RAF Chilbolton

RAF Chilbolton
USAAF Station AAF-404
Chilbolton, Hampshire in England
Aerial Photo of Chilbolton Airfield - 20 April 1944
RAF Chilbolton is located in Hampshire
RAF Chilbolton
RAF Chilbolton
Shown within Hampshire
Coordinates51°08′36″N 001°26′23″W / 51.14333°N 1.43972°W / 51.14333; -1.43972
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Satellite station 1942-43B
Relief Landing Ground 1940-42
CodeCI[1]
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command 1940-43
1945-61
* No. 9 Group RAF
* No. 10 Group RAF
* No. 70 (T) Group RAF[1]
Site history
Built1939 (1939)/40
In useSeptember 1940 - 1961 (1961)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation88 metres (289 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
02/20 1,463 metres (4,800 ft) Asphalt
06/24 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Asphalt
12/30 1,645 metres (5,397 ft) Asphalt
Republic P-47D-30-RE Thunderbolt Serial 44-20456 of the 397th Fighter Squadron on an escort mission over the German Alps.
CG-4As and C-47s of 442nd Operations Group at Chilbolton for Operation Market, September 1944.
Closeup of CG-4A gliders at Chilbolton in early September 1944 ready to be used in "Operation Market".

Royal Air Force Chilbolton or RAF Chilbolton is a former Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England. The airfield was located in Chilbolton approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southeast of Andover, about 62 miles (100 km) southwest of London.

Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force and later by the United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier airfield for parachutists. After the war it was used for military jet aircraft training before closing as an RAF station in 1946, although it was then used until the early 1960s by the Vickers-Supermarine and Folland aircraft companies for flight testing and development flying.[2]

Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property, being used as agricultural fields.[2]

  1. ^ a b c Falconer 2012, p. 64.
  2. ^ a b "RAF Chilbolton, USAAF Station No 404". Aircraft, Airfields and Airshows. Retrieved 17 May 2022.