RAF Topcliffe

RAF Topcliffe
Grob 109B 'Vigilant' motor glider. The glider is flown by 645 Volunteer Glider Squadron, which is based at Topcliffe.
IATA: none – ICAO: EGXZ – WMO: 03275
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Royal Air Force
Location		Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
Elevation AMSL		92 ft / 28 m
Coordinates		54°12′20″N 001°22′56″W
Map
EGXZ Location in North Yorkshire
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
03/21	1,814	5,951	Asphalt
08/26	430	1,410	Asphalt
13/31	1,262	4,140	Asphalt

RAF Topcliffe (ICAO: EGXZ) is a Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire. It is a satellite station of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Topcliffe opened in September 1940 as a bomber station in RAF Bomber Command and was home to 77 and 102 Squadrons flying the Whitley heavy bomber. There was a decoy site at Raskelf. Concrete runways were added in mid-1942, and 419 and 424 Squadrons (RCAF) moved in flying Wellington bombers and later, the Halifax III. On 1 January 1943 the station was transferred to No. 6 Group RCAF and became a training station. The station, along with sub-stations at Wombleton, Dalton and Dishforth was designated as No. 61 (Training) Base in late 1943.

The army moved on to the site in 1972 and renamed much of it Alanbrooke Barracks. However all the flying facilities remain intact. The wartime control tower, with modifications, is still used, and the station is referred to as RAF Topcliffe by the RAF.

During the eighties it was the home of the Royal Navy Elementary Flying School. In the nineties it was temporarily home to a Tucano squadron of RAF Central Flying School. It was the home of the Tucano Air Navigation Squadron, teaching student navigators of both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy until April 2002 when it moved to RAF Linton on Ouse.

The station is now home to 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, who teach Air Cadets to fly The Grob 109B 'Vigilant' Motor Glider and is currently joined by 635 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, who have been temporarily re-located from their former airfield.

Other uses

In 1962 The Air Electronics School (for Wireless Operators and Air Electronics Officers) moved to RAF Topcliffe from RAF Hullavington in Wiltshire. In the early 70s it was also used as a basic Sergeant Aircrew training centre.

During the 1990s and until 2001, the airfield was utilised by Merlin Parachute Club, home to both the 4 Para Parachute display team and the York University Sport Parachute Club. Part of the site is also used for the flying of model aircraft.

External links

• Airport information for EGXZ at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• A National Serviceman remembers Topcliffe in 1959