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RAF Sleap
Sleap (pronounced "Slape") is an ex-Royal Air Force airfield, opened in 1943, and used by RAF advanced flying training. Initially it was the base for No. 81 Operational Training Unit equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber aircraft.
-HERITAGE-
Through the co-operation of the Shropshire Aero Club, the RAF
Sleap Heritage Museum operates a small museum on the site,
which itself is steeped in history.
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This all-volunteer group runs the museum from donations only, and is currently open Saturday and Sunday. The displays include a number
of aero engines, and a reconstruction of an airfield Flight Office.
Plans are underway to complete new exhibits, including a 1940s
crew room, radio room, and kitchen. The goal is to
open the museum 7 days a week.​
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Admission to the museum is free.
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Opening times Saturday and Sunday, other times by prior arrangement.
Since the museum is run entirely by volunteers it would be advisable to phone ahead when planning a visit to avoid disappointment.
OUR HISTORY
- At Sleap Airfield
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The airfield officially opened in April as a satellite Station to Whitchurch Heath (Now Tilstock). The main role of the airfield being training operations. The first RAF aircraft to be operationally based at Sleap were Armstrong Whitworth “Whitley” aircraft as seen below.
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In the very early days of the airfield, a Whitley undergoing night training, crashed at Loppington due to missed landing alignments. It sadly killed all 5 of the crew
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In Late August, a Whitley lost control due to an engine failure just before touch down. This resulted in them loosing control and smashing into the control tower. The pilot and bomber aid were killed, with the three others on board seriously injured. The tower building was damaged in the crash but normal operations resumed the following day.
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One week later an entire Whitley crew from Sleap were lost over Hertfordshire during a night cross country navigation training exercise.
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Within 2 weeks of the first crash in early September. Another Whitley lost control on take off and swung into the recently rebuilt control tower. Four of the crew members on the aircraft were killed along with three WAFS within the tower.
Sleap had now became the main training base for Horsa gliders, towed by Whitleys and Stirling bomber aircraft. In November of that year, American B-17’s were also recorded to land at Sleap after being diverted from their East Anglia bases.
1941
1943
1944
CONSTRUCTION ON THE AIRFIELD BEGINS!
THE TRAGEDIES
1950
1955
END OF WAR TRANSITION
THE BIRTH OF SHROPSHIRE AERO CLUB
SAC TODAY
After the end of WWII, Sleap continued to be an RAF active airfield. It’s major role now being a training base for air traffic controllers, seeing regular visits from early generation jet aircraft including the Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Vampire.
Shropshire Aero Club was founded in 1955 by a group of local aviation enthusiasts and today is the only civilian licensed airfield remaining in Shropshire and in our opinion has become one of, it not, the best GA airfield in the UK.
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WE HAVE AN ON SITE RAF SLEAP MUSEUM. GO AND VISIT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR LOCAL AVIATION HISTORY.