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RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire just north of Lincoln, was one of Britain's most storied bomber stations, home to the Dambusters of 617 Squadron and, in more recent decades, the Red Arrows aerobatic team. The station closed to flying in 2023 and is no longer an active aerodrome, though its long single runway remains in place pending redevelopment of the site.
RAF Scampton was a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, best known as the base from which the Dambusters raid was launched in 1943 and, much later, as the long-term home of the RAF Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows. The airfield closed to RAF flying operations in 2023 and the site was subsequently placed on the market, so while its impressive runway survives, Scampton is not currently an operating aerodrome for visiting simulator pilots to plan a flight into in the way an active field would be; its interest lies chiefly in its history and its huge runway, still visible on the landscape north of Lincoln.
The former station sits adjacent to the A15 road (the old Roman Ermine Street), between the villages of Aisthorpe, Brattleby and Scampton, about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city of Lincoln. It lay on the Lincolnshire Edge, the limestone ridge along which a string of well-known airfields, including RAF Waddington and RAF Cranwell, were built. No current airspace classification or active controlled airspace details are available, reflecting the station's closed status.
Scampton has one physical runway, 04/22, a hard-surfaced and lit strip of roughly 8,958 feet in length, aligned north-east/south-west. There is no ILS. The runway's exceptional length and width reflect its origins as a V-force bomber and later Cold War dispersal airfield capable of handling large aircraft.
No radio frequencies, callsign or navaid information for Scampton are available; the station's flying control organisation was stood down when RAF operations ceased, and there is no published air-ground or ATC service currently associated with the field.
With the station closed to flying since 2023, there are no current joining or circuit procedures in force at Scampton.
The field is easily identified from the air by its long runway running alongside the A15, with the villages of Scampton, Brattleby and Aisthorpe clustered close by and the city of Lincoln clearly visible some 6 miles to the south. The Lincolnshire Edge escarpment, along which Scampton and its sister stations were built, is a useful wider landmark for orientation in this part of the county.
The site began life in late 1916 as Home Defence Flight Station Brattleby, home initially to a flight of No. 33 Squadron flying F.E.2bs against the Zeppelin threat, before becoming a training aerodrome for squadrons flying Sopwith Camels, Pups and Dolphins. Renamed Scampton in 1917 and redesignated 34 Training Depot Station, it closed in April 1919, after which its temporary buildings were removed and the land returned to agriculture. The station reopened in August 1936 under the RAF Expansion Scheme as a fully equipped bomber airfield, with No. 9 and No. 214 Squadrons arriving that October flying Handley Page Heyfords and Vickers Virginias. On the outbreak of the Second World War, aircraft from Scampton flew among the RAF's first operational sorties, and the station later operated Handley Page Hampdens before receiving the Avro Lancaster in 1942. Scampton's most famous moment came on the night of 16-17 May 1943, when nineteen specially modified Lancasters of the newly formed 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, departed on Operation Chastise, the Dambusters raid against the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams using bouncing bombs; the Möhne and Eder dams were breached, though eight aircraft and fifty-three aircrew were lost, and Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross. After the war the station continued in the bomber role, operating Avro Lincolns and, briefly, the American B-29 Superfortress (as the Washington in RAF service), before re-equipping with English Electric Canberras in the 1950s and later hosting Avro Vulcans of the V-force during the Cold War. The Central Flying School and the Red Arrows moved to Scampton in 1983, and the aerobatic team became a familiar sight over Lincolnshire for the following decades. The station was placed in care and maintenance in 1995-96 as a cost-saving measure before reopening, later hosting private operators such as Hawker Hunter Aviation alongside the Red Arrows. In July 2018 the Ministry of Defence announced that Scampton would close permanently, with units relocating elsewhere; the Red Arrows moved to RAF Waddington, flying operations ceased in October 2022, and the station formally closed on 31 March 2023.
Scampton no longer functions as an operational RAF station; it ceased flying in October 2022 and closed formally on 31 March 2023. The roughly 749-acre site, including its runways, seven hangars and numerous accommodation blocks (among them the listed Officers' Mess and Airmen's Club), was placed on the open market by the Home Office following the abandonment of earlier plans to use it for asylum accommodation. West Lindsey District Council, working with development partner Scampton Holdings Ltd, has proposed a substantial regeneration of the site as a centre for aviation, heritage and education, with ambitions to keep it functioning as an operational airfield alongside museum and commercial development, though as of the available information the site remains closed to flying and any prior permission requirements would depend on future ownership and operational plans that had not been finalised.
