RAF Little Rissington

RAF Little Rissington
Near Upper Rissington, Gloucestershire in England
Little Rissington airfield during 2006.
RAF Little Rissington Location in Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°52′N 001°42′W / 51.867°N 1.700°W / 51.867; -1.700
Type	Royal Air Force satellite flying station
Code	LR
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	No. 22 Group (Training)
Condition	Active
Site history
Built	1937 (1937)/38
In use	1938–1976 (RAF), 1981-1993 (USAFE), 1993-Present (RAF)
Fate	Retained in military use by the RAF following USAFE withdrawal in 1993, as a site for gliding, as a parachute drop-zone and periodic training by ground units and aircraft.
Garrison information
Occupants	621 Volunteer Gliding Squadron 637 Volunteer Gliding Squadron
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: EGVL
Elevation	223 metres (732 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22 1,494 metres (4,902 ft) Asphalt 09/27 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) Asphalt 13/31 985 metres (3,232 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Little Rissington or more simply RAF Little Rissington (ICAO: EGVL) is a Royal Air Force satellite station in Gloucestershire, England. It was once home to the Central Flying School, the Vintage Pair and the Red Arrows.

Built during the 1930s, the station was opened in 1938 and closed in 1994. The married-quarters and main technical site were sold in 1996 (the former becoming the village of Upper Rissington). RAF Little Rissington has been retained by the Ministry of Defence and is known as Little Rissington Airfield. It remains active along with the southern technical sites, under the operational control of HQ No. 2 Flying Training School RAF at RAF Syerston. It is now home to 612 Volunteer Gliding Squadron RAF as the primary military unit, providing elementary flying training for Combined Cadet Force and Air Training Corps cadets. The airfield is also used by the forces as a relief landing ground, training area and parachute dropping area.

In March 2015, construction began on a new hangar.

In 2017, investment was made in upgrading facilities for the RAF Air Cadets. The old fire station was upgraded to provide modern teaching facilities and an accommodation block with a canteen was built next door. The new hangar is now operational for the storage and maintenance of the gliders. The airfield has had major groundworks on the grassed area creating a grassed runway.