Former RAF Cardington

 Second World War 1939-1945, First World War 1914-1918, RAF - Royal Air Force, draw only border, closed / former military, former air force base

RAF Cardington started life as a private venture when Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. They constructed a 700-foot-long (210 m) Airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable them to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. Shorts also built a housing estate, opposite the site, which they named Shortstown. Most of the former RAF station is actually in the parish of Eastcotts, as is the settlement of Shortstown.

In the 1950s, during the time of National Service, RAF Cardington was the reception unit, where thousands of conscripts went to be issued with their kit. The Paratroop Regiment were stationed there as one of the hangers housed the balloons from which trainees made their first drops. In 1954 RAF Maitenance Command used Shed No.1 for their rehearsals for the Royal Tournament.

Early History with Airships
Cardington became one of the major British sites involved in the development of airships when Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. They constructed a 700 ft long airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable them to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. Some 800 people worked there in 1917, most of them travelled daily from Bedford[citation needed]. Shorts also built a housing estate, opposite the site, which they named Shortstown.

The airships site was nationalised in April 1919, becoming known as the Royal Airship Works.In preparation for the R101 project the No. 1 shed was extended between October 1924 and March 1926; its roof was raised by 35 feet and its length increased to 812 feet. The No. 2 shed (Southern shed), which had originally been located at RNAS Pulham, Norfolk, was dismantled in 1928 and re-erected at Cardington.After the crash of the R101, in October 1930, all work stopped in Britain on airships. Cardington then became a storage base.

In 1936 / 1937 Cardington started building barrage balloons; and it became the No. 1 RAF Balloon Training Unit.For both airships and barrage balloons, Cardington manufactured its own hydrogen, in the Gas Factory, using the steam reforming process. In 1948 the Gas Factory became 279 MU (Maintenance Unit), RAF Cardington; and then, in 1955, 217 MU. 217 MU, RAF Cardington, produced all the gases used by the Royal Air Force until its closure in April 2000; including gas cylinder filling and maintenance.

The two airship hangars ceased being part of the RAF Cardington site in the late 1940s and they were put to other uses. The fence was moved, so they were outside the main RAF Cardington site.

Post war uses
For many years until around 2001, one of the hangars was used by the Building Research Establishment as a whole building test facility for the Cardington tests. Here, multi-storey steel, concrete and wooden buildings were constructed and then destructively tested within the huge space available. This hangar was repainted and looked after in comparison with the other hangar.The buildings tests were mentioned during the course of the BBC series "The Conspiracy Files" as evidence in the controversy surrounding the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 on 11 September 2001.

A company called Airship Industries tried to revive the fortunes of the airship industry in the other shed in the 1980s, but the efforts ended in failure. The site is currently being used for the development of a new design of airship, the Skycat, by the company Hybrid Air Vehicles.

In 1993 planning permission was granted for construction of theatrical stagings and the site was used for rehearsals by musicians including Paul McCartney, U2, Rod Stewart and AC/DC.

Film and television

The hangars for the R100 and R101 airships, still stand in Cardington; as does the Headquarters Building. In 1968 some scenes for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were filmed at Cardington Sheds. Also during the 1960s, much of the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines was shot in the vicinity of the village. Hangar 2 has recently been leased to Warner Bros. and used as a studio for film and television productions, including the 2005 film Batman Begins. Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins was filmed in hangar 2 in 2008. The film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was filmed at Cardington in 2004.

Rihanna filmed parts of her music video for 'Shut up and drive' there.