Tatenhill Airfield is a licensed airfield operated by Tatenhill Aviation Ltd. Its CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P813) allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee, Tatenhill Aviation.Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences
and is an ANSP The three runways are paved, but one is no longer operational, and a second is used only occasionally. Running east-west, the main runway is the longest. The airfield is part of the Needwood Survey, a 3000 hectare (12 sq miles) estate held by the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

in the area of the former Needwood Forest. The airfield lies 6 miles west of

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

, Staffordshire, England, and is 11 miles south-west of Derby Airfield (a grass airfield with a flying school).

History

Royal Air Force

Construction of the airfield was completed in 1941 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, using the standard RAF specification of three co-intersecting runways. During the construction phase

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics. The Magister ...

aircraft of No. 16 Elementary Flying Training School from RAF Burnaston used part of the airfield as a Relief Landing Ground. From 1941 until 1942 the airfield was a satellite for

RAF Lichfield Royal Air Force Station Lichfield also known as Fradley Aerodrome, was an operational training station from 1940 until 1958. It was situated in Fradley, north east of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The airfield was the busiest airfield in ...

where No. 27

Operational Training Unit Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles. OTUs ;No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 OTU): The Unit was formed in 1 ...

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

used

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...

and

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

aircraft. From 1942 until 1943 No. 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Training Unit, Flying Training Command used the

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

. From 1943 until 1944 No. 5 (P) AFU used the

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second W ...

. From 1944 until 1945 No. 21 (P) AFU used the Airspeed Oxford, this was to be the last RAF flying unit. During 1944 No. 21

Maintenance Unit The following is a list of Royal Air Force Maintenance Units (MU). The majority of MUs were previously Equipment Depots (ED), Storage Depots (SD) and Aircraft Storage Units (ASU)s. No. 1 MU – No. 100 MU No. 101 MU – No. 200 MU No ...

arrived after the disastrous explosion at their nearby station of

RAF Fauld Royal Air Force Fauld is a former Royal Air Force underground munitions storage depot located south west of Tutbury, Staffordshire and north east of Rugeley, Staffordshire, England. The site was controlled by No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF wh ...

. The airfield finally housed the RAF School of Explosives from 1945 until 1947. The RAF had completely moved out by 1950 and the airfield became disused. Many of the buildings and structures from this period were extant in 2015.

Allied Breweries

In 1959 when the ground around the runways was returned to agriculture, the airfield lease was acquired by Allied Breweries of

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

for use in connection with their business, being a suitable location for many of their visitors to fly in directly and also as a base for the brewery to operate their own communications aircraft. During this time they operated:

de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, ...

Beech Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The di ...

, Beech Queen Air and

Beech King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...

aircraft. The flying operation ended in 1985.

Current Use

Tatenhill Aviation

In 1987, the airfield was taken over by Tatenhill Aviation for General Aviation use and gradually built up to become a viable operation. The field was licensed in the 1990s and a flying school started. Tatenhill is now a medium-sized

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airfield, the north–south (17/35) and southwest–northeast (04/22) runways are now only used for aircraft parking with runway 17/35 featuring a complex of hangars, whereas the east–west (08/26) runway remains operational. A wartime Bellman hangar located at the northeast corner remains in use for aircraft servicing and repairs. The 08/26 runway is licensed for use at length and can handle a wide range of general aviation aircraft, including jets. This runway also has lighting, enabling night flying. A non-directional beacon is installed but there is no let-down procedure. The grass

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

parallel to the operational runway is used in summer only, because of waterlogging. Based at the airfield are Tatenhill Flying School, who operate aircraft from Tatenhill Aviation such as the Piper PA-24, Piper PA-28,

Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly ...

and

Bellanca Decathlon The American Champion 8KCAB Decathlon and Super Decathlon are two-seat fixed conventional gear light airplanes designed for flight training and personal use and capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses between +6g and −5 ''g''. The Decathlo ...

; and the Merlin Flying Club (

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

employees') who moved here when

Hucknall Aerodrome Hucknall Aerodrome was a former general aviation and RAF aerodrome located north northwest of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England and west of Hucknall town. The aerodrome had been operated by the Merlin Flying Club since 1971, and then by R ...

was closed on 1 March 2015: they operate

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

Aerobat, Robin DR.200, Auster AOP.9 and

Pitts Special The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2) is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world ae ...

aircraft. Central Flight Training school are resident, and provide instructor, commercial, multi-engine and instrument rating training: they operate Piper PA-24,

Beech Duchess The Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess is an American twin-engined monoplane built by Beechcraft intended partly as a low cost introduction to twin-engine aircraft. Development Developed as Model PD289 (Preliminary Design 289), the prototype was u ...

and Diamond DA-42 aircraft. Each July the airfield hosts a charity

fly-in A fly-in is a pre-arranged gathering of aircraft, pilots and passengers for recreational and social purposes. Fly-ins may be formally or informally organised, members of the public may or may not be invited, the gathering may be at an airport o ...

organized by East Staffordshire Flying Club which is also based here. Many private owners base their aircraft at the airfield. The

Midlands Air Ambulance The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC), formerly County Air Ambulance, is a charity operating a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands. ...

, currently operating a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter, is also based at the airfield. There is a busy M3 aircraft engineering business carrying out aircraft servicing and repairs. There is also a JAR145 approved

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

business. Both Jet A1 and 100LL fuel are available. Cirrius SR22T N648AB Tatenhill 5

References

External links

Tatenhill Aviation Limited

Central Flight Training
{{authority control Airports in England Transport in Staffordshire Airports in the West Midlands (region)