RAF Tatenhill is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

satellite airfield in Tatenhill, Staffordshire, England, west of

Burton on Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

. It was originally known as ''RAF Crossplains''.

History

The field was built in 1941 as a satellite for No. 27 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) at

RAF Lichfield Royal Air Force Station Lichfield also known as Fradley Aerodrome, was an operational training station from 1940 until 1958. It was situated in Fradley, north east of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The airfield was the busiest airfield in ...

later becoming a satellite airfield for RAF Wheaton Aston. The design was the wartime RAF standard of three co-intersecting runways, east-west, north-south diagonal. The east-west runway was the only one suitable to safely accommodate bomber take off and landings () which hampered its operability. It was used as a bomber crew training field, which continued in varied training functions until 1944 with

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

and

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

aircraft for RAF Bomber Command. Later a single engine training unit arrived using the

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second W ...

aircraft. It was then used by the RAF School of Explosives after the disastrous explosion at nearby

RAF Fauld Royal Air Force Fauld is a former Royal Air Force underground munitions storage depot located south west of Tutbury, Staffordshire and north east of Rugeley, Staffordshire, England. The site was controlled by No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF wh ...

, from October 1945 until January 1947. During the post Second World War period when it was still under RAF Control, RAF Tatenhill was used to break up unused and unwanted ammunition before it was dumped at sea. The airfield had a bomb dump on the south-east side and a number of frying pan dispersals were built on land to the north of the B5234 road, with hangars in this area too.

Current use

The airfield remains in use as

Tatenhill Airfield Tatenhill Airfield is a licensed airfield operated by Tatenhill Aviation Ltd. Its United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P813) allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction as a ...

. A wartime Bellman hangar remains in use as of 2013.

References

Bibliography

External links

Pictures of RAF Tatenhill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatenhill Airfield Royal Air Force stations in Staffordshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom