Surrounded in beautiful countryside. The café/restaurant is located on top of the old WW11 control tower and offers a great area to watch the passing aircraft. Sleap offers both hard and grass runways in unrestricted airspace with an aircraft museum open at weekends from 10.00pm until 5.00pm. Admission free. AVGAS and Jet A1 with the radio being 122.450.
Please PPR. RAF Shawbury is nearby call 120.775 when in transit. Glider launching can be active over/on the airfield. Standard overhead join please at 2000ft QFE.
Sleap (pronounced "Slape") is an ex-Royal Air Force airfield, which was opened in April 1943, and used by RAF advanced flying training units. Initially it was the base for No. 81 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) within No. 93 Group RAF of RAF Bomber Command equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber aircraft.
From 1 January 1944 Sleap was assigned to the RAF's No.38 Group, Airborne Forces. 81 OTU's Whitleys towed Horsa heavy troop-carrying gliders on training missions and the Horsas made practice formation landings at Sleap to simulate the attacks to come on German-occupied territory. Vickers Wellingtons replaced the Whitleys from November 1944 and by January 1945 the strength was 51 T.Xs, being used to train Transport Command air crews. The RAF finally released Sleap in 1964, but the location is still used as a relief airfield by nearby RAF Shawbury for Squirrel helicopter training.
The Shropshire Aero Club members' bar at Sleap is named after Bayston Hill born Flight Lieutenant Eric Lock the World War II Battle of Britain pilot who was the highest scoring British-born pilot in the battle with sixteen and a half victories during the epic battle. There is also a museum of wartime relics.
