RAF Llanbedr

RAF Llanbedr lay on the Cardigan Bay coast of Gwynedd in north-west Wales and opened in 1941 as a Fighter Command station in No. 12 Group. Spitfire squadrons such as No. 74 flew air defence from it early on, and over the years many fighter units passed through flying Supermarine Spitfires, Hawker Typhoons and North American Mustangs. From 1942 it took on the target-towing and gunnery role that would define its long life, serving the Cardigan Bay weapons ranges, and after the war it became a base for pilotless target drones flown out over the sea. Flying continued until 2004; the airfield later reopened for civil aviation and was at one point proposed as a UK spaceport.