World War Two
Wellington Mk III of 29 OTU, RAF Bruntingthope
In 1940, 700 acres of land between the villages of Bruntingthorpe and Gilmorton were requisitioned by the Air Ministry, intended to be the site of an operational bomber station. Building took place between 1941 and 1943, however in August 1942 it was instead allotted to 92 Group of Bomber Command as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) station, used by 29 OTU, equipped with Vickers Wellingtons, starting from late 1942, however only as a satellite station until June 1943 when 29 OTU transferred there and RAF Bruntingthorpe became an independent station, with RAF Bitteswell acting as 29 OTU’s satellite station.
Curtiss Tomahawk of 1683 BDTF, RAF Bruntingthorpe
The Wellingtons of 29 OTU were joined in July of the same year by the first Curtiss Tomahawk of 1683 Bomber Defence Training Flight (BDTF), who used their Tomahawks to tow targets and carry out mock attacks against the bombers of 29 OTU to help train the aircrew in attacking and defending. However, 29 OTU did not just take part in training exercises, they also too part in diversion raids over occupied Europe as part of their final phases of training before being posted to an operational squadron. 1683 BDTF left for RAF Market Harborough in February 1944; however a flight of Hawker Hurricanes were established at Bruntingthorpe in mid-May to take over 1683 BDTF’s duties.
However, on 15th April 1945, a signal arrived telling 29 OTU would be receiving no more pupils, and that after the crews already at the OTU had finished their training, 29 OTU would be disbanded. As the crews finished their training, the strength of the OTU started to diminish, resulting in only ten Wellingtons remaining when the last training sorties were flown on the night of 26th/27th May, and by early July 1945, 29 OTU had disbanded. However, this was not the end of RAF Bruntingthorpe, as the camp facilities were used by 11 Aircrew Holding Unit, which was formed to deal with redundant aircrew while awaiting demobilisation or to be transferred to other trades. Flying was still going on at Bruntingthorpe by Power Jets Limited.
Power Jets
Gloster Meteor F1 EE221, the first jet aircraft Frank Whittle flew
Power Jets was the name of Frank Whittle’s company, formed in 1936 to develop his jet engine designs. The history of Frank Whittle and Power Jets is relatively well known so I won’t repeat it here, however googling either ‘Frank Whittle’ or ‘Power Jets’ will tell you most of what you need to know. Power Jets was originally based at Lutterworth in Leicestershire, a short distance from Bruntingthorpe, and so on 11th September 1944, a flight was established at Bruntingthorpe for development flying of the early jet engines. The first aircraft to arrive was Avro Lancaster II LL735 which arrived on the 12th September, with a special hybrid Wellington II/VI joining the Lanc on 22nd November 1944. The flight trials unit carried out a large amount of tests using Lancaster and Wellington test beds, as well as early Gloster Meteors.
Frank Whittle himself was a frequent visit to Bruntingthorpe, and during October 1945 he finally flew a jet aircraft, something he’d waited a long time to do – he had only taxied jet aircraft before, despite trying for some time to get permission to fly the Gloster E.28/39 (first British jet aircraft) – he was eventually successful, however as soon as he got into the cockpit on the day he was due to fly it, he was told it was unserviceable for an indefinite period of time!
However, when he got into the cockpit of Gloster Meteor F.1 EE221 on October 9th 1945, he was determined to finally get airborne in his own creation. He didn’t get permission to and later admitted that he didn’t intend to. When he visited Bruntingthorpe that morning, he had the urge to do some taxiing tests in the Meteor, during which time he got himself familiar with the cockpit layout and feel of the Meteor. After lunch at Whetstone, he returned to Bruntingthorpe, and after two flights in a de Havilland Tiger Moth, he climbed back into the Meteor, did some more taxiing tests and then got an irresistible impulse to take off. He flew for only a few minutes before landing, but three days later returned to Bruntingthorpe to fly the Meteor again for 45 minutes.
Armstrong Siddeley started testing Armstrong Siddeley Experimental (ASX) turbojets in June 1945, using Lancaster III ND784/G (the ‘G’ signified that the aircraft was to be put under armed guard when on the ground), with the bomb bay being modified to test the engines. The flight trials unit at Bruntingthorpe left in spring 1946 when Power Jets Limited was taken over by the National Gas Turbine Establishment, with all of the aircraft having moved to RAF Bitteswell by 14th May, apart from Gloster Meteor F.1 EE221 which left on 25th May.
Post war
Boeing B-47E of 100th Bomb Wing, USAF
Bruntingthorpe was placed under care and maintenance in October 1946, a year later it was announced that it would remain as a satellite for RAF Cottesmore. Flying started at Bruntingthorpe when M44 gliding school moved in from Rearsby, however after less than a year they moved to Desford. However, this wasn’t the end of Bruntingthorpe as an active station. In 1953, the USAAF were looking for suitable bases for Strategic Air Command. They decided Bruntingthorpe would be suitable for the role, and so Bruntingthorpe received a major rebuild starting in 1954 to make it suitable for large jet aircraft. Among the developments, a new Butler type hangar was built and the runway lengthened. In 1958, to test the developments, more than thirty B-47E Stratojets used the base as part of Operation Snow Flurry. From then on, the base was used for rotational deployment of B-47’s of the 100th Bomb Wing until June 1959. After this, Bruntingthorpe was handed over to 7542nd Air Base Squadron, with the first of the RB-66 Destroyers arriving on 25th August 1959 with eighteen in total being based there. They left in September 1962, which although was good for some such as local residents who complained about the noise, there was also a loss of business in the local area, especially in pubs.
The base remained as an unmanned satellite airfield for RAF Wittering, who’s Handley Page Victors visited several times but no aircraft were based there. The airfield buildings were sold by auction in 1965, with the rest of the airfield auctioned off in 1973. In 1983 the airfield was sold again to C Walton limited. Although some of the land was used for agriculture, the site still had rights to run a vehicle proving ground there as Chrysler gained permission for it after a public enquiry. In late 1983 the Loughborough and Leicestershire Aircraft Museum were given a small part of the airfield as a new home for the aircraft. Since then, many preserved aircraft have been kept at Bruntingthorpe and still are, including Avro Vulcan XH558 and even a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet.
Many thanks to Clave for the aircraft profile views, it's well worth taking the time to visit his website to view profile views of many other types of aircraft. His website address is http://www.altgame.net/aircraft/airstart.html
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