Just being inquisitive
Discussion
I drove past this place today, just a bit north of Bedford on the road to Bedford autodrome. Noticed thet Red Bull Racing have a facility on the small industrial site there.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.197752,-0.49619,...
Wonder what they do there?
Just wondered as my son went on a factory tour at RBR in Bletchley yesterday. He said it was massive and not as glitzy as he thought it might have been. No drivers (although wifey had to let Marky through a gap in Buckingham last week - she said he was clearly worried about kerbing a rim although he had miles of room.) but he saw Horner on the phone, whingeing to Renault no doubt. Adrian's office was on view complete with drawing board and rolled up plans on his desk. The only bit he wasn't allowed to see was the simulator area which he quite fancied a go on.
He came out with a RBR cap and about £3 worth of assorted tat, lol.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.197752,-0.49619,...
Wonder what they do there?
Just wondered as my son went on a factory tour at RBR in Bletchley yesterday. He said it was massive and not as glitzy as he thought it might have been. No drivers (although wifey had to let Marky through a gap in Buckingham last week - she said he was clearly worried about kerbing a rim although he had miles of room.) but he saw Horner on the phone, whingeing to Renault no doubt. Adrian's office was on view complete with drawing board and rolled up plans on his desk. The only bit he wasn't allowed to see was the simulator area which he quite fancied a go on.
He came out with a RBR cap and about £3 worth of assorted tat, lol.
It definately is. The park they are on is guarded by G4 and is ex-MOD. I know this because I've been there - the RBR wind tunnel is next door to the best indoor skydiving facility in Europe (practically, the world) - bodyflight.co.uk
The park is now called Twinwoods usiness park. It was previously part of the RAE Bedford site (Royal Aircraft Establishment).
Here it is in Bing birds-eye view: http://binged.it/1pSGPW1
Since the last time I looked at it they seem to have built some sort of prison to the North of it. (Edit: It's Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
It's an interesting area, that.
Bedford Autodrome (as in, PalmerSport, as in "Evo" West test track) is only a little to the North.
The park is now called Twinwoods usiness park. It was previously part of the RAE Bedford site (Royal Aircraft Establishment).
Here it is in Bing birds-eye view: http://binged.it/1pSGPW1
Since the last time I looked at it they seem to have built some sort of prison to the North of it. (Edit: It's Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
It's an interesting area, that.
Bedford Autodrome (as in, PalmerSport, as in "Evo" West test track) is only a little to the North.
Edited by CraigyMc on Thursday 26th June 18:05
It's one of RBRs wind tunnels. In the past it was used for development of some of the V bombers and/or Concorde. I can't rcsll which it was but saw a number of old photographic slides there when I was shown round the tunnel by my son who was an aero tech at RBR in 05/06. He took me into the actual tunnel which has a lovely wooden fan.
It is an old RAE (Royal Aeronautical Establishment) site, as is the sky diving centre which uses an old vertical wind tunnel, again ex RAE.
Yarl's Wood immigration centre was there several years before RBR.
It is an old RAE (Royal Aeronautical Establishment) site, as is the sky diving centre which uses an old vertical wind tunnel, again ex RAE.
Yarl's Wood immigration centre was there several years before RBR.
It used to be Arrows wind tunnel, and before that Concord was developed there. I used to work there. A lunchtime treat was waving at the detainees 
The upper floors still contained Concord blueprints.
Red Bull bought it upon Arrows demise - it did have living accommodation attached too.
Looks like a bit of cash has been spent on it too, it was made of concrete when I worked there.
The upper floors still contained Concord blueprints.
Red Bull bought it upon Arrows demise - it did have living accommodation attached too.
Looks like a bit of cash has been spent on it too, it was made of concrete when I worked there.
As CraigyMc said, it's the old RAE site where I worked when I left school more years ago than I care to remember. That particular one is the old wind tunnel site which included a vertical spinning tunnel and where the Palmer Autodrome now is was the airfield site (where I worked on Tornado terrain following stuff). I have flown in both the BAC 1-11 and the HS-748 (lots of hours in the back staring at computer screens flying low level around Boscombe Down) in this picture. RBR now own the old 13x9 ft low speed tunnel.
If you drive down the road between them the odd central reservation was intended to support an elevated taxiway between the two sites that was never built.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.209824,-0.487872...
The site was part of the Blind Landing Experimental Unit when they moved from Martlesham Heath that developed ILS and all sort of things were worked on there. I recall that there was a pit where they worked on tethered VSTOL aircraft, there were old steam catapults and a Harrier-style ski-jump as found on the front of HMS Hermes and so on.
The name Twinwoods takes it back to it's wartime name of RAF Twinwood Farm and it is the site that Glenn Miller took off from in 1944 when his plane disappeared.
More here http://www.bahg.org.uk/publications.htm
LOTS more here http://www.airfieldresearchgroup.org.uk/wp-content...
If you drive down the road between them the odd central reservation was intended to support an elevated taxiway between the two sites that was never built.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.209824,-0.487872...
The site was part of the Blind Landing Experimental Unit when they moved from Martlesham Heath that developed ILS and all sort of things were worked on there. I recall that there was a pit where they worked on tethered VSTOL aircraft, there were old steam catapults and a Harrier-style ski-jump as found on the front of HMS Hermes and so on.
The name Twinwoods takes it back to it's wartime name of RAF Twinwood Farm and it is the site that Glenn Miller took off from in 1944 when his plane disappeared.
More here http://www.bahg.org.uk/publications.htm
LOTS more here http://www.airfieldresearchgroup.org.uk/wp-content...
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff