I know this site has been covered more times than most can shake a stick at, but it has been a visit long overdue for me. I gave it a couple of looks many moons ago and with it being practically on my doorstep I am embarrassed to say I havent been more proactive with visits to retry entry.
Having seen so many visit recently I decided I couldn't miss the chance again!!
RAE Bedford comprised various sites, the two main ones being former local WWII Bases RAF Twinwoods and RAF Thurleigh (USAF Base 111), these are now owned by various different businesses, Twinwoods business centre is home to RAE Bedford 3x3, 8x8, the vertical windtunnel and the horizontal windtunnel. The Vertical Windtunnel was converted into the indoor skydiving site Body Flight and the Horizontal Windunnel is used by Redbull Racing.
There used to be a large recycling centre at the front of the site and one of my failed attempts down to this being on fire and crawling with fire engines at the time of the visit.
Construction on RAE (Royal Areonautical Establishment) Bedford started in 1946. In order to accomodate the landing/taking off of the Bristol Brabazon, the plane never entered production. A significant amount of work on the Harrier was undertaken at Bedford. Thurleigh was home to a catapult runway which aided in the testing and development of the aircraft carrier 'Ski Jump' ramps.
At some point the BEA Helicopters Expermental Unit was also using the site.
The site was slowly decommissioned, starting with the airfield, in 1994, as operations were moved to Boscombe Down. QinetiQ remained on site until around 2007 mainly in part to the cost of relocating the Advanced Flight Simulator. QinetiQ sold their remaining stake in the Bedford Airfield site, including the 'Wind Tunnel' site thus bringing to a close any links the area had with the RAE, or as it became known once it moved to Boscombe DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency).
A very chilled explore, well until we attempted to look for a way into the 8x8 site when a less than polite individual told us we couldn't take photos of the building and suggested we leave.
Thanks for Looking
Having seen so many visit recently I decided I couldn't miss the chance again!!
RAE Bedford comprised various sites, the two main ones being former local WWII Bases RAF Twinwoods and RAF Thurleigh (USAF Base 111), these are now owned by various different businesses, Twinwoods business centre is home to RAE Bedford 3x3, 8x8, the vertical windtunnel and the horizontal windtunnel. The Vertical Windtunnel was converted into the indoor skydiving site Body Flight and the Horizontal Windunnel is used by Redbull Racing.
There used to be a large recycling centre at the front of the site and one of my failed attempts down to this being on fire and crawling with fire engines at the time of the visit.
Construction on RAE (Royal Areonautical Establishment) Bedford started in 1946. In order to accomodate the landing/taking off of the Bristol Brabazon, the plane never entered production. A significant amount of work on the Harrier was undertaken at Bedford. Thurleigh was home to a catapult runway which aided in the testing and development of the aircraft carrier 'Ski Jump' ramps.
At some point the BEA Helicopters Expermental Unit was also using the site.
The site was slowly decommissioned, starting with the airfield, in 1994, as operations were moved to Boscombe Down. QinetiQ remained on site until around 2007 mainly in part to the cost of relocating the Advanced Flight Simulator. QinetiQ sold their remaining stake in the Bedford Airfield site, including the 'Wind Tunnel' site thus bringing to a close any links the area had with the RAE, or as it became known once it moved to Boscombe DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency).
A very chilled explore, well until we attempted to look for a way into the 8x8 site when a less than polite individual told us we couldn't take photos of the building and suggested we leave.
Thanks for Looking
