The Farnborough Wind Tunnels:
Three historic buildings and five windtunnels
Background
In the middle of the Farnborough Business Park there are three listed buildings which are historically important in themselves but equally importantly, they contain five windtunnels, all of which a central role in the development of aviation in Britain.
In mid-2005 Slough Estates (which owns the buildings) announced that three of the windtunnels were suitable for re-use and would be available for commercial use once the restoration of the exteriors of the buildings was complete.
So far, there are two proposals; a project sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society for The National Aerospace Library in the Q121 building and a project sponsored by FAST for a science-based educational project in R52.
What are they and what do they look like?
The material published on the FAST website in 2005 follows. It contains a good description of the tunnel facilities in a style aimed at technical and commercial people, with facts and figures and layout drawings etc. FAST will be supplementing this with more photos and descriptions in a style more suitable for a general audience.
Also, the results of the restoration work, led by the specialist restoration architectural practice Julian Harrapp Associates are very impressive and there will be many good features to be photographed once the buildings are completely clear of scaffolding. We will be working on this soon.
The 2005 writeup quoted in full....
An Opportunity for Wind Tunnel Operators
Three of the wind tunnels at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment
in Farnborough will shortly be available for re-use following recent
developments at the site.
Commercial or educational organisations that have a need for a wind
tunnel testing facility may find what they want in Farnborough.
The Farnborough Business Park
Slough Estates bought the
former Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) ‘factory
site’ from the Ministry of Defence when the site was closed
in 1999. Slough Estates is now developing the site as Farnborough
Business Park. The site is located between Farnborough town
centre and London Farnborough Airport, the venue of the biannual air
show, and when completed will provide a prime business location for 1.7
million square feet of offices.
The historic core of the former RAE is being retained
– a 25 acre cluster of wind tunnels and other research
buildings, two of which are Grade I listed. Following
consultations with stakeholders such as English Heritage, Rushmoor
Borough Council and Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST), Slough
Estates has obtained planning consent for a £20 million
mixed-use urban development project.
Work on this project has already started and completion is currently
scheduled for July 2006. Regeneration of the site includes a public
square, restoration of research buildings and possible commercial use
of wind tunnels:
- A new public square, the size of London’s Berkley Square and located at the western end of the site will have a 70 foot high, 250 foot long airship hangar frame as its centrepiece.
- The restoration of the historic aviation research buildings will cater for a mix of uses such as offices and studio workshops, plus new facilities for a heritage centre, a management centre, café-bar, meeting rooms and a children’s nursery.
-
The commercial use of the wind tunnels.
The five historic wind tunnels on the site will all be
preserved.
Three of these are under investigation, as part of a project with FAST,
for possible commercial re-use. An initial study indicates
support for such a demand.
Site Plan
Farnborough Business Park Site Plan
[top]What is on offer
Slough Estates does not intend
to become a wind
tunnel operator. On the other hand
English Heritage has recognised that the best way to preserve historic
buildings is to keep them in use – preferably the use for
which they were
designed. Slough Estates is therefore
looking for interested parties who may want to operate one or more of
the
tunnels.
The three tunnels now being made available are:
- The No.1 tunnel – the 24ft low speed tunnel in building Q121
- The No.2 tunnel – the 11½ft x 8½ft low speed tunnel in building R136
- The No.3 tunnel – the 4ft x 3ft low turbulence tunnel in building R52
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The Condition of the Tunnels
Slough Estates’ programme to restore the historic aviation research buildings includes the four buildings that contain the historic wind tunnels. By the end of the programme the exteriors of the four buildings will have been fully refurbished, the services renewed and the surrounding areas landscaped.However, Slough Estates is not refurbishing the interiors of the buildings: it will be up to individual leaseholders to do this after they have completed any alterations required to accommodate their specific needs.
Most of the major items of equipment associated with the tunnels such as the balances, drive motors, lifts and hoists remain in the buildings. Removable items such as calibration equipment, model supports and special tools have been catalogued by FAST and have been put in store while the building renovation is in progress.
[top]
Services
All of the services in the Historic Quarter are being renewed as part of Slough Estates’ current programme of work. Domestic electricity supply will be connected to all buildings within the Historic Quarter. Other services will be provided but not connected, which gives future wind tunnel operators the freedom to carry out internal works on the tunnel buildings to accommodate any specific needs.Electrical Power
Slough Estates is installing a new 11kV ring main covering the Historic Quarter. This will include not only substations for the 433V domestic supply to each building but also a provision for additional substations to supply fan motor power for the wind tunnels.The primary substation to the Business Park has approximately 3MVA spare capacity available to power the wind tunnel fans. This power is sufficient to run simultaneously the No.1 and No.3 tunnels at full speed and the No.2 tunnel at 82% of full speed.
It will be possible for wind tunnel operators to increase the power available to the wind tunnels by laying additional circuits from the park’s primary substation. In preparation, Slough Estates is laying down vacant ducts in the Historic Quarter to allow leaseholders to increase the power supply with minimal disturbance to the hard landscaping.
