Royal Airship Works
RAF Cardington
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| Near Shortstown, Bedfordshire in England | |
The sheds in 2013.
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 RAF Cardington
Shown within Bedfordshire
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| Coordinates | 52°06′32″N 000°25′21″W / 52.10889°N 0.42250°WCoordinates: 52°06′32″N 000°25′21″W / 52.10889°N 0.42250°W |
| Type | Royal Air Force station |
| Height | 170 feet (52 m) |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator | Royal Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1915 |
| In use | 1915-1971 |
| Airfield information | |
| Elevation | 30 metres (98 ft) AMSL |
Royal Air Force Cardington or more simply RAF Cardington is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons.
Most of the former RAF station is in the parish of Eastcotts, as is the settlement of Shortstown.
The site started life as a private venture when aircraft manufacturing company Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. It constructed a 700-foot-long (210 m) Airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable it to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. Short also built a housing estate, opposite the site, which it named Shortstown.
The airships site was nationalised in April 1919, becoming known as the Royal Airship Works.
In preparation for the R101 project the No 1 shed was extended between October 1924 and March 1926; its roof was raised by 35 feet and its length increased to 812 feet. The No. 2 shed (Southern shed), which had originally been located at RNAS Pulham, Norfolk, was dismantled in 1928 and re-erected at Cardington.
After the crash of the R101, in October 1930, all work stopped in Britain on airships. Cardington then became a storage station.
In 1936/1937 Cardington started building barrage balloons; and it became the No 1 RAF Balloon Training Unit responsible for the storage and training of balloon operators and drivers. In 1943 until 1967 it was home to the RAF Meteorological research balloons-training unit, undertaking development and storage (after 1967 this was undertaken by the Royal Aircraft Establishment).
WAAF Barrage Balloon crews at RAF Cardington.
Restored Fordson Sussex Balloon Winch Tender
Rear view of Fordson Sussex on display at the RAF Museum Hendon.
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Wikipedia