RAF Shawbury
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RAF Shawbury is a Royal Air Force station near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
The station at Shawbury was first used for military flying training in 1917, but it was returned to agricultural use in 1920. In 1938 it was reactivated as a training establishment. It primarily prepared pilots for operational squadrons, with the main aircraft being the Airspeed Oxford. In 1944 it became the home of the Central Navigation School, primarily concerned with improving the standard of air navigation in bombers. In 1950 the School of Air Traffic Control also moved to Shawbury, combining to form the Central Navigation and Control School. In 1963 the Navigation Wing moved to RAF Manby.
In 1976 Shawbury became a base for basic and advanced helicopter training, on the Aerospatiale Gazelle and Westland Wessex respectively, with No 2 Flying Training School.
In April 1997 the station started providing training for helicopter pilots for all 3 of the UK's armed services, being home to the Defence Helicopter Flying School. Currently the Squirrel HT1 (Eurocopter AS3 50BB) helicopter operated by (660 and 705 Squadrons) and the Griffin HT1 (Bell 412 EP) helicopter operated by (60 Reserve Squadron) is used by the School and is maintained by the contractor, FB Heliservices Ltd, who also provide 40% of the flying instructors. It is also home to the Air Traffic Control School and the RAF Aircraft Storage flight, where surplus aircraft are stored.
Shawbury is home to the 'Assault Glider Trust', building a non-flying replica Horsa glider for museum display.
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