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Turweston Aerodrome (EGBT) lies in north Buckinghamshire close to the Northamptonshire border, a short distance east of Brackley just off the A43. Once a Second World War RAF bomber training station, it is today a privately operated general aviation airfield and home to the Light Aircraft Association, offering a single hard runway for visiting light aircraft.
Turweston Aerodrome is a small general aviation airfield near the village of Turweston in north Buckinghamshire, close to the Northamptonshire border. Operated by Turweston Flight Centre Limited, it began life as a wartime RAF bomber training station and has since been redeveloped as a combined airfield, flying school and business park. It is of particular interest to the sim pilot for its wartime heritage, its role as home to the Light Aircraft Association, and its proximity to Silverstone and Brackley, making it a useful stop for those exploring general aviation flying in this part of the Midlands.
The aerodrome sits in north Buckinghamshire near the Northamptonshire border, about 2 nautical miles east of the market town of Brackley, just off the A43 road. The site occupies around 220 acres in the northwest corner of the county.
Turweston has a single physical runway, 09/27, of 3295 feet with a hard surface, and it is lit. There is no ILS approach.
Turweston operates an Air/Ground radio service under the callsign Turweston Radio on 122.18 MHz. All aircraft using the aerodrome are required to carry two-way VHF radio capable of operating on this frequency.
Outside attended hours, pilots must exercise particular care and transmit standard blind calls that include circuit direction and runway in use, for example "Turweston [callsign] downwind right hand 27". New aircraft owners based at the field are required to fly a circuit with an instructor or qualified staff member to be familiarised with the aerodrome's noise abatement procedures before operating independently. Turweston is not equipped or licensed for night flying.
The airfield lies just off the A43 road, close to the village of Turweston and around 2 nautical miles east of Brackley, which serves as a useful landmark for visual navigation when approaching from the surrounding area.
Opened on 23 November 1942 as RAF Turweston, the station served as a Second World War bomber training facility with three concrete runways (10/28, 04/22 and 16/34) and a single T1 hangar. It first housed the Vickers Wellingtons and Avro Ansons of No. 12 Operational Training Unit until April 1943, when the North American Mitchells of No. 13 OTU arrived; the Douglas Bostons of No. 307 Ferry Training Unit joined in May 1943 and remained until closure, alongside a Wellington-equipped gunnery flight of No. 17 OTU from July 1943, which later added Miles Martinets. Other aircraft associated with the station included the Airspeed Oxford, Westland Lysander, de Havilland Mosquito and Hawker Hurricane. On 19 May 1943 a nearly new Wellington, HZ437, crashed after a port engine failure and a subsequent misjudged single-engine go-around, killing all five crew: Sgt Sydney Barnes, P/O Harold Geoffrey Allen Thompson, Sgt Robert Allen, P/O Raymond Kenneth Van Cleaf and Sgt Edward James Roberts. The station closed on 23 September 1945 but was retained by the Air Ministry, later serving as a vehicle storage depot and, in the 1950s, as a sub-depot of COD Chilwell housing Army Bren Gun Carriers, staffed mainly by female civilians. Prior to 1994 the site was used at weekends as a gliding training airfield. Turweston Aerodrome reopened for business in 1994 after being rebuilt as a combined airfield, aero club, flight school and rally track, with conference facilities added in 2004; the site has also hosted dance and motoring events, including the Wings & Wheels display until 2011 and the Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem festival in 2008 and 2009.
Turweston is now a general aviation aerodrome open all year round for fixed-wing and rotary traffic, and it is home to the Light Aircraft Association. It previously held a CAA Ordinary Licence permitting public transport flights and flying instruction, though it is no longer CAA-licensed and remains unlicensed for night use. The aerodrome is normally available between 08.00 and 18.00 BST in summer and between 09.00 and 17.00 in winter, though it may be active outside these hours, when pilots must take extra care with radio procedures.
