In the otherwise quiet villages around RAF Fairford, residents are used to July being a noisy month. At the height of summer, hundreds of jets normally thunder overhead to take part in the world’s largest military air show.
It can be a smelly time, too. When the wind is blowing the wrong way during the Royal International Air Tattoo, the distinctive stench of aviation fuel can waft over the 6,000 homes nearby.
District councillor Michael Vann says “disgusting” plane spotters are also to blame. Erecting stepladders near the perimeter to get better photos of incoming aircraft, they wait for hours to get the best shots – but as there are no toilets nearby, some of them leave what he politely describes as “unmentionable things” behind on the grass.
This year, however, the air show was cancelled to the great disappointment of the local tourism sector. The airfield, leased to the US Air Force 75 years ago, was too busy hosting American heavy bombers setting off on long flights to attack Iran.
The resumption of Donald Trump’s war has now placed the area in Tehran’s crosshairs. The Iranian regime said this week that any base used to attack its territory was a “legitimate target” for its own forces.
