MoD Boscombe Down

MoD Boscombe Down
IATA: none – ICAO: EGDM
Summary
Airport type		Military
Owner		Ministry of Defence
Operator		QinetiQ
Location		Amesbury, Wiltshire, England
Elevation AMSL		407 ft / 124 m
Coordinates		51°09′08″N 001°44′51″W / 51.15222°N 1.7475°W / 51.15222; -1.7475Coordinates: 51°09′08″N 001°44′51″W / 51.15222°N 1.7475°W / 51.15222; -1.7475
Map
EGDM Location in Wiltshire
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
05/23	3,212	10,538	Concrete/Asphalt
17/35	1,914	6,280	Concrete/Asphalt
Radio: Boscombe Down Talk Down - 130.00 (Mhz), Approach/Zone - 126.70 (Mhz), Tower - 130.75 (Mhz)

MoD Boscombe Down (ICAO: EGDM) is an aircraft testing site located at Idmiston, south of Amesbury, in Wiltshire, England. It is run and managed by QinetiQ, the company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence. It is the home of the Empire Test Pilots' School.

The site was formerly known as RAF Boscombe Down and since 1939 has evaluated aircraft for the British armed forces.

History

Aircraft testing at the airfield started when the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) moved from RAF Martlesham Heath in August 1939, as World War II hostilities commenced, when the airfield was the RAF Station Boscombe Down.^[1]

The site has witnessed many significant developments in the British aviation industry, including trials of many aircraft flown by the British armed forces since the Second World War, such as the first flights of the English Electric P 1, forerunner of the Lightning, and the BAC TSR.2. It was also formerly home to the School of Aviation Medicine.

In 1992 the site was renamed the Aircraft and Armament Evaluation Establishment when experimental work moved to the Defence Research Agency. Responsibility for the site passed from the MoD Procurement Executive to the Defence Test and Evaluation Organisation (DTEO) in 1993, and subsequently to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 1995.

Following the creation of QinetiQ in 2001, a 25 year Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) was established with the MOD. Boscombe Down remains a government airfield but operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the MOD. The Joint Test and Evaluation Group was established under the control of RAF Air Command and together with QinetiQ forms the Aircraft Test and Evaluation Centre (ATEC). This unique partnership is charged with the test and evaluation of future and in-service military aircraft. The military personnel of the JTEG play a central role in the test and evaluation process alongside their QinetiQ colleagues.

A small part of Boscombe's history is being preserved in the US. The Anglo American Lightning Organisation are returning to flight the former ETPS English Electric Lightning, XS422. The group is basing the restoration in the US as the CAA is expected to refuse permission for the aircraft to fly in the UK.^[2] The voluntary group, made up of RAF and former-RAF engineers, as well as civilian volunteers, has been carrying out a 'floor-up' restoration and as of spring 2008 were around 80% mechanically complete. It is hoped, funds permitting, that XS422 will be ready for flight within the next 12 months. The project is currently seeking investors and supporters.^{[citation needed]}

Today

The site has two runways, one of 3,212 m (10,538 ft) in length and the second 1,914 m (6,280 ft). It is home to Rotary Wing Test Squadron, Fast Jet Test Squadron, Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron, Handling Squadron, and the Empire Test Pilots' School. It is also currently home to the Southampton University Air Squadron [1].

Boscombe Down has been associated with rumours concerning U.S. black projects. An incident is reported to have occurred there on 26 September 1994, although evidence is scarce, and both the British and American Governments have refused to comment on it.^[3][4]

In October 2007 it was announced that RAF Boscombe Down would become a quick reaction alert (QRA) airbase from early 2008, offering round-the-clock fighter coverage for the South and South West of UK airspace.^[5] Contrary to media reports QRA aircraft will only be based at Boscombe Down if and when a specific threat to the region is deemed to exist.

A well preserved Roman coffin was found to the west of the site in 2007, on what is now the 'Archers Gate' development.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Site History". UCL Adastral Park Post Graduate Campus. Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070810203624/http://www.adastral.ucl.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=51. Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
2. ^ http://www.lightning422supporters.co.uk/pages/html/index1.htm
3. ^ "RAF Boscombe Down's Black Day". http://www.dreamlandresort.com/black_projects/boscombe.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
4. ^ Bellamy, Christopher; Walker, Timothy (14 March 1997). "Secret US spyplane crash may be kept under wraps". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/secret-us-spyplane-crash-may-be-kept-under-wraps-1272714.html. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
5. ^ Air base in front line fully-armed - Salisbury Journal, Monday 29 October 2007
6. ^ "Video of the Boscombe Down Roman coffin". Wessex Archaeology. 14 January 2008. http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/blogs/news/2008/01/14/video-boscombe-down-roman-coffin. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 

External links

• Anglo American Lightning Organisation, returning to flight XS422, the former ETPS Lightning at Stennis Airport, Kiln, Mississippi
• QinetiQ Homepage
• Boscombe Down at QinetiQ
• RAF Boscombe Down, A History of RAF Organisation
• Airport information for EGDM at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.