qv = also in Glossary

S

    • S Shed

      WW2 FAA hangar type [qv Mainhill]
    • SAC

      Strategic Air Command (USAF)
    • Sailplane

      Glider but one designed for more prolonged and soaring flight
    • SAM

      Surface-to-Air Missile
    • SAR

      Search and Rescue (more modern term for ASR [qv])
    • Satellite

      Less well-equipped airfield, notably unlike a parent airfield in not being self-accounting [qv]
    • SBA

      Standard Beam Approach (aircraft landing aid)
    • Scarecrow

      Coastal patrol of 1918 flown against U-boats by RAF/RNAS landplanes, especially Airco DH6s
    • Scatter Scheme

      Early WW2 RAF tactic of sending bomber units to more inland airfields for brief periods and lessen chances of enemy attacks
    • Scramble

      Rapid takeoff from a military airfield
    • Seagull Trench

      WW2 defence position
    • Seaplane

      Aircraft equipped with one or more floats to operate from water
    • Seco Hut

      WW2 airfield support building
    • Sector

      Part of overall area for defensive military operations
    • Self-accounting

      Relating to airfield dealing with its own administration
    • SFTS

      Service Flying Training School
    • Shadow factory

      Manufacturing facility in a more dispersed area to both reduce risk from enemy air attack and increase production
    • Ship name

      FAA term for a parent airfield
    • SHQ

      Station Headquarters
    • Side-opening Aeroplane Shed

      Pre-WW1/WW1 hangar type
    • Signals Command

      RAF organisation (1958-1968)
    • Signals square

      Aerial navigation aid close to control tower, containing various visual symbols
    • SLG

      Satellite Landing Ground (WW2 airfield for dispersed aircraft storage)
    • SMT

      Square Mesh Track [qv]
    • SOC

      Struck Off Charge (relating to condition of aircraft)
    • Sodium lighting

      Type of airfield approach lighting
    • SOE

      Special Operations Executive (WW2 espionage organisation)
    • Sommerfeld Track

      Type of metal runway
    • Sortie

      Operational flight by military aircraft
    • SoTT

      School of Technical Training
    • Spectacle (hardstanding)

      Parking area for aircraft, shaped as such
    • Spider Web

      WW1 RAF/RFC anti-submarine patrol
    • Sqn

      Squadron [qv]
    • Squadron

      Military unit, between a Wing and Flight
    • Square Mesh Track (SMT)

      Type of metal runway
    • SRW

      Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (USAF)
    • SS

      Submarine Scout [qv]
    • SSQ

      Station Sick Quarters
    • Standby Set House

      Building to provide power for airfield in the event of any emergency or malfunction
    • Stanton Shelter

      WW2 air raid protective building
    • Station

      Alternative term for a military airfield
    • Station Flight

      Unit for airfield-related communications duties
    • STOL

      Short Take-Off and Landing
    • Stop butt

      Alternative term for firing butt [qv]
    • Storage Sub-Site

      More substantial airfield used mid-to-late 1940s for aircraft storage; replaced to a limited degree SLGs [qv}
    • Strike Command

      RAF organisation (1968-2007)
    • Strip

      [colloquial] Airstrip
    • SU

      Signals Unit
    • Submarine Scout (SS)

      Type of WW1 airship
    • Super Robin(s)

      WW2 hangar type
    • Support Command

      RAF organisation (1973-1994)

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