Originally proposed during the Great War as a airship factory and a site of R.N. Airship Hutments. see below.
The airfield was constructed as a standard fighter station at the beginning of the Second World War, but was used for A.A. gunnery training with aircraft such as the Fairey Battle and Avro Anson. Morecambe Bay beyond was studded with concrete anti-glider stakes as part of Britain's anti-invasion measures. During this war, the requisitioned Lakes Gliding Club were moved here from Walney airfield, to form 188 Gliding School, Air Training Corps.
Nearby Ravenstown was built during the Great War by the Admiralty to house staff for the naval airship facility which was not built, due to the wartime lack of metal sheets needed to construct the huge hangars.
Concrete and tarmac apron and runway. Control tower now a private residence. RAF huts now workshops. Very run down and threadbare. Still three windsocks.
North West Parachute Centre (
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Airfield Technical info+photos (
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Role during WW2 (
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Gunnery Practice during WW2 (
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RAF Cark (
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Sky diving history (
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Annual Steam Gathering (
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Horse Riding on airfield (
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Lakes Gliding club (
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Kendal Model Aero Club (
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History - Origin
In 1916, Vickers at Barrow in Furness, now BAE Systems, had an order from the Admiralty to build another rigid airship, but their existing shed over Cavendish dock could not accommodate the larger size. Vickers had been asking the admiralty for another shed for some time. A designer working for Vickers at that time was Barnes Wallis (later Sir Barnes Wallis). During war time all decisions had to be referred to the War department.
On March 29, 1916, the Admiralty authorised AJ Main and co. to build a 900 foot shed designed by Sir William Arrol Ltd. on the Flookburgh site of the current airfield. This is the first use of this marshy boggy flat land for aviation purposes. Factors in its favour were main line railway one mile north to bring airship materials from Barrow, flat land, and sheltered from prevailing westerly winds by Furness Peninsula. Factors against were that it would need flood defences (only 17 feet above sea level), and extensive draining.
Whilst the shed was being built, Vickers prepared materials for this airship.
On May 17, 1917, King George V and Queen Mary visited the shipyards at Barrow. Only the day before, the railway connection to the airship shed site was completed. In fact the construction of the shed was behind schedule due to a national shortage of steel. The building of the Flookburgh Model Aero Village for the intended airship workers was progressing with 50 houses built by J Parnell and sons, Rugby, and 70 by Rainey Brothers. Now called Ravenstown.
During September 1917, Vickers were told the contract to build the shed at Flookburgh was cancelled. This was a blow to Vickers who had prepared much of the materials to build the R.37 airship at Flookburgh. The 120 house village, Ravenstown, was well advanced with all services and railway line. The official reason was the acute national shortage of steel. (On January 18, 1915, First Lord of Admiralty, Winston Churchill (later Sir Winston) had proposed that all airship construction should be stopped, in order to concentrate on heavier that air planes.) Naval airship design stopped in 1930 with the R.101 disaster.
In his book, 'The British Rigid Airship, 1908-1931', Dr Robin Higham states that by November 1917, the unfinished shed had liabilities of £792,000.
Faced with this cancellation, Vickers handed all the materials to Shorts Brothers, who had been given the contract to complete R.37 at their Cardington shed, Bedfordshire. This was of little advantage as R.37 was completed in February 1921, and then stored for three years until scrapped.
The final bill for R.37 including the abortive Flookburgh shed, was in excess of £1 million. By the end of hostilities, Vickers had lost about £266,000 on airship construction for the admiralty, and made a profit of £5,000 from non-rigid airships. Because of the unseemly insistence of being paid for the work done towards Flookburgh, the Admiralty excluded Vickers from post war airship development. Flookburgh was used as an excuse to dismiss the pioneers of British rigid airship design. Further airship contracts were awarded annually to other companies, but not Vickers.
Source: An Aeronautical History of the Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway Region. Part 2 1915 to 1930 by Peter Connon. 1984
Whilst visiting, a small, 2 seat helicopter landed, very unexpected.