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Llanbedr Airfield (ICAO: EGFD) is a general aviation aerodrome in the Snowdonia National Park near the village of Llanbedr, Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales. Once RAF Llanbedr and later a test and evaluation establishment, it retains three long hard runways from its military past and today supports flight training, air experience flying and unmanned aircraft testing.
Llanbedr Airfield lies in the Snowdonia National Park close to the village of Llanbedr in Gwynedd, on the coastal plain looking out towards the Llyn Peninsula. It began life as a wartime RAF fighter station and later became a long-standing aircraft and drone test establishment, and it is now an operational general aviation aerodrome offering flight training and air experience flying. For a simulator pilot it is a striking destination, combining a dramatic mountain and coastal setting with unusually generous runway lengths for a small GA field, a legacy of its military test-flying past.
The airfield sits within Class G airspace in northwest Wales, inside the Snowdonia National Park and close to the Cardigan Bay coast, with the Llyn Peninsula visible to the north across the bay. Its historic role supporting target and drone operations meant it worked closely with the Cardigan Bay Ranges (UK Danger Area EGD201), which is controlled from Aberporth further down the coast, and pilots operating in the area should be aware of range activity in that vicinity.
Llanbedr has three physical hard-surfaced, lit runways. The longest, 17/35, runs to around 7,470 feet, making it exceptionally long for a general aviation field and a legacy of its use for military test flying. Runway 05/23 is around 4,400 to 4,543 feet, and runway 15/33 is 4,359 feet. There is no ILS at the airfield.
The airfield's published frequencies are CAC on 29.252 MHz and London Military Tower on 118.93 MHz. There is no instrument landing system, so arrivals and departures are conducted visually.
The airfield is set on the coastal plain with the Llyn Peninsula visible across Cardigan Bay to the north, a useful visual reference when approaching from seaward, with the mountains of Snowdonia National Park rising close by to the east.
The airfield opened in 1941 as part of RAF Fighter Command's 12 Group and was known as RAF Llanbedr until 1957. It subsequently passed through a series of test and evaluation roles as RAE Llanbedr (until 1992), T&EE Llanbedr (until 1995), DTEO Llanbedr (until 1997) and DERA Llanbedr (until 2001, when most of DERA became QinetiQ). During the Second World War it hosted thirty-two different RAF squadrons on rotation flying types including the Spitfire, Mustang, Typhoon, Anson, Lysander and Martinet; the longest-serving unit was No. 631 Squadron RAF, which arrived from RAF Towyn in May 1945 and remained until February 1949, when it was renumbered as No. 20 Squadron. From spring 1942 the station operated as a base for towed-target work, becoming home to the RAF's No. 12 Armament Practice Camp in 1943, and later provided target drone services to the UK armed forces, typically supporting the Cardigan Bay Ranges under Aberporth's control as well as other UK ranges including one used by the Royal Artillery in the Hebrides. In more recent history the site attracted attention as a possible base for unmanned aerial vehicle development, and in July 2014 it was named as one of eight candidate locations for a UK spaceport, remaining on a shortlist of six in March 2015. In June 2015 one of its hangars featured in a Red Bull Air Race Barnstorming stunt, with pilots Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones flying modified Xtreme Air Sbach XA41 aircraft in formation through the hangar itself.
Llanbedr continues as an operational general aviation aerodrome. In June 2014 Fly Llanbedr Limited was awarded a licence to run a flight training and air experience operation from the site, and the airfield has also been used for the testing and development of unmanned aerial vehicles. Prior permission is required before flying in.
