Civil Use
On August 12, 1960, Vickers Valiant XD864 of No. 7 Squadron crashed on the airfield and was completely destroyed. It had just taken off from RAF Wittering and during the climb the nose wheel failed to retract. The pilot chose to stay in the local area Though the Board of Inquiry found the Captain guilty of "blameworthy negligence" - a fractured center line main spar was found at the scene, and was not properly investigated by the BoI. the aircraft may have been attempting an emergency landing on the disused NW/SE runway 14 at Spanhoe. All five crew were killed.
Between 1964 and 1967 the airfield was used by Perkins Engines Gliding Club, laterly known as Welland Gliding Club. The gliding club's origins were Perkins Engines Sports Association of Peterborough and moved to Spanhoe from their previous base at Westwood Airfield in Peterborough.
In the 1970s, the north and west areas were excavated for iron ore and today little of the airfield remains. The majority of the main runway was removed along with the perimeter track and dispersal hardstands, although a small portion of the northeast (08) end of the main runway remains along with part of the perimeter road and a few loop hardstands. The 02/20 secondary runway is faintly visible in aerial photography
As of 2007, the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft. It is also the home of Windmill Aviation. The south-western taxiway is now runway 27, and the southeast section of the wartime 14/32 runway was re-opened in 2004. Some of the wartime Nissen Huts are in use and a new hangar and maintenance building was erected on the site of what was a large wartime J-hangar.
A memorial obelisk on the approach road to the airfield commemorates the 315th Troop Carrier Group and a memorial in Tinwell Church commemorates US and Polish victims of the C-47 collision.
Read more about this topic: RAF Spanhoe
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