Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield is located east of

Sherburn in Elmet Sherburn in Elmet (pronounced ) is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, west of Selby and south of Tadcaster. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It is one o ...

village and west of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England.

Pre-War and Wartime history

In the 1920s, the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club began operating here. The novelist, pilot, and aeronautical engineer

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

was a member, and on the club's management committee. At the time, the club was flying

de Havilland Moth The de Havilland Moths were a series of light aircraft, sports planes, and military trainers designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. In the late 1920s and 1930s, they were the most common civilian aircraft flying in Britain, and during that time ever ...

s. In his memoir, ''

Slide Rule The slide rule is a mechanical analog computer which is used primarily for multiplication and division, and for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is not typically designed for addition or subtraction, which ...

'', Shute records that ". . . the Yorkshire Club quickly attracted a fair cross-section of young Yorkshire men and women, so that a Sunday spent at the Club was a merry Sunday." He also met his future wife, Frances Mary Heaton, a physician, at the club. After establishing Airspeed Ltd., an aircraft manufacturing firm, he personally flew the first two test flights of the company's first aircraft here. It was a glider, known as the

Tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

, and was launched using a "very old Buick car" pulling a steel cable.Nevil Shute, "Slide Rule", London: Heinemann, 1954 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 ...

the airfield was used as a

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 ...

station. From 1940 Blackburn Aircraft used a Ministry of Aircraft Production factory here to build 1699

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...

naval torpedo aircraft. The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) was moved from

RAF Ringway 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 ...

to Sherburn on 17 June 1942. It was charged with developing the means to deploy allied airborne forces and supplies on operations by

Military glider Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops ( glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft wer ...

, Parachute and other means. The AFEE moved to

RAF Beaulieu Royal Air Force Beaulieu or more simply RAF Beaulieu is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is l ...

on 4 January 1945. The following units were also here at some point: *

No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF No. 2 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF was a training unit operated by the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. The unit started operating from late 1940 and disbanded during early 1944. History The unit formed on 1 October 1940 at RAF Catfo ...

* No. 7 Ferry Pool ATA * No. 7 Ferry Pilots Pool * No. 30 Gliding School RAF *

No. 46 Squadron RAF No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II. World War I No. 46 Squadron was ...

(1941) *

No. 73 Squadron RAF No. 73 Squadron, Royal Air Force was formed on 2 July 1917 during the First World War. It was disbanded in 1969. World War I It was initially a unit of the Royal Flying Corps and was formed out of the Central Flying School, based at Upavon, Wilts ...

885 Naval Air Squadron 885 Naval Air Squadron (885 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. First formed on 1 March 1941, the squadron served as a fighter squadron during the Second World War. It operated in the Mediterranean in 1942–43, whe ...

Leeds University Air Squadron Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Post-war operations

Post-war, Sherburn has been used by private pilots and by aero clubs for training and leisure flying. The Yorkshire Aeroplane Club was based here for many years and organised several international air rallies in the early 1950s. In addition to the listed runways, there is a closed/un-maintained paved former runway parallel to, and about northwest of, the current 06/24 grass runway.

References

External links

Sherburn Aero Club Ltd
Airports in England Transport in North Yorkshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Airports in Yorkshire

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 ...

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