Aston Down Aston Down is located east of Minchinhampton , Gloucestershire , South West England and west of Cirencester , Gloucestershire . The airfield was used by the Royal Air Force from the First World War until 1967 when the Cotswold Gliding Club moved in from their previous base near Tetbury . In 2002 the land and most of hangars surrounding the airfield were sold by the Ministry of Defence to private developers for use as industrial units . History . First World War . The airfield was originally opened as RAF Minchinhampton and was first used in the First World War , serving as an aerodrome for the Australian Flying Corps with No . 2 Squadron AFC flying the Royal Aircraft Factory S . E . 5 a and the Sopwith Pup and No . 3 Squadron AFC flying the Avro 504 . The airfield closed shortly afterwards . Reopening . In 1938 the airfield reopened under the new name of RAF Aston Down at the request of the residents of Minchinhampton village , which lies about to the west of the airfield , who feared not enemy attack , but a fall in the value of their houses . During the Second World War the main present unit was No . 20 Maintenance Unit RAF ( MU ) which stored and prepared aircraft . The unit arrived during October 1938 and left in September 1960 . The next unit to arrive was No . 12 Group Pool RAF which arrived during August 1939 , the units name was changed to No . 5 Operational Training Unit RAF ( OTU ) before being renamed No . 55 OTU . The unit trained Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim pilots before being renamed No . 3 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF at RAF Annan . This was redesignated on 18 December 1944 and moved back to Aston Down where the unit flew Hawker Typhoon s . During 1941 the second longest staying unit arrived which was No . 2 Ferry Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary which transported aircraft from the buildings of No . 20 MU to operational airfields . The unit was renamed No . 187 Squadron RAF and moved to RAF Benson during January 1953 . In August 1941 No . 52 OTU joined the station from RAF Debden and the unit trained daytime fighter pilots but after two years in August 1943 the unit moved out . The Fighter Leader School moved in during August 1943 operating Supermarine Spitfire s moving from RAF Charmy Down but after only four months the unit left . First operational squadron to arrive was No . 180 Squadron RAF which had moved to RAF Dunsfold on 18 August 1943 and a detachment was based at RAF Aston Down until 12 April 1943 flying the North American Mitchell . During the time No . 4 Squadron RAF arrived on 3 January 1944 and stayed until 2 March 1944 flying the de Havilland Mosquito XVI . Post Second World War . Sometime after the Second World War the hangars were used by No . 5 Maintenance Unit RAF which was based at RAF Kemble . On 1 February 1953 No . 187 Squadron RAF reformed at the airfield . The unit was renamed from No . 2 Home Ferry Unit and initially only flew the Avro Anson C . 19 but in March 1955 the Vickers Varsity T . 1 was added and in April of the same year Anson C . 12 ' s were also added but just over two years later the unit disbanded on 2 September 1957 at the airfield . More recently the airfield was used as a satellite airfield for the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington , with trainee pilots practising their circuits in BAC Jet Provost s . Visits by the Red Arrows were also frequent until their departure from the nearby Kemble Airport in 1983 . Since the sale of the airfield it no longer sees any RAF flying activity . Current use . In 1967 the Cotswold Gliding Club ( CGC ) moved to Aston Down , which in 1981 became surplus to requirements and was sold to the Club by the Ministry of Defence ( MOD ) . Having since acquired further land , the CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track . Industry and the environment . The land surrounding the airfield , including a number of large hangars ( visible in the photograph above ) , continued to be used by the MOD until 2002 , when it was sold to the development firm Leda Properties to be let as warehousing and industrial units . In 2005 , following a Freedom of Information request , the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic , hydrocarbon s and radium . Since the site is located above a vulnerable aquifer , local residents have formed a pressure group to persuade local government and central government agencies to implement more stringent safety regulations .