RNAS Culham (HMS Hornbill)

RNAS Culham (HMS Hornbill)
next to the village of Culham, in Oxfordshire Near Oxford in England
HMS Hornbill
RNAS Culham Shown within Oxfordshire Show map of Oxfordshire RNAS Culham RNAS Culham (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°39′31″N 1°13′38″W / 51.65861°N 1.22722°W / 51.65861; -1.22722
Type	Royal Naval Air Station
Code	CM
Site information
Owner	Admiralty
Operator	Royal Navy
Controlled by	Fleet Air Arm
Condition	Disused
Site history
Built	1933 (1933)
In use	1933-1960 (1960)
Fate	now Culham Science Centre
Battles/wars	Second World War
Garrison information
Garrison	Fleet Air Arm
Occupants	Receipt and Despatch Unit No.2 No.1 Ferry Flight 739 Squadron, S.R.P.D.U. 1832 RNVR (Air) Squadron
Airfield information
Elevation	190 feet (58 m) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 06/24 1,200 yards (1,097 m) Asphalt concrete 10/28 1,400 yards (1,280 m) Asphalt concrete 17/35 1,200 yards (1,097 m) Asphalt concrete

Royal Naval Air Station Culham (RNAS Culham, also known as HMS Hornbill) was a former Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm station near Culham, Oxfordshire. It opened in 1944 as an All-Weather Airfield for the Royal Navy. The airbase was used by Receipt and Despatch Unit No.2, No.1 Ferry Flight, 739 Photographic Trials and Development Unit and home to 1832 R.N.V.R. (Air) Squadron.^[1]

The airbase is situated around 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the city of Oxford, with the village of Culham lying 1 mile (1.6 km) to west. The notable landmarks include the city of Oxford where through it runs The Isis, which then forms a loop around the airfield to the north, west and south as it flows south east. The market town of Abingdon-on-Thames is about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north west. Didcot junction, where a line running north/south, intersects the Great Western Main Line, is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) south, with Culham railway station, on the north/south Oxford-Didcot line, at the south west corner of the airfield.^[1]

The ground layout was typical of many bomber stations, with three runways. However it had many hangars, mostly sited around the field's perimeter. Initially HMS Hornbill was used to train reservists based in the Thames Valley area using several different types of aircraft including: Supermarine Seafire, a navalised Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, Hawker Sea Fury, a single-seat fighter aircraft and North American Harvards, an American single-engine advanced trainer aircraft. In May 1947 the Photographic Trials and Development Unit was based at HMS Hornbill, and in 1951 1840 Naval Air Squadron operated from the airfield for a short time. Ab initio flight training of cadets from Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, flying primary gliders, was also undertaken here in the early 1950s.