Aberporth Airport is situated southwest of

Aberporth Aberporth is a seaside village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. The population at the 2001 Census, was 2,485, of whom 49 per cent could speak the Welsh language. At the 2011 Census, the population of the co ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

is being developed as West Wales Airport for domestic flights. It is also developing as a centre for the deployment of civil and military

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s (UAVs), known as 'drones'. The airport underwent major improvements in 2008 which extended the length of the runway from . The site was previously RAF Aberporth, a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

satellite station which used by the

RAF Army Cooperation Command The RAF Army Co-operation Command was a short-lived Command (military formation), command of the Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War, comprising the army cooperation units of the RAF. The command was formed on 1 December 1 ...

, the site was also used the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

(RAE), the

Defence Research Agency The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation. In April 1995, the DRA was combined w ...

(DRA) and the

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official h ...

(DERA) under the control of the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

until 2001. During 1956, a brand-new asphalt runway was built, with other extensions of the hangar apron occurring during 1968 and 1971. During the 1960s Aberporth was the HQ of the RAE Ranges Division.

History

RAF Aberporth 1940-46 & 1959-84 The following military units were posted here at some point: * 'B' Flight of

No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF This is a List of Anti-aircraft co-operation units of the Royal Air Force. Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight RAF (1931–36) became Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight, ...

(1 AACU) (October 1941 – March 1942) * 'L' Flight of 1 AACU (October 1941 – November 1942) became No. 1608 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (November 1942 – December 1943) * Detachment of 'O' Flight of 1 AACU (May – June 1942) * 'Q' Flight of 1 AACU (June 1941 – November 1942) became No. 1609 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (November 1942 – December 1943) * 'X' Flight of 1 AACU (September 1940 – November 1942) became No. 1621 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (November 1942 – December 1943) * Detachment of

No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF This is a List of Anti-aircraft co-operation units of the Royal Air Force. Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight RAF (1931–36) became Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight, ...

(January – May 1941) * Detachment of No. 6 Air Observers School RAF (June 1942 – January 1943) * Detachment of No. 7 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (May 1941 – January 1942) * Sub site of No. 7 Maintenance Unit RAF (1940) * No. 595 Squadron RAF (December 1943 – April 1946) ** 'A' Flight ** 'B' Flight ** 'C' Flight * Detachment of No. 2758 Squadron RAF Regiment (9 September 1942-) * Detachment of University of Wales Air Squadron * Aberporth Station Flight (

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

IV,

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, 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 (RCAF), R ...

C.19 &

de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk (or Chippie) is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined primary trainer aircraft designed and developed by Canadian aircraft manufacturer de Havilland Canada. It was developed shortly after the Second World Wa ...

T.10) * No. 29 Joint Services Trials Unit (September 1980 – June 1982) (

Sea Skua The Sea Skua is a British lightweight short-range air-to-surface missile (ASM) designed for use from helicopters against ships. It was primarily used by the Royal Navy on the Westland Lynx. Although the missile is intended for helicopter use, Ku ...

) * No. 1 Light Anti-Aircraft Practice Camp * No. 1 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Practice Camp RAE Aberporth 1939-73 The following units were posted here at some point: * Bloodhound (Mk.2) Firing Unit with the

Bristol Bloodhound The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...

Surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(November 1964 – December 1975) * Guided Weapons Range Unit (July 1958 – March 1965) * Operations and Engineering Wings of No. 21 Joint Services Trials Unit (July 1970 – ?) ( BAe Rapier) * No. 23 Joint Services Trials Unit (October 1971 – January 1973) (BAe Rapier) * RAF Unit (Ministry of Supply) Aberporth (August 1953 – June 1958) * Central Timing Unit * Guided Weapons Trials Wing, RAE Aberporth Polish Army Resettlement Corps Depot 1946-50 The airfield was used as a Polish Army Resettlement Corps Depot between 1946 and 1950.

MOD Aberporth

The nearby range, MoD Aberporth started out as a Second World War British Army firing range. Due to the threat of Nazi Germany invasion, the Projectile Development Establishment moved from

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast o ...

to the range during 1940, with the Royal Air Force Combined Services Projectile Development Establishment being in existence between September 1943 and January 1945. The site was an outstation of PDE Fort Halstead and

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich. The range was previously the Aberporth Anti-Aircraft Artillery Range and the Projectile Development Range along with The Aberporth Range. The

Clausen Rolling Platform The Clausen Rolling Platform was a missile launching platform, built at the coastal missile test range of RAE Aberporth, West Wales, in the 1950s. It used a floating platform in a pool of water to simulate the rolling of a ship at sea, without ...

was built there to test radar and launchers against the rolling motion of ships at sea, without needing to go to sea. It is used for testing rockets by the

British military The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping e ...

, as well as for launching civilian rockets for atmospheric research. The site is currently managed by

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

with air traffic services provided by NATS.

Current use

The airport is mainly used for testing unmanned aerial vehicles in an area called the West Wales UAV Centre which is connected to the Welsh Government created

ParcAberporth ParcAberporth is a technology park created on what was Royal Air Force (RAF) station Aberporth, near the village of that name in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, which is now Aberporth Airport. The station was one of two local sites that had b ...

. No. 636 Volunteer Gliding Squadron RAF was present between October 1996 and December 2001 Aberporth Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P859) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee. The aerodrome is not licensed for night use.Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences
The airfield is being used as a base for

Thales Watchkeeper WK450 The Thales Watchkeeper WK450 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) formerly used by the British Army. It was developed by UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), a joint venture ...

military

(UAV) trials over

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

. On 13 June 2018 a Watchkeeper crashed into a lane near the airfield; there were no injuries.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Aberporth Technology Park and West Wales Airport – An Overview of Proposals, Innovations and Benefits.
() {{authority control Transport in Ceredigion Airports in Wales Buildings and structures in Ceredigion