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>EGOQ (http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=EGOQ)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=secthdr colSpan=4>
Details
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Type:</TD><TD class=note colSpan=2 noWrap>Airport (Aerodrome, Airfield)</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Use:</TD><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>Military</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Latitude:</TD><TD colSpan=2 noWrap><ABBR class=latitude title=53.258619></ABBR>53°15'31"N (53.258619)</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Longitude:</TD><TD colSpan=2 noWrap><ABBR class=longitude title=-4.373550></ABBR>4°22'25"W (-4.373550)</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Datum:</TD><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>WGS 1984</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Elevation:</TD><TD colSpan=2>202 ft (62 m)</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Runways:</TD><TD colSpan=2>1</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>Longest:</TD><TD colSpan=2>5180 × 150 ft (1579 × 45.5 m)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Raf Mona was opened in 1915 as a RNAS airship base to patrol the North Atlantic and approaches to Liverpool.
During WWII it was as an air gunnery school operating Avro Ansons and Blackburn Bothas Nowadays Today, Mona is used for circuit practise and as an emergency relief landing field by Hawks from RAF Valley. Both a civilian flying club and 2474 (Cefni) Air Training Corps operate from Mona.
Air Traffic control at Mona is operated from Valley with about 65,000 movements a year at Valley and around 30,000 aircraft movements from Mona.

[sandar]

BAsys:

The Ty Croes circuit opened in 1997. It was developed from the old rallycross circuit. Rallycross still takes place here on a special section which bypasses the second half of the track. It has been completely redeveloped inot a new motor racing circuit which opened in 2007.

The original use of the site was as an army base and radar station monitoring and protecting the Irish Sea and approaches into Liverpool.

[IanP]

Paul: There were no CVX files in any of the sceneries I downloaded from there, just one or more BGLs in each. Nor did I find a file of flattens or anything to make the sceneries work without the (more accurate, and potentially blended around the airfields?) mesh that comes with the photoscenery.

You cannot exclude autogen in FSX using a BGL (AFD) file, only an Airfield Background type polygon which is compiled into a CVX will remove it. FS9 style excludes, as used in that scenery, do not work in any version of FSX.

I made a fl/ex file for the one I wanted to use at the time, but have since swapped OSs (and hence FSX installations) and have not reinstalled the scenery. I decided that if I wanted one, I might as well just do it myself. ;)

I'm ex-UK military and have had to approach them for informaton since, as a civilian, so have experienced first hand some of the stupidity surrounding MoD classified materials and what is and isn't covered. Some things you would think should be seriously classified are publicly available or accessible, while things you can clearly see from just walking past, aerial photos or can read in the press are classified. The easiest way to think of it is that the paper used by the MoD and all its subsidiary organisations comes with "RESTRICTED" pre-embossed and getting that level of classification removed is usually more hassle than it is worth.

My favourite one was when the Garrison played the local football team in an annual match. All documentation regarding the match was classified Restricted, yet exactly the same information was all over the local free sheets because they wanted the club's fans to come and support their team!

Go figure...