Samlesbury Aerodrome
| Samlesbury Aerodrome | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
| Operator | BAE Systems | ||||||||||
| Location | Balderstone | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 55 ft / 17 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°46′24″N 002°34′10″W / 53.77333°N 2.56944°WCoordinates: 53°46′24″N 002°34′10″W / 53.77333°N 2.56944°W | ||||||||||
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 Samlesbury Aerodrome
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Samlesbury Aerodrome is a disused airfield at Balderstone near Samlesbury, in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire. The aerodrome is owned by defence company BAE Systems which uses the site for manufacturing of several aircraft types. Currently BAE employ approximately 3,000 people at the site. The aerodrome is part of Lancashire Enterprise Zone.
The origins of the site, which was once an active aerodrome, date back to 1922 when it was proposed that a municipal airfield be constructed to serve the nearby towns of Blackburn and Preston. However, construction did not commence on the airfield until April 1939, then accelerated because of the Second World War, when the Air Ministry instructed the English Electric Company (EE) to proceed with the construction of flight shed number 1. The first of the Handley Page Hampdens built by EE made its maiden flight on 22 February 1940, and by 1942 770 Hampdens had been delivered from Samlesbury. In 1940 a second factory was built and the runway was extended so that construction of the Handley Page Halifax could begin. By 1945 all five main hangars and three runways had been completed. During the war the site was also home to No. 9 Group RAF who flew Hawker Hurricanes and Airspeed Oxfords from the site. By the end of the war over 3,000 bombers had been built and flown from Samlesbury.
After the war aircraft such as the De Havilland Vampire, the English Electric Canberra (the first aircraft designed and built wholly by English Electric) and the English Electric Lightning were built on the site. The site has also produced parts for the Anglo-French Concorde and the ill-fated TSR2 project. When English Electric merged to become BAC and later British Aerospace it worked closely with the nearby sister plant at BAE Warton and the former BAE factory in Preston on building the Sepecat Jaguar and Panavia Tornado fighter aircraft.
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