EGSF Peterborough Conington Airport

Peterborough Conington Airport is a historic wartime aerodrome located in Cambridgeshire, originally named RAF Glatton. It was constructed in 1942-3 by the 809th United States Army Corps of Engineers as a strategic bomber base for the 457th Bomb Group’s B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft during World War II. After the war ended, the facility was transferred to RAF Bomber Command but was quickly mothballed in 1946, marking the end of its military service.

Today, the site bears only faint traces of its wartime significance, with most of the original infrastructure having vanished over the decades. A solitary blister hangar and the original station water tower remain as silent witnesses to the aerodrome’s operational past. The tower is accompanied by a memorial dedicated to the USAAF’s 457th Bomber Group, while another memorial honors the same unit in the nearby village church at Conington. The original NE/SW runway has been transformed into a public road connecting the villages of Holme and Conington, effectively ending any possibility of aircraft operations on that strip.

During the late 1960s, the remaining E/W runway briefly returned to aviation use when two local companies utilized the facilities for parking their small executive aircraft, housed in the blister hangar. A modest portacabin served as a passenger reception area, while a ground engineer provided essential maintenance services alongside basic amenities including landline communication, air-to-ground radio, and refueling facilities. Without functioning runway lighting, night operations relied on traditional paraffin ‘gooseneck’ flares to guide aircraft safely to the ground. The Conington is currently operated by Aerolease Ltd. Aviation fuel, both avgas and unusually for such a small airfield, Jet A1 is available, making the airfield a popular stop for turbine powered helicopters.

Peterborough Conington has been faithfully recreated by Burning Blue Design, undertaking on-site visits to ensure the highest levels of accuracy.