Bentham Works
| Company type | Aircraft manufacturing facility |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Headquarters | Badgeworth , England, United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Products | Gloster Meteor jet fighter aircraft |
Number of employees | 130 (1942) |
| Parent | Gloster Aircraft Company |
The Bentham Works served as a production location for the Gloster Aircraft Company.
History
Established in 1941 at the base of Crickley Hill, the facility was considered for heritage listing by Historic England in 2010; however, it did not receive official designation.
Production
This site was responsible for manufacturing the Gloster Meteor, recognized as the first operational jet fighter.[1] In 1942, the workforce at Bentham numbered approximately 130 employees. Testing of Gloster aircraft was conducted at RAF Moreton Valence.
On 29 June 1942, the initial ground run of the Gloster Meteor prototype DG202 took place at this facility.[2]
Design and development efforts for Gloster jets were centralized at Bentham.[3]
The Meteor's maiden flight occurred on 5 March 1943, piloted by Michael Daunt from RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Initially, the aircraft was to be named Thunderbolt. The first models were equipped with Halford H-1 engines (later known as de Havilland Goblin) because the Power Jets W.2 engine was not yet available. Additionally, Gloster aircraft operated from RAF Edgehill in Oxfordshire, located northeast of the Cotswolds and south of the A422. This location was roughly midway between Bentham and Lutterworth (later relocated to Whetstone, Leicestershire), where jet engines were developed by Power Jets. Power Jets also maintained a facility at Barnoldswick. The world's first turboprop aircraft, Meteor EE227, powered by a Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent engine, made its flight from RAF Church Broughton in Derbyshire on 20 September 1945.[4]
Squadron Leader Les Watts commanded 616 Squadron, which was the first unit to operate the Meteor from RAF Culmhead.
German jet planes
The German Messerschmitt Me 262 was engineered by Woldemar Voigt in Bavaria, initially at Augsburg and later at Oberammergau. Its maiden flight occurred on 18 July 1942 at Leipheim, piloted by Fritz Wendel.
Current status
By 2018, the location underwent redevelopment into a residential area named Bentham Green. The property had been acquired in October 2016 for £3.2 million.
Layout
Situated north of the A417 road dual carriageway in Badgeworth, the facility was positioned adjacent to St Peter's Church.
References
- ↑ "Gloster Aircraft Company - Bentham Works". Stray off the path. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ↑ "Meteor DG202" (PDF). RAF Museum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ↑ Kershaw, Tim (2013). Jet Pioneers: Gloster and the Birth of the Jet Age. Chapter five: The E28s later flights. History Press. ISBN 9780752494999.
- ↑ "Gloster Meteor F I "Trent"". Jets. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.