Shenington Airfield
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Shenington Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Summary | |
| Airport type | Private |
| Owner | Shenington Airfield Ltd |
| Location | Shenington, Oxfordshire |
| Opened | October 1941 |
| Coordinates | 52°4′56″N 001°28′29″W / 52.08222°N 1.47472°W |
| Website | https://www.sheningtonairfield.com/ |
 | |
Shenington Airfield, previously known as RAF Edgehill, is an Aerodrome in Oxfordshire. The village of Shenington is located to the east of the airfield. Currently, it is owned by Shenington Airfield Ltd, and leases use of the site to various organisations, predominatly the Shenington Gliding Club.
RAF use
[edit]Initially Shenington Airfield was opened as RAF Edgehill in October 1941.
No. 21 Operational Training Unit (OTU) was based at the airfield operating Vickers Wellingtons, Miles Martinets and Hawker Hurricanes also No. 12 OTU were based at the airfield as well.[1] No. 1 Flying Training School RAF also used Edgehill at some point.[2]
The airfield was also used for the flight testing of the Gloster E28/39 in 1942 after it had made its maiden flights at RAF Cranwell.[1]
After the war it became a storage depot. After a brief period as a Flying Training School, it finally closed as an RAF station in 1953.
Accidents and incidents
[edit]| Date | Incident | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 4 October 1941 | Vickers Wellington R1146 of 21 OTU flew into trees near Edgehill. | [3] |
| 22 May 1942 | Avro Anson N9565 of 3 Air Observers School hit HT wires near Edgehill | [4] |
| 29 January 1943 | Wellington HF650 of 22 OTU stalled and crashed at Edgehill | [5] |
| 7 June 1944 | A Douglas C-47 Skytrain (possibly 43-15048) of 49 TCS, 313 TCG crashed on approach | [6] |
Civillian use
[edit]Currently the site is used by Shenington Gliding Club,[7] though other companies are resident on the site as well. Private aircraft are able to organise flying into the site, however due to the intense use of the airspace and site by gliding operations this is not a significant element of operations.
Gliding has occurred at Shenington airfield in various forms since the early 1980s, but then in 1991 Shenington gliding club formed and operated every day of the week. It is a mix of both professional (paid) and volunteer instruction, and a number of private aircraft are based at the club.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b ""RAF Edgehill"". Control Towers. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Edgehill (Shenington)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ ""Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands – 1941"". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ ""Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands – 1942"". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ ""Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands – 1943"". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ ""Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands – 1944"". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ "Airfield | Shenington Airfield | England". Shenington Airfield. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
- ^ "Welcome | Edgehill Gliding Centre | Shenington Airfield". Edgehill Gliding. Retrieved 2024-11-08.