White Waltham Airfield
White Waltham Airfield | |||||||||||||||||||
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AMSL 133 ft / 41 m | | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°30′03″N 000°46′28″W / 51.50083°N 0.77444°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www.wlac.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
  EGLM Location in Berkshire | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Sources: UK NATS[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
White Waltham Airfield (ICAO: EGLM) is an operational general aviation aerodrome located at White Waltham, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) southwest of Maidenhead,[1] in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England.
This large grass
Operational history
The airfield was set up in 1928 when the
After the war, the airfield was also used by
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was taught to fly at White Waltham in 1952, flying a de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk belonging to HQ RAF Home Command Communications Squadron (HCCS) of the Royal Air Force.[citation needed] This squadron was based at the airfield from 1950 until 1959.[3]
The airfield stayed under RAF control until 1982, when it was purchased by the current owners. Until 2007 it was the base of
Approximately 150 light aircraft are based at the airfield which, with three runways, is reportedly the largest grass airfield in civilian use in Europe. The airfield holds Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence Number P773, that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flight training.[7][8]
Units
The following units were also here at some point:[9]
- No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF (September 1960 - April 1963)[10]
- No. 1 Ferry Pool RAF (December 1945 - March 1946)[11]
- No. 1 Ferry Pool ATA (November 1940 - March 1946)[12]
- No. 3 Elementary Gliding Training School RAF (October 1942 - ?) became No. 123 Gliding School RAF (? - December 1943)[13]
- No. 3 Ferry Pilots Pool ATA (February - November 1940)[12]
- No. 6 Air Experience Flight RAF (September 1958 - August 1973)[10]
- Detachment of No. 10 Radio School RAF during 1945[14]
- No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (September 1939 - December 1940)[15]
- No. 50 Group Communication Flight RAF (September 1939 - May 1947)[16]
- No. 54 Group Communication Flight RAF (April 1943 - May 1944)[16]
- No. 402 Air Stores Park (February - April 1944)[17]
- No. 623 Gliding School RAF (September 1955 - May 1963)[18]
- Army Co-operation Command Communication Flight RAF (December 1940 - May 1943)2nd Tactical Air Force Communication Flight RAF (June - July 1943)[20]
- Air Transport Auxiliary Advanced FTS (April 1942 - November 1945)[2]
- ATA Air Movements Flight (April 1942 - August 1945)[2]
- ATA School (October 1940 - April 1942)[2]
- ATA (Training) Ferry Pool (January 1941 - April 1943)[2]
- Flying Training Command Communication Flight RAF (May 1940 - February 1942)[21]
- Flying Training Command Communication Squadron RAF (April 1959 - April 1964)[21]
- Reserve Command Communication Flight RAF (September 1939 and May 1940 & September 1946 - August 1950)[22]
- Reserve Command Instrument Training Flight RAF (August 1948 - April 1949)[22]
- Reserve Command Training Flight RAF (September 1948 - August 1950)[22] became Home Command Training Flight RAF (August 1950) became Home Command Examining Unit RAF (August 1950 - 1951 & December 1951 - January 1959)[3]
- RAF Staff College Communication Flight RAF (June - September 1946) became RAF Staff College Flight RAF (September 1946 - February 1948)[23]
- Technical Training Command Communication Flight RAF (May 1940 - November 1945)[24]
- Training Command Communication Flight RAF (January - May 1940)[25]
- University of London Air Squadron (February 1959 - July 1968)[26]
Non-aviation events and Trivia
On 24 June 1989, the Fairey Hangar, on the north side of the airfield, was the venue for one of the largest
The home quarters of
In October 2010, the airfield was turned into a 1950s
White Waltham Airfield also featured as the fictional Finchmere Airfield in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Flying Club",[28] also using footage from the annual Retrofestival held at White Waltham.
The airfield plays a vital role as the hub for the Queens Flight in Nevil Shute's fiction " In the Wet" of 1953.
References
Citations
- ^ a b White Waltham - EGLM
- ^ a b c d e Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 60.
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 165.
- ^ "West London Aero Club". West London Aero Club. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
- ^ "Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance". Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
- ^ "de Havilland Chipmunk T.Mk10 WP912/8467M" (DOC). RAF Museum. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
- ^ Davy, Bob (January 2007). "White Waltham". Pilot Magazine. Archant Specialist Ltd. pp. 83–87.
- ^ "Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Public Licences" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
- ^ "White Waltham (Maidenhead)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 45.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 111.
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 110.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 145.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 215.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 103.
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 158.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 58.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 147.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 67.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 269.
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 134.
- ^ a b c Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 223.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 228.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 270.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 274.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 284.
- ^ "Marilyn Monroe film made at Maidenhead airfield". BBC Berkshire. BBC. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ "The Flying Club". IMDb.
Bibliography
- Sturtivant, Ray; Hamlin, John (2007). Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912. ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.
- Waltham - A Village at War 1939-45 by Dennis Tomlinson, ISBN 0-9534505-3-8
- 'White Waltham Impressions - Photographs Taken at the ATA Pageant on Saturday 29 September' in 'The Aeroplane Spotter', 18 October 1945
External links
