| 1938 | Private airstrip for Mr. Freddie Cameron (farmer). |
| 1938 | Initially planned as a medium bomber station but Benson chosen instead. Subsequently selected as Satellite airfield for Middle Wallop. |
| 1940 (30th September) | 238 Squadron (Hurricane fighters) arrived (first unit) from Middle Wallop, took part in closing stages of the Battle of Britain. |
| 1941 (January) | 308 Squadron with Spitfire MK 2a’s arrived. |
| 1941 (April) | No. 2 School of Army Co-operation at Andover began using Chilbolton with Blenheim Mk1 and Mk4 due to enemy attacks on Andover Aerodrome during night-flying. |
| 1941 (June -September) | Used by 308, 501 & 504 Squadrons. |
| 1941 (1st September) | 245 Squadron arrived with Hurricane Mk2’s from Ballyhalbert. |
| 1941 (13th November) | Duke of Kent visited the airfield. |
| 1941 (19th December) | 245 Squadron left for Middle Wallop. |
| 1942 (1st March) | 174 Squadron with Hurri-bombers arrived from Odiham and 184 Hurricane fighters from Colern. Dummy aircraft on Chilbolton aerodrome during “Exercise Spartan” – preparation for 1943 invasion of N.W.Europe. |
| 1942 (23rd November) | Airfield transferred to 70 Group Army Co-operations Command. |
| 1943 (8th January) | Glider Pilot Exercise Unit (G.P.E.U.) arrived from Netheravon – Miles Masters, Hotspur Gliders, Tiger Moths. |
| 1943 (10th May) | Airfield transferred to care and maintenance under Netheravon, for the construction of 3 concrete runways, taxi-tracks, 48 loop-type hard-standings and 2 hangars (T2). |
| 1943 (11th May) | G.P.E.U. returned to Netheravon. |
| 1943 (7th December) | Airfield re-opened in 70 Group R.A.F. ACC to be used by American Units of U.S.A.A.F. 1944 51st Tactical Air Depot (9th Air-Force Strike Command) U.S.A.A.F. formed. Airfield used variously by 12th Tactical/Reconnaissance Squadron (67th Tac/Recce Group) with Spitfires, D.B. 7 Bostons, P51 Mustangs; 15th Tac/Recce/Squadron (67th Tac/Recce Group) with Spitfires L-4, Spitfires L-5, P51 Mustangs; 368th Fighter Group (71st Fighter Wing) with P47 Thunderbolts (Long Range pursuit). |
| 1944 (7th August) | Used by 442 Transport Group Air Echelon (L47 Dakotas) and 437 TG during Exercise “Market Garden” – operation to seize Rhine bridges. |
| 1945 (1st March) | Vacated by 9th Tax/Recce Group |
| 1945 (23rd March) | No. 41 Operational Training Unit arrived from Hawarden (Wales) with 23 Hurricanes, 11 Spitfires, 6 Masters, 5 Martinets, 1 Proctor. |
| 1945 (26th June) | No. 41 O.T.U. disbanded, airfield transferred to No. 11 Group R.A.F. Fighter Command as a forward airfield of the Nether Wallop Sector. |
| 1945 (July & August) | 183 Squadron arrived from Milfield (Northumberland) to be re-equipped with Spitfire Mk9. 247 Squadron arrived from Huneberg (Germany) with Typhoons to be re-equipped with Tempest 11’s. |
| 1945 (15th September) | Battle of Britain at Home, station opened to 2000 visitors. |
| 1945 (15th November) | 183 Squadron disbanded by being re-numbered 54 Squadron. |
| 1946 (March) | 247 Squadron re-equipped with 5 Vampires, Wing Commander C.H. Dyson flew a Vampire, first to fly the aircraft in front-line service. |
| 1946 (June) | 247 & 54 Squadrons relocated to Odiham (Vampire MK1 &Tempest MK20). |
| 1946 (4th July) | Aerodrome closed (for care & maintenance) – 3 M.U. used for storage. |
| 1946 (November) | Airfield abandoned by R.A.F. |
| 1947 (February) | Vickers Armstrong Supermarine Experimental Department moved in from Highpost near Salisbury, for test work on Attacker and Swift. |
| 1948 (26th February) | Mike Lithgow raised the World 100 km closed circuit record to 564.881 mph. |
| 1948 (11th June) | 3 M.U. left and closed their stores. |
| 1951 (8th September) | Dave Morgan landed a Swift onto a field of stubble at Charity Down Farm and demolished a privy, after a test flight at high altitude. |
| 1952 | Dave Morgan flew a Swift 200 miles from London to Brussels in 18 minutes, at an average speed of 665 mph, establishing a new world record. |
| 1953 (22nd September) | Swift and Attacker take off from Chilbolton, bound for Libya for a successful attempt by Mike Lithgow at a new world speed record of 735.7 mph. |
| 1954 | Folland Aircraft used buildings for storing Hunter Components, and for test flying of the Gnat trainer and Midge fighter. |
| 1957 | Vickers ceased flying operations, move to Wisley completed in 1958. |
| 1961 (June/July) | Folland Aircraft ceased flying operations and moved to Dunsfold. |
| 1963 | Remainder of site returned to owners and re-instated as farmland, runways progressively taken up, some buildings remain in use. |
| 1964 | Building work commenced for the Chilbolton Observatory and construction of the 25-metre steerable antenna . |
| 1967 (14th April) | Site officially opened by Rt. Hon. Anthony Crossland MP. The antenna was designed for radio astronomy, weather radar and radio propagation research. An early bearing failure meant the antenna was out of action between June 1967 and July 1968. |
| 1972 | First successful Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations between Chilbolton Observatory and the Algonquin Radio Observatory, Ontario, Canada. VBLI is a technique used to increase capability of radio telescopes by linking them together. |
| 1978 | Reception of a high quality colour television picture from satellite SIRIO. The broadcast originated from the Italian Broadcasting Organisation. |
| 1980 | Commissioning of the 500m Millimetre-Wave Test Range for radio waves. |
| 2006 (12th January) | The 25-metre Antenna commenced tracking the Galileo satellite Giove A – the first step towards full operability of Europe’s new global navigation satellite system, a partnership project involving the European Space Agency (ESA) & European Union (EU). |
| 2006 | The 4.5 Metre Satellite Communications Ground Station was established – real time solar data from spacecraft STEREO 100 million km from Earth. |
| 2007 (14th April) | Open Day to celebrate Chilbolton Observatory 40th Anniversary. |
| 2008 (7th May) | Tracking the second Galileo satellite Giove B commenced |
| 2009 (December) | Completion of Met Office FUND site, upper air/atmospheric studies |
| 2010 | Launch of LOFAR station – ribbon cutting by Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell |
| 2011 (14th May) | Special Open Day for Chilbolton & Wherwell residents to visit the new LOFAR & Met Office installations |
| 2012 (5th January) | Caroline Nokes MP unveiled the 25-metre Antenna which had been out of action for four months to undergo a major repaint. |
No Comments
Add a comment about this page