RAE Bedford

RAE Bedford was a research site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment between 1946 and 1994. It undertook aircraft experimental development work. RAE Bedford was located near to the village of Thurleigh, with an access road from neighbouring Clapham, north of the town of Bedford in England. In the book A Short Illustrated History of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford, author Arthur Pearcy wrote that RAE Bedford is "the finest research and development establishment outside the USA." Starting in 1946, construction work began to turn the wartime RAF Thurleigh airfield into what became known as the Royal Aeronautical Establishment, Bedford. The runway was extended in the post-war period to accommodate the Bristol Brabazon aircraft, which required a very long runway but which never went into production. A lot of the development for what became the Harrier was done here, one early version became known as the 'Flying Bedstead'. Also Thurleigh had a catapult runway and it was here that the 'ski jump' later fitted to some aircraft carriers was also developed. One local road was put in a cutting for a runway to be put above it, linking the Airfield site to the wind-tunnel site about a mile and a half away, although ultimately this was never carried out. The runway is some 10,500 ft long, and some 300 ft wide. Naval Air Department and the BEA Helicopters Experimental Unit was here

Airport data from the OpenFlights open database.