No. 1310 Flight RAF

No. 1310 Flight RAF
Active	10 Apr 1944 – 21 Jul 1944 31 Mar 1953 – 7 Dec 1953 23 Jul 1964 – 14 Oct 1966 20 Aug 1983 – 1 May 1986 Dec 1995 – ? (Bosnia) ? – Apr 2005 (Basra) ? – Nov 2014 (Kandahar) Nov 2014 - Mar 2015 (Kabul) 2016 (RAF Mount Pleasant)
Role	Transport
Garrison/HQ	RAF Llandow RAF Bognor RAF Lyneham RAF Mellala RAF Odiham Atkinson field, British Guyana RAF Fairford RAF Kelly's Garden, Falkland Islands RAF Mount Pleasant Split, Croatia Basrah Airport Kandahar Airfield Kabul International Airport
Equipment	Avro Anson I Avro York Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer CC.2 Boeing Chinook HC.2 Boeing Chinook HC4

No. 1310 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF is a flight of the Royal Air Force.

History

No. 1310 (Transport) Flight was first formed at RAF Llandow on 10 April 1944, equipped with Avro Anson I transport aircraft. The flight was disbanded on 21 July 1944 at RAF Bognor, absorbed by 83 Group Support Wing.

1310 Flight was re-formed at RAF Lyneham with Avro York transport aircraft to provide transport services for the early nuclear weapon tests in Western Australia, disbanding at RAAF station at Mallala on 7 December 1953.

The next incarnation of 1310 Flight was at RAF Odiham, where the Flight prepared to transfer to British Guiana, in South America, to assist the nascent government of the newly independent state. Its first role with helicopters flying Westland Whirlwind HAR 10s, with three helicopters, three pilots and approximately thirty ground crew, then deployed to Atkinson Field. This mission was carried out alongside five Alouette II helicopters of 24 Flt. Army Air Corps, in joint support of the British Army for two years before its helicopters were flown back to RAF Fairford with the Flight disbanding on 14 October 1966.

Following the Falklands War, the Flight was reformed at Kelly's Garden near to Port San Carlos, as 'ChinDet Falkland Islands', flying Boeing Chinook helicopters from Nos. 7 and 18 Squadrons, renamed as No. 1310 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF. Later 1310 Flt was amalgamated with 1564 Flt to form 78 Sqn at RAF Mount Pleasant.

1310 Flt was re-formed again at Split in Croatia in December 1995 for saw service in Bosnia, flying support for British units in the Implementation Force (IFOR) and Stabilisation Force (SFOR) until relieved by Chinooks of 298 Squadron RNLAF in December 2000.

More recently it was again formed in southern Iraq to provide helicopter support to the British-commanded division based in the area and operated from a Main Operating Base at Basra Airport, and from a Forward Operating Base in Al Amarah. It was stood down in April 2005 and replaced by 1419 Flt.

From 2005-2006, 1310 Flight operated Chinooks in Afghanistans Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, supporting the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Chinook's role in Afghanistan includes air assault, forward operating base resupply, and casualty evacuation.^[1]

The flight has eight Chinooks under its control, during November 2014 five of these were returned to the United Kingdom and the three remaining were moved to Kabul to support the personnel training the Afghan Armed Forces.

Three Chinooks were based in Kabul until March 2015 and were replaced by Puma HC.2s.^[2]

From 2016- late 2017, 1310 Flight consisted of two Chinook HC.4s based in the Falkland Islands.^[3][4]

See also

• RAF Mount Pleasant

References