RAF Stormy Down
RAF Stormy Down | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyle, Bridgend in Wales | |||||||
  RAF Stormy Down Shown within Bridgend | |||||||
| Coordinates | 51°30′15″N 003°40′13″W / 51.50417°N 3.67028°WCoordinates: 51°30′15″N 003°40′13″W / 51.50417°N 3.67028°W | ||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1939 | ||||||
| In use | 1939-1947 | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Elevation | 97 metres (318 ft) AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
Royal Air Force Stormy Down, or more simply RAF Stormy Down is a former Royal Air Force station located near Pyle, Bridgend and opened in 1940.
History
It was an armament training school for the Royal Air Force (RAF) then after they departed the French took the station over and later American forces were also stationed at 'Stormy'. Flying ceased in August 1944 due to the dangerous grass landing strip. However the airfield continued to be used for occasional private aircraft and a glider club for a number of years.[1]
Stormy Down parented the RAF marine base at Porthcawl harbour. It ceased use as a flying station because the chalk was collapsing due to the rain. Once the RAF personnel left it became a French Air Force and Naval Aviation Initial Training school. The airfield continued in use by an Air Training Corps gliding school and then a gliding club. There was only one aircraft landing there after the field shut and the pilot was lucky to escape prosecution. The only American involvement was the garaging of two Piper Cub reconnaissance aircraft from Porthcawl.
Units
The following units were at Stormy down at some point:[2]
- No. 2 Service Flying Training School
- No. 3 Service Flying Training School
- No. 7 Air Gunners School
- No. 7 Air Observers School
- No. 7 Bombing & Gunnery School
- No. 7 Service Flying Training School
- No. 9 Armament Training Station
- No. 9 Service Flying Training School
- No. 14 Operational Training Unit RAF
- No. 23 (French) Initial Training Wing
- No. 32 (French) Personnel Reception Centre
- No. 68 Elementary Gliding School
- No. 68 Gliding School RAF
Current use
The site is now used by Cenin Concrete Products Ltd, as a Research, Development & Production Centre. The site is also the operating base for Bridgend Motorcycle Training Centre. The site is also used for a weekly car boot sale. A proposal to site wind turbines on the disused airfield has been made and a solar energy facility built on the site.
References
Citations
- ↑ Smith-Wales 1990, p. 00.
- ↑ "Stormy Down (Newton Down) (Porthcawl)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
Bibliography
- Smith, D J (1990). Action Stations: Vol 3. Military airfields of Wales and the North-West. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 1-85260-375-5.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
