User:DAVE260760/HENSTRIDGE AIRFIELD HMS DIPPER

Henstridge airfield (ICAO EGHS) formally RNAS Dipper is a airfield in north east Somerset on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. currently active with GA aircraft it is also the home of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. and the yakolevs air display team

History
The main part of the land (355 acres) was purchased in August of 1941, after which building of the airfield and the marsh lane accommodation site commenced, it was commissioned on April 1st 1943 as HMS Dipper, principally as number 2 navel fighter school, on the 11th September 1942, another 18 acres was acquired at the adjoining gibbs marsh area for a aircraft repair and maintenance site. The design and lay-out of the airfield was quite unique, having 5 runways, 2 of these being east west lay-out (07-25) both 1000 yards long, the northern runway incorporated a dummy deck landing strip, complete with under-ground arresting gear with four above ground arrestor wires, which was a duplicate of that installed on HMS Implacable  for training of aircraft carrier landings, these mainly being carried out with the seafire, a naval version of the spitfire with folding wings. The site also had its own cinema and stage hall

Post War
March 1952 the airfield became inactive and was placed under care and maintenance, during 1953 Air whaling (now Bristow group) used the facilities for repairs to the whaling fleet of helicopters until moving out in june 1958.June 1957 it was finally closed as a naval establishment, from 1958-1960 the entire site was sold off. 27 june 1980 the BBC purchased the whole site and applied for planning permission to erect at the airfield a shortwave radio station consisting of  21 self-supporting towers holding aerial arrays and ancillary buildings on a 300-acre site. The station would transmit overseas radio services to Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and perhaps South America the application failed and the BBC sold the land during January 1987 The airfield is also the home of the wessex strut, a general aviation club formed in January of 1977, which holds a annual fly in and other events their first fly-in was on 17 April 1977 and attracted 107 aircraft. As of today the only useable runway is the north 07-25 runway, extant with the concrete dummy deck, and the underground machinery chamber, and is the home to a large number of light aviation enthusiasts aircraft