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Longside Airfield (ICAO EGQG) is a small private airstrip near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, built on the site of the former RAF Peterhead sector station and now home to the Buchan Aero Club. It offers a single hard runway suited to light aircraft, microlights and autogyros, with prior permission required and helicopter training activity common in the vicinity.
Longside Airfield lies close to the village of Longside in Aberdeenshire, on the site of the wartime RAF Peterhead station. It is operated by North East Aviators, known locally as the Buchan Aero Club, and today caters mainly to light aircraft, microlights and autogyros. Its combination of a compact single runway, an active flying club and a strong wartime heritage makes it an interesting stop for the VFR sim pilot exploring north-east Scotland.
The airfield sits in the Buchan district of Aberdeenshire, at Torterston, about two and a half miles east of Longside village and some three miles west-northwest of Peterhead, close to the A950 road. It lies within the area used by helicopters operating to and from North Sea oil platforms, and pilots are advised to contact Aberdeen Offshore Radar on 134.100 after departing Longside, reflecting the intensity of helicopter traffic in the surrounding airspace, including operations directly overhead the field.
Longside has a single physical runway, 10/28, 1,624 feet long with a hard surface. There is no ILS or other instrument approach available; all operations are visual.
The airfield's radio frequency is 118.280 MHz, with the callsign "Longside Radio". No navaids or instrument approach procedures are published for the field.
Prior permission is mandatory before flying to Longside. Pilots should be alert to intense helicopter operations in the vicinity of the airfield, including overhead the field itself, as it is often used for helicopter and police training activities. After departure it is recommended to contact Aberdeen Offshore Radar on 134.100 given the proximity of North Sea helicopter traffic.
The airfield lies adjacent to the A950 road and can be identified relative to the village of Longside to the west and the town of Peterhead to the east-northeast; the site itself is at Torterston, between the two.
The airfield was built in 1941 as RAF Peterhead, a Fighter Command sector station, and was in use until August 1945. At its peak up to 2,000 RAF personnel, including around 250 WAAFs, were based across five accommodation camps, and squadrons from Britain, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Australia and South Africa flew from the site. Hawker Hurricanes, Supermarine Spitfires and North American Mustangs operated from Longside to protect convoys along the east coast. In November 1941 the station was hit by two bombs from a Junkers Ju 88, killing one person and injuring three others. After the war the land largely returned to agriculture, though pillboxes and other structures survived for decades; the control tower was demolished and the hangars removed by the late 1960s. The north-eastern part of the airfield was later used by Bond Helicopters and Bristows as a refuelling point for helicopters serving North Sea oil platforms roughly 45 minutes' flight offshore. In 2003 a cairn monument was unveiled in memory of those who served at RAF Peterhead, with a flypast by a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Dakota, and a plaque was also mounted at the site entrance by the Longside Community Council.
Longside Airfield is now operated by North East Aviators, trading as the Buchan Aero Club, and supports flying by light aircraft, microlights and autogyros. The club maintains a small museum on site dedicated to the history of RAF Station Peterhead and its personnel. Prior permission is required for all visiting flights, and pilots should expect helicopter and police training activity in the local area.
