Royal Air Force Station Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford  
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Welcome to RAF Upper Heyford 620th air base wing. This sign was seen at the entrance to the base in 2001.
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1916 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1916-1918 Royal Flying Corps 1918-1950 Royal Air Force 1950-1994 United States Air Force |
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| Elevation AMSL | 433 ft / 132 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°56′13″N 001°15′12″W / 51.93694°N 1.25333°WCoordinates: 51°56′13″N 001°15′12″W / 51.93694°N 1.25333°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
 RAF Upper Heyford
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England.
The station was first used by the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 but was not brought into use for flying until July 1918 by the Royal Air Force. During the inter-war years and continuing through the Second World War until 1950 Upper Heyford was used mainly as a training facility. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford initially served as a base for United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) strategic bombers and later United States Air Forces In Europe (USAFE) tactical reconnaissance, fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft in the UK.
Upper Heyford was unique among airfield in the United Kingdom as only the flight-line area required military identification to access. The rest of the station, save the commercial facilities, was accessible to military and non-military alike. Upper Heyford was also unique in that the airspace around the station (from the surface to 3500') was protected by a mandatory radio area (UHMRA) in which private pilots were required to be in contact with the base controllers on frequency 128.55 when flying past or overhead.
The airfield was used by many units of the Royal Air Force (RAF), mainly as a training facility between 1918 and 1950.
At the outbreak of World War II, RAF Upper Heyford was the home to units of RAF Bomber Command, specifically No. 18 and No. 57 (Bombing) Squadrons, forming No. 70 (Bomber) Wing of No. 2 (Bombing) Group.
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