RAF Wellesbourne Mountford

Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield
Avro Vulcan XM655 is located at the airfleld.
IATA: none ICAO: EGBW
Summary
Airport type	Private
Operator	Radarmoor Ltd
Location	Wellesbourne, Warwickshire
Elevation AMSL	157 ft / 48 m
Coordinates	52°11′32″N 001°36′52″W / 52.19222°N 1.61444°W / 52.19222; -1.61444Coordinates: 52°11′32″N 001°36′52″W / 52.19222°N 1.61444°W / 52.19222; -1.61444
Website	http://www.wellesbourneairfield.com/
Map
EGBW Location in Warwickshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 587 1,926 Asphalt 18/36 917 3,009 Asphalt 18/36 506 1,660 Grass (Unlicensed)
Sources: UK AIP at NATS.

Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield (ICAO:EGBW) is located in Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, England, 3.9 miles (6.3 km) east of Stratford-upon-Avon. The airfield was formerly the Royal Air Force station RAF Wellesbourne Mountford.

Wellesbourne Mountford is best known for its role in the Second World War, when it was under control by RAF Bomber Command as an Operational Training Unit training crews from within the commonwealth and other countries.

Today the airfield has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P681) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Radarmoor Limited). It is primarily a general aviation (GA) airfield; see UKGA for details. Wellesbourne Mountford is also home to Avro Vulcan XM655, which is kept in taxiable condition.

The airfield was originally opened in 1941 constructed in the typical Class A airfield design, the main unit to use the airfield was No. 22 Operational Training Unit RAF which flew Vickers Wellingtons and Avro Ansons for RAF Bomber Command from 14 April 1941. During the Second World War the airfield was attacked a few times by enemy bombers on their way home after bombing targets in the Midlands such as Coventry and Birmingham. The nearby Ettington railway station was used to transport troops and munitions from the rest of the country then to the airfield using RAF lorries and buses. Crews also attacked a number of German cities such as Cologne, Essen and Bremen as part of the 1,000 bomber raids. The aircraft were crewed by instructors and students with some planes unfortunately failing to return. The airfield was briefly home to the No. 3 Glider Training School which started using Wellesbourne Mountford during July 1945 preparing for war in the far east using the General Aircraft Hotspur before being disbanded on 3 December 1947, the RAF School of Photography from 1948 to 1964, the RAF School of Education 1950 to 1952 and the Airfield Construction Branch from 1951 to 1964. In 1964 the airfield was closed and put on a care and maintenance basis then returned to the original owners.