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Royal Air Force Honiley or RAF Honiley is 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 ...
station located in Wroxall,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, southwest of
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, England. The station closed in March 1958, and after being used as a motor vehicle test track, it was subject to planning permission from the
Prodrive Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. History Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards. Prodrive sold its 51% s ...
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
team for development of their Fulcrum test and development facility however this was cancelled. From September 2014 the site has been used by Jaguar Land Rover for heritage driving experiences with the location being known as Fen End.


History


Royal Air Force use

Originally called Ramsey, it was renamed RAF Honiley in August 1941, and used by a variety of squadrons defending the
Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Squadrons

* No. 32 Squadron RAF joined the airfield on 9 September 1942 flying the
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 ...
IIB/IIC before moving to RAF Baginton on 18 October 1942. * No. 91 Squadron RAF began flying from the station on 20 April 1943 flying the
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
XII before moving to RAF Kings Cliffe on 9 May 1943. *
No. 96 Squadron RAF No. 96 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron, formed as a training unit in the latter stages of the First World War. The squadron re-formed and served mainly as night fighter cover during the Second World War. In the aftermath of WWII it took ...
starting flying at the airfield on 20 October 1942 with the Bristol Beaufighter II/VI and the
de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...
XII. The squadron left on 4 August 1943 and moved to
RAF Tangmere Royal Air Force Tangmere or more simply RAF Tangmere is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. It was one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The Seco ...
. * No. 130 Squadron RAF moved to the airfield on 5 July 1943 flying the Spitfire VA/VB/VC before moving to RAF West Malling on 4 August 1943. * No. 135 Squadron RAF arrived from RAF Baginton on 4 September 1941 flying the Hurricane IIA before embarking for the far east on 10 November 1941 arriving at Zayatkwin. * No. 219 Squadron RAF moved from RAF Woodvale on 15 March 1944 and stayed until 26 March 1944 flying the
de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...
XVII before moving to RAF Colerne. * No. 234 Squadron RAF moved from RAF Church Stanton on 8 July 1943 and stayed until 5 August 1943 flying the Spitfire VB/VC before moving to RAF West Malling. * No. 255 Squadron RAF moved from RAF High Ercall between 6 June 1942 flying the Bristol Beaufighter VI before moving to North Africa on 13 November 1942. * No. 257 Squadron RAF started using the airfield from 7 November 1941 before this the squadron was at RAF Coltishall. The squadron flying both the
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 ...
I/IIA/IIB/IIC and the Spitfire VB until 6 June 1942 when the squadron moved to RAF High Ercall. * No. 285 Squadron RAF came from RAF Wrexham on 29 October 1942 flying the
Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...
I/II and the Boulton Paul Defiant I/III before moving to RAF Woodvale on 27 August 1943. * No. 605 "County of Warwick" Squadron AAF (renamed to RAuxAF) came from B.80 Volkel on 10 May 1946 flying the Mosquito NF.30 and
de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...
F.1/FB.5 until 10 March 1957 when the squadron was disbanded.


Other units

* 1456 ( Turbinlite) Flt using the Douglas Boston. * August 1943 to March 1944 – No. 63 Operational Training Unit RAF instructing Airborne Interception techniques with Bristol Beaufighters and Blenheims. Moved to RAF Cranfield. * July 1944 to August 1946 – ground units transferred to 26 Signals Group,
RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...
. Renamed Signals Flying Unit RAF in July 1944, testing new radio equipment. Moved to RAF Watton in August 1946. * August 1946 to March 1957 – 1833 Naval Air Squadron
Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...
with de Havilland Sea Vampires then Supermarine Attackers. Additional units: From April 1957, the station was placed on Care and Maintenance until closure.


Facilities

The airfield had 15 hangars; there were three Bellmans and 12 Blister hangars. There was also a cinema and technical workshops.


Post Royal Air Force use

After being taken over by LucasVarity for vehicle testing, residents have included
Prodrive Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. History Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards. Prodrive sold its 51% s ...
, Marcos and TRW.Protest against Formula One plans
kenilworthweeklynews.co.uk – 24 March 2006
In addition to their existing automotive consultancy business, which was based at the site from 2001, in March 2006
motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
company Prodrive announced its intent to build a £200 million, motorsport facility called The Fulcrum. Prodrive's statement in the planning application for the facility – which could house as many as 1,000 staff – boasted of "a motorsport complex which could eventually house Prodrive's new British Prodrive F1 team", further cementing Managing Director David Richards' intention to return to F1 in 2008. As of 3 August 2006, Prodrive won the support of the Warwick District Council planning committee for development of The Fulcrum. The permission covered a highly advanced engineering research and development campus, a conference facility called the ''Catalyst Centre'' and new access road, a roundabout, infrastructure, parking and landscaping. The plans still had to be presented and agreed by the British government's
Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...
, and there was local opposition via the Fulcrum Prodrive Action Group (FPAG) to protect the rural nature of the community and the safety of the people that live within it. However, following rule changes banning so-called 'customer' cars from competing in F1, and legal proceedings undertaken by existing F1 manufacturer teams, Prodrive's F1 plans were shelved indefinitely. Since the sale of the site to Jaguar Land Rover in 2014, Prodrive's business remains based at their
Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...
headquarters. It is also the site of the HON (Honiley) VOR- DME navigation aid, which is positioned to the south of the track. The old turbine development buildings, previously re-purposed and used as administration offices by Lucas Automotive have been left by Prodrive in the same state they were when Lucas first vacated the site and have become a popular site for Urban Explorers.


Present day

In 2011, the disused administrative building on the site was used as a set by the metalcore band
Oceans Ate Alaska Oceans Ate Alaska are a British metalcore band hailing from Birmingham formed in 2010. The band was signed to Fearless Records and are known for "uniting boundaries between multiple genres in modern metal" and for "fusing unpredictable polyrhy ...
in the music video for their debut single Clocks. The site was purchased by Jaguar Land Rover in 2014 who moved their Heritage Driving Experience operations to it from their Gaydon facility based at the former RAF Gaydon. It currently (as of December 2017) also houses their press car operations, as well as part of their Special Vehicle Operations division.


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links


Fulcrum Prodrive Action Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honiley Defunct airports in England Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom