The final flights from Aldergrove

By Will Leitch
BBC Radio Ulster

Will's view from a Puma helicopter flying over the Northern Ireland countryside

Next time your flight from Belfast International Airport is delayed, find the viewing area and use the telescopes provided to take a good look at the other side of the runway.

You will see a community of around 2,000 people in a vast estate which most of us will never visit. RAF Aldergrove has been there for 90 years, so long that it predates Northern Ireland itself.

But its days are numbered. In April this year the Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth announced that 230 Squadron based at RAF Aldergrove will relocate to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.

In the meantime, there has been no let up in the flying that the RAF is doing, and it is getting them noticed.

'Puzzled sheep'

On a training flight in one of 230 Squadron's Pumas, I get an insight into what they learn before they deploy to the Middle East.

We fly very low, twisting and turning between areas of population as best as the crew can manage.

When the crew practises flying under electricity cables or landing in tight spots, we are watched only by a few puzzled sheep.

The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Andrew Ferguson, is from Belfast, and has already completed tours of duty in Iraq.

"We do need this training," says Andrew, "because it's pretty much our bread and butter, and without it we wouldn't be able to survive out there."

But the low-level flying, much of it at night, generates plenty of complaints from those living in the training areas.

Flight Lieutenant Andrew Ferguson in front of his Puma after the exercise

Unlike the days of the Troubles, Andrew's boss, Squadron Leader Marty Lock and other senior officers can now visit the people involved, and try to help both sides understand each other.

When pupils sit the 11-plus examinations next month, the RAF will operate a ban on all non-essential flying to avoid distracting the children.

Relocation

By the end of 2009, 230 Squadron will have relocated to RAF Benson, and the remaining RAF personnel will pull out during 2010.

Then 38 Engineer Regiment will move in, leaving its base at Massereene Barracks in Antrim.

There are 420 civilian jobs at the bases, and it's thought up to 140 might face redundancy. The RAF and the Ministry of Defence are already in negotiation with the trade unions.

The Army pilots are staying. 5 Regiment Army Air Corps flies Gazelle helicopters and Islander aeroplanes from Aldergrove.

"Under the Patten arrangements we still support the Police Service of Northern Ireland" says Lieutenant Colonel Chris Butler, the Commanding Officer.

"But really a larger focus now is on training for overseas operations."

After 2010 the RAF will still train in the skies above Northern Ireland, but they will not be based here.

Many aircraft have come and gone in 90 years.

Anyone watching from the public side of Aldergrove should take their chance now to see the last days of the Puma, and the RAF in Northern Ireland.

You can hear Will Leitch's reports from the skies above Aldergrove on Good Morning Ulster, on Radio Ulster, between 0630 and 0900 BST on Monday and Tuesday.