RAF C Type Hangars
 

Hello,

Does anybody have any information on expansion period or later airfields that were due to have C type hangars but never received them (due to budget shortages or war, whatever it may be).

Thanks!

Hangar 9,

OK, this has woken up the geek in me, so sorry for what is about to follow but hope that you find it useful!

The answer to your question depends upon how you define a C Type hangar.

I was first entranced by the beautiful symmetry and attractive appearance of the typical mid thirties expansion period RAF station when as a child I was taken to an Open Day at RAF Finningley. That graceful arch of C Type hangars backed up by neat Georgian style buildings had an immediate impact and was, in a strange way, partially responsible for my 1st career choice of joining the RAF when older. This first visit was in the early 50's when the UK was still a pretty grim and grimy place, especially in London where I lived before the post war reconstruction began that ultimately led to the beautiful capital city we have today. It was a bit different in 1953! So this beautiful arch of these impressive buildings made an impression, an impression that has stayed with me to this day. I still think that the classic early C type hangar is the ONLY building that somehow manages to look right in the background of an aircraft picture if that aircraft be an F-35 Lightning, a Typhoon, or a Handley Page Heyford or a Hawker Hind. They are simply timeless.

Now, to your question.

Those C Type hangars, the classic pre austerity Hipped Type built of brick, concrete, glass and steel, first appeared in the mid thirties on a few existing stations such as Mildenhall, Cranwell, Hornchurch, Abingdon, Wittering, Sealand, Bicester etc as additions to the existing buildings. Then they began to appear as the only hangar accommodation on the expansion period new build airfields; Finningley, Dishforth, Benson, Thorney Island, Linton On Ouse, Leconfield, Driffield, South Cerney, Thorney Island, Little Rissington, Odiham, Wattisham, Watton, Debden, Wyton, West Raynham etc. This was the early 1935 period. Then, to begin to get a little nearer the answer to your question (!) the austerity type C Type hangar appeared as both budgets and timescales began to bite. These outwardly similar, but cheaper in both materials and time, hangars began to appear on the later permanent expansion period airfields such as Binbrook, Topcliffe, Kinloss, Lossiemouth, Bramcote, Lindholme, Newton, Leeming etc.

As the war drew inexorably nearer things changed on the remaining permanent expansion period airfields remaining to be built. A REAL austerity version of the C Type appeared, the largely all metal J type hangar. These appeared on the remaining expansion period airfields; Coningsby, Swinderby, Swanton Morley, Lyneham, Waterbeach, Oakington etc.

After that there were no more expansion period permanent stations built, all the rest were wartime temporary dispersed builds, with some having a J type appear but the vast majority had the temporary wartime expedient T2 and B1 type.

So, to crawl agonizingly slowly around to answer your question (sorry!) I think it fair to say that if there had been no budget or timescale pressures then the second group of stations I listed; Topcliffe, Binbrook, Lindhole etc, would all have had the original type of brick, hipped C Type hangar as had appeared at Dishforth, Brize Norton, Odiham etc.

Again, the third group, those chosen to have the J Type; Coningsby Swinderby, Lyneham etc, would also have been equipped with the Brick built hipped classic C Type had time and money allowed.

I think it fair to say that all the rest were never destined to be permanent and would never have had the C Type, of any kind.

One typical example is that of Middleton St George, which is a sort of half-way house as it has 1 J Type and 1 C Type, and there were rumours that at one time it was destined to have SIX C Type, had not timescales and budget interfered, and would so have joined Thorney island as the ONLY RAF station ever to have been equipped with six C Type hangars as the only hangar accomodation, thus becoming a strange companion to Upper Heyford that in its time was the only RAF station ever to be equipped with 6 of the old A Type hangars, which is another story....

Hope that was of SOME help?

Thank you for that write up, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it - and looking on GE at the airfields named.

I've got a follow-up question. Presumably the airfields listed above were seen as major airfields, so why did some of them remain with grass only runways?

nvubu,

Thanks, you are most kind.

They were all certainly seen as permanent airfields, or stations, and you have to remember that when these airfields were selected and designed, the standard RAF night bomber was the cloth covered biplane Handley Page Heyford, the more numerous light bomber was the equally cloth covered biplane Hawker Hart or Hind. The next generation was seen as the Fairey Hendon or Vickers Wellesley, the biggest thing on the horizon was the cloth covered Vickers Wellington, all capable of operating from the grass surfaces of the day. There was also a reluctance from both Air Ministry and Treasury to fund hard runways, especially as most senior staff officers of the time saw no need.

