Dunsfold Aerodrome | |||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Dunsfold Aerodrome from the air, in April 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Dunsfold | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 170 ft / 52 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°06′54″N000°31′57″W / 51.11500°N 0.53250°W /51.11500; -0.53250 | ||||||||||||||||||
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  Dunsfold Aerodrome Location in Surrey | |||||||||||||||||||
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Dunsfold Aerodrome (formerICAO codeEGTD) is anunlicensed airfield inSurrey, England, near the village ofCranleigh. It extends across land in the villages ofDunsfold andAlfold.
It was built by theCanadian Army and civilian contractors as aClass A bomber airfield forArmy Co-operation Command. It was commanded by theRoyal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1944 and was known asRoyal Canadian Air Force Station Dunsfold. Under RAF control it wasRAF Dunsfold.
Post-war it was used byHawker Siddeley and then its successorBritish Aerospace. From 2002 to 2020, it was used as the main site of the BBC showTop Gear.
In December 2016, planning permission was granted for 1,800 homes to be built on the site, with the track and associated aerodrome infrastructure, such as the runway drag strip, being demolished.
Dunsfold Aerodrome was constructed in 1942 by the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Engineers, supported by personnel from theCanadian Forestry Corps. The airfield site covered around 200 acres of woodland which had to be cleared before construction could begin. The Canadian sappers, drawing on equipment provided under theLend-Lease programme, used heavy earth-moving machinery from North America and employed methods such as pipe-pushing charges to place explosives beneath tree roots, allowing for rapid clearance.[1][2][3]
Construction was completed in just over six months, considerably faster than comparable wartime airfield projects which often took up to a year. The completed airfield had three concrete runways arranged in the standard triangular pattern, perimeter tracks and dispersal areas, along with temporary hangars and accommodation huts.[4]
The first units based at Dunsfold wereNo. 400 Squadron RCAF (from 4 December 1942),No. 414 Squadron RCAF (from 5 December 1942) andNo. 430 Squadron RCAF (from 8 January 1943), flyingCurtiss Tomahawk andNorth American Mustang I aircraft on tactical reconnaissance missions.[5]
In late 1943 Dunsfold was transferred toNo. 139 Wing RAF, operatingMitchell II medium bombers. The wing was formed fromNo. 139 Airfield Headquarters RAF and includedNo. 98 Squadron,No. 180 Squadron andNo. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF, the latter manned by personnel from theNetherlands Naval Aviation Service. The wing conducted raids on targets in occupied Europe until October 1944, when it moved to the continent to support the advancingAllied forces.[6]
Following the wing’s departure, Dunsfold became home toNo. 83 Group Support Unit RAF, which serviced and testedSpitfires,Typhoons andTempests prior to operational deployment. In February 1945 the unit was redesignated the 83 Group Disbandment Centre, and later assisted with the repatriation of Alliedprisoners of war in the closing months of the war.[4]
The aerodrome was declared inactive by theRoyal Air Force in 1946 and subsequently leased toSkyways Ltd. for civilian use. Skyways operated and maintained aircraft including theAvro York,Avro Lancastrian,Douglas C-54 Skymaster,de Havilland Dragon Rapide andde Havilland Dove, and played a role in supporting theBerlin Airlift. The company also refurbished surplus RAFSpitfires andHurricanes for thePortuguese Air Force.[4]
The following units were based at Dunsfold at various times:[7]
In 1950, theHawker Aircraft Company acquired the lease of Dunsfold Aerodrome from theAir Ministry. The airfield subsequently became a major site for jet aircraft development, maintenance and testing. During the 1950s it gained international prominence through the development and production of theHawker Hunter fighter, while limited numbers ofSea Hawks were also completed and existingSea Furies refurbished for naval use.[4]
Between 1953 and 1958,Airwork Ltd leased two hangars at the site to overhaul and refurbishNorth American F-86 Sabre andSupermarine Attacker aircraft for theRoyal Navy and export customers.[8]
In October 1960, the newly formedHawker Siddeley Group conducted the first flight of the experimentalHawker P.1127 at Dunsfold. The P.1127 pioneeredvertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology and directly led to the development of theHawker Siddeley Harrier, the world’s first operational VTOL jet fighter-bomber. Dunsfold remained central to Harrier testing and development throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[9]
In 1961, production and test flying of theFolland Gnat were transferred from Chilbolton, Hampshire, to Dunsfold, which also became the final assembly and flight test centre for both the Harrier and later theHawk advanced trainer aircraft.[10]
Following a series of mergers, Hawker Siddeley became part ofBritish Aerospace (BAe) in 1977. The site continued to serve as BAe’s flight test facility for theBAe Hawk andBAe Harrier families. On 2 July 1986, BAe deputy chief test pilot Jim Hawkins was killed during a test flight when the prototypeHawk 200 crashed near the airfield.[11]
On 24 June 1999, British Aerospace announced the phased closure of Dunsfold as part of a corporate restructuring programme. Hawk final assembly had already been transferred toWarton in 1988, whileSea Harrier production ended in 1998 andHarrier II production was moved toBrough in 2000.[12]
Following closure, the gate guardian aircraft – Hawker P.1127XP984 – was relocated on long-term loan to theBrooklands Museum inWeybridge, where it remains on display.[13]
In 2002,BAE Systems (successor toBritish Aerospace) sold Dunsfold Aerodrome to The Rutland Group, which subsequently established Dunsfold Park Ltd.[14] From mid-2002 until 2020, theBBC motoring programmeTop Gear was filmed at the site, using a hangar as its studio and sections of the airfield’s runways and taxiways asthe test track.[15]
The test track also hosts cycling races during the summer as part of the Surrey Cycle Racing League’s closed-circuit series.[16]
From 2005 to 2019, Dunsfold Park hosted the annual air and motor showWings and Wheels, typically held in late August.[17] The event attracted over 25,000 visitors annually and raised substantial funds for charities, includingHelp for Heroes and theSurrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.
