Langar
LANGAR: Military aerodrome now civil aerodrome
Notes: All of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©, except the local area view and area view which are from my Google Earth © derived database.
Military users: WW2: RAF Bomber Command 7 Group
1669 HCU [Heavy Conversion Unit] (Avro Lancasters)
100 Sqdn (Lancasters)
207 Sqdn (Lancasters)
1943: USAAF base
435th, 438th and 441st Troop Carrier Groups. All operating Douglas C-47 Skytrains
1952 to 1963: RCAF base. No.30 Air Material Base
No.137 (Transport) Flight (6 x Bristol 170 Freighters, 2 x Douglas C-47 Dakotas and one Beech 18 Expeditor)
Operated by: 1980s to - : British Parachute Schools
Flying club: Beaver Flying Club
Note: In the 1957 The Aeroplane directory, the Beaver Flying Club is listed as operating one Mile Hawk Trainer 3. As LANGAR was then a RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) base, membership of the Club was; "Restricted to R.C.A.F. personnel and civilians employed at R.C.A.F. base."
Location: 2.5nm S of A52, 4nm E of A46, roughly 9nm NNW of Melton Mowbray and about 10nm ESE of Nottingham
Period of operation: Military: 1941 to 1968. Then civil to - (Continuous operation?)
Note: This map is reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Copyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runways: WW2: 01/19 1829x46 hard 07/25 1280x46 hard
13/31 1280x46 hard
1990/ 2000: 01/19 1850x60 hard 07/25 1300x60 hard
NOTES: Does anybody know why and when the runway widths were increased to 60m?
A LITTLE KNOWN ASPECT
Eight weeks after war was declared on Germany in 1939 it appears that the British government abolished the colour bar for men entering the military services. Initially at least only the RAF respected this ruling and as a result some 6000 men from the Caribbean and West Africa volunteered and of these some 400 were selected for aircrew training.
One such was Grey Doyle Cumberbtach from Barbados who trained as a bomb-aimer and was a member of the crew of Lancaster ED549, flying with 100 Squadron based here. After a raid on St Nazaire in March 1943, for some unexplained reason it crashed only a short distance from LANGAR. One witness stated it sounded as if it was in trouble, and the "approach", it that was what it was (?), was not aligned with a runway. Two Lancasters were lost on this mission, and apparently ED549 was the first to be lost to the Squadron during WW2.
If you are interested in this largely forgotten aspect of RAF history, please see my listing for ELSHAM WOLDS which has more information.
A MEMORABLE VISIT
NOTE: OY-TCA is a Cessna 208 Caravan 1, and used on the day. G-AYGK is a Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander, also employed at that time mostly for parachuting sorties. The airfield picture is the copyright of Alan Murray-Rust.
In January 2022 Martin Pole kindly sent me this missive, and pictures, regarding a visit flying in during August 1994.
"We had arranged (PPR) a flight from Luton to Langar to watch the skydiving, which was a great day out. We could watch the skydivers practicing their routines on the ground using 'boogie boards' prior to watching their formations in the air, before landing close to our point of observation. We followed their team camera man inside and watched their aerial ballet played back on video."
"On initial radio contact with Langar we were asked to hold over Melton Mowbray as a drop was in progress, subsequently I was given joining instructions to land on Runway 25. Upon landing we were told to taxy to the end of the runway and turn left. I double checked that he meant the very end of the runway as there was an intersection of an old runway to our left and there was vehicular traffic movement ahead. So as instructed we went off the end of the runway and turned left onto the now empty road! This former perimeter track had become the road to the airfield industrial estate. We proceeded as instructed to re-enter the airfield between the gap in a row of red and white painted oil drums. Now we had a problem as we couldn't fit between the oil drums! So there we were sitting on the road with vehicles now in front and behind us waiting to pass."
"Following a radio request for assistance someone arrived clutching a hand held radio, whereupon he edge wheeled the offending drums which had been positioned to allow passage of a Cessna Caravan. The road/perimeter track was later divided with car tyres to provide a seperate road and a taxyway, however both are narrow."
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