It is easy to criticise this with hindsight, but in the early to mid nineteen thirties when these places were designed, nobody foresaw the large 4 engine bomber or 1,000 bomber raids.

The reason why some never acquired hard runways is I suppose operational expediency. To build hard runways at these stations took time, and there was a reluctance to see too many out of service for up to a year while hard runways were constructed. Scampton for example was non operational for some considerable time as runways were built. The Dambusters raid took off from a grass covered Scampton. And as the war progressed places like Feltwell, Swanton Morley, Honington and Middle Wallop just never were slotted into a building programme.

Thank you everybody for responding. In depth feedback is really appreciated. I have on final question - Does anybody know a single source that lists all airfields that received C types (either full brick or austere).

thanks!

Regards,

Remarkably eminent architectural input into RAF building between the Wars. A particular volume of Military Airfields of Britain has an introductory chapter on such. View from my bedroom not too shabby in that respect.

As a slight aside, there will be those who remember parking in the 'Sunshine Hangar.'

Do you mean the CFS one at Ternhill,...?

Or perhaps Thorney Island?

Don't accept the red herring from Sycamore: I suspect that he refers to parking his Manx Norton, or similar, at Ternhill and had no involvment with the current Strawberry.

8 Squadron wins, of course. I remember my own return to Thorney after a year in The Gulf, greeted in the Sunshine Hangar by the foolish man, by then a 46 Flight Commander, who had consented to my being commissioned at South Cerney. Lovely chap!

Been to both Sunshine Hangars. I fact I worked in the one at Thorney, during my tour as an Ops Controller. The story of the Tern Hill one (perhaps apocryphal) is that a German bomber appeared out of cloud, dropped his bombs on the hangar and promptly disappeared into cloud again. His error, since he then proceeded to spread himself across the Wrekin (the local high point),

One of the Finningley hangars was severely damaged by a fire about 1970-ish. A fully fuelled aircraft caught light under suspect circumstances, the flaming baulks of wood crashing down from the roof was most impressive, not so impressive was the sight of the CO driving around inside the hangar!!!

For the benefit of us anoraks who don’t have the Hangar proficiency badge, could someone post some pictures?

Then we could C what you are all discussing. ;)

Lots of piccies.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=...w=1600&bih=918

Thanks FED. Very nice pictures, even allowing for the one with army trucks parked in front of it, but they are all labelled C, even though some of them are clearly different sub-species. I would like to see examples of how they changed as discussed above.

In those fine photographs, some edifices are captioned as "Aeroplane Sheds" rather than hangars. The photos are all from the same site, but there does seem to be a difference in construction. Was there really an official item "Shed, Aeroplane, for the parking of"?

There are two main variations of the C Type hangar, commonly referred to as the 1934 and 1938 Types.

1934 Type:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b6f7c33b1b.jpg


1938 Type:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....97347ed021.jpg

Hangar (French) = Large Shed (English)
I have worked in quite a few - some known locally as 'Blah Blah Hangar' and some known as 'Blah Blah Shed'.
EG at Dunsfold the Easternmost Hangar was always known as the 'Black Hangar' (Modified T2 type Hangar),The Westernmost Hangar was always known as the 'Flight Shed'.
On some airfields they were usually referred to just by number,so at one A/F we used to say - ''just going over to 168'' (1934 C type) or ''just going over to 45'' (Double Bay GS Shed which had been reroofed).

Of course the 'Black Hangar' at Dunsfold was still referred to as such even years after it had been repainted Green :)

There is the story (again probably apocryphal) of the RAF officer who found that his inventory was short of one hangar. Wartime I believe, so possibly enemy damage, but never struck off charge. However, being of ingenious mind, he managed to change it from "Hangar (aircraft)" to "Hanger (coat)", saving himself a fortune in fines.

You will find a "Flight Shed" at most manufacturers' airfields. And not forgetting the famous Black Sheds at Farnborough.

Absolutely Dave,it was just a way of saying that the 2 terms are interchangeable,we used both terms as the norm and of course with local 'names',the 'Black Hangar' at Dunsfold had the official title of 'T2A'.
The Flight Shed at Dunsfold was originally also a T2 type - but eventually it was replaced by a completely new build hangar on the same (Hangar) base.