Royal Air Force Weston-super-Mare or more simply RAF Weston-super-Mare 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 which was located on a civilian airfield in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It was set up as a municipal civilian airport in the 1930s before being taken over by the RAF in 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 opposin ...

for training and technical services. It was also the site of an aircraft production facility. In the postwar period it was used by

Westland Helicopters Westland Helicopters was a British aircraft manufacturer. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961. In 2000, it merged ...

. It is now home to

the Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...

and a housing estate.

First airport

The airport was started by Weston-super-Mare Urban District Council in the 1930s. Sir

Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life and family As a child he attended Wilson's School, then in Camberwell, London. The school relocated to the former site of Croydo ...

had encouraged local authorities to build airfields as part of his 'Municipal Aerodromes Scheme' in the late 1920s. In May 1936, scheduled air services were started by

Railway Air Services Railway Air Services (RAS) was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the Big Four railway companies (the GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) and Imperial Airways. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up ...

using the

de Havilland Dragon The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company. Design and construction Following the commercial success of its single-engined de Havilland Fox Moth that had fir ...

and

de Havilland Express The de Havilland Express, also known as the de Havilland D.H.86, was a four-engined passenger aircraft manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1934 and 1937. Development During 1933, talks between the governments of United ...

to fly from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Haldon The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about until it dwindles away nort ...

, then across the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

to Cardiff Municipal Airport before recrossing the Bristol Channel to Weston and then flying on to

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and the surrounding area. Durin ...

. The distance from

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

to Weston is less than across the water, however the road journey would have been around or a trip on the

Aust Ferry Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a ferry service that operated across the River Severn between Aust and Beachley, both in Gloucestershire, England. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided service for road traffic crossing betwee ...

before the

Severn Bridge The Severn Bridge ( cy, Pont Hafren) is a motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wale ...

opened in 1966, although the

Severn Tunnel The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western ...

enabled rail travel between

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. By 1938, a passenger terminal and administration building had been completed, along with a side opening hangar, and

Western Airways Western Airways was an airline based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England between 1932 and 1978. Before World War II, for a short period, it was the world's busiest airline. It survived WWII by using its aircraft engineering expertise. Hist ...

started services using

de Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rel ...

s and a

de Havilland Dragonfly The de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly is a 1930s British twin-engined luxury touring biplane built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company at Hatfield Aerodrome. Development The Dragonfly shares a clear family resemblance with the Dragon Rapide, but ...

, for a scheduled service via

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. On 18 October 1938 the Straight Corporation, headed by

Whitney Straight Air Commodore Whitney Willard Straight, (6 November 1912 – 5 April 1979) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver, aviator, businessman, and a member of the prominent Whitney family of the United States. Early life Born in New York City, Whitn ...

purchased control of Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd. and renamed it Western Airways, Ltd.

RAF use

On 2 January 1939, the

opened a School of Technical Training at

RAF Locking RAF Locking was a Royal Air Force station near the village of Locking and about 3 miles from Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. No 5 School of Technical Training RAF Locking was opened as a training unit in 1939 as No.5 School o ...

, that did not have an airfield, but was only a mile from the Weston-super-Mare site. This was followed in 1939 by the establishment of No. 39 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (ERFTS) at the airport, using

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics. The Magister ...

s and the Audax and Hind variants of the

Hawker Hart The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

. In September 1939, the No. 39 ERFTS was disbanded and replaced by the No. 5 Civil Air Navigation School RAF (CANS); both were run by the Straight Corporation, until the RAF took it over and renamed it No. 5 Air Observers Navigation School RAF and, in 1940, transferred to

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865– ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and were replaced by No. 10 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF. On 1 May 1940, the RAF formally took over the airfield, and a main runway of was laid, with shorter runways of and on the grass. On the west of the airfield at Oldmixon, a factory was built by the Ministry of Aircraft Production to manufacture the Bristol Beaufighter, that were then flown out of the airfield. A Q-decoy site was set up at

Bleadon Bleadon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is about south of Weston-super-Mare and, according to the 2011 census, has a population of 1,079. History Bleadon was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Bledone'', meaning 'c ...