Compressed Air
The network of compressed air pipes within the buildings remains intact and given testing and certification could be re-used where needed. The large compressors that supplied compressed air to the site and the air pipes between the buildings are not considered re-usable on economic grounds. FAST believes that the most effective and economic way to provide compressed air to the wind tunnels will be to use modern semi-portable equipment, either diesel or electric powered. Slough Estates is erecting hard standing adjacent to the substations of the two large wind tunnel buildings for mobile compressors and other heavy equipment that operators might like to use.[top]
Gas, Water & Foul Drainage
Slough Estates will lay new gas mains, water mains and foul drains throughout the Historic Quarter. The mains and drains will be brought close to the exteriors of the wind tunnel buildings, adjacent to areas within the buildings (highlighted on the site plan below in orange) where operators are likely to want to install WCs, kitchens, etc.Communications and Intranet
A new communications network and intranet will be laid through the Historic Quarter, extending the existing network supplying the remainder of the Farnborough Business Park. The communications providers will be British Telecom and Cable & Wireless. The intranet will provide complete coverage throughout the business Park and will make it possible to connect each building to the park security offices for CCTV monitoring or to any other building on the site for communications purposes.[top]
| Site plan showing the "Historic Quarter" - the location of the three wind tunnel buildings and layout of services. | ![]() |
[top]
Re-commissioning the wind tunnels
A technical report which gives potential operators in-depth information about the state of the wind tunnels and any work that needs to be done before they can be re-commissioned is available on application to Slough Estates. The team that produced the report will be able to provide help and information should prospective operators need assistance during the preparations of proposals and business plans.Operational
There is local expertise in how to operate these tunnels from ex-RAE staff and from QinetiQ, who operate the ex-RAE five metre tunnel on a site close to Farnborough. FAST holds an archive of drawings and reports which may also be of use to future operators.Leasing
Slough Estates is offering long-term leases (minimum of 10 years) on each of the wind tunnel buildings. Leases are negotiable but tenants will be expected to take full repairing and insuring liability.[top]
For enquiries and further information
please contact:Stephen Lord, Senior Development Manager
Slough Estates plc
234 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire SL1 4EE
Tel: 01753 213472
Email: Stephen.Lord@sloughestates.co.uk
The information above is available in the form of a full colour brochure which you can obtain from Slough Estates or view with Acrobat viewer using the link below. Please note that the file is large.
Full Colour Brochure in PDF format (2.5 MB)
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The Transonic Tunnels
Of enormous historical significance but not economic to bring back into operation
These are the two tunnels which we are not actively seeking to bring back into operation. FAST has a number of proposals for the imaginative development of the interior of the listed building R133 as an educational resource and centre of excellence for historic research. The wind tunnels and the associated equipment are an integral part of those ideas.
The 8ft x 6ft tunnel
This was a variable density facility capable of continuous running and was fitted out for force and/or pressure measurements at transonic flow velocities. The tunnel was decommissioned in 1994. Many factors, for example, the age of the pressure vessel and effect of stress cycles, the modifications made to drain it of its brine coolant, the very high power consumption, make it unfeasible to bring the tunnel back into use again.
- Variable density
- Continuous running
- Suitable for force and/or pressure measurement at transonic speeds
- low temperature
- high Reynolds number
| Working section | 2.44m
x 1.93m (8ft x 6ft) |
| Design speed | M=1.2 or below |
| Model
Supports |
Sting:
6 component balance, Incidence
-4° to
+20° (20° and 40° cranks available) Roll +/-
180° Floor: 5 component balance, Incidence -4° to +22° |
| Pressure range | 0.25 to 3.0 atmospheres |
| Air
supply to models |
Floor mounted models only |
| Roof balance | Three component with manual readout |
| Maximum
temperature |
50° C |
| Flow visualisation | Oil |
2 ft x 1½ ft tunnel
This wind tunnel shared some of the 8ft x 6ft tunnel utility systems. If it were to be brought back in use independently of the 8ft x 6ft tunnel it would need considerable reinvestment in utilities. It is unlikely to be economic to operate in view of its high power consumption and cooling load and high on-going maintenance costs. The tunnel is not only of historical significance because of the projects carried out in it but also because the equipment is highly specialised and has significance from an engineering point of view.
- Highly versatile transonic tunnel
- Continuous running
- Suitable for force and/or pressure measurement
- Variable density
| Working section | 0.61m
x 0.45m (2ft x 1.5ft) |
| Design speed | M=1.4 or below |
| Model
Supports |
Sting:
6 component balance, Incidence
-5° to
27°, Roll +/- 180° Roof: 6 component balance, Incidence +/- 90° (1/2 models) |
| Pressure
range |
0.25 to 1.0 atmospheres |
| Air
supply to models |
Yes - can be heated |
| Maximum
temperature |
35° C |
| Flow visualisation | Oil and Schlieren |
Registered Charity 1040199
http://www.farnboroughairsciences.org.uk
Version: 1.15 date: 15 May 2007

