1st Flying Lessons at Lulsgate Bottom.
RAF Lulsgate Bottom
In September 1940, No 10 Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Weston-super-Mare established a Relief Landing Ground on 14 acres at Broadfield Down by the hamlet of Lulsgate Bottom, southwest of the city of Bristol and north of Redhill village. Being high, at 600 ft (180 m), the site had a poor weather record during warm front conditions, when it was often covered in low cloud. However, when this occurred the alternative airfields at Filton and Cardiff were usually clear and operational; and as Lulsgate was clear when the low-lying airfields were obscured by radiation fog in calm weather, the landing ground provided a useful alternative. Few facilities were constructed although pillboxes, defensive anti-aircraft guns and later two Blister hangars were added. In late 1940, a Starfish site was set up south of the village of Downside and just west of the airfield. Its decoy fires attracted a large quantity of Luftwaffe high explosives and incendiaries on the nights of 16 March, 3 April and 4 April 1941 during the Bristol Blitz.
In 1941, RAF Fighter Command planned to use the airfield for an experimental unit. However, its intended use soon changed into being a satellite airfield for the fighter squadrons based at RAF Colerne. Originally, the new airfield's name was to be RAF Broadfield Down. The airfield used a standard-issue three-runway layout resembling an A shape. The main, east-west runway was 3,891 ft (1,186 m) long, with a designated alignment of 28/10, and the others were 3,300 ft (1,000 m) aligned 21/03 and 3,294 ft (1,004 m) aligned 34/16.[14] The first aircraft to land was a Luftwaffe Ju 88 at 06.20 on 24 July 1941. Returning from a raid, its crew had been deceived by the RAF electronic countermeasures radio beacon at Lympsham, which was re-radiating the signal from a Luftwaffe homing beacon at Brest, France.
By 1942, there was no longer a need for an additional fighter airfield. With its name changed to RAF Lulsgate Bottom, the airfield was declared operational on 15 January 1942. The Miles Masters, Airspeed Oxfords and Hawker Hurricanes of No. 286 (AA Cooperation) Squadron became resident, with the role of providing realistic exercises for ground anti-aircraft defences. However, as the site lacked some basic facilities, No. 286 moved to RAF Zeals in May. From 1 June 1942, the airfield was under No. 23 Group of Flying Training Command, and initially became a satellite airfield for No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (3 (P)AFU), based at RAF South Cerney, flying Oxfords. In March 1943, No. 1540 Beam Approach Training Flight (1540 BATF) was formed at Lulsgate, again flying Oxfords. On 27 September 1943, 3 (P)AFU left Lulsgate for RAF Southrop, and was replaced on 1 October 1943 by No. 3 Flying Instructors School (3 FIS), which was previously headquartered at RAF Hullavington. 3 FIS flew mostly Oxfords and some Masters.
In 1944, BOAC started to use the airfield for Douglas Dakota and Consolidated Liberator crew training, and BOAC flights made use of it occasionally as an alternate airfield for Whitchurch, and for topping-up fuel on the Bristol–Lisbon route.
On 6 February 1945, 1540 BATF left for RAF Weston Zoyland. On 18 July 1945, 3 FIS was absorbed into 7 FIS. With the war over, the RAF ceased training at Lulsgate on 15 April 1946, and the next month 7 FIS left the airfield and joined the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington. The RAF finally abandoned Lulsgate on 25 October 1946.
From 1948, the site was the home of the Bristol Gliding Club. In 1949 and 1950, the Bristol Motor Cycle and Light Car Club hosted motor races on a 2 mi (3.2 km) circuit known as Lulsgate Aerodrome, but due to planning and noise issues moved in 1950 to a site that became known as Castle Combe Circuit.
Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport
Whitchurch airport continued to be used after World War II, but the introduction of heavier post-war airliners made a runway extension highly desirable. However, this was difficult at Whitchurch, because of the nearby housing estates. In June 1955, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation agreed to sell the Lulsgate airfield to Bristol Corporation, for the development of a new airport there. Bristol Gliding Club moved out to Nympsfield in Gloucestershire.
