Also known as Carlisle Lake District Airport
The story of RAF Crosby-on-Eden
No. 59 Operational Training Unit first trained Hurricane pilots here by day. In August 1942 it was replaced by No. 9 OTU of Coastal Command, which trained long-range fighter crews on Beauforts and Beaufighters. The training included air firing and night flying. In August 1944 No. 109 OTU took over to train Dakota transport crews. It became No. 1383 Transport Conversion Unit on 1 August 1945. With no post-war role, the station closed in 1947 and returned to the council as a municipal airport.
Cumberland County Council bought the site in 1960 and renamed it Carlisle Airport. Civil flights ran to London, the Channel Islands, Belfast and the Isle of Man. In the 1980s military pilots, including Iraqis, trained here on Gazelle helicopters. Stobart rebranded it Carlisle Lake District Airport in 2006. Most of the original RAF structures survive. The Solway Aviation Museum is on the airfield.
Flying units
| Unit | Years | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|
| No. 59 Operational Training Unit | 1941–1942 | Hawker Hurricane |
| No. 9 Operational Training Unit, Coastal Command | 1942–1944 | Bristol Beaufort, Bristol Beaufighter |
| No. 109 Operational Training Unit | 1944–1945 | Douglas Dakota |
| No. 1383 Transport Conversion Unit | 1945 |
What survives
- Most of the original RAF structures, still standing
- The runways, shortened and weight-restricted
The museum on the airfield
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solway Aviation MuseumCrosby on Eden, Cumbria | £8 | 21 | Vulcan XJ823 with pre-bookable crew-compartment visits; a Phantom, Lightning and Canberra (whose three-crew cockpit reviewers describe as… |