Shobdon Airfield
Airport in Herefordshire, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shobdon Airfield (ICAO: EGBS) is an airport 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) south of Shobdon village, and west of Leominster,[1] Herefordshire, England.
Shobdon Airfield | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Private | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Herefordshire Aero Club Ltd | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Shobdon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 317 ft / 97 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°14′30″N 002°52′52″W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
  EGBS Location in Herefordshire | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
RAF Shobdon
Shobdon started as a British Army camp. It acted as a reception point for casualties received from Southampton being distributed to local hospitals. With a depot railway station developed on the Leominster and Kington Railway, its first casualties arrived after the Battle of Dunkirk.[citation needed]
The camp was developed further by the United States Army from 1943, to act as a distribution point for two locally developed general hospitals. They also added a runway in co-operation with the Royal Air Force, but due to the marshy land only one runway was developed.[2]
In 1943, RAF No. 1 Glider Training School moved from RAF Thame to Shobdon,[3] enabling an increase in training of glider pilots in preparation for Normandy and Arnhem landings.[4]
The RAF Gliding School closed in 1953, when the site was handed to Herefordshire County Council.
Today
Shobdon Airfield has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (Number P779) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Herefordshire Aero Club Limited).[5]
It is operated by Herefordshire Aero Club who provide light aircraft flight training together with aircraft storage.
Other air sports facilities based at Shobdon Airfield are:
- Shobdon LAA Strut a kit-build group hold monthly social evenings
- Tiger Helicopters offer helicopter flight training and maintenance.
- Swift Light Flight microlight club and training school.
- Herefordshire Gliding Club and training school.
From 1963 to 1990 Herefordshire Parachute Club was very active but now parachuting is no longer available at the airfield.
