Introduction
RAE Bedford has always been on the bucket list for me. Ever since I saw photos back in 2017 it is one I have always wanted to do but never thought I would ever get there or do it successfully, but we finally managed it in the end! I first tried it back in 2019 but couldn’t find an easy way through the fence, but this time I decided to wing it by entering the site a more obvious way, which to my surprise was successful both times.
Information & History
Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford was a research site which was in operation between 1946 and 1994. The site was constructed as a base for aircraft experiments and testing. There were two main parts of the site, one being the old airfield site at nearby RAF Thurleigh and the other being RAE Bedford which was sometimes referred to as Twinwoods. It was originally known as The NAE (National Establishment for Aeronautical Research and Development) and was later RAE, then finally changing to the Defence Research Agency in 1991. The site closed in March 1994 but retained some development work under QinetiQ until 2007 when the entire site was sold. The site today consists of a business park and many of the original RAE buildings remain either derelict or repurposed.
The site consisted of five wind tunnels detailed below:
3ft x 3ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel
The 3x3 tunnel was operated for the first time in 1952. It was driven by two very large compressors which had a maximum power input of 12000 Horsepower. The speed of the wind tunnel could reach as much as double the speed of sound. The 3x3 operated up until 1983 when it was deemed surplus to requirements. Aircraft such as the Saunders Roe SR53 were tested with this tunnel.
13ft x 9ft Low Speed Wind Tunnel
The largest diameter wind tunnel was the 13x9, this one was driven by a 31-ft diameter fan driven by a 1500hp electric motor. Thanks to the high-quality airflow, it was renowned as being one of the best low-speed wind tunnels in the world. The top speed was much slower than the 3x3 at 200 MPH. The main purpose of this particular tunnel was to assess the take-off and landing characteristics of aircraft thanks to its moving belt runway. The tunnel is still in use today and is in the ownership of Red Bull Formula 1 racing based on site.
8ft x 8ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel
Construction of the 8x8 tunnel began in 1949 and was first run in 1955. The 8x8 tunnel was one of the most powerful wind tunnels on the site and could achieve speeds of up to 1920 MPH. An 80,000 compressor and electric motor setup rated at 80,000 Horsepower was used here. The 8x8 was used extensively until being surplus to requirements in 2002. The tunnel and compressor were removed in 2002. Within the 8x8 building was a power station which was used specifically to power the compressors/electric motors for each wind tunnel.
3ft x 4ft High Supersonic Speed Wind Tunnel
The most powerful tunnel on site was the 3x4 supersonic unit. This tunnel was able to reach up to five times the speed of sound and the 88,000 HP compressors that were required to drive it required 66 Megawatts of power. The construction of this tunnel can be largely attributed to the success of the Concorde, with significant contributions from RAE Bedford in its development.
The Vertical Spinning Wind Tunnel
In this tunnel, the wind opposed gravitational force vertically, creating a scenario for studying the behavior of a free-falling aircraft model. This design facilitated research into recovery techniques where an aircraft may enter a spin. The top speed in the vertical tunnel was 100 MPH created by a large 8-blade fan, powered by a 1500hp electric motor. This was the least used of all wind tunnels on site and was mainly used as a storage vessel to provide compressed air to the other tunnels. This tunnel was later repurposed as a leisure facility.
The Explore
This report consists of two visits within the same month. The 3x3 I visited solo on a day off, @MIkeymutt and @JakeV50 gave me a pointer on where to park and how to get in, etc and I spent around three hours inside getting pics before heading back. I had no issues and was a relaxed explore.
A couple of weeks later myself, MIkey, and Jake arranged to try the 8x8 hearing that it was open. We drove down and parked on site, explored the 8x8 and the Canteen and then we went back into the 3x3 to get a few more shots (mainly because Mikey wanted to test out his new 8mm lens), we also saw another couple of explorers in there getting pics.
We finished in the 3x3 and captured a few externals before attempting to walk back to the car. As we were walking past the children's soft play business on site we suddenly heard an ‘Excuse me!’, we were pretty close to the car at this point so we kept walking away from the 3x3 but the woman kept trying to get our attention. She asked what we were doing and we said we were interested in the history of the place, she then called security. She thought we had climbed a fence but in fact we got let in by security at the gate, as Jake said in his report that really took the wind out of her sails haha. The security arrived shortly after and he seemed more annoyed that the woman called security than us actually being on the site, it was rather comical. Anyway I am glad we got caught right at the end so it was still successful, we were going to free-roam the site for a bit to see what else we could find but had to leave.
Right, enough waffle! Onto the photos starting off with the 3x3.
The main draw for me was the little control room so after entering I headed straight to it (well I say I headed straight to it, even though it was pretty much right in front of me I pretty much did an entire 360 around the building trying to find it, but I got there in the end!). It was definitely a bit worse for wear than I had imagined, pigeon shit everywhere and was a bit dark, but I haven’t seen many of these control rooms in the past so I was still excited:
After spending around half an hour in here I walked through the lovely peely corridors capturing a few pics as I went:
There were some office and administration rooms down this long corridor, there wasn’t much of interest to see but still worthy of a few shots thanks to the lovely decay:
Moving into some other areas of the 3x3. There were some nice colours/lighting and decay remained lovely throughout:
I have always said photos never do certain places justice for different reasons. This particular section was so much bigger than I expected it to be, the sheer scale of it is so impressive:
I really liked this room thanks to the colour and glass skylights:
A few other miscellaneous shots from the 3x3:
CONTINUED…
RAE Bedford has always been on the bucket list for me. Ever since I saw photos back in 2017 it is one I have always wanted to do but never thought I would ever get there or do it successfully, but we finally managed it in the end! I first tried it back in 2019 but couldn’t find an easy way through the fence, but this time I decided to wing it by entering the site a more obvious way, which to my surprise was successful both times.
