Bicester Airfield
Airport in Bicester, Oxfordshire / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is a private airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1916, it is notable as the location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page Halifax in 1939. It was originally established as a military airfield, used by Royal Air Force until 2004.
Bicester Aerodrome | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Owner | Bicester Motion Ltd | ||||||||||||||
Operator | Bicester Aerodrome Co. | ||||||||||||||
Location | Bicester, Oxfordshire | ||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 267 ft / 81 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°54′58″N 1°08′07″W | ||||||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Historic England notes that Bicester Aerodrome is:
"The most complete and strongly representative example of an RAF airbase from the interwar expansion, built as a bomber station as part of the 1920s Home Defence Expansion Scheme."[1]
The airfield consists of 400 acres (160 ha) of well-drained short-mown grass, with two mown grass runways of 06/24 (650 m (2,133 ft)) and 16/34 (790 m (2,592 ft)) long.[2] The airfield surface is bumpy in places, due to collapsing field drains, requiring care on the part of pilots operating aircraft in those areas.