RAF Balado Bridge

Royal Air Force Balado Bridge or more simply RAF Balado Bridge is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3 kilometres) west of Kinross, in central Scotland. It opened in 1942 as a satellite airfield to RAF Grangemouth, and closed in 1957. It has since served as a NATO satellite station, a microlight flying base, and as the venue for the T in the Park music festival.

History

Second World War

RAF Balado Bridge opened on 30 March 1942. The airfield would have been named "RAF Kinross" however the naming of airfields at the time avoided confusion with other place names. In this case it may have been confused with

Balado Bridge had two runways, both made of concrete. The tower was of the Watch Office for Fighter Satellite Station type (it was updated throughout its life). There were two hangars, the larger of the two is a B1 type, designed by the engineers T Bedford as an aircraft repair shed, mainly for heavy bombers. This type first appeared in 1942 and was larger than the Bellman hangar which was also a temporary and transportable type. The smaller hangar was a Super Robin type.[3] The airfield was taken over by the War Department in November 1944.^{[citation needed]}

The following units were here at some point:^[4]

• Satellite site for No. 2 Combat Training Wing RAF (October 1943)^[5] became Satellite site for No. 2 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF (October 1943 – June 1944)^[6]
• Relief landing ground for No. 9 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF (September 1944 – July 1945)^[7]

Post War

After the war it became an aircraft graveyard when

Later use

Following decommissioning as an RAF station, part of the site served as a

Bibliography

• Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing.
  ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5
  .
• Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians).
  ISBN 0-85130-252-1
  .