Boscombe Down
EGDM
1917-
1.5nm SE of Amesbury, Wiltshire, Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, England
51.152222, -1.747222 · 407 feet
North Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, SP4 0JF, United Kingdom
Nearby Locations
| Km | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Solstice Business Park |
2.8 | 351° | |
| Newton Tony |
4.0 | 069° | |
| Porton Down | 4.3 | 122° | |
| Bulford Camp | 4.6 | 009° | |
| Winterbourne Gunner | 4.7 | 175° | |
| Old Sarum | EGLS | 6.5 | 204° |
Opened briefly in World War I but was closed by 1919. In the pre-WWII expansion, it was re-opened as an RAF base in 1930. At the outbreak of WWII, the Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was moved here from its more vulnerable site near the East Coast at Martlesham Heath. Almost every production aircraft for the British forces passed through Boscombe Down prior to delivery to units. A Test Pilot school was formed in 1943, to become the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) in 1944.
Test flying became the major function of this base and after WWII, it became a UK Government airfield (rather than an RAF one). Like Fleetlands, the arrangements for managing the site have evolved. The A&AEE became DTEO and it then joined with DRA to become the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in Apr 1995. DERA spilt into a commercial arm (QinetiQ) and a government agency (DSTL) in Jul 2001.
Units
| ??-2012 | Boscombe Down Aviation CollectionBDAC |
| 1939-1992 | Aeroplane & Armaments Experimental Establishment |
| 1943-1945 | Empire Test Pilots SchoolETPS |
| 1968- | Empire Test Pilots SchoolETPS |
| 1992- | Aircraft & Armament Evaluation EstablishmentA&AEE |
| 1992-1993 | 826 Squadron826 NAS |
| 1995-2001 | Defence Evaluation and Research Agency |
| 2018- | 744 Squadron744 NAS |
