Royal Air Force Stormy Down, or more simply RAF Stormy Down is a former
Royal Air Force station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
located near
Pyle,
Bridgend and opened in 1940.
History
It was an armament training school for the Royal Air Force (RAF) then after they departed the French took the station over and later American forces were also stationed at 'Stormy'. Flying ceased in August 1944 due to the dangerous grass landing strip. However the airfield continued to be used for occasional private aircraft and a glider club for a number of years.
Stormy Down parented the RAF marine base at Porthcawl harbour. Once Stormy Down closed, the Sea Rescue unit at Porthcawl was parented by St Athan. Known as 1105 Marine craft unit, it had three 43 ft range safety launches. It was still operating in 1958.
Stormy Down ceased use as a flying station because the chalk was collapsing due to the rain. Once the RAF personnel left it became a French Air Force and Naval Aviation Initial Training school. The airfield continued in use by an Air Training Corps gliding school and then a gliding club. There was only one aircraft landing there after the field shut and the pilot was lucky to escape prosecution.
The only American involvement was the garaging of two Piper Cub reconnaissance aircraft from Porthcawl.
Units
The following units were at Stormy Down at some point:
*
No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAF 02 may refer to:
* The year 2002, or any year ending with 02
* The month of February
* 2 (number)
* ''02'' (Son of Dave album), 2006
* ''02'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2012
* The number of the French department Aisne
* 0², the secret final boss of ...
*
No. 3 Service Flying Training School RAF
*
No. 7 Air Gunners School RAF
*
No. 7 Air Observers School RAF
*
No. 7 Bombing & Gunnery School RAF
*
No. 7 Service Flying Training School RAF 07 may refer to:
* The year 2007, or any year ending with 07
* The month of July
* 7 (number)
* ''FIFA 10''
* ''Madden NFL 07''
* ''Cricket 07''
* The number of the French department Ardèche
* The musical duo Zero 7
* ''07 zgłoś się'', a Polish ...
*
No. 9 Armament Training Station RAF
*
No. 9 Service Flying Training School RAF
*
No. 14 Operational Training Unit RAF
Royal Air Force Market Harborough or more simply RAF Market Harborough is a former Royal Air Force station near the town of Market Harborough in the county of Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Today part of the site of the former airbase is occup ...
* No. 23 (French) Initial Training Wing
* No. 32 (French) Personnel Reception Centre
*
No. 68 Gliding School RAF
Current use
The site is now used by Cenin Concrete Products Ltd, as a Research, Development & Production Centre. The site is also the operating base for Bridgend Motorcycle Training Centre. The site is also used for a weekly
car boot sale
Car boot sales or boot fairs are a form of market in which private individuals come together to sell household and garden goods. They are popular in the United Kingdom, where they are often referred to simply as 'car boots'.
Some scientific ...
. A proposal to site wind turbines on the disused airfield has been made and a solar energy facility built on the site.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
Photos of the site
Royal Air Force stations in Wales
{{RAF-stub