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Sywell Aerodrome
Sywell Aerodrome (IATA: ORM, ICAO: EGBK) is the local aerodrome serving the towns of Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering and Rushden, as well as wider Northamptonshire. The aerodrome is located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast of Northampton and was originally opened in 1928 on the edge of Sywell village.
The aerodrome caters for private flying, flight training and corporate flights. There is a fixed-wing flying school, a microlight school and a helicopter school. The 1930s Art Deco hotel (built in 1934 as the Northamptonshire Aero Club clubhouse) has bar and restaurant facilities. Aviation related industries and businesses are also located at the aerodrome. A viewing area is provided for aircraft spotters where the airfield memorial is located. The Pilots' Mess cafe is also located on site and the large Hangar One venue hosts many events throughout the year.
The aerodrome opened in 1928 and during the Second World War the aerodrome, as RAF Sywell, was used as a training facility (de Havilland Tiger Moths) and later an important centre for the repair of Vickers Wellington bombers; extensive sheds from this time still remain on the site. Sywell also produced nearly 100 Avro Lancasters from 1942 to 1943. Among the Second World War pilots who underwent training at Sywell were Pierre Clostermann and Paddy Finucane, who soloed here.
The following units were here at some point:
Aerial shots for the film Battle of Britain were taken over the airport and nearby area.
In 1999, the aerodrome sought planning permission for a hard runway, which was intended to allow operations to continue over the winter, when the grass runways often become waterlogged. The organisations STARE (Stop The Aerodrome Runway Expansion) and CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) campaigned against this change, arguing that it would lead to more and larger aircraft flying over the area and disturb its "rural tranquility".
Permission was granted for the runway on 22 November 2007 by the Department for Transport, and though campaigners vowed to fight the decision they were unsuccessful and construction of the runway began in 2008. It opened during summer 2009 and enabled safe operations during the winter of 2009–2010 and onwards. In February 2010, the final inspection of the newly completed all-weather hard runway was carried out by the CAA who confirmed that it could be licensed for use. In recent years airfield lighting and approach aids have been installed to enable night training and operations to be carried out albeit at present this is infrequent.
Sywell has two all-grass operational runways and a third all-weather concrete runway. The aerodrome's operational hours are 0900–1700 during winter and 0800-1700 during summer. The aerodrome offers an Aerodrome Flight Information Service to pilots. The tower frequency is 122.705 mhz. Non Sywell-based aircraft are required to PPR (Prior Permission Required).
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Sywell Aerodrome
Sywell Aerodrome (IATA: ORM, ICAO: EGBK) is the local aerodrome serving the towns of Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering and Rushden, as well as wider Northamptonshire. The aerodrome is located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast of Northampton and was originally opened in 1928 on the edge of Sywell village.
The aerodrome caters for private flying, flight training and corporate flights. There is a fixed-wing flying school, a microlight school and a helicopter school. The 1930s Art Deco hotel (built in 1934 as the Northamptonshire Aero Club clubhouse) has bar and restaurant facilities. Aviation related industries and businesses are also located at the aerodrome. A viewing area is provided for aircraft spotters where the airfield memorial is located. The Pilots' Mess cafe is also located on site and the large Hangar One venue hosts many events throughout the year.
The aerodrome opened in 1928 and during the Second World War the aerodrome, as RAF Sywell, was used as a training facility (de Havilland Tiger Moths) and later an important centre for the repair of Vickers Wellington bombers; extensive sheds from this time still remain on the site. Sywell also produced nearly 100 Avro Lancasters from 1942 to 1943. Among the Second World War pilots who underwent training at Sywell were Pierre Clostermann and Paddy Finucane, who soloed here.
The following units were here at some point:
Aerial shots for the film Battle of Britain were taken over the airport and nearby area.
In 1999, the aerodrome sought planning permission for a hard runway, which was intended to allow operations to continue over the winter, when the grass runways often become waterlogged. The organisations STARE (Stop The Aerodrome Runway Expansion) and CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) campaigned against this change, arguing that it would lead to more and larger aircraft flying over the area and disturb its "rural tranquility".
Permission was granted for the runway on 22 November 2007 by the Department for Transport, and though campaigners vowed to fight the decision they were unsuccessful and construction of the runway began in 2008. It opened during summer 2009 and enabled safe operations during the winter of 2009–2010 and onwards. In February 2010, the final inspection of the newly completed all-weather hard runway was carried out by the CAA who confirmed that it could be licensed for use. In recent years airfield lighting and approach aids have been installed to enable night training and operations to be carried out albeit at present this is infrequent.
Sywell has two all-grass operational runways and a third all-weather concrete runway. The aerodrome's operational hours are 0900–1700 during winter and 0800-1700 during summer. The aerodrome offers an Aerodrome Flight Information Service to pilots. The tower frequency is 122.705 mhz. Non Sywell-based aircraft are required to PPR (Prior Permission Required).