Castletown
*CASTLETOWN: Military aerodrome later private airfield
Note: This picture was obtained from Google Earth ©
Military user: RAF Fighter Command 13 Group Forward Airfield
*Battle of Britain RAF Station (10th July 1940) 13 Group
504 Sqdn (Hawker Hurricanes, still based here 1st September 1940)
LATER
282 (ASR - Air-Sea Rescue) Sqdn (Avro Ansons & Supermarine Walrus)
331 (Norwegian) Sqdn (Flying Hurricanes some say in 1940, others say by now flying Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
54 and 124 Squadrons (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
Operated by: 2001: Mr George Campbell
Location: NW of B876, 5nm E of Thurso
Period of operation: Military: 1940 to 1945 Civil: 1980s to 2000s only?
Runways: WW2: 07/25 1097x46 hard 11/29 1028x46 hard
16/34 992x46 hard
2001: 07/25 1097x46 hard 11/29 1028x46 hard
16/34 992x46 hard
Note: As the Google Earth picture shows, by 2016 very little remains of the WW2 runways. Presumably having been dug up to provide hardcore for local civil engineering projects such as by-passes etc.
NOTES: This aerodrome was a rare example in UK aviation history? To be fair the advice in one flight guide does warn that the runway surfaces are rough with loose stones.
Nevertheless this must must have been surely one of the few WW2 aerodromes remaining in the UK where all the original runways were of original dimensions and still available to use, as were the taxiways it appears - in 2001 anyway?
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