, in an attempt to protect the factory from bombing by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. In October 1942, it became the headquarters of No. 286 Squadron RAF that operated a variety of aircraft, including

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

s and

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 ...

s, to provide targets for anti-aircraft gun practice in the west country of England. 286 Squadron was replaced in November 1943 by a detachment of No. 116 Squadron RAF its main task was the calibration of predictors and AA radar used by numerous

Anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

batteries in the UK. In March 1944, an Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit was added, that used ranges in the Bristol Channel for testing, and stayed at Weston until 1949. It was latterly as the Polish Air Force Staff College from April 1944 to April 1946.

Postwar use

Weston-Super-Mare Airport control tower and pilots' block

RAF training in conjunction with RAF Locking continued after the Second World War, but also civilian flights resumed. During and after the war, the engineering division of Western Airways repaired and maintained many types of military aircraft, and extended this into parts manufacturing. This led to them building aircraft on their own production line, and between 1953 and 1958, 31

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...

s were built. In 1955, the old Beaufighter factory at Oldmixon was converted for use by the Bristol Aeroplane Company Helicopter Division, headed by helicopter pioneer Raoul Hafner, that transferred there from

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

. Production at the site included the

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

, that was the first

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-designed

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to fly and serve with the Royal Air Force, that used it for

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

. The

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

followed, a twin-engine,

tandem rotor Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

military

. It was designed for a variety of transport roles including troop transport, supply dropping and

casualty evacuation Casualty evacuation, also known as CASEVAC or by the callsign Dustoff or colloquially Dust Off, is a military term for the emergency patient evacuation of casualties from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and air. "DUSTOFF" is ...

. It was operated by the Royal Air Force from 1961 to 1969. In 1960, the factory was taken over by

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

, and served as a logistics supply station, until closure in 1987. WestonHelicopterMuseum

The airfield was the home to No. 87 Glider Squadron (87 GS), that had been set up at Weston in 1943, and later became

No. 621 Volunteer Gliding Squadron 621 VGS is a Volunteer Gliding Squadron based at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. 621 VGS is one of 10 remaining Volunteer Gliding Squadrons and operates under No.2 Flying Training School, within No.22 (Training) Gro ...

(621 VGS) staying at the site until 1993, when it moved to

RAF Hullavington RAF Hullavington was a Royal Air Force station located at Hullavington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The station opened in June 1937 and was predominantly used for various training purposes. It closed on 31 March 1992 when it was transfe ...

. Today there is an operational

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

on site, used occasionally by the

RAF Search and Rescue The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force (SARF or SAR Force) was the Royal Air Force organisation which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until ...

service and other civil and military visiting helicopters. A corner of the airfield site houses

The Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...

that took over part of the site in 1978 including a

armoury building and air-raid shelter. The main part of the site passed into the ownership of Persimmon Homes and in 2011 a housing development, to be named Winterstoke Village after the

Hundred of Winterstoke The Hundred of Winterstoke is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which ...

, was proposed, with associated areas for new employment opportunities. On 6 September 2012 construction machinery moved in and began building a new road on the line of the main runway, with a roundabout to give access from the A371 Locking Moor Road.

Accidents and incidents

On 22 November 1946 a Royal Air Force twin-engined

Douglas Boston The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...

bomber hit and ripped the top off a bus with its landing gear as it was on approach to the airfield. The bus was the middle one of three taking 57 airmen from nearby

to Weston-super-mare railway station. Seven airman were killed at the scene and one died later, four others were seriously hurt. The aircraft crash landed on the airfield and the crew of three were not injured. On Wednesday 7 July 1948 de Havilland Sea Mosquito TR.33 ''TW284'' of the Air Torpedo Development Unit at

RAF Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite th ...

in Hampshire was performing a slow roll around 400 or 500 feet when one of the wings failed and it crashed on the airfield killing the two RAF officers on board."News in Brief." Times ondon, England8 July 1948: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 4 March 2015.

References

Bibliography

*Tillbrook, Ray (Editor). 1998. Over & Out: A History of Royal Air Force Locking. Forces & Corporate Publishing *Dudley, Roger and Johnson, Ted. 2010. Weston Super Mare & the Aeroplane. Amberley Publishing * Sturtivant, Ray. 2004. Fleet Air Arm Fixed-Wing Aircraft since 1946.

Air-Britain Air-Britain, traditionally sub-titled "The International Association of Aviation Enthusiasts", is a non-profit aviation society founded in July 1948. As from 2015, it is constituted as a British charitable trust and book publisher. History Air-Brit ...

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston-super-Mare, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Somerset Buildings and structures in Weston-super-Mare Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom