Shobdon Aerodrome is an airport west of

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

, England.

RAF Shobdon

Shobdon started as a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

camp. It acted as a reception point for casualties received from

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being distributed to local hospitals. With a depot railway station developed on the

Leominster and Kington Railway Leominster and Kington Railway was one of four branches which served the Welsh Marches border town of Kington, Herefordshire. Opened in August 1857, its peak was during World War II, when it served two US Army hospitals. Declining after the wa ...

, its first casualties arrived after the

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. The camp was developed further by the

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from 1943, to act as a distribution point for two locally developed general hospitals. They also added a runway in co-operation with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, but due to the marshy land only one runway was developed. In 1943, RAF No. 1 Glider Training School moved from RAF Thame to Shobdon, enabling an increase in training of

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of gliding ...

pilots in preparation for

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and

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landings. The RAF Gliding School closed in 1953, when the site was handed to

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Today

Shobdon Aerodrome has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (Number P779) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Herefordshire Aero Club Limited).Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences
/ref> It is frequently used by

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

services to Europe. It is operated by Herefordshire Aero Club who provide light aircraft flight training together with aircraft storage and maintenance services. Other air sports facilities based at Shobdon Airfield are: * Shobdon LAA Strut a kit-build group hold monthly social evenings * Tiger Helicopters offer helicopter flight training and maintenance. * Swift Light Flight microlight club and training school. * Herefordshire Gliding Club and training school. From 1963 to 1990 Herefordshire Parachute Club was very active but now parachuting is no longer available at the airfield.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Brooks, Robin J. ''Herefordshire and Worcestershire Airfields in the Second World War''. * Pfuell, Ivor. ''A History of Shobdon''. Published by Ivor Pfuell, 1994. . * United Kingdom AIP * Tony Hobbs "Flying For Fun in the Southern Marches" Published by: Longaston Press.

External links

{{authority control Airports in England Airports in the West Midlands (region) Gliderports in the United Kingdom Transport in Herefordshire