RAF Weston-super-Mare
RAF Weston-super-Mare | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weston-super-Mare, Somerset in England | |||||||||||
 The main runway photographed in 2007 | |||||||||||
  RAF Weston-super-Mare Shown within Somerset | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°20′07″N 2°56′28″W / 51.33528°N 2.94111°W | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Flying Training Command | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1936 | ||||||||||
| In use | 1936-1988 | ||||||||||
| Battles/wars | Second World War | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Weston-super-Mare, or more simply RAF Weston-super-Mare, is a former Royal Air Force station which was located on a civilian airfield in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.
It was set up as a municipal civilian airport in the 1930s before being taken over by the RAF in the
First airport
The airport was started by Weston-super-Mare Urban District Council in the 1930s. Sir
By 1938, a passenger terminal and administration building had been completed, along with a side opening hangar, and
RAF use
On 2 January 1939, the
On 1 May 1940, the RAF formally took over the airfield, and a main runway of 4,197 feet (1,279 m) was laid, with shorter runways of 2,950 feet (900 m) and 2,260 feet (690 m) on the grass. On the west of the airfield at
In October 1942, it became the headquarters of No. 286 Squadron RAF that operated a variety of aircraft, including Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants and Airspeed Oxfords, to provide targets for anti-aircraft gun practice in the west country of England. 286 Squadron was replaced in November 1943 by a detachment of No. 116 Squadron RAF its main task was the calibration of predictors and AA radar used by numerous Anti-aircraft batteries in the UK. In March 1944, an Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit was added, that used ranges in the Bristol Channel for testing, and stayed at Weston until 1949.[1]
It was latterly as the Polish Air Force Staff College from April 1944 to April 1946.[4]
Postwar use
RAF training in conjunction with RAF Locking continued after the Second World War, but also civilian flights resumed. During and after the war, the engineering division of Western Airways repaired and maintained many types of military aircraft, and extended this into parts manufacturing. This led to them building aircraft on their own production line, and between 1953 and 1958, 31 Bristol Freighters were built.[5]
In 1955, the old Beaufighter factory at Oldmixon was converted for use by the
The airfield was the home to No. 87 Glider Squadron (87 GS), that had been set up at Weston in 1943, and later became No. 621 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (621 VGS) staying at the site until 1993, when it moved to RAF Hullavington.[7] Today there is an operational
A corner of the airfield site houses
On 6 September 2012 construction machinery moved in and began building a new road on the line of the main runway, with a roundabout to give access from the A371 Locking Moor Road.
Accidents and incidents
On 22 November 1946 a Royal Air Force twin-engined Douglas Boston bomber hit and ripped the top off a bus with its landing gear as it was on approach to the airfield.[10] The bus was the middle one of three taking 57 airmen from nearby RAF Locking to Weston-super-mare railway station.[10] Seven airman were killed at the scene and one died later, four others were seriously hurt.[10] The aircraft crash landed on the airfield and the crew of three were not injured.[10]
On Wednesday 7 July 1948 de Havilland Sea Mosquito TR.33 TW284 of the Air Torpedo Development Unit at RAF Gosport in Hampshire was performing a slow roll around 400 or 500 feet when one of the wings failed and it crashed on the airfield killing the two RAF officers on board.[11][12][13]
See also
- Western Airways whose operations played an important role in the airfield's development.
References
- ^ ISBN 1-85306-864-0.
- ISBN 0-947554-65-3.
- ^ "Air Commodore W W Straight (90680)". Air of Authority — A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
- ^ "RAF Weston-super-Mare". rafweb.org. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
- ^ Dudley and Johnson (2010), pp. 355–361, 433–435
- ^ "RAF Weston-super-Mare". controltowers.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
- ^ "Weston Control Tower". Retrieved 14 October 2009.
- ^ "1969 to 1979 The Early Years". The Helicopter Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
- ^ "Weston Villages Supplementary Planning Document" (PDF). North Somerset Council website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Crowded Bus Struck by Aeroplane — Eight R.A.F. Men Killed". News. The Times. No. 50616. London. 23 November 1946. p. 4.
- ^ "Mosquito Breaks - Two Die". Western Daily Press. 8 July 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 1 March 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Sturtivant 2004, p. 109.
- ^ "News in Brief." Times [London, England] 8 July 1948: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 4 March 2015.
Bibliography
- Tillbrook, Ray (Editor). 1998. Over & Out: A History of Royal Air Force Locking. Forces & Corporate Publishing ISBN 0-9529597-3-9
- Dudley, Roger and Johnson, Ted. 2010. Weston Super Mare & the Aeroplane. Amberley Publishing ISBN 978-1-84868-221-4
- ISBN 0-85130 283 1
External links
