RAF Topcliffe

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RAF Topcliffe
IATA: N/A - ICAO: EGXZ
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Royal Air Force
Serves		Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
Elevation AMSL		92 ft (28 m)
Coordinates		54°12′20″N, 001°22′56″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
03/21	5,951	1,814	Asphalt
13/31	4,140	1,262	Asphalt

RAF Topcliffe (IATA: N/A, ICAO: EGXZ) is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire. It is a satellite station of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Topcliffe opened in September 1940 as a bomber station in RAF Bomber Command and was home to 77 and 102 Squadrons flying the Whitley Heavy Bomber. There was a decoy site at Raskelf. Concrete runways were added in mid-1942, and 419 and 424 Squadrons RCAF moved in flying at First Wellingtons then Halifax III's. On 1 January 1943 the station was transferred to No. 6 Group RCAF, Bomber Command, and became a training station. The base was originally designated as No. 61 (Training) Base in March 1943 but changed to No. 6 (RCAF) Group Training Base in September 1943. In September 1943 RAF Wombleton became a sub-station to Topcliffe.

The army moved on to the site in 1972 and renamed much of it Alanbrooke Barracks. However all the flying facilities remain intact. The wartime control tower, with modifications, is still used, and the station is referred to as RAF Topcliffe by the RAF.

During the eighties it was the home of the Royal Navy Elementary Flying School. In the nineties it was temporarily home to a Tucano squadron of RAF Central Flying School. It was the home of the Tucano Air Navigation Squadron, teaching student navigators of both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy until April 2002 when it moved to RAF Linton on Ouse.

The station is now home to 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, who teach Air Cadets to fly The Grob 109B 'Vigilant' Motor Glider

[edit] Recreation

During the 1990s and until 2001, the airfield was utilised by Merlin Parachute Club, home to both the 4 Para Parachute display team and the York University Sport Parachute Club. Part of the site is also used for the flying of model aircraft.