Usworth

54°54'56"N 001°28'12"W

runway: 01/19 - ...x..m - unk
runway: 05/23 - ...x..m - unk

Usworth airfield (RAF Usworth, also known as West Town Moor airfield, or Sunderland Airport) was an airfield 390 kilometers north-northwest of London
The airfield was built as Royal Flying Corps Station West Town Moor and opened in the autumn of 1916. It was initially used by the regions Home Defense unit, 36 Sqn. In June 1917 the squadron moved in completely, equipped with the Bristol Fighter. About this time the airfield began to be referred to as Usworth. When 36 Sqn was disbanded in June 1919 the airfield went into disuse.


Westland Wapiti K2243 at Usworth in the 1930s (norav.50megs.com)


The Empire Air Day of 1934 featured Westland Wapiti of 607 Squadron and Harts of 103 Squadron on display (Photobucket, via AirfieldInformationExchange).

In 1930 the airfield was re-acquired by the Air Ministry and 607 Sqn of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force established here in March. During its time at the airfield, the squadron used Wapiti, Demon and Gladiator, before moving to RAF Acklington in October 1939. 103 Sqn arrived at the airfield in early 1937 with Hawker Hinds, replacing them with Fairey Battles in the summer of 1938.

Early during World War II the airfield was developed with two hardened runways and a perimeter track. A Luftwaffe attack on the airfield on 15 August 1940 did not succeed when the attacking bombers were intercepted by fighters from Acklington, Catterick and Usworth. By the time of the failed attack 607 Sqn (Hurricanes) had returned to the airfield for two brief stays (June - Sep 1940 and Dec 1940-Jan 1941). Briefly fighter support was also provided by two other squadrons: 43 Sqn (Hurricanes, Sep-Dec 1940) and 64 Sqn (Spitfires, May 1940).
Early in 1941 the airfields role changed. With the arrival of 55 OTU the fighter role was replaced with a training role, bringing Blenheims, Defiants and Hurricanes to the airfield, totallling over 100 aircraft. To support all those aircraft, a satellite was opened at RAF Ouston in March. 55 OTU moved out of Usworth in April 1942 and the airfield was put on care and maintenance until June, when 62 OTU formed with Ansons. They remained at Usworth for a little over a year and moved to Ouston in July 1943. The reason for the move was cited as the balloon barrage at Sunderland.
For the remainder of the war very little happened.


Usworth, ca. 1942/1943 (Photobucket, via AirfieldInformationExchange)

After the war had ended the balloon barrage was removed. Still it took until 1949 until 23 Reserve Flying School arrived at the airfield. They were joined by 2 Basic Air Navigation School with Ansons and the Durham University Air Squadron brought Chipmunks. 23RFS and 2 BANS disbanded in 1953, but were replaced with the Austers of 664 Sqn in February 1954. In 1957 664 Sqn (March) and the Durham University Air Squadron (October) disbanded.
The RAF station closed in 1958.

On 3 July 1962 the airfield was purchased by the Sunderland Corporation and reopend as Sunderland Airport. They re-laid the runways and renovated the hangar. In June 1963 the Sunderland Flying Club was created. An Open Day and commemorative ceremony took place to celebrate the rebirth of the airfield, now called Sunderland Airport, on 28 June 1964. A modest flying display and a visiting Dakota making pleasure flights all day kept visitors busy. The short runways did not allow any regular flights larger than light twins, however. The Dakota was owned by Tyne Tees Airways, who attempted to operate a charter airline from the airport. They set up their engineering base at the airport.
The success of the 1964 flying day meant it became a yearly event. In 1965 the RAF sent a Beverly to the event, possibly the largest aircraft ever to land at the airfield. In 1966 the airshow had managed to attract 17,000 spectators, with a sizable contribution from the RAF, including the Red Arrows.
In August 1974 the airfield received arguably its fastest visitor ever. A Buccanneer strike aircraft, piloted by an American exchange pilot, had a birdstrike which injured his navigator and subsequently the pilot declared an emergency. He touched down at the short runways at Sunderland and overshot. By the end of the day the practice bombs had been secured and the aircraft was sheltered in the main hangar. A few days later the canopy was replaced with a spare flown in by an Andover and the aircraft left.


Ordnance Survey map of RAF Usworth, ca. 1960 (Skylighters.org)
 

In 1962, RAF Usworth was purchased by Sunderland Corporation. An Open Day took place on June 28 1964 to celebrate the rebirth of what was now Sunderland Airport. Pleasure flights were available in this Tyne Tees Airways Douglas DC-3 (AirTeamImages)


undated photo of Usworth photographed along the 05 runway. Three Horse Shoes is the name of a local bar. (Skylighters.org)

The airport saw a moderate but steady growth over the second half of the 70s. On 30 June 1979 it served as the refuelling stop for over seventy DeHavilland Tiger, Hornet and Gipsy Moths. The aircraft took part in a rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Gipsy Reliability Tour of 1929.
Sunderland held its last Air Day on 15 June 1980, the largest and noisiest ever. Taking part in the air display were a RAF Jaguar and a RAF Nimrod. Vintage aircraft included Spitfire, Hurricane, Firefly, Meteor and Vampire.
The airfield was finally closed on 31 May 1984. It was sold to the Nissan Motor Company for the creation of a new car plant, which opened in 1985. The only thing reminding of the former airfield is the North East Aircraft Museum, located across the road from the former airfield. The Vulcan bomber they have on dislay was probably the largest warplane ever to land at the airfield (in 1983).


The former airfield in 2000, only a hangar was left standing north of the factory by that time (Google earth)


between 2002 and 2005 the last remaining hangar was torn down (Google Earth)


Vulcan XL319, the largest warplane to land at the airfield, was photographed in 2007 on display with the North East Air Museum just across the road from the former airtport.