RAF Aston Down
| Aston Down | |||||||||||||||
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Aston Down from the south
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Private | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Cotswold Gliding Club | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Cotswold Gliding Club | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°42′27″N 002°07′28″W / 51.70750°N 2.12444°WCoordinates: 51°42′27″N 002°07′28″W / 51.70750°N 2.12444°W | ||||||||||||||
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 Aston Down
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Aston Down is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, South West England and 6.9 miles (11.1 km) west of Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
The airfield was used by the Royal Air Force from the First World War until 1967 when the Cotswold Gliding Club moved in from their previous base near Tetbury. In 2002 the land and most of hangars surrounding the airfield were sold by the Ministry of Defence to private developers for use as industrial units.
The airfield was originally opened as RAF Minchinhampton and was first used in the First World War, serving as an aerodrome for the Australian Flying Corps with No. 2 Squadron AFC flying the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a and the Sopwith Pup and No. 3 Squadron AFC flying the Avro 504. The airfield closed shortly afterwards.
In 1938 the airfield reopened under the new name of RAF Aston Down at the request of the residents of Minchinhampton village, which lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of the airfield, who feared not enemy attack, but a fall in the value of their houses.
During the Second World War the main present unit was No. 20 Maintenance Unit RAF (MU) which stored and prepared aircraft. The unit arrived during October 1938 and left in September 1960. The next unit to arrive was No. 12 Group Pool RAF which arrived during August 1939, the units name was changed to No. 5 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) before being renamed No. 55 OTU. The unit trained Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim pilots before being renamed No. 3 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF at RAF Annan. This was redesignated on 18 December 1944 and moved back to Aston Down where the unit flew Hawker Typhoons.
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Wikipedia