RAF Little Rissington 1946-1976, The Central Flying School Years

RAF Little Rissington 1946-1976, The Central Flying School Years
By Mark Smith

Book published by Coastal Craft as volume 1 in their 'Air Craft History' series, 48 pages. Rectangular A4 size booklet (N7957)


From the rear side cover: Opened in 1938, the airfield was named after the small village to its west, and was probably the highest airfield in the UK. Two of the runways intersected at 221 metres above sea level, with other parts within the boundary some 20 metres higher.

Located on a plateau and surrounded on all sides by steep slopes, 'Rissy' - to many who lived and worked there - was one of the 'Expansion Period' airfields built during the 1930s. Considerable care was taken with the appearance of the airfields, and it had many well-proportioned buildings, using local materials. Built without 'hard' runways, it was home to both training and maintenance units during the war.

In 1946, it became the new home of the Central Flying School, which was one of the oldest flying organisations in the world, and whose history predates that of the Royal Air Force. CFS spent thirty years at Little Rissington before their aircraft were scattered to different airfields, and 'Rissy' was closed. Over 180 profiles in this book detail the colour schemes and markings of many of the types operated by the School during its time at Little Rissington.


Condition of the booklet is generally excellent. The covers are clean and bright, the spine is intact and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.