Departure
89%
vs 95% ▼ 6
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield is a long-established general aviation aerodrome in North Yorkshire, home to the Sherburn Aero Club, with a mix of hard and grass runways set amid rural Selby countryside. Its history stretches back to the 1920s Yorkshire Aeroplane Club and a wartime role in aircraft production and airborne forces development, and it remains a busy training and leisure flying base today.
Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield (EGCJ) is a general aviation aerodrome near Selby in North Yorkshire, operated by Sherburn Aero Club Ltd. It offers a hard runway alongside several grass strips and supports flying training, private flying and leisure aviation, making it a popular and accessible destination for visiting light aircraft pilots. Its long association with the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club and its wartime industrial and military history add interest for pilots planning a visit.
The airfield lies 1.5 nautical miles east of Sherburn-in-Elmet village and 5.5 nautical miles west of Selby, North Yorkshire, at coordinates 53.7842N 1.2178W and an elevation of 23 feet. Arriving and departing traffic is routed via local landmarks rather than through controlled airspace, with pilots advised to route via Selby, Ferrybridge Power Station or the A1/M1 interchange when joining or leaving the local area.
Sherburn-in-Elmet has one hard runway, 10/28, with a lit tarmac surface; the 10R threshold gives a landing/take-off length of 2708 feet while the 28L direction offers 2012 feet, reflecting the differing usable distances in each direction since backtracking on active runways is not permitted. A grass runway pair, 10L/28R, runs parallel to the hard runway with a lit surface of 2037 feet in each direction. Two further lit grass runways are available: 06/24, at 2289 feet (06) and 2364 feet (24), and 01/19, at 1862 feet (01) and 1720 feet (19). A former paved runway, now closed and unmaintained, lies parallel to and about 310 feet northwest of the current 06/24 grass strip.
Sherburn in Elmet provides an air/ground service on 126.6 MHz (callsign Sherburn in Elmet A/G) and a radio/approach service on 126.5 MHz (callsign Sherburn in Elmet RAD/APP). An NDB, identifier SBL, transmits on 323.0 kHz from the aerodrome with a range of 10 nautical miles. There is no ILS at Sherburn, though an RNP instrument approach procedure is available to suitably qualified and equipped IR or IR(R) pilots, and an application to develop a GNSS approach was reported to be underway.
Arrivals and departures route via Selby, Ferrybridge Power Station or the A1/M1 interchange, with pilots asked to avoid overflying the local villages. The standard join is an overhead join at 2000 feet QFE, with the active circuit direction passed to pilots on first contact with Sherburn Radio. All circuits are flown at 1000 feet QFE, with runway 28 and runway 19 left-hand, and runways 10, 24 and 01 right-hand. All departures are made via the circuit at 1000 feet QFE, and pilots must avoid overflying the Burn glider site, where winch launches operate up to 3000 feet. Backtracking on active runways is not permitted.
Useful visual references for locating and joining the airfield include Sherburn-in-Elmet village immediately to the west, the town of Selby to the east, Ferrybridge Power Station, and the A1/M1 motorway interchange, all of which feature in the published arrival and departure routings. The Burn glider site, to be avoided due to winch launching activity up to 3000 feet, is also a notable feature near the local area.
The airfield's roots go back to the 1920s, when the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club began operating here flying de Havilland Moths; the novelist and aeronautical engineer Nevil Shute was a member and served on its management committee, later meeting his future wife there. After founding Airspeed Ltd, Shute personally flew the first two test flights of the company's first aircraft, a glider called the Tern, from Sherburn, launched by a car towing a steel cable. During the Second World War the site became a Royal Air Force station; from 1940 Blackburn Aircraft ran a Ministry of Aircraft Production factory here that built 1699 Fairey Swordfish naval torpedo aircraft. The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment moved to Sherburn from RAF Ringway on 17 June 1942 to develop methods of deploying airborne troops and supplies, before relocating to RAF Beaulieu on 4 January 1945. A number of other RAF units, including operational training, ferry pilot and gliding units, along with squadrons and the Leeds University Air Squadron, were based here at various times. After the war Sherburn returned to civilian use, with the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club organising several international air rallies in the early 1950s.
Sherburn-in-Elmet is operated by Sherburn Aero Club Ltd and remains active for private and club flying, training and leisure aviation. Fuel is available during hours of aerodrome operation, comprising AVGAS 100LL, AVGAS UL91, AVTUR and JET A1. Prior permission is not mandatory for visiting aircraft, though pilots are encouraged to notify the airfield in advance, and an RNP instrument approach procedure is available to suitably qualified pilots and aircraft.
