Qualla: Old Sarum Airfield https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Old Sarum Airfield https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield Old Sarum Airfield: Introduction https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield/ Photo credit Germany. Luftwaffe, Public domain. Open the throttle on a grass strip just east of an Iron Age hill, and you are doing roughly what Royal Flying Corps trainees did here in 1917. Old Sarum Airfield was sited that year beneath the great hump of Old Sarum - the abandoned medieval city perched on a much older hillfort - because the rapidly expanding RFC needed somewhere to train new aircrews for the bomber squadrons being thrown across the English Channel. The first hangars were wooden sheds; the buildings that quickly followed are still here. Walk past Hangar 1 today and you are looking at one of the most complete suites of First World War technical and hangar buildings anywhere in Britain.

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Image: Germany. Luftwaffe | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/gcnd-old-sarum-airfield-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Old Sarum Airfield: Born on the Day the RAF Was https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield/ Photo credit Trish Steel, CC BY-SA 2.0. The airfield opened in August 1917, briefly known as 'Ford Farm' before settling on the name of the hill nearby. Within months it was preparing day bomber squadrons for France. Then on 1 April 1918 - the day the Royal Flying Corps merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to create...

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Image: Trish Steel | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/gcnd-old-sarum-airfield-born-on-the-day-the-raf-was.mp3 0:06 2 full Old Sarum Airfield: From Battle of Britain to D-Day https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield/ Photo credit TabstheCat at English Wikipedia, Public domain. When the Second World War came, two of the first Canadian flying units to reach Britain - 110 and 112 RCAF Squadrons - made their first home at Old Sarum. As fighter pilot losses climbed during the Battle of Britain, army cooperation trainees were stripped out of the school and r...

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Image: TabstheCat at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/gcnd-old-sarum-airfield-from-battle-of-britain-to-d-day.mp3 0:06 3 full Old Sarum Airfield: Helicopters, Optica, and a Long Civilian Era https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield/ Photo credit Germany. Luftwaffe, Public domain. Post-war, Old Sarum became one of the first places in Britain where helicopters were taken seriously as a military tool. The RAF element of the Helicopter Development Unit formed here on 1 June 1961 with Bristol Sycamores and Westland Whirlwinds. The Joint Helicopter Development ...

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Image: Germany. Luftwaffe | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/gcnd-old-sarum-airfield-helicopters-optica-and-a-long-civilian-era.mp3 0:06 4 full Old Sarum Airfield: Closure, Fires, and an Uncertain Future https://qualla.com/old-sarum-airfield/ Photo credit Germany. Luftwaffe, Public domain. Old Sarum Flying Club ran from 1992, peaking at around 800 members and twenty aircraft, including a 1943 Boeing Stearman. The Boscombe Down Aviation Collection moved its museum into Hangar 1 in July 2012, displaying replica Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2Bs, a Westland Scout, and th...

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Image: Germany. Luftwaffe | Public domain

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/d/old-sarum-airfield-wp/gcnd-old-sarum-airfield-closure-fires-and-an-uncertain-future.mp3 0:06 5 full