RAF Lilbourne

RAF Lilbourne
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	The Air Board Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Flying Corps Royal Air Force
Location	Lilbourne
Built	1915
In use	1916-1920
Elevation AMSL	322 ft / 98 m
Coordinates	52°22′47″N 001°11′40″W / 52.37972°N 1.19444°WCoordinates: 52°22′47″N 001°11′40″W / 52.37972°N 1.19444°W
Map
RFC/RAF Lilbourne Location in Warwickshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 00/00 0 0 Concrete 00/00 0 0 Concrete 00/00 0 0 Concrete

RAF Lilbourne is a former Royal Air Force station which was located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) south of Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England.

The airfield opened 1915 before closing around 1920.^[1]

History

A number of training squadrons were based at the airfield including No. 10 Training Squadron using the Avro 504 and the Sopwith Camel at Lilbourne between 7 April 1918 and 25 June 1918, No.44 Reserve/ Training Squadron using the Avro 504, DH4's and Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7's based at the airfield between 2 November 1916 and 13 November 1916. This also included No. 55 Training Squadron utilising the Avro 504, Camel, Sopwith Pup and the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5A. The squadron used both Castle Bromwich Aerodrome and Lilbourne between 15 January 1918 and July 1918.^[2]

The airfield was also home to a number of operational squadrons during World War I including No. 55 Squadron RFC using Avro 504's, BE2's, DH4's and FK8's spread between Castle Bromwich Aerodrome and Lilbourne from 27 April 1916 and 6 March 1917, No. 73 Squadron RFC using the Camel while based at the airfield between 10 July 1917 and 9 January 1918 and No. 84 Squadron RFC using the Avro 504, Camel and Pup at Lilbourne between 23 March 1917 and 23 September 1917.^[2]

Accidents and incidents

Date	Incident	Reference
25 July 1916	BE2d serial 5838, of 55 Squadron crashed	[3]
9 June 1917	Avro 504, serial 2923, of 73 Squadron, crashed in a spin at Lilbourne	[4]
10 August 1917	Pup A7326, of 84 Squadron spun into the ground at Lilbourne after a wing collapsed	[4]
7 December 1917	Camel B5577, of 73 Squadron stalled on a turn at Lilbourne after the engine was choked	[4]
22 January 1918	Bristol F.2 Fighter, serial B1236, of 59 Training Squadron crashed near Lilbourne after its pilot was thrown out during aerobatic practice	[5]
24 March 1918	Pup B7530, of 55 Training Squadron spun into the ground near Lilbourne.	[5]

Current use

The land is currently open land^[1] with a big lorry park on part of the airfield.

References

1. "Lilbourne (Catthorpe)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
2. "Military flying units in the south west Midlands". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
3. "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1915-16". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
4. "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1917". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
5. "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1918". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 1 April 2012.