RAF East Fortune
Encyclopedia
RAF station
A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, or airbases, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters , or carry out ground-based operational tasks...
, just south of the village of East Fortune
East Fortune
East Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during the First World War. The RNAS airship station also included an...
in East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The motto of the station was "Fortune Favours the Bold
Fortune favours the bold
Fortune favors the bold, Fortune favors the brave, Fortune helps the brave, and Fortune favors the strong are common translations of the Latin proverb "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" .- Origins :...
".
The foundation of East Fortune as an air base pre-dates the creation of the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
; East Fortune was established as a fighter and airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
base in 1915. In 1919 the British airship R34 made the first the first ever return flight across the Atlantic and the first east-west crossing by air, flying from East Fortune to Mineola, New York
Mineola, New York
Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....
. The flight took 108 hours and 12 minutes.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, RAF East Fortune was a flying training establishment, initially for night-fighter operations, changing to training for daylight operations from 1942, and eventually becoming base for a group of de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
aircraft. It was also made available as an emergency landing option for bomber aircraft.
After the war the site ceased to be used by the RAF. During the summer of 1961 Turnhouse
Turnhouse
Turnhouse is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.The area is east of Edinburgh International Airport, and Turnhouse is also the name for the former Royal Air Force base, now closed, which dates back to the First World War and was the origin of the current civilian airport...
Airport was closed for construction work and all civil and air force traffic was diverted through East Fortune. To accommodate this traffic the main runway at East Fortune was extended across the B1347 road and this concrete extension of the East Fortune runway is now used as a runway for microlight aircraft. In 1976 the Scottish Museum of Flight
Museum of Flight (Scotland)
The National Museum of Flight is Scotland's national aviation museum at East Fortune Airfield, just south of the village of East Fortune, in East Lothian. It is one of the museums within National Museums Scotland. The museum is housed in the original wartime buildings of RAF East Fortune which...
was opened on the site of the former RAF station.
The museum is now called the National Museum of Flight. It occupies the southern part of the old airfield. The northern side is given over to a car-boot sale each Sunday. The western side, across the B1347 is the microlight airfield. This is the only part of the East Fortune airfield that can now handle aircraft, and they can be no larger than a microlight. The east side of the old airfield is now used as a motorcycle racing circuit, and is home to the Melville Motor Club.
Each summer the museum hosts an airshow. It is supposed to be the only airfield-based airshow in the UK where the planes can't land at the airfield.
See also
- East FortuneEast FortuneEast Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during the First World War. The RNAS airship station also included an...
- National Museum of Flight