More houses built on historic former Hucknall Aerodrome where ‘Flying Bedstead’ was made

The airfield played a key role during both World Wars - but now it’s been turned into hundreds of new houses
By Daniel DeFalco
Published 12th Apr 2024, 15:29 BST
The 'Flying Bedstead' was developed and tested by Rolls Royce in Hucknall The 'Flying Bedstead' was developed and tested by Rolls Royce in Hucknall
The 'Flying Bedstead' was developed and tested by Rolls Royce in Hucknall

A new housing development on a former RAF airfield in Hucknall which played a key role in both World Wars has reached its next phase. 

In 2015 Harron Homes received planning permission to build its first phase of the Sandlands Park development on the site of the former Hucknall Aerodrome. 

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A total of 99 homes were built in the first phase of the project, with residents moving into their properties in October 2015. 

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Now, with the development’s fourth phase well underway, the next group of residents is set to move in later this spring. 

Prices for the collection of luxury new four and five-bedroom houses start from £366,995. 

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Sandlands Park is established outside of Hucknall on an area of land that in the twentieth century became the Hucknall Aerodrome.

An aerial view of the new development An aerial view of the new development
An aerial view of the new development

From its founding in 1916 during World War I, it served a vital function, operating as a base for the No. 15 Training Depot of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and its fleet of fighter planes.

From 1939 onwards, as the Second World War began, the site, then known as RAF Hucknall, housed various fighter squadrons until the end of the conflict. 

In late 1940, a visiting pilot crash-landed on RAF Hucknall in a Wellington bomber. 

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Claiming to be a Dutchman by the name of Captain van Lott, he stated that he was a member of a special squadron and needed to borrow an aircraft to return to his base at RAF Dyce, near Aberdeen in Scotland. 

The Rolls Royce factory near RAF Hucknall where the 'Flying Bedstead' was developed The Rolls Royce factory near RAF Hucknall where the 'Flying Bedstead' was developed
The Rolls Royce factory near RAF Hucknall where the 'Flying Bedstead' was developed

He subsequently turned out to be Franz von Werra, an escaped convict from the prisoner of war camp at Swanick in Derbyshire.

It was at Hucknall Aerodrome that, under Rolls Royce, the first VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) engines were developed, which were used on the famous ‘Flying Bedstead’ aircraft.

The first test flight took place at Hucknall Aerodrome in 1953 and last year students from the University of Nottingham built a working replica to celebrate the flight’s 70th anniversary.

Related topics:Harron HomesRAFNottinghamshireResidentsPlanning permission