Warton Aerodrome
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Warton Aerodrome | |||||||||||
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AMSL 55 ft / 17 m | | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 53°44′42″N 002°53′02″W / 53.74500°N 2.88389°W | ||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||
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Sources: UK NATS[1] |
Warton Aerodrome (IATA: WRT, ICAO: EGNO) is located in Warton village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. The aerodrome is 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) west of Preston, Lancashire, UK. The western end of the site adjoins the village of Freckleton.
Today the airfield is a major assembly and testing facility of
Warton Aerodrome has a
History
Establishment and military use
In 1940 new runways were built at Warton so that it could act as a "satellite" airfield for the
The airfield was first operated as an air depot of the
On 14 August 1944
It then became a Royal Air Force station.
Aircraft manufacturers
In 1947, English Electric took over the site, moving its main design office there from the Strand Road site in Preston in 1948.
With the merger of English Electric Aviation and the other aircraft divisions of the major British manufacturers in 1960, it became a
Development
Eurofighter
Warton was used as the base for all British development aircraft (DA) and Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) in the
Nimrod
Warton was also used for development flying of the Nimrod MRA4 Maritime Reconnaissance and Attack aircraft until the aircraft was cut in the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010.
Production
Tornado
The final new build Tornado left Warton in 1998, a GR.1 for Saudi Arabia. Following this the main assembly hall was re-fitted as the final assembly site of the Eurofighter Typhoon. BAE estimate that modern manufacturing techniques will allow the 30-week assembly time for a Tornado to be reduced to 16 weeks for the Typhoon.
Private airfield
Warton is the base for
The site is not open to the public. For many years limited areas were made accessible during open days, on a four-yearly cycle alternating with Samlesbury, which the company held for the families and friends of employees and local residents. These "Families' Days" were free of charge and typically included demonstrations of activities, tours of simulation facilities and impressive flying displays. The last Families' Day was held in 2006.[7]
Police helicopter
From November 1994, the
This has now been withdrawn[when?] and is being covered by the National Police Air Service based at Barton.
Lightning XS928
The airfield has Lightning F.6 XS928 on permanent static display[8]
Protests
In January 1996 four women, known as the Ploughshare Four, caused more than £1.5m in damage to a Hawk warplane at the site. They were found not guilty of criminal damage at
On 29 January 2017 Rev Dan Woodhouse, a
Enterprise zone
Since 2012, the aerodrome has provided one of the two sites of Lancashire Enterprise Zone, the other site being at BAE Systems' Samlesbury Aerodrome.[14] The zone's site at Warton covers 72 hectares (180 acres).[15] BAE Systems, Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Enterprise Partnership coordinate the site's development.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Warton - EGNO
- ^ https://www.caa.co.uk/media/hzcbmoy5/20171024ordinarylicencesandmapsutoz.pdf
- ^ "Lancashire County Council: Lancashire Profile". 24 February 2007. Archived from the original on 24 February 2007.
- ^ Haulman, Daniel L. (5 April 2012). "Factsheet 402 Maintenance Wing (AFMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
- ISBN 9780786478415.
- ISBN 978-1-872895-77-2.
- ^ "26,000 attend BAE 'family day' - Lancashire Evening Post". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ISBN 9-780859-791724.
- ^ Independent.co.uk. February 2017.
- ^ "Two arrested over 'disarming warplanes' at BAE Systems in Warton". BBC News. 29 January 2017.
- ^ "Ekklesia | Methodist minister and Quaker arrested for trying to disarm warplanes". old.ekklesia.co.uk. 30 January 2017.
- ^ I Broke Into an Arms Factory to Destroy Fighter Jets | Investigators, retrieved 23 March 2021
- ^ "'Greater good' pair cleared of BAE attack". BBC News. 26 October 2017.
- ^ a b Dillon, Jonathon (26 February 2012). "'Big companies' interested in East Lancashire enterprise zone". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ Woodhouse, Lisa (23 August 2012). "Lancashire enterprize [sic] zone due in to boost jobs 18 months". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 March 2015.