In addition to the purchase price of £55,000, the city spent a further £200,000 by 1958 on building the terminal and other development. In mid-April 1957, all air traffic was transferred from Whitchurch to the new airport. With the name of Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport, it was officially opened on 1 May 1957 by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. In the airport's first year it was used by 33,000 people. Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club also moved to Lulsgate.
In 1962, a new control tower was built, and in 1969 the runway was lengthened and extensions were made to the terminal. In 1968 a new 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) cargo transit shed was constructed. In 1974, the airline Court Line collapsed, causing a fall in passenger numbers.
By 1980, although 17 charter airlines were operating from the airport, it was making a loss. Les Wilson took over as managing director in that year, a position which he held until his death in a car crash in November 1995; much of the airport's subsequent strong recovery over that period has been attributed to him. The airport moved back into profit in financial year 1981/82, and by 1983/84 the profit was £0.5 million. In 1984, an international departure lounge was added, with duty-free shops and a 24-hour air-side bar.
In 1988, the airport opened a new concourse area. In 1994, a planning application for a new terminal was approved. With other projects also planned, the council decided to sell a majority shareholding in the airport, so that the restrictions imposed by the Airports Act on raising the necessary finance could be removed.
In mid-1997, the airport's name was changed to Bristol International Airport. In November 1997, the successful bidder for the purchase of a 51% stake in the airport company was revealed to be FirstBus. The remaining 49% was retained by the council. Work on the new terminal building had already started; it opened in March 2000, at a cost of £27M. In 2000, passenger numbers exceeded two million for the first time. A new control tower was built and the A38 road was diverted to cater for the installation of a Category 3 instrument landing system; these projects were completed in 2001.
In January 2001, the airport was purchased for £198M, by a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and Cintra, part of the Ferrovial group. Ferrovial sold its 50% share to Macquarie in 2006. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan made two substantial share purchases, in 2002 and 2009.
In May 2001, the low-cost carrier Go Fly made Bristol Airport its second base after Stansted. Passenger numbers passed through three million in 2002, largely due to Go's arrival. EasyJet purchased Go in 2002, took over the base in 2003 and continued its rapid growth in destinations. In May 2005, Continental Airlines introduced a direct flight from Bristol to Newark with Boeing 757 aircraft, though this ceased in November 2010.
A new asphalt runway surface was laid between November 2006 and March 2007, at a cost of £17M. Within this period, on 29 December and 3 January, there were four incidents of reduced braking action in wet conditions on the temporary surface, including two in which aircraft left the runway. From 5 January, ten airlines, led by EasyJet, cancelled or diverted their Bristol flights. The airport closed the runway on 7 January to cut grooves into the surface to improve water runoff, and flights resumed the next day.
Ryanair established a base at the airport in 2007,In 2008, passenger numbers reached six million.
In March 2010, the airport was rebranded as Bristol Airport. The airport gained a new logo, said by the airport's owners to represent 'people', 'place' and 'region'; and a new slogan, "Amazing journeys start here".
In 2012, BMI Regional established a base at the airport. In 2013, the airline added routes to German and Italian hub airports, aimed at business travellers.
In September 2014, Toronto-based Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan agreed to buy Macquarie's remaining 50% stake in the airport, thereby gaining 100% ownership.
On 11 November 2020, Jet2.com & Jet2holidays announced that they would open their tenth UK base at Bristol Airport on 1 April 2021, operating to 33 destinations; however as a result of the ongoing coronavirus travel restrictions, the base opening and flights were delayed until 1 July 2021.
Wessex Aeroplane Club still offer Trial Lessons And Flying Lessons from this airfield some 81 years after the first trainning started in 1940.
To find the cache use the imformation below
N51 23.
51.325894N 0.028554E
51.877364N 0.223304E
51.831195N 1.321712W
W 002 41.
51.382153N 2.732442W
50.101569N 5.678387W
51.607338N 1.097561W
Sorry final location is a bit underwelming this is due to the many restrictions in this area for geocache placments.
Do take a look at the wooden scupture at end of the track to the parking location, If you have been good it's never to late to start Flying Lessons.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.