RAF Westcott 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) and ...

station located near Westcott in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The site fully opened in September 1942 and was the base of No.11 Operational Training Unit (OTU) flying the

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 g ...

medium bomber A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...

until the RAF moved out in August 1945, the station was officially closed on 3 April 1946. The airfield was then transferred to the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

and became the home for the

Rocket Propulsion Establishment The Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott, Buckinghamshire on the site of the former RAF Westcott has made a number of notable contributions in the field of rocket propulsion, including input on the rocket design for the Blue Streak mis ...

until the mid 1990s. The site is now the Westcott Venture park, which is the registered address for 37 companies.

History

World War II

RAF Westcott opened in September 1942 along with its satellite station

RAF Oakley RAF Oakley is a former Royal Air Force station between Oakley and Worminghall, Buckinghamshire, England. It was located in a flat, damp wooded area. History Second World War usage Intended as RAF Westcott's satellite, the land at Field Far ...

. The airfield was equipped with 3 concrete

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s. Shortly after its opening, No. 11 Operational Training Unit (OTU) moved in from

RAF Bassingbourn Royal Air Force Bassingbourn or more simply RAF Bassingbourn is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire, Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambri ...

operating the

bomber. The OTU played a major part in the training of

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

crews during

World War II 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 opposin ...

, as part of this training, trainees would be sent on

air navigation The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another. Successful air navigation involves piloting an air ...

and leaflet dropping exercises. During and after the last few days of fighting in May 1945, No. 11 OTU and the airfield were involved in Operation Exodus:

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

flights for almost 53,000

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

personnel who had been

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

in Germany. The RAF moved out in August 1945 and the airfield was transferred to the

on 3 April 1946.

1946-1990s

After World War II, rocket research and development took on new urgency after Germany's success with the

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

and

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

rocket, the

was set up at Westcott in 1946 and German scientists relocated to the site to continue their research into

liquid rocket propellant The highest specific impulse chemical rockets use liquid propellants (liquid-propellant rockets). They can consist of a single chemical (a monopropellant) or a mix of two chemicals, called bipropellants. Bipropellants can further be divided into ...

. The site developed liquid propellant motor for various rockets and missiles, including the Blue Streak ballistic missile and the Europa-1 space rocket launch vehicle. This site was regarded as so secret it was not marked on

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

maps. In 1977 Westcott and the Waltham Abbey research station merged to form the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment. Westcott continued to be at the forefront of liquid propellant research until the mid 1990s, developing the

LEROS Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...

liquid engine used for the

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

missions of the 1990s. The surviving test stands and control rooms were designated as either Grade II* or Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and named the K2 stand as a "nationally unique test stand for the testing of large solid fuel rocket motors which has contributed to significant UK defence systems and the space programme."

Present day

The site, which extends to 650 acres, is now the location of Westcott Venture Park, a

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

for

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

. Being the largest business park in Buckinghamshire, it is currently the registered address for 37 companies. The business park is still home to a division of the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

company

Nammo Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian/Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switze ...

, which continues the design and manufacture of the LEROS rocket engines.

Reaction Engines Limited Reaction Engines Limited is a British aerospace manufacturer based in Oxfordshire, England. History and personnel In , Reaction Engines was founded by Alan Bond (lead engineer on the British Interplanetary Society's Project Daedalus) and ...

began construction on a rocket test facility in 2017 to develop their

SABRE A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

rocket engine with the goal to have the new building ready for use in 2020. In 2016, the UK Government announced plans to invest £4.12 million to develop a National Propulsion Test Facility at the site, allowing cost-effective testing and development of propulsion engines. The plan involves building a new vacuum facility which will allow the simulation of high altitude testing of thrusters up to 2 kN, upgrade an existing testing chamber and open a smaller 1N thruster test chamber for the community to use. The

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

will advise and oversee the initial design phase. Westcott Venture Park has also unveiled plans for a new solar photovoltaic power station in 2018 with a planned capacity of more than 15 megawatts (MW) and will cover 76 acres. This will make the business park carbon-negative since the park will generate more power than the business will use in a year.

References

External links