Royal Aircraft Establishment

The Royal Aircraft Establishment (aka RAE) in Farnborough, Hampshire was created in 1908 as the HM Balloon Factory. It was later renamed the Royal Aircraft Factory before becoming the Royal Aircraft Establishment in 1918.

Many aircraft have been developed or tested at the RAE including the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and Concorde. Barnes Wallis used the water tanks here to test scale prototypes of the bouncing bomb used for the Second World War Dambusters raid.

The site is currently home to Qinetiq, the Air Accident Investigation Branch and the British National Space Centre. The wind tunnel is a listed building.