RAF Riccall

RAF Riccall is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located north east of Selby, North Yorkshire and south west of Elvington, North Yorkshire, England.

History

The airfield was opened in September 1942 as a satellite to RAF Marston Moor. It had three runways of the A-style airfield; the longest was long, the second was long and the third was long. All were wide. The technical site consisted of six T2 hangars and one B1 hangar. The first runways built on the site sank into the soft earth of the low-lying ground, and had to be built back up again.
During October 1942, No. 76 and No. 80 Conversion Flights joined together to make No. 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF.
The following units were based at the airfield:

No. 35 Maintenance Unit RAF.
No. 91 Maintenance Unit RAF.
No. 261 Maintenance Unit RAF.
No. 268 Maintenance Unit RAF.
No. 939 Balloon Squadron AAF.
No. 1332 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF.
No. 1341 Flight RAF.
Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment.
York & District Flying Group.

After 1945, flying ceased, although the site was used as storage until 1958. The south west side of the airfield and storage area is now part of Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve. Part of the site was also used for mining coal as part of the Selby Coalfield operation between the 1980s and 2004.

Current use

The site is now used for farming.