Cranwell
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Cranwell is a village in mid Lincolnshire that became famous for the RAF College built to the west and two associated airfields. The northern airfield is the older example and remains as a grassed field used occasionally by gliders and light aircraft. The southern airfield is much larger with paved runways and abuts the A17 road.
The RAF college (which all RAF officers are trained, the equivalent of the British Army's Sandhurst), the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre (OASC) (which moved here from Biggin Hill in the 1990s), and No 1 Flying School still trains aircrew and others for the British and some foreign air forces. Its most famous graduate was Sir Frank Whittle. Its symmetrical classical architecture remains a potent symbol for the Royal Air Force. The western world's first true flight by a jet aircraft, the Gloster E28/39, took place here on May 15th 1941 at around 19.45 lasting 17 minutes, flown by Flight Lt. Sayer. Whittle was the first to propose ideas for the jet engine when at Cranwell in the late 1920s, resulting in his patent application in 1930.
An independent heritage centre telling the story of RAF Cranwell may be visited near the village of North Rauceby, to the south east of the larger airfield. In the early days of operations airships were based at Cranwell. More recently it has provided a home for the Red Arrows aerobatic display team, another famous symbol of the RAF, although they now use RAF Scampton as their home.
The hamlet of Byard's Leap stands to the west of the larger airfield and is in the same parish - Cranwell and Byard's Leap - within North Kesteven District. There is a local legend associated with Byards Leap, the name comes from Blind Byard, a horse, who leapt over a 60 foot wide cliff whilst being pursued by a witch called Old Meg. Allegedly, the impact of the leap left four horseshoe prints in the ground, and today there stands four posts with horshoes on to mark the spot, and a memorial stone telling the full legend.
There is also a connection to the Knights Templars. Not far away is the village of Temple Bruer, and another legend states that the Knights Templars held Tournaments at the site.
External link
- RAF Cranwell Home Page (http://www.cranwell.raf.mod.uk/)
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