Information & History
Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford was a research site which was in operation between 1946 and 1994. The site was constructed as a base for aircraft experiments and testing. There were two main parts of the site, one being the old airfield site at nearby RAF Thurleigh and the other being RAE Bedford which was sometimes referred to as Twinwoods. It was originally known as The NAE (National Establishment for Aeronautical Research and Development) and was later RAE, then finally changing to the Defence Research Agency in 1991. The site closed in March 1994 but retained some development work under QinetiQ until 2007 when the entire site was sold. The site today consists of a business park and many of the original RAE buildings remain either derelict or repurposed.
The site consisted of five wind tunnels detailed below:
3ft x 3ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel
The 3x3 tunnel was operated for the first time in 1952. It was driven by two very large compressors which had a maximum power input of 12000 Horsepower. The speed of the wind tunnel could reach as much as double the speed of sound. The 3x3 operated up until 1983 when it was deemed surplus to requirements. Aircraft such as the Saunders Roe SR53 were tested with this tunnel.
13ft x 9ft Low Speed Wind Tunnel
The largest diameter wind tunnel was the 13x9, this one was driven by a 31-ft diameter fan driven by a 1500hp electric motor. Thanks to the high-quality airflow, it was renowned as being one of the best low-speed wind tunnels in the world. The top speed was much slower than the 3x3 at 200 MPH. The main purpose of this particular tunnel was to assess the take-off and landing characteristics of aircraft thanks to its moving belt runway. The tunnel is still in use today and is in the ownership of Red Bull Formula 1 racing based on site.
8ft x 8ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel
Construction of the 8x8 tunnel began in 1949 and was first run in 1955. The 8x8 tunnel was one of the most powerful wind tunnels on the site and could achieve speeds of up to 1920 MPH. An 80,000 compressor and electric motor setup rated at 80,000 Horsepower was used here. The 8x8 was used extensively until being surplus to requirements in 2002. The tunnel and compressor were removed in 2002. Within the 8x8 building was a power station which was used specifically to power the compressors/electric motors for each wind tunnel.
3ft x 4ft High Supersonic Speed Wind Tunnel
The most powerful tunnel on site was the 3x4 supersonic unit. This tunnel was able to reach up to five times the speed of sound and the 88,000 HP compressors that were required to drive it required 66 Megawatts of power. The construction of this tunnel can be largely attributed to the success of the Concorde, with significant contributions from RAE Bedford in its development.
The Vertical Spinning Wind Tunnel
In this tunnel, the wind opposed gravitational force vertically, creating a scenario for studying the behavior of a free-falling aircraft model. This design facilitated research into recovery techniques where an aircraft may enter a spin. The top speed in the vertical tunnel was 100 MPH created by a large 8-blade fan, powered by a 1500hp electric motor. This was the least used of all wind tunnels on site and was mainly used as a storage vessel to provide compressed air to the other tunnels. This tunnel was later repurposed as a leisure facility.
The Explore
This report consists of two visits within the same month. The 3x3 I visited solo on a day off, @MIkeymutt and @JakeV50 gave me a pointer on where to park and how to get in, etc and I spent around three hours inside getting pics before heading back. I had no issues and was a relaxed explore.
A couple of weeks later myself, MIkey, and Jake arranged to try the 8x8 hearing that it was open. We drove down and parked on site, explored the 8x8 and the Canteen and then we went back into the 3x3 to get a few more shots (mainly because Mikey wanted to test out his new 8mm lens), we also saw another couple of explorers in there getting pics.
We finished in the 3x3 and captured a few externals before attempting to walk back to the car. As we were walking past the children's soft play business on site we suddenly heard an ‘Excuse me!’, we were pretty close to the car at this point so we kept walking away from the 3x3 but the woman kept trying to get our attention. She asked what we were doing and we said we were interested in the history of the place, she then called security. She thought we had climbed a fence but in fact we got let in by security at the gate, as Jake said in his report that really took the wind out of her sails haha. The security arrived shortly after and he seemed more annoyed that the woman called security than us actually being on the site, it was rather comical. Anyway I am glad we got caught right at the end so it was still successful, we were going to free-roam the site for a bit to see what else we could find but had to leave.
Right, enough waffle! Onto the photos starting off with the 3x3.
The main draw for me was the little control room so after entering I headed straight to it (well I say I headed straight to it, even though it was pretty much right in front of me I pretty much did an entire 360 around the building trying to find it, but I got there in the end!). It was definitely a bit worse for wear than I had imagined, pigeon shit everywhere and was a bit dark, but I haven’t seen many of these control rooms in the past so I was still excited:
After spending around half an hour in here I walked through the lovely peely corridors capturing a few pics as I went:
There were some office and administration rooms down this long corridor, there wasn’t much of interest to see but still worthy of a few shots thanks to the lovely decay:
Moving into some other areas of the 3x3. There were some nice colours/lighting and decay remained lovely throughout:
I have always said photos never do certain places justice for different reasons. This particular section was so much bigger than I expected it to be, the sheer scale of it is so impressive:
I really liked this room thanks to the colour and glass skylights:
A few other miscellaneous shots from the 3x3:
CONTINUED…
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