Turweston Aerodrome is an airfield located near the village of Turweston, in north

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

near the

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

border. It is a former

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 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

training facility, now a

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...

and airfield which is home to the

Light Aircraft Association The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, and recreational and sport flying. It oversees the construction and maintenance of homebuilt aircraft, under an approval from t ...

. Turweston Aerodrome is no longer licensed by the CAA as of August 2015. It previously held an Ordinary Licence (Number P750) that allowed flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. It is not licensed for night use. The main runway is 09/27 and tarmac with a parallel grass runway available that doubles as a taxiway for the majority of the time. There is an additional grass cross runway that is used also as a taxiway and as additional parking for events orientation of 03/21. Radio communication services are provided by Turweston Air/Ground on 122.180 MHz.

RAF Turweston

Based on of land in the northwest corner of Buckinghamshire, just off the

A43 road The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands and northern South East England, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, ...

and located east of the market town of

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the in ...

, RAF Turweston served as a bomber training school during the

. Opened on 23 November 1942 it had three concrete runways and one T1 hangar. The three runways were: *10/28 - *04/22 - (later extended to ) *16/34 - It initially housed the

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 it ...

s 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 (RCAF) ...

s of No. 12 Operational Training Unit RAF until April 1943, when it began housing the

North American Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

s of No. 13 OTU. In May 1943 they were joined by the

Douglas Boston The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ...

s of

No. 307 Ferry Training Unit RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, ...

, with both units remaining until closure.

No. 17 OTU 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 ...

Gunnery Flight began arriving in July 1943 with Wellingtons, and formed fully in November 1943 with a flight of

Miles Martinet The Miles M.25 Martinet was a target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) that was in service during the Second World War. It was the first British aircraft to be designed specifically for target towing. Work on ...

s. Other types located at Turweston included:

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 ...

;

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

;

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

and 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 b ...

. The current runway 09/27 uses some of the old 10/28 runway, but does not use the whole width or length of the original runway. Turweston Airfield - geograph

Wellington Bomber HZ437 crashed on 19 May 1943. It was a new aircraft with just 8 hours flying time. The port engine failed 30 minutes before the accident. It was reported by the RAF that the accident occurred due to the pilot's error of judgement, attempting to go round on one engine following an incorrect approach to the airfield. All five crew members were killed. They were: Pilot: Sgt. Sydney Barnes - RAFVR - Aged 21; Nav: P/O. Harold Geoffrey Allen Thompson - RAFVR - Aged 32; Air/Bmr : Sgt Robert Allen - RAFVR - Aged 22; W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. Raymond Kenneth Van Cleaf - RCAF - Aged 21; W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Edward James Roberts - Aged 19. At the end of the Second World War, the RAF had a surplus of facilities, and many including Turweston were scheduled for closure. Turweston closed on 23 September 1945, but was retained by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. The land was used for private vehicle storage and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

. In the 1950s, it was known as MTSSD TURWESTON, and was a sub-depot of COD Chilwell, housing the Army's stocks of Bren Gun Carriers. The maintenance staff consisted mainly of female civilians. For some time prior to 1994 the airfield was in use as a gliding training airfield at weekends only. Turweston Aerodrome re-opened for business in 1994, having been rebuilt as a combined airfield, aero-club, flight school and rally track. The new conference facilities were opened in 2004, and the location has also served as a dance or rave venue,
including the

Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem festival Gatecrasher is an international clubbing brand made famous by the "Gatecrasher" (later "Crasher") dance music events, which were held at the Republic nightclub in Sheffield, UK during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The promoters of the bran ...

in 2008 and 2009. Until 2011, Turweston hosted an annual Wings & Wheels event, which in addition to aircraft, showcased vintage cars, motorbikes, tractors and farm machinery. Also run annually is the overland Fast-Track service into the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

References

External links

Turweston Aerodrome websiteAviationResearch.co.uk, a site focusing on WW2 bomber training around BrackleyDrivingAmbition.info, a site for under 17's wanting to drive at Turweston Aerodrome
{{authority control Transport in Buckinghamshire Airports in England