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Britain's Most Powerful Aircraft Tested Here — Hucknall Airfield

Our History Underfoot

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Hucknall Airfield was once one of Britain’s most important aviation sites — a place where some of the country’s most powerful aircraft and engines were tested.

Today, almost all of it has disappeared.

In this video, I explore what remains of this once vital airfield, walking the old runway and uncovering the last visible traces of its past. It’s hard to imagine that aircraft like the Vulcan once took off from here, where now there’s little more than cracked concrete and overgrown grass.

It’s a fascinating look at how quickly such an important place can be forgotten — and what still survives if you know where to look.

If you enjoy abandoned sites, lost infrastructure, and aviation history, there’s plenty more to come.

#HucknallAirfield #AviationHistory #AbandonedPlaces #RAFHistory #Vulcan #UrbanExploration #ForgottenPlaces #ThenAndNow

20 Comments

@dadstrainset 5 months ago

I went to school nearby for a bit and still remember hearing the scream of Trent series engines being tested there.

Went to the air show as an adult - a great family event, the likes of which are now few and far between.

The losses of Hucknall, and of course Gamston more recently, are an absolute travesty. We are no longer a serious country.

@Michael43713 5 months ago

When I was a kid in the 60s I can just about remember my Mum taking me to Hucknall Air Display. Great work.

@muddy1959 5 months ago

I did my engineering apprenticeship over 4 years at Hucknall Rolls Royce working there from 1978 until 1988. So many memories of the Rolls Royce Spitfire landing for service and the air shows. I worked in the machine shop.
So much heritage lost. We did have the flying bedstead at one of the airshows too.

@justathought2519 5 months ago (edited)

Great vid Ant, this brings back fond memories, back in 70's I was a member of the Merlin Flying Club and performed my first solo flight in G-AIJT (Auster J4) off that big runway. Very sad to see the ruin of the clubhouse and tower. Occasionally we had to walk JT back to the grass apron using handles in front of the tailplane to stop it ground looping in high wind. A few years earlier I was a member of 2229 SQN ATC (Loughborough) and tasked to walk the crowd line at the 1973 Hucknall Air Display. I still have photos of the parked USN Blue Angels F4 Phantoms and the pilots standing along side. Happy days!

@maarsyDTH 5 months ago

the site deserved better than dumping houses on it

@V4victory2025 5 months ago

My dad and me were walking along the footpath at the bottom of the runway when a Vulcan bomber took off your thumb nail reminded me of that day thanks I love your channel ❤

@mirv5144 5 months ago

Great video of Hucknall aerodrome - my great uncle (Walter Codd) was an aero engineer until the early 80s. He worked on Merlin engines for the P51 Mustang, Spitfires, right through to early jet age (Gloster Meteors, Javlins, Hunters and Phantoms) amazing career and alot captured in the RR heritage center. We used to go to Merlin fly-ins during the summer when they had open day events - great memories. Its sad to see it being built over with housing. The tower and area near flag poles was always very busy as i remember with visiting aircraft and people having picnics. I once or twice flew over here during my PPL training from EMA. Hope they can do something with whats left of the runway....

@royweblin9561 5 months ago

Omg why do we never seem to protect and preserve our heritage
So many houses. Where have all the people come from?

@jetsons101 5 months ago (edited)

As a licensed A&P mechanic and a aviation nerd this video makes me sad.........
Nothing better than the sound of a "Warbird" taking off at full throttle.
Thanks to Ant for helping to keep history alive and kicking for other to learn from.

@waynewright6551 1 month ago

Living on the old Hucknall airfield site gives this video a real emotional punch for me. The history here runs deep from 664 Sqn RAF to its later life as an Army Air Corps squadron. I served with 664 myself on Lynx, Gazelle and later WAH‑64 Apache, so the place has real meaning even though its development was inevitable. Check out the Sqn badge.

The story behind “The One That Got Away” from 1957 adds another powerful layer of wartime history to the site and well worth a watch. and I still remember flying low over Hucknall en route to the Peaks, thinking about everything that happened here.

The flight test museum is a treasure. Absolutely worth a visit for anyone who loves aviation. Brilliant video, and thank you for keeping Hucknall’s legacy alive.

Vae viso

@stevebarnett5048 5 months ago

I remember going to Hucknall as a kid for an air display in the 1960s. For me the highlight was a Lightning buzzing the runway at very low level then climbing to break the sound barrier (they could in those days). The spectator area was very close to the runway, and as a child the whole thing was absolutely epic, the smell, the speed, and the vibrations in the air.

@andrewcisalowicz1326 5 months ago

I went to the Hucknall airshow with my parents in 1973.Wow ,this developed my love for aircraft and airshows plus amazingly The US Navy Blue Angels were in the airshows flying the F4 Phantom jets.THANKYOU for bringing back fond memories and such a shame this could not be preserved for future generations to see how famous this airfield used to be.😥

@dmarriott9701 5 months ago

Liked how you said ‘ three aircraft flying over’. They weren’t just ‘three aircraft flying over’ they were the Lancaster, spitfire and hurricane all powered by the Rolls Royce merlin or griffon engines

@PeterWilson-h3n 5 months ago

Fantastic video Ant,well researched,informative very,very interesting,really enjoyable,such a shame it’s been built on with all that history,I wonder how many of those house owners know what was under their house and garden?

@karencarpenter8275 5 months ago

It’s a shame Hucknall aerospace history has been lost to NIMBYS. Rolls Royce had to stop testing here because of constant local complaints about noise. Cue sale of site and factory and movement of test work to the US. Sad

@janhawranke8064 5 months ago (edited)

Thank You for the memories this brought me! I was a member of the Merlin Flying Club located on the airfield, back in 1974-78. Beautiful memories of the Auster and Jodel aircraft I learned to fly. Gerry Price was the CFI (ex RAF pilot trainer) there. We were all employees of Rolls-Royce, with a few exceptions. Made a number of friends, including Ken and Sandra, John P, Dave S, Don C, Nigel and many others. Great times. Sad to see the past paved over. Sad that we can't return to those days. Cheers!

@MrStr8den 5 months ago

Hi Ant, this is a great addition to the abandoned railways that i am used to watching, the Derwent reservoir went down a treat too; would you consider making a series on the long, lost or abandoned stately homes?

@paulblatherwick 5 months ago

Great history Ant, I spent many happy hours plane spotting from the Eastern end of the runway as a schoolboy. Enjoy airshows in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many times the huge Avro Vulcan roared over my head on its approach. Tragically a Vulcan took off from here on its last flight before crashing at Syerston in September 1958.

@JohnHills-p5k 5 months ago

Thanks for this Ant. Love the railway vids, now you are exploring another passion of mine...... Dissused airfields.
Hucknall indeed has a fascinating history. Keep up the brilliant work.👍👍👍

@bernardshaw-sp9cv 5 months ago

Worked there for 34 years from 1959 spent 18 months in of my apprenticeship in the flight hangar many happy memorys not been back since 1992 so much change