Bristol Filton Airport
| RAF Filton Bristol Filton Airport |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | EGTG |
| IATA code | FZO |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 69 m (226 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 7 km north of Bristol |
| Street |
|
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1911 |
| closure | 2012 |
| operator | RAF BAE Systems |
| Start-and runway | |
| 09/27 | 2467 m × 91 m concrete |
Bristol Filton Airport (IATA: FZO , ICAO: EGTG , previously Filton Airfield ) was an airport in Filton (north of Bristol ) and was last used primarily by business jets before it was closed in 2012 . At the end, it had a runway 2,467 meters long, which was equipped with an instrument landing system. The airfield was closed on December 31, 2012. The site was sold to the London real estate company Bridgehouse Capital on the same day. Various companies from the aviation industry are located in the vicinity (including BAE Systems , Airbus , MBDA , Rolls-Royce ). The name Filton is therefore closely linked to the development of aircraft such as the Bristol 170 , Bristol F.2 Fighter , Bristol Type 175 Britannia and Concorde . Since its last flight on November 26, 2003, Concorde No. 216 with the registration number G-BOAF has been on the site of the former airport as part of the local aviation museum ; however, since 2010 it has been temporarily closed to the public.
history
RAF Filton
Aircraft construction in Filton was started in 1910 by the British and Colonial Airplane Company founded by Sir George White , but the first test flights took place at the Army in Larkhill ( Salisbury Plain ), as there was no airfield in Filton. Operations on the Filton airfield did not begin until the following year. With the outbreak of World War I , the mass production of aircraft began and in 1915 the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Filton Aerodrome opened and the airfield became a military airfield for decades to come . During the war, the place was used in particular as an acceptance facility for new aircraft.
After the end of the war, the Royal Air Force Station Filton ( RAF Filton for short ), the name after the RFC was absorbed into the Royal Air Force (RAF), was used both as a factory airfield for the local aviation industry and for military purposes. From 1929 the RAF stationed the 501st (City of Bristol) Squadron here , which was relocated to France with its hurricanes after the outbreak of World War II .
Following a heavy Luftwaffe bombing raid on the Bristol Airplane Company (BAC) in September 1940, RAF Filton became home to a Spitfire squadron in succession . The following year the base was expanded, including two concrete runways. A number of different BAC aircraft types were built in Filton during the war. In the further course of the war, the final assembly of American aircraft types, which were shipped disassembled from the USA, was also carried out. After the Allied invasion of Normandy , Filton also served as a transit station for the repatriation of wounded soldiers overseas.
After the war, the east-west runway was expanded for the test flight operations of the Bristol Brabazon and the "Brabazon hangar" was created, at that time the largest aircraft hangar in the world. This was used in the early 1950s for the maintenance of four-engine passenger aircraft of the BOAC . While aircraft construction continued, the 501st Squadron converted from the Spitfire to the jet-powered Vampire in 1948 , which it flew until it was disbanded in 1957.
Between 1947 and 1953 there was also an RAF flight school here. The following year, BAC opened a technical college that was merged into Filton (Technical) College in 1961.
Filton Airfield
With the decommissioning of the 501st Squadron , RAF Filton was closed and Filton Airfield continued to be operated civilly, from 1977 by British Aerospace . At first, however, Filton remained, as in the previous RAF years, an alternative site for V-bombers until the 1960s . During the Cuban Missile Crisis, volcans stood ready to go with the turbines running.
The main runway was extended again for the Concorde project in the 1960s. The Concorde was one of the last aircraft whose final assembly took place in Filton.
Aircraft construction was later reduced to the manufacture of components and large assemblies, today the wing of the Airbus A400M is built here .
Flight operations therefore decreased over the years, so that the owner BAE Systems decided in 2011 to close the airport at the end of 2012.
The infrastructure of the aviation industry has expanded continuously over the decades, while the original facilities of the RAF largely disappeared over time.
Incidents
- On February 4, 1954, engine 3 (right inside) of a Bristol Britannia 101 of the British Ministry of Supply ( aircraft registration G-ALRX ) had to be switched off seven minutes after take-off from Bristol-Filton Airport and later caught fire. As a precautionary measure, the neighboring engine 4 was also switched off. During the approach to Filton, the two remaining engines 1 and 2 (left) failed. They could be launched again quickly, but an emergency landing in the marshland of the River Severn became inevitable. All 13 occupants, 7 crew members and 6 passengers survived the total loss of the machine.
- On November 6, 1957, a Bristol Britannia 301 of the British Ministry of Supply (G-ANCA) crashed on a test flight near Downend ( Great Britain ) in a forest, 7 kilometers east-southeast of the departure and destination airport Bristol-Filton. Control was lost during the approach at 1,500 feet (approximately 460 meters). All 15 occupants, 4 crew members and 11 passengers were killed.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Accident report Bristol Britannia 101 G-ALRX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 15, 2020.
- ^ Accident report Bristol Britannia 301 G-ANCA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 15, 2020.