Dunsfold Park Ltd has also operated entertainment events such as the Dunsfold Drive-In cinema,[18] and the classical concert seriesStrings & Wings.[19]
In October 2020, a secondBoeing 747-400 (registration G-CIVW) arrived at Dunsfold to join G-BDXJ for use as a filming location and for training purposes. The aircraft, formerly operated byBritish Airways, was flown in fromCardiff Airport.[20][21] A third aircraft, G-BNLY—one of the threeRetrojet 747s painted in the 1980s–1990sLandor Associates livery and namedCity of Swansea—arrived in December 2020.[22]
The aerodrome’s lawful use as an aviation site has long been the subject of dispute. Operations have been governed by a series of temporary planning consents restricting flight movements and limiting operating hours. In April 2011, Dunsfold Park Ltd claimed that aviation use was unrestricted, arguing that it either predated modern planning controls or was protected by a 1951 consent permitting “erection, repair and flight testing of aircraft”.[23] The claim was opposed by local parish councils, environmental groups such as theCampaign to Protect Rural England andFriends of the Earth, and several MPs.
In June 2011,Waverley Borough Council refused the company’s application for a certificate of lawful use, and a subsequent appeal was dismissed in April 2012. The planning inspector ruled that the 1951 consent did not equate to unrestricted flying rights and reaffirmed this in a 2014High Court judgment by Lord Justice Sullivan.[24]
In 2006, Dunsfold Park Ltd proposed a new settlement comprising approximately 2,600 homes, a school, healthcare facilities, and transport links to theA281. The scheme was intended as a model of green andsustainable living.[25]
The proposal was considered under the UK Government’s 2007–08 eco-town initiative but rejected for being below the minimum required 5,000 dwellings and for insufficient public transport provision.[26] Despite opposition from local councils and residents, the plan received support from environmental groups such asFriends of the Earth and academics including ProfessorRoland Clift, who cited its potential as a sustainable redevelopment alternative to expanded aviation use.[27]
The scheme was refused byWaverley Borough Council and rejected on appeal in 2009 by then Secretary of StateJohn Denham. In 2013, The Rutland Group sold the site toTrinity College, Cambridge, forming a development partnership to pursue revised plans.[28]
In December 2016, planning permission was granted for 1,800 homes on the site.[29] Redevelopment plans include the eventual demolition of the test track and remaining aerodrome infrastructure.[30]
A memorial, funded by public subscription, was erected outside the nearby Alfold Barn pub (on theA281 road betweenGuildford andHorsham). The memorial and its unveiling on 20 July 1992, exactly 50 years to the day after the first aircraft (an RCAFTiger Moth) landed at Dunsfold, was organised by the Dunsfold Society. A Tiger Moth andLockheed P-3 Orion (of present-day 320 Sqn RDNAS) performed fly-pasts.
A museum housing a collection ofSecond World War Dunsfold memorabilia is maintained on site (open on Wednesdays to the public) by volunteers; the museum was started by the late Reg Day who served with 98 Sqn RAF at Dunsfold in 1943–44.[31]
On 7 January 1944, two RAF bombers collided near Dunsfold and were crashed.[32]
On 20 November 1975, aHawker Siddeley HS.125 G-BCUX was taking off on a test flight from runway 07. Just as aircraft became airborne, it was struck by birds. The pilots tried to land back onto the runway but the aircraft overran the runway and struck a passing car on the A281 road. The aircraft stopped in a field and was destroyed by fire. All six people inside the car died, and one crew member out of nine passengers and crew was injured.[33]
On 2 July 1986, British Aerospace's deputy chief test pilot Jim Hawkins was killed at Dunsfold when his developmentalHawk 200 ZG200 crashed into farmland just beyond the road outside the airfield's southern boundary.[34]
On 5 June 1998, aHawker Hunter (G-HHUN) crashed at Dunsfold prior to that weekend's airshow. The pilot, John Davies, was killed.[35]
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A formerBoeing 747-200 ofBritish Airways (registration G-BDXJ, namedCity of Birmingham) was acquired by Aces High Limited, a company specialising in supplying aircraft for television and film work, and transferred to Dunsfold. It was modified and used for filming for the 2006James Bond filmCasino Royale, with several scenes set atMiami International Airport filmed at Dunsfold.[36]
The airfield has since become a popular filming location for both film and television productions, taking advantage of its large runway, hangars and adaptable facilities.[37]
Notable films partly shot at Dunsfold Aerodrome include:
Television series filmed in whole or in part at Dunsfold include:
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