Leeds East Airport
| Leeds East Airport Church Fenton | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | formerly EGXG |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 9 m (30 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 20 km east of Leeds |
| Street |
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| Basic data | |
| opening | April 1, 1937 |
| operator | Makins Enterprises |
| Runways | |
| 06/24 | 1710 m × 46 m asphalt |
| 16/34 | 1465 m × 46 m asphalt |
The Leeds East Airport Church Fenton is a British airfield in North Yorkshire , England . The former military airfield , the former Royal Air Force Station Church Fenton , or RAF Church Fenton for short, is 7 km southeast of Tadcasters and 10 km northwest of Selby near the village of Church Fenton .
history
RAF Church Fenton
Construction of the airfield began in 1936 when the armament was beginning before the Second World War. The Royal Air Force Station, RAF Church Fenton for short, opened on April 1, 1937. Its first user was the Gloster Gladiator equipped No. 72 Squadron.
During the Second World War , Church Fenton served the RAF Fighter Command as an interceptor base for the air defense of the industrial region of Leeds , Bradford , Sheffield and Humberside . No. 71 Squadron was the first so-called Eagles Squadron formed from US volunteers .
In the further course of the war, the place also housed the first Canadian and Polish squadrons within the RAF, the 242nd and 306th squadrons. Various other squadrons were located here during the war and, between 1940 and 1942, a retraining unit for night fighters .
After the war, Church Fenton remained a fighter pilot base and the first peace base for the Meteor , the first British jet fighter . In the 1950s and 1957 there was a reserve squadron with the 609th Squadron .
Later the station came to the RAF Flying Training Command and between 1962 and 1966 and with a view to the influx of the tornado again from 1979 to 1992 base of the Jet Provost equipped No. 7 Flying Training School . The Royal Navy Elementary Flying Training School (REFTS) with its Bulldogs was also located here for a few years.
Church Fenton was the first training base equipped with Tucano from 1992 , and between 1998 and 2003 the place was the most important base for the basic aviation training of the RAF. There were also motor gliders here for basic training.
The station closed in late 2013 after the last units stationed here were relocated to RAF Linton-on-Ouse .
Todays use
At the end of 2014, apart from the area used by school gliders, the site was sold to a private investor who has been operating a civil airfield here since May 2015.
