RAF Benson

RAF Benson
Near Benson, Oxfordshire in England
Benson village (left) and RAF Benson (centre and right) from the air
EGUB Shown within Oxfordshire
Coordinates	51°36′59″N 001°05′45″W / 51.61639°N 1.09583°W / 51.61639; -1.09583Coordinates: 51°36′59″N 001°05′45″W / 51.61639°N 1.09583°W / 51.61639; -1.09583
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Website	www.raf.mod.uk/rafbenson/
Site history
Built	1939 (1939)
In use	1939-Present
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: BEX, ICAO: EGUB
Elevation	69 metres (226 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 01/19 1,823 metres (5,981 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson (IATA: BEX, ICAO: EGUB) is a Royal Air Force station near Benson in South Oxfordshire, England. It is home to the Royal Air Force's support helicopters, the Westland Puma and the AgustaWestland Merlin, known as the Puma HC.Mk 1 and the Merlin HC.Mk 3 and Mk 3a.

Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No. 6 Air Experience Flight. In January 2008, 78 Squadron was formally stood up at RAF Benson to create, alongside 28 Squadron, a Merlin Force. Also included in the Merlin Force is the Merlin Force Engineering Squadron. No 78 Sqn were previously a Sea King/Chinook Squadron based at RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands). In November 2009, 230 Squadron with its Puma helicopters took residence here having been posted to RAF Station Aldergrove, in Northern Ireland since the early 1990s. Previous units once located there include the Queen's Flight.

The National Police Air Service and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance are present on the station as lodger units. Both operate a Eurocopter EC135.