Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield is an

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

on the west side of

Hinton-in-the-Hedges Hinton-in-the-Hedges is a small village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, due west of the town of Brackley. West of the village is Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 17 ...

near

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 inter ...

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 ...

, England. The airfield is made up of several runways, one of which is

Asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

at 700 m (2,297 ft) long. It consists of several well-drained short-mown grass runways which are oriented: 06/24, 09/27 and 15/33. The field is flat and plays home to many activities, from power flying to glider flying. The skydiving centre is open 6 days a week (closed Mondays) and skydiving takes place weather permitting. During 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 Ch ...

at nearby Silverstone, it is used as a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

History

RAF Hinton-in-the-Hedges aerial photograph WWII IWM HU 93055

As with many airfields in the surrounding area Hinton was built in 1940 by the RAF Bomber Command during the

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and closed to military activity in 1945. The following units were here at some point: * Relief Landing Ground of No. 13 Operational Training Unit RAF (November 1940 – August 1942) * Satellite of No. 16 Operational Training Unit RAF (July 1942 – April 1943) * Sub site of No. 246 Maintenance Unit RAF (November 1946 – November 1947) * No. 1478 Flight RAF (April – June 1943) *

Beam Approach Development Unit RAF This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the Royal Air Force. The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being ...

(April 1943) became 'A' Flight of the SDU. * Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) Flight RAF (? – July 1944) * Signals Development Unit RAF (SDU) (April 1943 – July 1944)

Gliding

The gliding club at Hinton Skydiving Centre is owned by Banbury Gliding Club. It has been flying at Hinton in the Hedges for over 20 years and operates mainly at weekends and Bank Holidays, but is open some Fridays during the summer. It is situated from the

A422 road The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow single ...

. There is no landing fee at the airfield. The club gliders that operate at the airfield are: * a K13 * a

K21 The K21 is a South Korean infantry fighting vehicle. A replacement for the K200-series, it was formerly designated as K300 or XK21 KNIFV (Korea Next-generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle). The initial production began in 2009, with the Republic of ...

* a Ka6 * an Astir. There are also many privately owned gliders, often flying cross-country, and single propeller aircraft that operate at the airfield. The

is used for first-time flyers and trial-lessons, the K13 is used as a trainer, and the Ka6 is used for solo pilots, as is the Astir (G-CGBJ) used for more experienced pilots. The gliding BGA turning point for the airfield is HIN. The skydiving aircraft takes students up to about . It takes off and lands on the main hard runway which is oriented 06/24. The club has two tug planes – a Eurofox and a Super Cub.

Flight Training

Go Fly Oxford is a

flying school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a st ...

based at the airfield and operates two Cessna 150 aircraft and a Piper PA-28RT-201 Arrow.
Turweston Flying Club
also operates a Piper PA28-181 Warrior from the airfield.

Notable accidents and incidents

On Thursday, 6 May 2010, the day of the UK's 2010 General Election, a

PZL-104 Wilga PZL-104 Wilga ('' golden oriole'') is a Polish short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) civil aviation utility aircraft designed and originally manufactured by PZL Warszawa-Okęcie, and later by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), who ...

, carrying the then former

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...

leader

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

whilst attempting to land at Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield after aborting a flight over Buckingham with a UKIP banner attached to the tail. The banner became tangled in the control surfaces on the empennage which prompted the pilot to attempt an emergency landing. The pilot and Farage were both injured and taken to different hospitals. In December 2010, the pilot, Justin Adams, was arrested as he was alleged to have threatened to kill Farage and similarly threatened the CAA investigator Martin James.''Nigel Farage plane crash pilot charged with threatening to kill Ukip leader'' (has crash picture) Daily Telegraph, 1 December 2010, retrieved 19 January 2011
/ref>

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinton-In-The-Hedges Airfield Airports in England Transport in Northamptonshire Airports in the East Midlands